KCHams.net

The 147.27 repeater in Kansas City is now off the air. See the below posting by Mike Bellinger [K0UAA] on Larry’s List about how this affects Jackson County ARES members:

There are a couple of important net frequency changes of which all Jackson County ARES members should be aware.

First and effective immediately, the Jackson County ARES net will operate on the 146.37/97 MHz. repeater as the primary repeater for Jackson County ARES. That repeater currently is carrier access. The reason for the change is because the 147.270 MHz. repeater ceased operation as of today. I urge you all to join the Jackson County ARES net on its regularly scheduled net at nine o’clock on Saturday morning. Help us determine the repeater coverage with your check-in. If you can’t join us on the net, take the time at your convenience to QSO with someone on the repeater so you will know how well you get into the repeater from the various two-meter transmitters you may have.

Secondly, and also effective immediately, the frequency for the SKYWARN net when it is in operation has changed to the 146.10/70 MHz. repeater. The repeater normally requires a 107.2 Hz. CTCSS access tone, but the repeater may be capable of allowing carrier access during SKYWARN operations.

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Effective today, April 15th, all KC Skywarn net control operations are being moved to the 146.700 (-) repeater. For now, the repeater has a 107.2 tone, but the local Skywarn group is working on disabling the tone during Skywarn nets.

By the way, the KC Skywarn nets used to be on this repeater many years ago. In fact, the callsign for the repeater is KCØSKY…which is the same callsign used by Skywarn net control.

“There are several advantages to this repeater for SkyWarn. One is that it has backup power available. As long as the diesel generator doesn’t run out of fuel, we can power the repeater during a power outage. It also has better coverage to the southwest of the KC metro, into Miami and Lynn counties, where a lot of the weather effecting the Missouri side of the area comes from. It will also allow us to work stations in Warrensburg, which will allow their net to get better info from Pleasant Hill…[the] move to the 146.70 repeater is an enhancement to what SkyWarn can do, and we look forward to working with everyone to continue to make Kansas City’s storm spotters the best in the nation.”

I will be updating my weather pages updated today or tomorrow.

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NEKSUN (also known as K0HAM), a repeater builders club that operates 38 repeaters throughout the midwest needs your help.

The K0HAM group currently maintains a group of linked repeaters in the KC Metro & NE Kansas region. These repeaters are critical infrastructure not only for ARES throughout the region, but also for all the public service events that occur every year. One of the big benefits ham radio affords any event organizer is a communications network unrivaled by even commercial providers.

This group of repeater equipment is currently undergoing end of life transition. We have decided to bite the bullet and replace EVERY repeater in this network with a standardized configuration. We are transitioning from 40 year old equipment to 20 year old equipment! This should help the audio quality across the network, so it shouldn’t matter what frequency you are on, they should all sound like you are operating through one repeater.

In addition to acquiring all the radios for the replacements, we also have work to do on some of the antenna systems, and some expansions that will require new antennas at some sites. We have also taken over the Kansas City Amateur Radio Club repeaters, and those need to be upgraded to current controllers & hardware as well.

So what can you do to help us make this network the best and most reliable it can be? We need your donations:

1) If you can locate any MSR2000 VHF Repeaters/Bases, let us know. (Model #’s C73GSB or similar) (These are 20 years old and don’t work with the Narrow banding mandate, so there ought to be quite a few out there)

2) We also need Low band (T81XTA70A2BK) VHF (T73XTA70A2BK) and UHF (T74XTA70A2BK) Maratracs.

3) We are having to buy almost $5000 worth of new repeater controllers and hard-line connectors. So any direct cash donation is ESPECIALLY appreciated. (Join the club by clicking on the DONATE button at www.k0ham.com , or send a check to the ROB NALL, PO BOX 5307 TOPEKA, KS 66605)

4) We will be doing a lot of tower work this year. In Louisburg we need to install 3-400 ft runs of 1 5/8 hard-line to allow us to get our remaining D-STAR equipment on the air. We will be doing work at Matfield Green, Hoyt, South Lawrence, Gibbs Road tower, Basehor, and others I am sure. We ALWAYS need ground crew to help with this effort. Even if you have never done it before you can be useful as crew. Plus it is a lot of fun to see all the hardware toys behind the scenes.

With your help we hope to do the following this year:

Add 224.54 to the interlinked network

Activate D-STAR machines in Louisburg: 145.12-, 1287-, 1257 data

Improve 52.91 by making it a single site and adding it to the interlinked network

Make Echolink available on all linked repeaters

Add a VHF remote base at Lawrence to allow on demand linking to other repeaters in the area

Add a 6M remote base at Matfield Green and a new site in Missouri to allow on demand linking to other repeaters in the area

Make 145.41 our 2nd Missouri repeater and add it to the interlinked network

Fix the Matfield Green path problem so that it can be consistently linked

Return 53.13 to the air.

