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2018 BAARC Field Day Results

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W0UJ's Contest Summary Report for ARRL-FIELD-DAY
Created by N3FJP's ARRL Field Day Contest Log
Version 5.8  www.n3fjp.com

Total Contacts = 287
Total Points = 452

Operating Period: 2018/06/23 19:30 - 2018/06/24 12:55

Total Contacts by Band and Mode:

Band   CW Phone Dig Total %
----   -- ----- --- ----- ---
  80    0     0   5     5   2
  40   27     2  28    57  20
  20   71   112  22   205  71
  15   12     1   0    13   5
   2    0     6   0     6   2
  70    0     1   0     1   0
----   -- ----- --- ----- ---
Total 110   122  55   287 100

Total Contacts by Operator:

Operator Total   %
-------- ----- ---
AD0HJ      114  40
K0LFV       69  24
K0GOP       55  19
KC0NAF      30  10
W0NY        14   5
KE0RUG       4   1
KE0AFZ       1   0

Total = 7

2018 Field Day Form Page 1
2018 Field Day Form Page 2
2017 Field Day Contact Map

Forestview Middle School Balloon Launch SUCCESS!

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On May 16th, 2018 Jim Reed and Cory Olson, Forestview Middle School teachers, finally were able to get a flight path prediction for their long awaited balloon launch. They selected a small ball field in Cushing, MN as launch site and as it turned out, it was the perfect site to use. The balloon was a 3000 gram balloon, which means it was bigger than the other balloons they launched, usually 1200 grams.

The balloon launched at 4:50 PM and headed southeast as expected. The balloon burst at 6:19 PM at an altitude of 111,003 ft. We started tracking as soon as it was launched, but did not hurry as everyone was tracking it either by APRS or an APRS app on their smart phones. Jim and Cory positioned us near where it looked like it would land and they were not far off.

Ron, KØGOP was on the 147.225 repeater assisting with tracking information on aprs.fi. As it turned out, it landed in an open farmers field near Lastrup, MN. The home owner, an elderly lady, was sure surprised when she saw 8 or 10 cars coming up her driveway. One of her sons was still there so he helped recover the balloon with his ATV.

The other coincidence was that one of her daughters is also the Managing Editor of the Morrison Co Record. She arrived in a little while and Jim, Cory and the HAB club will get some well deserved publicity from the Record.

All in all it turned out be be a very good flight. This makes 100% recovery for the club.

73′ Al Doree WØRC

Attached is an APRS map showing the balloon flight in RED and the tracking crew path in GREEN.

JANUARY 2018 BAARC SECRETARY’S REPORT

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THURSDAY-JANUARY 25, 2018 – 4:00 PM – BAARC BOARD MEETING MINUTES – BRAINERD FIRE STATION

President: Steve Mott NØCRM
Vice President: John Luce WØWY
Treasurer: Doug Bergsnev WØDWB
Secretary: Ron Finger KØGOP
Past Presidents: Charles Lane W5CCL, Al Doree WØRC
Director At Large: Lyle Amundson KØLFV
Director of Emergency Communications: Dave Schuldheisz KØISZ
Repeater Trustee: Mitch Ahrenstorff ADØHJ
Community & Special Events Coordinator: TBD

Attendees: Steve NØCRM, John WØWY, Ron KØGOP, Lyle KØLFV, Al WØRC, Shirley KØDCW, and Mitch ADØHJ. The President opened the Board Meeting at 4 PM.

Secretary’s Report: 

  • Membership roster: adjusted for lapsed “Complimentary New Ham” memberships, 65 members with 29 unpaid for 2018. The Club roster can be found on the Club website under the“Resources/Members Only”  Current paid members can request an individual password for access via the “Contact Us” form.
  • Minutes: The November 2017 meeting minutes were posted to the“Club Blog” area. There were no business meetings for December.
  • Correspondence: 2017 lapsed renewal reminders sent on 12/14/17.
  • Documents: Updated Club membership roster and Gmail contacts database.
    • Need description of Community & Special Events Coordinator Will draft and submit to Board for input.
  • Membership ID’s: Will develop 1-year “Complimentary Membership” card for new Hams.
  • Motion to accept: Al WØRC, SecondJohn WØWY,  

Treasurer’s Report: The President presented the Treasurer’s report that was forwarded to the board showing all month’s account transactions and balances to date. Noted was a new $50K annual limit on proceeds generated by non-profit entities like our Club.

  • Motion to accept: John WØWY, SecondAl WØRC, Passed

Membership Meeting Programs: The President reviewed recent and future Club programs and events. A possibility for the February meeting was discussed: a half-hour program on the new CWC EOC, with tours of the 911 Center to follow. John will follow up on this with John Bowen.

Upcoming Events: 

Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza

  • January 27, 2018
  • http://icefishing.org/
  • John WØWY to coordinate with Lt Scott Goddard and John Bowen for CWC Sherriff trailer use
  • Event coordinator Mark KE0LFQ requested a couple more operators.

Mid Minnesota 150 Sled Dog Race

  • February 10, 2018
  • https://www.facebook.com/midminnesota150/
  • Al and Shirley will coordinate this event.
  • John WØWY will request the use of the CWC comms trailer.
  • Steve NØCRM will do the time logs and Ron KØGOP will do the maps.

CQ WPX SSB Contest March 24-25, 2018

BAARC Hamfest April 7, 2018

  • $400.00 usage fee for Brainerd Armory
  • Plus extra janitor fee? Was waived in past.

