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Rather than write my own analysis I am forwarding the latest outlook for local government from the forecasters at NWS/HGX. Updates will be provided if the forecast picture changes. Jim Robinson, W5ZY Bottom Line A strong cold front will push into Southeast Texas on Sunday ushering in much colder temperatures that will last well into next week. A few strong to severe storms are possible ahead of and along the boundary of the cold front on Sunday. What Has Changed Since Previous Email? There is a slight risk of severe weather north of I-10 and east of I-45 on Sunday with a marginal risk elsewhere. Forecast remains on track for much colder temperatures throughout next week. Overview As a strong cold front approaches Southeast Texas on Sunday, scattered showers and thunderstorms will be possible ahead of and along its boundary. A few of these storms could become strong to severe in the morning to afternoon hours, especially north of I-10 and east of I-45. The Storm Prediction Center has outlined this area in a slight risk of severe weather (level 2 out of 5). A marginal risk of severe weather (level 1 out of 5) exists elsewhere. The main hazards will be damaging winds and brief tornadoes. Behind the cold front, much colder air filters into Southeast Texas with low temperatures at or below freezing possible as early as Sunday night and well into next week. This includes the potential for multiple nights of below-freezing temperatures in portions of Southeast Texas deep into next week, but temperatures will rise above freezing during the daytime hours mainly into the 40s. The low end of the low temperature range looks to fall between the mid 20s to low 30s. There remains quite a bit of uncertainty on the potential for wintry precipitation around the middle of next week as it all depends on how far northward a coastal system in the western Gulf moves. While the probabilities for wintry precipitation on Wednesday/Thursday are low, they are not zero, so be sure to stay up to date on the latest forecasts. Below are some probabilistic temperature outlooks that show the probabilities of below-freezing temperatures Sunday night through Wednesday night. The higher the probability, the higher our confidence for seeing below-freezing temperatures. Monday night and Tuesday night have the greatest potential for widespread sub-freezing temperatures. A deterministic temperature outlook is also being included to show what we have in our current forecast (which has trended slightly cooler from yesterday's forecast). The bottom line is to prepare for an extended period of colder temperatures, some of which will include periods of below freezing temperatures. Probability of Below-Freezing Temperatures (Sunday Night) Probability of Below-Freezing Temperatures (Monday Night) Probability of Below-Freezing Temperatures (Tuesday Night) Probability of Below-Freezing Temperatures (Wednesday Night) Deterministic Temperature Outlook (Saturday-Thursday) Down below are some tips on how to prepare for the upcoming cold weather. Hazardous Marine Conditions In the wake of the front, moderate to strong northerly to northeasterly winds will prevail late Sunday into Monday morning with the potential for gale-force gusts in the Gulf waters and low waters in the bays during low tide. Mariners can expect a period of caution to advisory level conditions due to elevated winds and seas into next week. Seas may build to 7-10 feet in the Gulf waters Sunday into Monday as moderate to strong offshore flow prevails.
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Want to know what DMR is and how you can get Radio Active with it!
2
Back in September 2024, Jason/N2TXS and I set out to understand what DMR 'digital mobile radio' was and how we could get on the air using this mode. Linked below is a compilation of our learnings to becoming radio active with DMR. For those interested in learning more or considering venturing into using this radio mode - please reach out to either Jason to myself. Thanks, Rick Link to presentation
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The CPC today again updated its long range outlook to insist that very cold weather is coming thanks to the expected southeasterly shift of the polar vortex. Their December 31 update graphic is attached and still gives our area a moderate risk for unusually cold winter weather during the January 8-14 period. Its interesting that the meteorologist for ERCOT was talking about this possibility over a month ago. The GFS model still isn't biting hard on extreme cold for southeast Texas but does give our area a dusting of snow in the 14-15 January period. For now, rather than speculate, I've simply attached the graphical GPS run centered on Huntsville which covers the period in question. I will produce updates as the situation dictates but possibly not until we see better model agreement for what really to expect in southeast Texas. In the meantime, the best advice is simply to prepare for cold weather and remember the 4 Ps: Pets, Plants, Pipes, People. Jim Robinson, W5ZYX Jim Robinson, W5ZYX Get BlueMail for Desktop
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Net Tonight
3
The net tonight was outstanding. Laura with her soothing, welcoming voice and Russ with his lively and humorous patter made a great team. At times I thought I was listening to News at 10 on one of the Houston TV channels. The review of the year was especially good, and I hope these two will agree to do the year-end net next year. A tradition is born! The number of activities was amazing, and that is the main reason we continue to grow with a growing regional reputation. Keep it up everyone. Get Radioactive!! Lee KV5M
