Cherokee Amateur Radio Society WX4CAR
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  Cherokee Amateur Radio Society WX4CAR


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Welcome to Cherokee Amateur Radio Society
Club Website for WX4CAR

Serving Cherokee County, GA and the surrounding communities in North Georgia

Contact Us
Cherokee Amateur Radio Society is an organization of FCC licensed amateur radio operators (also called Hams) that meet and share the hobby, educate people about amateur radio, as well as support our local community in times of disaster. We are located in Cherokee County, Georgia and have club call sign WX4CAR. We are an ARRL Affiliated Club.

The club also participates with ARES, and the Cherokee County EOC when severe weather gets close to the area, and we help with local public service projects.

The members of the club also dedicate some of their time to promote and help new hams to develop their skills and knowledge on Amateur communications modes and to be better operators. We are a very active club and participate in ARRL Field Day every year. If you are located in Cherokee County or the surrounding area, we would like to invite you to participate. Use the Contact Us button to ask any questions you may have.

The menu tabs on the far left will help you navigate to the area of interest.

Click for the latest weather forecast.

Announcements

Next Club Meeting

April 8, 2023 at 10 AM EST at  the WG Long Senior Center

Topic for April is EMCOMM (Basics of Emergency Communications) . Even if you do not participate in ARES or SkyWarn, these are skills you should have for yourself and family.
Speaker is Rob Bruderer - W1JKU - ARES Emergency Coordinator for Cherokee County

Field Day 2023
Theme: "Tune In The World"

We want to form committees right away to begin planning for Field Day. As was presented in the club meeting in February, the main needs are for hospitality, antenna team, logistics team. We have other needs as well. Contact Chad Cone and join one of these teams. You can use the club email address to do that or sign up here using the online form. Use the Join a Team button.

Join a Team
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Georgia Parks On the Air Event - CARS Participation
On the weekend of April 1-2, 2023, there will be state-wide POTA activations of all 50 Georgia State Parks!

The CARS POTA SIG will be participating in this event and will have it open to all club members. Details have been posted on the groups.io messages area.


The idea is to enlist enough hams from all over to fan out across the state and activate 50 parks over the course of that one weekend. This will take place at Redtop Mountain State Park. Sign up will be needed so we can estimate food and the number of operating positions. Email us at the club email account.

LINK to Facebook group

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What we’ll be doing:
* Operating portable HF radios with portable antennas and portable power and some other portable-ness
* Talking and learning about Parks on the Air, portable equipment, and how to operate in a portable fashion
* Contacting other POTA activators and hunters in other GA State Parks, other POTA parks, elsewhere in GA, the US, and possibly all around the world
* Enjoying fellowship with other like-minded members of the CARS club
* Cooking out
* Having fun!

ARRL sponsored FCC Testing

 If you want to test for a new license or upgrade, it is requested that you use the Contact Us button above or let us know by other means.

Contact Us
ARRL Testing Info


New to the Club or Ham Radio?
Download our New Ham Kit

New Ham Kit

Studying for your General or Extra Class?
There are a number of mentors (Elmers) in the club willing to help. Let us know your needs and we can match you up with the best person to help. Use the club email address or the Contact Us button to let us know how we can help.

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Adding or Renewing your ARRL Membership?
If you are either signing up or renewing your membership with ARRL, please click on the link below and download and use this form. By doing so, the club will receive a commission on your dues.

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2023_affiliated_club_membership_application.pdf
File Size: 205 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

General Interest

Hamfests & Expos

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QSO Today Ham Radio Expo - online event March 25-26, 2023
Registration at: 
https://www.qsotodayhamexpo.com/

Martin Buehring KB4MG, club President will be speaking at the Expo along with Dave Jensen(W7DGJ). The session topic is "Become a Magnet Club for Newcomers to Our Hobby" , where we discuss how clubs can attract new hams and then assimilate them into the club through training and activities.

Stay tuned for more 2023 events
Dalton Hamfest Dalton, GA Feb 25 8am-5pm
Hamvention (aka Dayton Hamfest)  May 19-21, 2023  Xenia, Ohio
Atlanta Hamfest  June 3, 2023  Jim Miller Park, Marietta
Huntsville Hamfest  August 19-20, 2023

Other Major Events

Looking Forward

Special Presentation coming for July 8, 2023
In our July meeting we will have a remote presentation by Dr. Ed Fong. He is the inventor of the DBJ-1 and DBJ-2 antenna that was featured in the February 2003 and March 2007 QST. His most recent antenna was the TBJ-1 – a tri-band base antenna that was published in March 2017 QST.

