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Severe Thunderstorms Forecasted
NWS Partners - Multiple rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms are expected to impact Central PA from Sunday night through Monday. The main threat with these storms will be damaging wind gusts in excess of 60 mph which may knock down trees and powerlines. Initial briefing For more information, see attached briefing or view it online at https://www.weather.gov/media/ctp/Briefing/briefing.pdf. You can also find additional weather information at https://www.weather.gov/ctp/briefing or https://www.weather.gov/ctp/selfbrief. Estimated time of next update: By 6 PM Saturday -- John Szwarc Cell Phone: (814) 553-5649
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SKYWARN
Everyone- Thank you to everyone who attended the CCARC meeting earlier tonight. We sure had a lot to talk about! During the meeting I promised to send out a copy of the SKYWARN documents I talked about. These documents were the result of examples I received from Cory Sickles WA3UVV, the Western PA Section Affiliated Club Coordinator. I took what he sent and updated it with our Clearfield County information. Carnine K3CWP had the National Weather Service staff review these as well. I believe they are ready for the next big storm. But we can make whatever edits deemed necessary. Thank you. John N3SPW -- John Szwarc Cell Phone: (814) 553-5649
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REMINDER: CCARC Meeting on Thursday
Just a quick reminder about the planned Clearfield County Amateur Radio Club meeting on Thursday March 27th. As usual, we will be meeting at the Clearfield County EMA Building, 911 Leonard Street in Clearfield. Meeting starts at 7 PM. I believe Carmine K3CWP is planning to make the trip over from State College and will be discussing the National Weather Service, SKYWARN and EmComm in general. It should be an interesting discussion. Hope to see everyone there. Thank you and 73. John N3SPW -- John Szwarc Cell Phone: (814) 553-5649
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March CCARC Newsletter
Everyone, The March 2025 CCARC newsletter is ready for your inspection. Please follow the link below to download a copy. https://clearfieldcountyarc.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/CCARC032025.pdf Thank you John N3SPW -- John Szwarc Cell Phone: (814) 553-5649
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Free for the asking
I have a TP Link TLSG-1008 8 port gigabit switch that's collecting dust. Includes rack mount ears. Replaced it some years ago with a 24 port version. It's free if anyone would like to have it. Just let me know. -- John Szwarc Cell Phone: (814) 553-5649
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Nittany Amateur Radio Club FCC Tech License Class
FYI. Just in case you know anyone interested in becoming licensed. 814-553-5649 Begin forwarded message: From: Carmine Prestia <carmine.prestia@...> Date: March 21, 2025 at 7:05:36 AM EDT To: Radio coordination <PA-ARES-RACES-L@...>, Kevin Lear W3XOX <W3XOX@...>, John Szwarc N3SPW <johnszwarc@...> Subject: Nittany Amateur Radio Club FCC Tech License Class ? Good morning: The Nittany Amateur Radio Club is announcing a class for individuals who want to obtain an FCC Technician Class Amateur Radio Class License. The class will be held on Saturday, May 3, 2025. You can find details by clicking the link below. https://www.aresracescentrecountypa.com/?p=1381 -- Carmine W. Prestia, Jr., K3CWP ARES EC Centre County Alpha Fire Company Firemen's Relief Association of State College Senior Magisterial District Judge State College, PA (he/him/his)
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Shelters open during extended power outages following storm
FYI.... CLEARFIELD COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT The weather event on 3/16/2025 in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania has caused power outages throughout the county-- To assist residents in the affected areas, the following locations have been opened by the Clearfield County Emergency Management Department for residents that need to shelter, charge devices or power medical equipment-- You can just show up at these locations. You do not need to call-- The Old Restaurant 28766 Frenchville-Karthaus Hwy Frenchville, has extension cords placed outside for people that need to charge devices. Karthaus Firehall, 10 Hurxthal St, Karthaus, PA 16845, is open for anyone needing to charge or shelter-- Bethany Retreat Center, 1031 Germania Rd, Frenchville, PA 16836, is open if anyone needs to charge anything or if anyone needs to shelter with medical devices. Madera Firehall, 2720 Main St, Madera, PA 16661, is open for anyone that needs to charge devices or plug in medical equipment or anyone in need of a shelter¡ª Glendale Firehall, 946 Water St, Coalport, PA 16627, is open as a shelter and charging station. -- John Szwarc Cell Phone: (814) 553-5649
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Weather Reports
