Category Events

At around 6:30 AM members of the VARC met at the  Burger King at exit 22.  The APRS team is responsible for installing APRS trackers in the sag-wagons that follow the last rider for each route.   After a quick breakfast the team went the Hahira skate park to install the equipment before the ride start at 8:00 AM.  The work was completed on time and the command center was setup and hams where dispatched to the various rest stops along the routes.

For the most part the day went very smooth but the great news is that no riders were hurt during any of  the four rides.   The weather worked out very well too.  There were not any of the tornadoes like those present in the area during the century bike ride this last spring.

The turn out from the ham community was very lite for the Honey Bee this year with only 6 hams present to work the ride and 1 visitor coming to their show support.  A big thanks to KC4VLJ, KD4VLG, KI4ROO, and KF4GTA for their work and support again.  A big thanks to KK4JJH for coming by to lend moral support.

Due to fewer and fewer hams making themselves available for events like the Honey Bee or Century Bike ride in the spring it has become very important to rely on technology such as APRS robots to complete tasks once done by human operators.  It must be said that if the current trend continues within the ham radio ranks it may become necessary for the VARC to consider ending support of these type of events.  So hams reading this post please make the effort and point to come out and show your support. Please also encourage other hams in our community to do likewise because your efforts really provide a big benefit to both ham radio and the our community.

Despite the the low turn out the Parks and Recreation leadership still recognized those who did by presenting each person with a nice Honey Bee bike ride shirt.   The event leadership once again strongly noted that the support the hams give is very much needed and that it is greatly appreciated by their organization.   It is their greatest wish that the area hams will have the desire to continue to do what they do best which is provide communications support that cell phones will never be able to do.

Thumbs up for Ham Radio!

On Saturday evening the VARC held its September club meeting. The meeting started with everyone present enjoying a meal and then a very informative session on the clubs progress for the year and upcoming events.  The club also gained three new members K4HVR, KK4LOC and KK4JJH.  The following is the agenda for items discussed at the meeting.

Valdosta Amateur Radio Club

Agenda for September 29, 2012 Club Meeting

Meeting Place – Airport Church of Christ Annex

Start meeting with finger foods/meal and fellowship – 6:30 PM

Start Meeting 7:00 PM

1. Club financial report
2. September Disaster Preparedness Month
3. October 6^th  Honey Festival Planning/support
4. October 20^th  Boy Scout  JOTA Planning/support
5. October 27^th  Moody Appreciation Day – Recruiting New Hams
6. New repeater room report – Complete by end of year!
7. Hamcram report and results for 2012
8. VARC community support projects report for 2012
9. Amateur Radio Exam Sessions Report for 2012
10. D-Star/Allstar/Ecohlink projects report for 2012
11. Online dues/donations payment – Complete by end of 2012
12. Lowndes County Emergency Management – Request
13.  Club Officers for 2013 – Nominating committee
14. VARC Projects for 2013:
    1.  Growth: Youth and Amateur Radio
    2. Development: learning and training sessions
    3. Design and Install Amateur Radio station at EOC
    4. Century and Honeybee bike rides and Field Day
    5.  Other Ideas presented from members

Other Comments – End of Meeting 8:15 PM – Thank you for your support – Time to Socialize

The club met this evening at Steak N Shake for fellowship and to enjoy food, ice cream or a cool drink on this very hot of a day.  The turn out was surprisingly good for the summer months as many are out of town traveling.  It was very nice to see two familiar faces -Gina W4GNA and Larry K3LB present to join in the fun.  At the meeting many ham radio topics were discussed which ranged from antennas, the latest Apple technology, updates from what the various other clubs are doing in the South Georgia and North Florida area etc.  One of the biggest topics discussed was the upcoming ham cram that will hopefully be scheduled for the end of August if a meeting place can be located.  So if anyone knows of anyone interested in becoming a ham to please contact him as soon as possible. Gina W4GNA who is from the Madison Florida area indicated that she would like to help the VARC with the their ham crams.  It was everyone’s opinion that if we want to see ham radio grow in the area then Hamcrams are going to be a important part of the effort.  Thank you to everyone who came to the meeting and to those who have been checking in to the VARC Monday night net.

Memorial Day started as an event to honor Union soldiers, who had died during the American Civil War. It was inspired by the way people in the Southern states honored their dead. After World War I, it was extended to include all men and women, who died in any war or military action.

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day. The current name for this day did not come into use until after World War II. Decoration Day and then Memorial Day used to be held on May 30, regardless of the day of the week, on which it fell. In 1968, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed as part of a move to use federal holidays to create three-day weekends. This meant that that, from 1971, Memorial Day holiday has been officially observed on the last Monday in May.

Many VARC members and area amateur radio operators have either served or are serving in one of the branches of the armed service.  Please join with them in the remembrance of those who served with their lives in the defense of our great nation through the display of the stars and strips. Most of all please continue to pray for our nation on this special day of observance…

On Saturday March 10th members of the VARC met at VSU for the Azalea Festival 5 K run.  The weather was cool and very pleasant for the event.  As usually members were positioned in order to provide synchronized timing for the run.  Members were placed at the 1 and 2 mile locations with a time keeper.  A radio transmission on the 146.760 repeater was sent at the exact time that the run started in order for the time keepers to set their stop watches.  As runners would pass the mile markers they could keep up with their time.  VARC members reported runners as they passed their station locations.

