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New 2M Antenna Installed on Maben Fire Tower PDF Print E-mail
Monday, 24 April 2023 20:20

Maben Fire Tower 2M AntennaOn April 15, 2023 the Magnolia Amateur Radio Club held an "Antenna Party", and renovated the 2M repeater antenna on the Maben Fire Tower.    This involved taking down the old, non-functional antenna, and installing a new, folded dipole at the top of the tower.

Club members were onsite from before 9 AM until mid-afternoon.  High winds and threats of lightning hampered some of the progress, but all the work was finished except for the actual antenna install.  That was completed April 22.

About a dozen club members took part in the event.  New steps were installed on the tower, platforms were repaired, and new hardline was pulled up the tower.   The old antenna was lowered using a rope and pulley system devised by AD5HM.

The frequency is 147.315, tone 110.9.

Click "Read More" below left to see the photos.

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated ( Monday, 24 April 2023 20:46 )
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2022 Christmas Gathering PDF Print E-mail
Wednesday, 14 December 2022 17:19

2022 Magnolia ARC Christmas PartyEach year the Magnolia Amateur Radio Club gathers for a Christmas season dinner.  This year we got together on December 8 at La Terraza Mexican Restaurant, and we had a ball.   About 25 folks filled up multiple tables.

First item on the agenda was dinner, and as usual, the food was really good.  We were honored to have as our guest Kristen Campanella, Oktibbeha County Director of Emergency Management and E911.  That's probably not her exact title, but it's what she does, and she does it well.

After dinner, each person attending got to take home a "Junk Box Starter Kit".   These were 4" x 4" x 8" boxes full of plugs, sockets, code keys, fuses, LEDs, and other stuff every ham needs to have on hand.  Each person also received a color wall chart of the ham bands, as well as a large grid chart.

This was followed by Dirty Santa, which saw a lot of really cool gifts exchanged.  Tanya (K5BAK XYL) couldn't attend, but she sent beautiful 2022 club Christmas ornaments to the meeting, enough for each family to take one home.  Our club is blessed to have a craftsman with Tanya's skills as part of our group.

Angela, KI5SAG, made packages of Christmas cookies and cards for each ham and distributed those.   She also arranged a special gift for Doug, K5BAK, to show her appreciation for the hard work he puts into keeping our club active and well-organized.

 

Click "Read more" below to see the rest of this article.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 14 December 2022 18:05 )
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Magnolia ARC Christmas Gathering, 2022 PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Saturday, 26 November 2022 11:55

La Terraza meetingThe Magnolia Amateur Radio Club will get together at 6:00 PM, December 8, at La Terrazza Mexican Restaurant in Starkville for our December meeting.

Getting together for a Mexican dinner is a tradition for the Magnolia ARC, and this year promises to be a great gathering.   The pandemic is over around here, gas prices have come down a bit, and it's just plain old time to gather for a meal.

K5RFL has set up a sign-up list (the restaurant needs to plan with semi-accurate numbers), so please take a moment to click the link below and register your plans to attend.   You can come whether you sign up or not, but signing up always yields a better-planned meeting.

Click here to register!

Last Updated ( Saturday, 26 November 2022 12:08 )
 
November, 2022 Breakfast Meeting PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Saturday, 12 November 2022 11:00

Our regular monthly meeting was rescheduled this month (November, 2022), and held in the front yard of Steve, N5OMK.

Andrew (AD5HM) set up his portable grill on the sidewalk, and cooked bacon, eggs, sausage, and pancakes.  Other members brought pigs in a blanket, fruit salad, grits, and sausage biscuits.  N5OMK kept the hot coffee flowing.

El Presidente Doug, K5Bak, presented Angela (KI5SAG) with her ARRL Emergency Coordinator name plate for being the Winston County's new EC.  Several XYLs and even a pair of twin cuties showed up for a hot breakfast on a chilly morning.

In the photo at the left, N5MPC Andy offers AD5HM Andrew some advice on how to do a better job on the sausage. A total of 19 folks showed up to fellowship and dine al fresco this morning.

Click "Read more" under the photo to see more photos of the morning.

