Four years of a pandemic and I haven’t been to a Hamfest in a long time. It was really nice to go to the big one where everybody was spread out in a large venue. Hardly anyone was wearing a mask as we were spread out in a large hall. Unfortunately I did not win a door prize but I did have a great time. More people that I have not seen in a long time and had wonderful conversations catching up with them. Talked to the group that is trying to repair the W4NBR repeater in Grifton, NC. They need members to support the repeater: ENC Repeater Inc. Please join and support our local repeaters (email t ..read more

So, about a month ago, I got a phone call from a friend telling me he found a deal that we could not pass up! Thanks KE4TZN! He spotted a 8 hour sale on Icom D-Star/Analog repeaters at 1/4 price! He twisted my arm HARD! (Yeah, right!). I bit on the 440 Icom repeater with no idea on how to set it up. I guess this is what this hobby is all about. Doing things you have little idea on how to do and you learn by doing it. Boy am I going to need help. There are decisions to be made: Where to put it, what frequencies do we need, what purpose will this device try to fulfill. Which antenna and feed lin ..read more

A small blog of various stories put together into a potpourri of information. Saturday morning breakfast at Great Harvest Bread Co. We meet the Saturday after the BARC membership meeting and have an egg, ham and cheese biscuit with good coffee. We talk about Ham radio topics and every thing else on the planet. Good conversations and ideas are exchanged. One of the “quiet” events that I try not to miss. Thank you Beth for setting it up. Towers for Sale: Cost $0 and remove it from the property. Dave Pulver sent me an email: Peter,  I hope things are going well with you.  I need yo ..read more

Well with the help of Larry K. we buried 3 grownd screws in a triangle shape. Two of them had eyelets that were used as a hinge so that a bar going through the eyelets was clamped to the legs of the tower. The third one had a box like end so that the third leg of the tower would rest on it.. Next make a crank handle to be able to raise and lower the tower by my self. Went to AgriSupply and purchased a boat trailer crank that can lift 800 lbs. Had to do some carpentry to fit it at an angle on the 4″x6″ post of the patio cover. It works well but needs to be as high as possible to have leverage ..read more

By Susan Langley-Jones WA4AKB First, I’ll start with a little bit of history.  My first Shelby Hamfest was in 1977 at an early site called Cedar Park.  I probably have some snapshots of it in my box of photos.  It was not all that big, but a lot of fun.  There was a small outdoor flea market, a building with some dealers and the ARRL, and a picnic shelter.  A barbecue lunch was available if you bought a ticket for that.  We’d line up for food and sit under the shelter while the drawings were done. In 1979, my first year at NC State, they moved to the current locat ..read more

Just recently, I made a weekend trip to Asheville for a medical convention. Had to have a little bit of a break and decided to go to the Asheville Radio Museum. Being an amateur radio guy, it’s a must. So I put it into Google maps and it took me 10 miles out of town. There is a fire station called “A B Technical college” but it took me to the wrong place. Finally figured out that Google and sent me on a wild goose chase and drove back to the downtown where the A.B. technical college is located. The museum is on campus and usually there are signs to get there. Arriving a little bit late, I met ..read more

Part2: The most time consuming part is painting the fiberglass poles as you paint 5 sets, let it dry. Attach the hose clamps and clips to the painted poles using the one unpainted set of poles that already has the clips attached as a guide. You then disassemble the last set and paint them. Use gloves to handle the poles a there are fiberglass fibers that will stick into your skin. Attach the clips to the poles with the clamps using the first set of poles as a guide. The first clamp is to stop the smaller pole inside the next larger pole at an overlap of 4″. I bent the clips to conform to the ..read more

In the middle of the workday, UPS truck rolls up to the front of the office and delivers two packages. The whole thing weighs about 30 pounds. From that moment on, I’ve become like a kid with a new bike. Can’t wait until I get out of school and be able to ride it. Of course, we take it home and open the packages. Very well organized and it doesn’t look difficult to do but there are a few steps to do. I read the instruction manual from start to finish to understand what are all the steps (amazing for me!). It’s actually pretty straightforward, but you do want to take your time and do it right ..read more

See http://www.13colonies.us/ Ok, this is a partial brag! For the first time I got all the stations and 2 out of the 3 special call sign stations of this event. The best personal performance I have achieved so far! This event is in the week of 4th of July, commemorating the 13 colonies that started the USA. There are three stations that are extra: GB12COL (in England), TF13COL (in France to commemorate LaFayette) and finally WM3PEN in Philadelphia PA (commemorating William Penn). The special event was heavily supported by Paul Copeland (SK) in Fountain, NC, a long time member of BARC and a fri ..read more

Well, Field Day 2023 for BARC is now past! What a blast! Many thanks are in order for all the individuals that helped make it a success. Too many to name but you know who you are. Without these individuals, we could not have this good of a field day and have the fun and challenges of FD. The best moment for me was getting a very young man on the air and having him make his first contact. A great thanks to the wonderful ham operator in Connecticut that was so patient and helping out the young man next to me make his first contact. We were all whooping it up in celebration after it was made. Tha ..read more