The first runner to the finish line was a young boy who said that he was about to be first because he was able to take the inside line and beat out two other runners.  Everyone made it back to the finish line with no injuries.  After the run many members went over to the festival to enjoy the food and fun.  Once again the Parks and Recreation leadership expressed their gratitude to VARC members for their continued support of  events like the 5 K and the bike rides.

Starting early at 6 AM VARC members met for a hearty breakfast before the 2012 Century Bike Ride.  The Valdosta/Lowndes Parks and Recreation usually puts on this event during the first weekend in March.  Several riders from all over the U.S. come to participate in one of the four routes.  The shorter routes are the 29 mile, 48 mile, and 77 mile.  The longest is of course is just over 100 miles.

VARC members support this yearly event by providing both voice communications and GPS tracking support.  Voice communications are carried out on one of the local repeaters. High tech GPS tracking is provided by APRS configured radios (radio-robots) that are temporary installed in the each of the routes “sag wagon” or the vehicle that follows behind the last rider.  Like some of their human counter parts these “radio-robots” can operate very dependably under various adverse conditions in order to carry out their mission.  A good part of this mission is to transmit GPS location data  to area digi-peaters as the sag wagon moves about. The GPS data is then funneled to a local iGATE station that is connected to the internet.  The data is then farther relayed via the web cloud to the www.APRS.fi website located in Finland.  Net control operators for the bike event can then view the GPS location data on a Google Earth interface which allows them to track the vehicle positions. They can also overlay real time weather information on the same map in order to support the riders and event personal with up to the minute weather data for the various routes.

Due to the severe weather present during this particular ride the weather information was highly important.  Safety of the rider is paramount for these type of events and the actions executed today by VARC members played a very vital role in its assurance.  As tornado watches, warnings, and other severe weather struck the bike route areas several mobile members and radio-robots along with control operators feverishly worked together to ensure voice and data information flowed to the correct locations and event leaders.  As a result of this heroic support effort of VARC team everyone made it through each route safely! The Parks and Recreation leadership once again expressed their appreciation to the VARC for its continued radio communications support and its dedication to the community at large.  Super work VARC team!

This evening the old times restaurant was just full of hams!  We not talk about the pork variety either…  Being the first Tuesday of the month it was time for hams to gather for the VARC club meeting.  Many said the food was great but the company was even better because everyone got to enjoy what they like most and that is ham radio!   The discussions centered around the up coming bike ride and run,  new repeater room project, D-Star project, upcoming hamcram, emergency communications and many other items that were found to be interesting to those present.   Recent members received their membership certificates, others became members and one ham in particular was honored.  Greg KI4Roo was honored for his work as the VARC net control.  Greg has done and excellent job and the members wanted to thank him.  Remember that the first Tuesday of March will be the next meeting.

On Saturday November the 12th the Thomasville Amateur Radio Club again held their annual fish fry in Thomasville.  Approximately 72 amateurs and their families gathered at the Morningside Methodist church annex to share in a fantastic meal and fellowship.  The TARC hosts this yearly event to honor our military veterans and invites the whole amateur radio community to come join them in this special time of the year.  The TARC also takes time to honor those of their group and their achievements.  This year several very young and newly licensed folks received awards.

Several from the Valdosta and surrounding areas attended and greatly enjoyed the fellowship with those that they speak to over the air but do not have a chance to see in person too often.  One reported that the Thomasville folks are very friendly, the food was super, and we have the chance to talk about amateur radio… what more can you ask for?

After the event was over this writer had a chance to interview TARC newsletter editor Buddy Peeples WD4CJI about what makes the TARC presently the leading amateur radio club in the region.  Buddy responded by saying its simple we are a family organization and we strive to involve not only individual amateurs but also their families especially the children.  The children are our future to be there to replace us as we grow older and to ensure the sustainability of the hobby.  Buddy also shared that the core members of the club are not only committed to the ham club itself but each and everyone of them are truly good close friends who love to be around each other even outside of normal club activities.

So it sounds like the simple recipe for a truly successful amateur radio organization is number one the family unit and number two taking the time to hang out with and look out after each other.  It sounds like the old saying “If you want friends then try being a friendly yourself” does have some relevance after all.

Make plans to attend the next TARC fish fry in November of 2012…

On a beautiful Saturday October the 8th amateurs from the VARC and the local area assisted the Valdosta / Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Department with the 2011 Honey Bee Festival Bike Ride by providing communications and GPS tracking support. Amateur radio voice communications were carried out via the 145.310 repeater in Nashville and the 147.075 repeater in Valdosta.  Both of  the VARC repeaters are still offline due to lightening damage from earlier in the year and are still awaiting funding so they could not be utilized for the event this time.

Packet data communications were carried out on Digi-repeaters operating on 144.390 MHz which were located in Adel and Valdosta.  These stations carried the GPS tracking data from the “Sag wagons” or route vehicle to the I-gate through to the internet.   Both the internet and cell phone technologies where heavily relied upon by both the participating amateurs and event sponsors since there are fewer eligible amateur radio operators available to support these types of events.

This year’s bike event based out of Hahira consisted of a 31, 63 and 103 mile ride.  The 103 mile ride goes far north as Enigma on Highway 82 and is the most grueling ride of the three courses.  The other two lesser courses can be just as challenging as described from the words provided by some of the riders.

Two from the area amateur radio community rode in the event this year.  Not only did one of them test their skills in physical endurance but actually finished route and came back conduct communications support.  Now that is dedication!

The next bike ride support event will be during the first part of March 2012.  The VLCPR leadership says they need your support and the hope you will be there!  So take time to become a eligible amateur radio communications provider.