 

Last Updated ( Sunday, 04 December 2022 22:06 )
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Sign Up For A Dish To Bring On October 15 PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Friday, 07 October 2022 15:44

The Magnolia ARC is hosting a family-reunion style buffet lunch at noon on October 15.  Over 100 ARRL members from across the state are expected to attend, so we're going to need some members to bring dishes to serve!

Good ideas for dishes that everyone loves and are easy to make include chili, soup, cornbread, cole slaw, potato salad, baked beans, etc.  You get the idea, the same sort of food you'd expect to find at a good Southern family reunion.

To get your name on the food list, just click here.

 
Mississippi ARRL Statewide Meeting October 15 PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Friday, 07 October 2022 15:28

The ARRL Mississippi Section statewide Meeting will be held in McKee Park in Starkville, MS on October 15, 2022.   The gathering begins at 8:00 AM on Saturday (October 15), and will wrap up around 2:00 PM.

The time between 8:00 and noon is mostly informal, consisting of eyeball QSOs, coffee, tailgating, and rag chewing.   Lunch will be at noon, and the Magnolia ARC is serving a family reunion style, home-made buffet lunch.  The annual business meeting will take place at 1:00, and everyone should be free to leave by around 2:00.

 
Easy and Inexpensive G5RV Antenna Construction PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Monday, 02 September 2019 19:37

G5RV Center Insulator

 

Back in 2015 we published a pretty thorough guide on building a G5RV HF antenna for $15 or less.

That article has been updated after the antenna has been in use for a year and a half.

Visit this link to read the article.

Last Updated ( Monday, 02 September 2019 20:08 )
 
Using the Icom IC-735 for FT-8 E-mail
Written by AG5ND   
Wednesday, 01 May 2019 14:28

iCOM ic-735DISCLAIMER: I am not a tech wizard.  The article that follows is a description of that I did to make FT-8 and rig control work with my IC-735 radio.  Your results may differ.  Many thanks to Dale Sharpen whop helped me over the last hurdle, and the tech folks at MFJ.

The Icom IC-735 is perfectly capable of handling FT-8.  The key to getting it done is, I think, starting small and simple and not installing too many accessory software packages.  It's easy to get overwhelmed in all the software that can be added.  This starts you at square one.

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Updated Projects PDF Print E-mail
Written by Caleb Rich   
Tuesday, 15 January 2019 10:31

If you haven't checked it out yet, go to the Projects link in the menu on the left side and check out the two projects from KF4KQS, Josh Brothers.  Send your projects in and let's inspire other Hams to get started on that project they've been putting off.  Have fun.

Caleb

 
Digital Novice, Chapter 1
Wednesday, 02 January 2019 20:18

For some time now we have been at the bottom of a solar cycle, meaning ham band activity is sparse on good days, and nowhere to be found on all other days.  Radio operators trying to score DXCC or Worked All States have quite a challenge under these conditions.  If poor band conditions are coupled with the limit of a 100-watt transmitter and a 35' high wire antenna, trying to make contacts can be frustrating beyond frustrating at times.

Short of buying a legal limit amplifier and putting up a 150' tower loaded with various beams, what's a ham to do?

The short answer is, try digital radio.

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Digital Novice, Chapter 2
Thursday, 03 January 2019 19:19

First things first.  There are a few things you need to keep in mind if you decide to try doing digital radio.

 

  • Digital radio is rarely a "plug and play" operation.
  • Every installation is a little different, and there is no one-size-fits-all guide for doing it.
  • Patience is a must.
  • If other hams made it work, you can make it work, too.

 

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Digital Novice, Chapter 3

In Chapter 2 we ended up with our computer, a time sync program, an MFJ 1204 interface, and an installed copy of WSJT-X.  Now that we have all of that in one place, what do we do with it?

This is a step-by-step guide to how I set up the most simple, yet effective, digital station I could muster.  I tried a lot of different things in the process, but this is what I ended up with.  There are more elaborate and attractive ways of going digital, but in the interest of ease and lower frustration levels, I opted in the end for simple, simple, simple.  Once you get your digital station going, you can always add more features if you wish.  The setup described below does not include a rig-control function.  Rig control is a convenience you can add later if you wish.

 

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