Digital & Emergency Communications: 

ARES UPDATE: 1/25:

  • 8 counties in the district, we show best participation of the 8 counties.
  • 8th of January we got an email stating we can sign up for a new program: “ARES Connect”: HUB….
  • Registration of the club, unique number and members can use call sign as unique ID.
  • Basic level
  • Level 2 complete ICS 100, ICS 200 training about Homeland Security and the Incident Command System.
  • Level 3 adds ICS 300 and 400 as a leadership courses (3-day courses)
  • John will bring more information to the Club after we have been registered.

Old Business: 

New Club Storage container

  • Nameplate by Tom KTØMMY with key holder info is complete and installed.
  • Inventory of Club Safety Vests is now stored there.

Webserver

  • Move Website Server computer into the new rack at Crosby.
  • Nick has a newer bigger better server… Hard Drives, (Nick/Lyle)

Club Remote Station

  • Pat WØOPW is working on a fan dipole for 80m, 40m, 20m.
  • Will need to mount and test the antenna at the high-rise when completed.

Repeater Sites:

  • Gull Lake:
    • Cabinet install completed, Ethernet needs activation-will contact Jason Atwater at CTC.
    • LMR 400 vs. Heliax was discussed – TBD.
    • Connect digital WIRES-X to UHF side 444.925 MHz.
    • Add analog / APRS / Digipeter?
  • Crosby:
    • Second new cabinet at Crosby (target….$) At some point in time it would be nice to have that cabinet purchased.
  • Crow Wing Power:
    • Install 3rd common Rackmount linking computer/controller/
    • When can we get this completed? Mitch has it at his house was delayed by the Gull Lake tower site work.
  • Cross Lake:
    • No new items.
  • High-rise Site:
    • No new items.

Repeater Equipment and linking :

  • Due to the firmware that is running on the Wires-X machines, we have hit a limitation with the processing power of the Latte Panda PC’s.
    • LattePanda Ebay auctions are in place (Mitch listing these for Club)
    • Minimum bids and “buy now” prices have been set.
    • Staged, multiple listing Ebay sales.
  • Mitch has developed a procedure to standardize the audio levels of the System Fusion repeaters and will allow us to set them up all the same way. We need to plan that effort out after this Wires-X test has completed.
  • We have tested a different processor including a common rack-mount PC/Wires-X system that can be replicated at each of the repeater sites and supports our common goal to have common equipment across our systems.
  • A replacement computer provided by Lyle still has the same issues
    • The Newer rack mount system PC’s (2 At Crosby are working)
    • Nick completed the third one for Crow Wing Power replacement.

Misc Items:

  • Provide a check to Crow Wing County Fairgrounds for $200? (Goodwill gesture; We held 3 events there this year (Field Day, Tailgate Hamfest, Trailer exercise/WW CQ event)
    • Will present at a Crow Wing County Fairground board meeting.

New Business:

  • Discussion regarding upgrade to DRX-2 systems.
    • The new model DR2-X cost would be either $300 or $500 depending upon what options we choose.
    • We do have a bad DR1 that came back from the Duluth club not working. We can send that one in for an upgrade.
    • Motion to upgrade a third DR1X, with a fourth upgrade to be made following the April Hamfest: Lyle KØLFV, SecondAl WØRC,  
  • Discussed option of selling 5 of the extra Motorola 750’s in the Club inventory.
  • These are like new, but do not have batteries.
  • Ron will repair the 5 extra chargers to go with these (missing cords and power plugs) and label with new code plug stickers.
  • Will offer to Club members at the January meeting for $30 each –
  • Al WØRC reported the Forestview High Altitude Balloon Class is getting ready to launch another balloon soon.

The Board Meeting was adjourned at 5:10 PM.

THURSDAY-JANUARY 25, 2018 – 7:00 PM – BAARC MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES – BRAINERD FIRE STATION

The President opened the Club membership business meeting at 7 PM with 33 members and guests present. Mitch ADØHJ started the evening with an overview of the Yaesu System Fusion DR-1X and DR-2X repeaters, the FTM-400DR and FTM-100DR mobile radios, and FT-70DR handheld radio.  Also shown was the custom Rackmount PC built by Nick WØNY for our repeater sites along with the neatly integrated Yaesu HRI-200 WIRES-X Interface.

–Respectfully submitted by Ron KØGOP, Secretary

Mid Minnesota 150 Dog Sled Race 2018

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The BAARC supported the Mid-MN Sled Dog Race on Saturday, February 10th, 2018, with fifteen radio operators. Net Control was located at the Village Inn in Outing, MN. We had nineteen Mushers and Sled Dog Teams; nine – six dog teams left Outing, MN at 11 AM, followed by ten – eight dog teams at 12 noon. We had radio operators at ten different checkpoints keeping track of the Mushers and their dog teams. Thank you to Bob K6RCO, Mitch ADØHJ, Alan AAØAS, Carlos NØOHX, Doug KØDWB, Ron KØGOP, John WØWY, Terry KIØFW, Leon KEØAFY, Becky KDØHBH, Jeff KDØHBI, Roger WRØG, Judi KØJLL, Shirley KØDCW and Al WØRC. Also, thank you to Steve NØCRM and Ron KØGOP for doing the maps and the spreadsheets. We had cool but nice weather and didn’t have any major mishaps or lost mushers.

Thank You also to the Crow Wing Co. Sheriff’s office for letting BAARC use their communications trailer.

73,s
Al WØRC & Shirley KØDCW

2018 Mid-MN 150 Dog Sled Race map