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While considerable variability exists this evening among the major models, all indications point toward polar air spilling down and bringing very cold weather to much of the central and eastern United States. The Climate Prediction Center (CPC) is predicting that effects will extend as far south as our area in Southeast Texas. It may be several days before the models come into better agreement. As of this evening, only ECMWF and the Canadian GEM are forecasting snow in Southeast Texas with CPC indicating a slight risk for the January 7-9 period. The ECMWF forecast currently paints up to .4 inch accumulation in parts of Southeast Texas on the 8th and 9th. The best current advice is to prepare for cold weather with temperatures possibly falling into the teens on some days (still very significant model disagreement on how cold it will get and several models presently don't get nearly this cold). See the CPC advisory message below. Their graphic is attached. Jim Robinson, W5ZYX Key Messages from the NOAA Climate Prediction Center Issued December 30, 2024 Significant Arctic Outbreak to Expand Across Much of the Central and Eastern US (a) A significant pattern change is expected across much of the country as an Arctic Outbreak is forecast to spread from the Northern Plains to the south and east, leading to exceptionally high probabilities of below-normal temperatures expected across much of the East. (b) The coldest air of the season to date and dangerous wind chills are likely across many areas of the Southeast. Below freezing temperatures are possible as far south as the Gulf Coast and much of the Florida Peninsula. Impacts to highly sensitive citrus crops are possible. (c) Frozen precipitation is possible across the parts of the Southern Plains and Southeast with the potential for heavy snow extending northward to include much of Appalachians, Ohio Valley, Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, and Northeast, potentially leading to significant travel disruptions. Additionally, heavy Lake Effect snow is likely to enhance totals for areas downwind of the Great Lakes as the Arctic Air pushes south across partially unfrozen waters. Please review the NWS Winter Preparedness Checklist at https://www.weather.gov/media/arx/winter/WinterPrepare.pdf
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MARS Mod - FT-991a - completed
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One youtube video, screwdriver, magnifying headset w/ light, soldering iron, one jumper and 40 minutes - done. Complements my mod¡¯ed FT-710. Now I can participate in SHARES and MARS on both rigs. Note: Reportedly, the FT-991a VHF/UHF Tx can be temporarily unlocked by entering three finger service menu mode, with tx power limited to a usable 10 watts. I¡¯ve not personally tested. /Rick
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Event: WCARG Breakfast - Saturday, December 28, 2024
#cal-reminder
Reminder: WCARG Breakfast When: Saturday, December 28, 2024 9:00am to 10:00am (UTC-06:00) America/Chicago Where: Denny's, 3016 11th St, Huntsville, TX 77340 Organizer: WCARG [email protected] View Event Description: Walker County Amateur Radio Group Breakfast. Anyone interested in ham radio, whether licensed or not, is invited.
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Modulator December - 2024
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Here is a newsletter from my buddy¡¯s club in East Tennessee. Lee KV5M Begin forwarded message: From: Big South Fork Amateur Radio Club <w4bsf@...> Subject: Modulator December - 2024 Date: December 20, 2024 at 11:37:17 AM CST To: Lee Murrah <mlmurrah@...> Reply-To: Big South Fork Amateur Radio Club <w4bsf@...> View this in your browser. Volume 32 Number 12- December 2024The ModulatorNewsletter and happenings of the Big South Fork Amateur Radio Club. ¿ªÔÆÌåÓý the Big South Fork Region since 1992.If you enjoy reading our publication, be sure to open it fully or you will be automatically dropped from our mailing list in 6 months. Merry Christmas!GET ON THE AIR!! Interested in emergency communications? We have team in Fentress, Morgan and Scott counties looking for volunteers. ARES Are you a YL (Young Lady) looking for your very own net? Look no further we have one for you! If your OM is licensed, he can be your control operator for you to get on the air with us. Next NET is Tuesday November 8th at 7pm EDT. YL NET ARRL has announced free membership for full-time students aged 21 and younger. ARRL Membership Club Bi-Monthly MeetingJanuary 9, 2025Our next club meeting will be held on January 9th - 2025 at 7:00pm Eastern at Roane State Community College in Hunstville TN. This will be our bi-monthly business meeting plus a meet & greet. We always meet the 2nd Thursday of each month. Our agenda will include yearly planning of special events and training sessions.Bi-Monthly Training Session(Open to everyone in our communities)February 13, 2025 February 13, 2025Free Class 6:00pm to 8:00PMRoane State Community College410 W.H. Swain BoulevardHuntsville, TN 37756NWS encourages anyone with an interest in public service to join the SKYWARN? program. Volunteers include police and fire personnel, dispatchers, EMS workers, public utility workers and other concerned private citizens. Individuals affiliated with hospitals, schools, churches and nursing homes or who have a responsibility for protecting others are encouraged to become a spotter. As a amateur radio operator we play a special role in providing real time communications. Training is free and typically lasts about 2 hours. You'll learn: Basics of thunderstorm development Fundamentals of storm structure Identifying potential severe weather features Information to report How to report information Basic severe weather safetyPlease register directly with the NWS as BSFARC is only hosting/promoting the class as a public service to our community. NWS Class Website (External Link)Winlink, or formally, Winlink Global Radio Email(registered US Service Mark), also known as the Winlink 2000 Network, is