Everyone As I'm sure everyone is aware, earlier today a fairly strong weather front moved through the area bringing with it gusty winds, rain and hail. And even a tornado watch! As the storm moved through our area it's progress was tracked by an impromptu weather net on the W3CPA 147.255 repeater with Tim K5TEL stepping in as the central operator, relaying reports to the National Weather Service State College Skywarn station WX3CTP, which was also on frequency. .Stations that participated were: K5TEL, W3EOD, N3TBD, KC2RZP, K3SKS, N3PUL, N3RBJ and N3SPW. Please forgive me if I missed anyone. We lost power here as the storm front moved through West Decatur and I discovered my shack battery backup power system is no longer backing up. That took me off the air as the storm moved through West Decatur. But now I have a new project! Anyhow, this was a really good effort for our amateur radio group. The NWS had the information they needed and was better able to track the strom's progress through Clearfield County due to the information provided. Thank you to everyone who participated. Thank you. John N3SPW -- John Szwarc Cell Phone: (814) 553-5649
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WEATHER ALERT..... Strong to severe thunderstorms are expected to move through Central PA this afternoon. The main threat with these storms will be damaging winds, though an isolated tornado cannot be ruled out. Locally heavy rainfall may lead to isolated flooding concerns. Strong wind gusts in excess of 40 mph will be possible outside of thunderstorms. SKYWARN spotters are encouraged to monitor the 147.255 repeater for possible traffic from the National Weather Service State College Office. In the absence of a local Weather Net, SKYWARN spotters may also submit significant weather reports directly to the State College NWS at: https://www.weather.gov/ctp/reportSevere See below for an attachment with further weather forecast details. -- John Szwarc Cell Phone: (814) 553-5649
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Everyone, This morning a tower crew was on the tower at the Clearfield EMA building and, while doing other maintenance, they took a peak at the non-functional HF dipole inverted V antenna. What they found was a center balun that was in really rough shape. Clearly it's not going to work. As a result they brought the dipole down awaiting further instructions. This antenna is owned by the Clearfield County EMA. Back in 2019 a MFJ G5RV antenna was purchased as a replacement by the county. The selection of a G5RV antenna was made by the then CCARC President Gary W3CUB. For those not familiar with the G5RV antenna, it is a non-resonant antenna and requires the use of an antenna tuner. The staff at the time from Centre Communications felt this antenna was the wrong type for the tower installation. As a result this antenna was never installed and has since been lost. To facilitate operations at the EMA Allen K3HOC is leaving a coax on the ground near the tower fence line that we can temporarily connect to the antenna of our choice. Rich N3RBJ has a multi-band vertical stick antenna which he plans to bring on Thursday so we can use the HF radios for Radio Night. That gets us on the air for the moment. At this point our choices are as follows: 1. Inform the county of the need for a new antenna and see if they have funding to replace it. 2. The club could purchase a new antenna and donate it to the county. 3. Build a home brew antenna for use at the EMA building. If we want the county to purchase one, or if we decide to purchase it ourselves, we will need to know what we want. So we need to come up with a decision on this rather quickly. The alternative is to build one home-brew style. I have a home-brewed 20 meter dipole which I can bring on Thursday as a show and tell. Building one like this as a multi-band fan dipole would be an easy project and would cost us about $20 to $30. So lots to think about. The Radio Night is this week, Thursday the 13th at 7 PM. Last month we had a lot of fun getting acquainted with the digital mode FT8 on HF. I'd expect that this month we can actually make some contacts with the mode. Hoping to see a good crew there again. The business meeting will be on Thursday March 27th and we'll need to come to a decision at that point. Thank you to Allen K3HOC who made sure the tower crew inspected the antenna while on the tower. And thank you to Rich N3RBJ who has offered the temporary use of his vertical multi-band antenna. John N3SPW -- John Szwarc Cell Phone: (814) 553-5649
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SET -Saturday April 5
Everyone, On Saturday April 5th the Eastern PA ARES, Western PA ARES and the Pennsylvania American Red Cross will jointly be conducting by a Simulated Emergency Test, or SET, from 10 am to noon local time. Attached to this email is a PowerPoint document that was distributed to all ARES Emergency Coordinators and Red Cross EmComm Team leaders which gives an overview of what is planned. Further information will be made available on a schedule outlined in the PowerPoint. Here in Clearfield County we have the opportunity to participate in this SET and contribute to the overall success of the exercise. The exercise is designed for amateur radio and Red Cross Emergency Service operators, but I see no reason why we couldn¡¯t add GMRS operators to our local operations. If you are interested in participating please reach out to me so we can assemble a team. I¡¯ll build a list and let you know as plans become more detailed. Thank you, John N3SPW 814-553-5649
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net report