Return 146.955 to the air

Add a moto-turbo repeater at Basehor (with N0RC)

Please join us to help in whatever way you can to further the communications capabilities of Hams throughout the region!

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Morse Code is an important part of the history of Amateur Radio. There are some who consider it to be passé and no longer needed. I strongly disagree. Even though I obtained my license after the Morse Code requirement was removed [2006], I’ve always wanted to learn it. Some nice folks from the Raytown [Missouri] Amateur Radio Club [K0GG] launched the first of a five week training series this last Monday. Here are some of the tools they suggested:

LCWO.net – Learn CW Online
K7QO’s Code Course
G4FON’s Koch CW Trainer
ARRL’s W1AW Code Practice MP3 Files

There are two other items which I’ve found to be very helpful. First, the Yaesu VX-3R has a built-in CW Learning Feature [in Amateur Radio, Morse Code is often referred to as CW which means Carrier Wave]. I’ve practiced with it several times this week. Second is a Morse Code Training Chart developed by A.G. Reinhold [K2PNK]. Besides the A B C taught on Monday, I’ve also picked up D E and T You can download the chart below by right-clicking and saving the image:

So what happened to the rest of my National Preparedness Month posts? I was trying to “wing it” and come up with them on a daily basis instead of having them planned out in advance. In other words, I wasn’t properly prepared to follow through with the posts when I had a long day at work and was just too tired to do it. I then got disgusted with myself for my “laziness” which wasn’t laziness at all…just a lack of preparedness.

I’m going to return to regular posting on this site because I refuse to give up…and you are worth helping.

Yes, I realize I’m WAY behind on my daily posts for National Preparedness Month. Don’t worry, I will catch up.

Due to the high volume of spam attempts, I am immediately removing the ability for users to leave a comment. I apologize for this inconvenience, but I just don’t have the time to moderate every comment and don’t want to see this site be filled with spam. Thank you for understanding. If you wish to comment on an article, please send it to me via Twitter.

It may only be September, but winter will be here soon. Did you read my experience last winter in my Day 11 post? I already have my blanket and other warming items already packed in the truck. So what is your plan to stay warm when your fuel source (gas, electricity, etc) is compromised? Aside from putting on more clothes and piling more blankets on yourself, here are some products to keep you safe during winter:

WARMTH
Heetsheets
Grabber Warmers – Check out their Survival Gear section for emergency blankets and sleeping bags.
Quantum Heat Packs
ColdAvenger
BlackCat Perfectemp Catalytic Heater – Propane powered.
Buddy Heaters – They are propane powered and work quite well (we have used the Portable Buddy heater).

TRACTION
YakTrax – I have used these on my shoes for years and they provide excellent traction…especially on ice.
HeatTrak mats – Heated mats for walkways, stairs and more…
Tow Truck In A Box

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To go along with your food from day 5, you might need a way to cook some of your stored food? First, NEVER EVER use a barbecue or propane grill indoors! Even if you take precautions, the risks are just too high to make it a sensible option. If the situation allows, using these outside would be great.

If you have a natural gas range designed for indoor use, that would be fine to use (though I would still do so cautiously if you have no power to run an exhaust fan).

Here are some ideas for cooking at home or while evacuated.

HEATING
Ecoflame – safe for indoor use
Magic Heat – safe for indoor use
EZ Grill – disposable charcoal grill

STOVE
Pocket Cooker

COOKWARE
MSR has a great Basecamp cookware system.

MISC
Have you had your gas BBQ tank go empty in the middle of cooking a glorious feast? You might consider purchasing a refillable Clear View Propane Tank.

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I touched on this subject very briefly yesterday. I suggested having a full change of clothes at work. Well, you should also have season-appropriate clothes in your kits. This will require making sure you rotate your clothes with the change of seasons. It will also require more attention if you have growing children in your home. You may need to replace their clothes in your kit every three to six months. Weight loss or gain will need to be considered, too.

If you don’t want to put some of your favorite clothes in your kit, check out the local thrift stores. You can find great deals on some decent threads to stock your kit.

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I’ve been sharing some ideas with you this month (and there’s more to come), but wanted to apologize that I forgot to mention on Day 1 that you should also assemble a “grab and go” kit to keep a work. At work? Yes! There is a good probability that you could be at work when a disaster occurs. After all, you do spend around 40 hours there a week, right?

If you have access to a desk or locker to securely store items, I suggest having at least the following:

Food
Water
Flashlight
A NIOSH-Approved N95 Particulate Filtering Respirator
Clothes (I have a full set of clothes at work, minus the footwear)
Comfortable Shoes

If you can store more, then please do so. If you need some more ideas, then check out my other National Preparedness Month posts.

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