a worldwide radio messaging system that uses amateur-band radio frequencies and government frequencies to provide radio interconnection services that include email with attachments, position reporting, weather bulletins, emergency and relief communications, and message relay. The system is built and administered by volunteers and is financially supported by the Amateur Radio Safety Foundation. Let us know at the January meeting if you are interested in a hands-on Winlink class.Meeting MinutesIf you did NOT receive the meeting minutes for the last meeting you may have been dropped from the club roster. Our member only portal password has also been changed. Contact Kelly KI4JAV (KI4JAV at gmail.com) to check on your membership status. Our dues are still only $10.00 per year for the first person in your household! We are searching for a volunteer for the Morgan County ARES EC position. Must be at least a technician level and have an interest in emergency communications. We can help with the training!The club is also looking for another Extra Class license holder to join our VE team to help us administer licensing exams through the ARRL program.Previous copies of 'The Modulator' are now on our web site. You can also subscribe to the newsletter there too. MODULATOR NEWSLETTER ARCHIVESState QSO PartiesA State QSO Party is a contest where you try to work as many stations as possible in a specific state
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Amature Extra Classs
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Subject: Please publicize Free Extra Class Course on Zoom starting Thursday, January 16, 2025 If you or anyone you know is interested in attending an Amateur Extra Class licensing course, please pass along the following information, and feel free to publicize it with your radio club or any group you feel would benefit. A free, weekly, live, Amateur Radio Extra Class Licensing course on Zoom will begin on Thursday, January 16, 2025, and will run through Thursday, March 27. There will be 11 sessions. The three-hour sessions will start at 6:30 PM Eastern Time. Sessions will be recorded. Those attending should hold (or be studying for) the General Class Amateur Radio License. These are the classes that we have been holding for years sponsored by the National Electronics Museum. Please publicize this with anyone that you think would be interested. Those wishing to sign up should email roland.anders@.... Thanks. 73, Rol Anders, K3RA Catch you on the air, Jason Hampton -Freedom Isn't Free 830-992-1334 https://www.qrz.com/db/n2txs Texas Patriots Room: Wires-X 60755 or YSF 60755 Sent from an Android mobile device. Please excuse brevity and disregard any spelling or grammatical errors. -- Catch you on the air, Jason Hampton *Freedom Isn't Free N2TXS, WXCT237
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Looking for wooden or plastic pallets
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I am seeking 6 wooden or plastic pallets to use to store stuff on in my backyard. Don¡¯t need new but in fair to good condition. Free would be great but we¡¯ll chat about costs. Thanks, Paul KE5ZW 512-940-0441 ¡°Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts¡± Sir Winston Churchill, 1940 during the Battle For Britain... Sent via tin can & strings
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MERCURY IIIS Linear Amplifier
If you have been considering power amplifier for your HF station, the 1200 watt Mercury IIIs is about the best bang for your buck. It is expensive¡ª$2799¡ªbut most are much higher. The price increases at the beginning of the year to 3094. Sign up now for the best price. It gets great reviews; my buddy in East Tennessee has one and loves it. The only downside is that you have to wait a long time for one unless you can find a rare used on for sale. The manufacture rate is very low, and you have to get in line and wait up to a year to get one. Sign up here: https://www.km3km.com/mercuryiiis-fully-assembled/ When they get to your position in line, they will ask for a $1200 deposit, but you can change you mind at that point. If you accept, you pay the remainder before shipment. Lee KV5M
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Comet Item
2
I heard about the comet HFJ-350M Toy Box at the auction. Any thoughts on this? Sounds like it could be fun to play with
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Now: WCARG Meeting - Saturday, December 14, 2024
#cal-notice
WCARG Meeting When: Saturday, December 14, 2024 9:00am to 10:30am (UTC-06:00) America/Chicago Where: Walker County Storm Sherlter, 445 TX-75 Huntsville, TX GPS: 30.73614, -95.58279 Organizer: WCARG [email protected] View Event Description: Monthly meeting of the Walker County Amateur Radio Group followed by amateur radio license testing
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Team, For any of you who travel around the Gulf Coast, a fellow ham told me about this linked repeater system. They have coverage from Corpus Christi through Beaumont! https://crhrc.org/ All their linked repeaters are listed, with offsets and PL tones. Catch you on the air, Jason Hampton -Freedom Isn't Free 830-992-1334 https://www.qrz.com/db/n2txs Texas Patriots Room: Wires-X 60755 or YSF 60755 Sent from an Android mobile device. Please excuse brevity and disregard any spelling or grammatical errors. -- Catch you on the air, Jason Hampton *Freedom Isn't Free N2TXS, WXCT237
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Completing work on an MFJ-1118 I pickup up for cheap at the Crockett swap-meet. Validated correct fuses in-place (internal) and solder work integrity. Added a cheap droking.com DC current and voltmeter, which happened to snap-in above the stock panel mounted voltmeter. Photo shown with my new FT-991A attached on an idle current draw, and an old 10 Ah battery I had laying around (pending Santa dropping a field-usable battery).