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net log for March 11th. n3spw John k3pj Phil kc3khv Dave kc3zuf Josiah k5tel Tim k3dml Dana From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Richard Brnik via groups.io Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2025 9:17 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [W3CPA] HF Antenna at Clearfield EMA Building Sorry, I missed the net this week, does anyone have a list of who checked in this week? I have a list from day one and would like to keep in going. Rich On Tue, Mar 11, 2025 at 12:17 PM Lasse kb3wbt via groups.io <kvantlars@...> wrote: Kb3wbt again, after looking at reviews as Ed said, we might have to keep looking, but concept is good On Tue, Mar 11, 2025, 11:51 Tim Leet via groups.io <teleet@...> wrote: Sounds like it would work for what we¡¯re wanting to do On Mar 11, 2025, at 9:38 AM, John Szwarc via groups.io <johnszwarc@...> wrote: ?Does anyone have any thoughts on this antenna? dxengineering.com <inline.0.part> This would give us the 80/40/20/15/10 meter bands. Are there other antennas we should consider? 814-553-5649 On Mar 11, 2025, at 6:19 AM, John Szwarc via groups.io <johnszwarc@...> wrote: ? Good morning, Mike, thank you for your input. It's appreciated. Everyone, After sending that first email on this topic, Allen K3HOC had a conversation with Scott, our EMA Director, and he wants to know sooner rather than later what it will cost for a new antenna. So we really have a day or so to decide what it is we want and get that information to Scott. He didn't say the county would purchase it, but he wants the info ASAP. I suspect it's a matter of costs. In the commercial world antennas cost thousands of dollars. In the amateur radio world you can get a really high end HF antenna for about $1,000 or less. A decently performing amateur antenna can be had for a couple hundred dollars or less. It's a different scale. So I suspect that if this antenna is a couple hundred dollars or less he's probably going to green light a purchase. Just my guess. But we need to get information to him about what it will cost soon. It's not going to wait until the next meeting. So I believe what we're looking for is a RESONANT multi-band antenna that can easily be installed for not a lot of money. By resonant, I mean one that can be used without an antenna tuner. Something like a fan dipole or trap dipole antenna but not a G5RV. The G5RV requires the use of an antenna tuner. With that said, what specific antennas can anyone point us to for consideration? Thank you. John On Mon, Mar 10, 2025 at 6:24 PM wb3eqw12 via groups.io <wb3eqw12@...> wrote: Hi John. I sent my antenna thoughts to you by text message. Sorry I will miss our meeting Thursday. Mike Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone -------- Original message -------- From: "John Szwarc via groups.io" <johnszwarc@...> Date: 3/10/25 12:30 PM (GMT-05:00) To: [email protected] Subject: [W3CPA] HF Antenna at Clearfield EMA Building Everyone, This morning a tower crew was on the tower at the Clearfield EMA building and, while doing other maintenance, they took a peak at the non-functional HF dipole inverted V antenna. What they found was a center balun that was in really rough shape. Clearly it's not going to work. As a result they brought the dipole down awaiting further instructions. This antenna is owned by the Clearfield County EMA. Back in 2019 a MFJ G5RV antenna was purchased as a replacement by the county. The selection of a G5RV antenna was made by the then CCARC President Gary W3CUB. For those not familiar with the G5RV antenna, it is a non-resonant antenna and requires the use of an antenna tuner. The staff at the time from Centre Communications felt this antenna was the wrong type for the tower installation. As a result this antenna was never installed and has since been lost. To facilitate operations at the EMA Allen K3HOC is leaving a coax on the ground near the tower fence line that we can temporarily connect to the antenna of our choice. Rich N3RBJ has a multi-band vertical stick antenna which he plans to bring on Thursday so we can use the HF radios for Radio Night. That gets us on t
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Tech Class via Zoom in March and May
Centre and Clearfield County Amateur Radio Operators: FYI ---------- Forwarded message --------- In case you know anyone interested in preparing for their Ham radio Technician license test¡ Please share as appropriate Ed/KC3NAF Here is the information on the Tech Course: LICENSING CLASS 03/12/2025 Start/End Dates: 03/12/2025 - 04/30/2025 Times: 6:30 PM # of Sessions: 8 Class level: Technician Morse code offered: No Pre register required: No Fee: 0 Pre Study required: No Class Type: Online or Hybrid Exam offered: Yes Sponsoring Club/Organization: Somerset Amateur Radio Club Instructor: KR3L Contact: Scott Allison KR3L Phone: (603) 259-1822 Email: kr3l.scott@... Location: Somerset County Library 6022 Glades Pike Room 120 Somerset, PA 15501 Additional Information: Class will be held in person and on-line every Wednesday night for 8 sessions. The exam will be administered at the end of the course. Scott KR3L -- Carmine W. Prestia, Jr., K3CWP ARES EC Centre County Alpha Fire Company Firemen's Relief Association of State College Senior Magisterial District Judge State College, PA (he/him/his)
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NWS Weather Station Active
Centre County Amateur Radio Operators Radio station WX3CTP is operating today to receive severe weather reports. Listen for WX3CTP to call for reports periodically on various repeaters. -- Carmine W. Prestia, Jr., K3CWP ARES EC Centre County Alpha Fire Company Firemen's Relief Association of State College Senior Magisterial District Judge State College, PA (he/him/his)
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Everyone, Congratulations is in order for all of us! If you read below you¡¯ll see a forwarded message from the ARRL informing us that our application for the Special Service Club designation has been approved. So it¡¯s official now! The Special Service Club designation is really a recognition that we are doing everything we need to do in promoting our club and providing a welcoming environment for anyone wishing to learn about amateur radio. It¡¯s a good feather to have in our cap as we move forward knowing that we have the support of the ARRL behind us. Its awesome to be associated with an active group like we have built. But there¡¯s more we can do. On the horizon are more group projects and opportunities for personal and organizational growth. There¡¯s no stopping us now! Thank you and 73, John N3SPW 814-553-5649 Begin forwarded message: From: Tim Lumadue <tlumadue176@...> Date: March 5, 2025 at 10:31:38 AM EST To: John Szwarc <johnszwarc@...> Subject: Fwd: New SSC application for Clearfield County Amateur Radio Club W3CPA Approved! ? ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Adams, Leona, W1LGA <ladams@...> Date: Wed, Mar 5, 2025 at 10:30 Subject: New SSC application for Clearfield County Amateur Radio Club W3CPA Approved! To: tlumadue176@... <tlumadue176@...> Hello Tim: Congratulations! The SSC status for the NEW Clearfield County Amateur Radio Club, W3CPA has been approved. The SSC renewal certificate for Clearfield County Amateur Radio Club, W3CPA has been posted to the club page on our ARRL website. Thank you for your support to ARRL and Amateur Radio. Sincerely, Leona G. Adams, W1LGA Field Services Assistant ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio? 860-594-0341 Ladams@...
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Central Pennsylvania Weather Briefing
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Looks like Clearfield County is in for some severe thunderstorms starting tomorrow afternoon. Stay vigilant and watch for flash flooding. 814-553-5649 Begin forwarded message: From: NWS State College <ctp.stormreports@...> Date: March 4, 2025 at 7:08:41 AM EST To: undisclosed-recipients:; Subject: Central Pennsylvania Weather Briefing ? NWS Partners - Severe thunderstorms are possible across much of central Pennsylvania on Wednesday, mainly in the afternoon and evening hours. Heavy rainfall associated with thunderstorms across eastern Pennsylvania, coupled with snow melt could lead to localized flooding concerns Wednesday evening. Initial Briefing. For more information, see attached briefing or view it online at https://www.weather.gov/media/ctp/Briefing/briefing.pdf. You can also find additional weather information at https://www.weather.gov/ctp/briefing or https://www.weather.gov/ctp/selfbrief. Estimated Time of Next Update: 6pm Tuesday (03/04/2025) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Immediate Questions? Call us at 814-954-6440. [Use Option 9]. We can also be reached 24/7 on NWSChat. -NWS State College-- Central Pennsylvania Weather Forecast Office 328 Innovation Blvd, Suite 330 | State College, PA 16803 weather.gov/ctp
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Contest Calendar Link
Contestesting HF Contest Link above. Shack W3PRL
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Special Services Club Status
Everyone, Moments ago I received a call from Cory Sickles, WA3UVV. Cory is the Western PA Section Affiliated Club Coordinator for the American Radio Relay League. Cory stated that the Special Services Club application we had submitted has been approved at the Section level and is being forwarded to the ARRL Atlantic Division Director for his approval. It's not a formal approval yet, but at this point there's very little chance it won't become official sometime next week. Thank you and 73. John N3SPW -- John Szwarc Cell Phone: (814) 553-5649
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NOAA/NWS Layoffs coming
Carmine K3CWP is the bearer of some bad news regarding the National Weather Service. See below about layoffs..... ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Carmine Prestia <carmine.prestia@...> Date: Fri, Feb 28, 2025 at 4:46 PM Subject: NOAA/NWS Layoffs coming To: [email protected] Group Moderators <[email protected]> Centre County Amateur Radio Operators: Layoffs pushed for NOAA/NWS: https://www.axios.com/2025/02/27/layoffs-hit-noaa-national-weather-service This would affect public safety. -- Carmine W. Prestia, Jr., K3CWP ARES EC Centre County Alpha Fire Company Firemen's Relief Association of State College Senior Magisterial District Judge State College, PA (he/him/his) -- John Szwarc Cell Phone: (814) 553-5649
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CCARC Meeting Tonight
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Good morning everyone! A final reminder about the Clearfield County Amateur Radio Club meeting tonight. 7 PM at the Clearfield Emergency Management Agency building. 911 Leonard Street, Clearfield. We have several projects in the works right now. Lots to talk discuss. Please plan to attend. Thank you. John N3SPW-- John Szwarc Cell Phone: (814) 553-5649
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Sat 8:39am
Sat 8:39am