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In case anyone is interested. Catch you on the air, Jason Hampton -Freedom Isn't Free 830-992-1334 https://www.qrz.com/db/n2txs Texas Patriots Room: Wires-X 60755 or YSF 60755 Sent from an Android mobile device. Please excuse brevity and disregard any spelling or grammatical errors. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Alton tschirhart <altschirhart@...> Date: Tue, Dec 10, 2024, 16:15 Subject: Amplifier antenna relay To: Wk5r Circuit Boards <wk5r@...>, Kerstan Moran <kerstan.moran@...>, kb5mxo@... <kb5mxo@...>, steven@... <steven@...>, Dan Cox <k8wozdan@...>, W5HHW Henry Wilkins <mhwilkins719@...>, Alex Smith <zubadad@...>, Jason Hampton (N2TXS) <im.n2txs@...>, Justin Mann <w9fyi@...>, Geoff <ars.w5omr@...>, auriga1usa@... <auriga1usa@...>, kk5drmatt@... <kk5drmatt@...>, jack@... <jack@...>, sammypiraino@... <sammypiraino@...>, gruwell@... <gruwell@...>, Wes Harris <wesloco63@...>, Larry Hebert <ke5rq@...>, kd5u@... <kd5u@...>, k5ax@... <k5ax@...>, n5yer@... <n5yer@...> I found this/these relays on Ebay for $.99 each. They are 110VDC coil and 20A contact rating. My Heathkit amplifier relay coil opened up and I just happen to have 5 of these on hand. It took a little modification to get what I show on the pixs but it sure came out being a perfect replacement I removed the common relay contact wire from the base of the relay and stripped the leads where they were bare and ran them to the back of the relay so they would connect to the RF input and RF output connections like the original configuration of the Heathkit. The wires are super flexible and gives you shortest connections to RF circuitry. I will probably order about 10 of these to keep on hand for future use like this. 73s Motorman Al -- Catch you on the air, Jason Hampton *Freedom Isn't Free N2TXS, WXCT237
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FT-991A front end failure
3
Relaying the following from Groups.io FT-991A forum. Thread summarized below by WA1RKT after contacting Yaesu. ...And to think I just bought an FT-991A for upcoming field day use and have it setting next my FT-710 in the shack. I'll have to rethink my decision, or task the FT-991A to VHF/UHF when operating near active HF rigs. /Rick From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Rick Poole WA1RKT via groups.io <wa1rkt@...> Sent: Monday, December 9, 2024 14:30 To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [FT-991A] FT-991A front end failure Received an email from Yaesu this afternoon... to paraphrase: 1. Yes, operating other HF radios in close proximity to the FT-991 or FT-911A will likely blow those resistors. 2. No, there is no operational mode (e.g. AMP1) that will provide any protection against (1). 3. There are no Yaesu-approved mods to guard against (1), i.e. attempting any such mods will void the warranty. 4. The only recommended mitigation is to disconnect the antenna from the HF connector when transmitting with another HF transmitter. (I assume turning off the power to the radio will also protect it but he didn't say and I didn't ask.) In other words, if you want to use this radio in a multi-transmitter environment, you're SOL especially in the cast that you have no control over when the other rigs transmit (e.g. field day). The Yaesu rep recommends the FT-710 as having a "more robust front end", but of course you sacrifice 2M/440 capability. If I could use that I may as well buy another IC-7300, of which I have one and it has been solid with no issues. So, there it is, from the horse's mouth. Rick WA1RKT
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File /Jason Hampton/Coax Presentation 2024.pdf uploaded
#file-notice
The following items have been added to the Files area of the [email protected] group. /Jason Hampton/Coax Presentation 2024.pdf By: Jason N2TXS Hampton <im.n2txs@...> Description: ABR 2024 Coax Presentation
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Event: WCARG Breakfast - Saturday, November 30, 2024
#cal-reminder
Reminder: WCARG Breakfast When: Saturday, November 30, 2024 9:00am to 10:00am (UTC-06:00) America/Chicago Where: Denny's, 3016 11th St, Huntsville, TX 77340 Organizer: WCARG [email protected] View Event Description: Walker County Amateur Radio Group weekly breakfast. Anyone interested in ham radio, whether licensed or not, is invited.
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Sat 8:39am
Sat 8:39am