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Ed will give a history on how these antennas were developed and the theory on how and why they work so well.  There is no “black magic” to antennas.  He will explain in a non-mathematical manner to convince you for overall performance and simplicity his approach is one of the most practical.


In the News

The CARS Club is highlighted in Club Station column in QST Magazine November 2022 issue.  Be proud of your club and what we have accomplished.

Marty Buehring - KB4MG was interviewed by Dave Jensen (W7DGJ) about the article that was written in QST. The article in QRZ.com explores ways to a "health check" for your club, and encourages clubs to embrace new comers and help them get more involved. His column is called "Trials and Errors".

Read Here

Georgia On My Mind Newsletter
February edition has a mention and summary of our Winter Field Day results plus two pictures.


Presentations Needed
We are looking for volunteers to give a talk in our 2023 meetings.  Please let one of the officers know about your interest in doing this.



What's happening in the Club?
If you miss a meeting, you miss a lot!


Here are things we did so far in 2023:

The March presentation was Part 2 on Space Weather and propagation. Space weather predictions may not make a lot of sense unless you understand the basics. Neal Sulmeyer (K4EA) explained what we need to know to use this data in our everyday operating environment. We all got a better understanding of Solar flux, sunspot number, Kp, and A values and how they affect propagation of HF radio waves.

February presentation was by Jason Turnage  - KO4NDP
Jason is an antenna experimenter and has been doing a lot of work with Loaded Verticals that he uses for POTA activations. His first interest is in homebrewing and this just carries over to the ham radio hobby. It was a very practical look at what can be done with simple materials from the hardware store and some careful winding on loading coils. 

January 2023 Roundtable
The Roundtable is an event where both experienced and newer hams can share their experiences about setting up stations, working HF modes, portable operating, solving problems, finding help, and favorite ways to enjoy amateur radio. We had 4 panel members:
Tim Wall - KJ4RDF - Contester and DX chaser
Jason Turnage - KO4NDP - Experimenter/Builder and POTA activator
Don Coltrane - KJ4UC - ARES leader, experienced operator
Bob Garret - N4BBG - Newer ham, HOA restrictions, and DX chaser

This was a moderated round table discussion in which the moderator asked questions in six different categories and pick a person on the panel to start that discussion. It was well received by the club and many of us can say we learned something from it.

Weekly On-AIR Nets
We would encourage all members to participate for a number of reasons. First and foremost, we love to hear from you! This is a chance to be certain your equipment is up to snuff and that you know how to operate it. It is also a place to ask questions and have group dialog on any ham radio topics.
Let's get the dialog going!

Note: We need additional volunteer NET Controllers for the weekly nets. Contact James James KE4HMS for more info.

Need help?
Have you been recently licensed? We have a New Ham Kit for all new hams on the Cherokee county and surrounding area.
Press the button below for the .pdf file download.

Watch this website for more details opportunities for new Hams.

Look for Elmering in 2023 as well as new Ham Crams for license upgrades.

New Ham Kit
HAM CRAM

Building a project you want to share?
We would like to be sure we show our projects and activities on social media. Please share your project details with us. We want to extend our reach through the uses of social media and hopefully reach more young people.

General Interest
Topics of general interest to the ham community


A comprehensive Contest Calendar can be found here:
Contest Calendar


Ham Radio Blog from DX Engineering
OnAllBands

Our Affiliations

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Ham Radio Workbench Podcast and Talk Group DMR 31075
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Weekly Nets

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CARS Weekly Net
Our weekly Net can be found on the VHAM11 (KG4VUB) every Thursday evening starting at 8PM Eastern Time. 145.270 mHz (- offset, PL tone of 100Hz encode and decode)   Repeater is located in Waleska,GA

Backup repeater for nets is 443.075 MHz , PL107.2, Positive (+) offset

Georgia DMR Talk Group Net
Wednesday evenings at 8PM Eastern Time
Talk Group 3113 Brandmeister Network
Website Link


Club ARRL Links
Click the logo to follow a link.

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This is the link to Georgia Chapter of the ARRL. Look here for local activities, Ham fests, and the Georgia On My Mind Newsletter.

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ARRL
News and Information Feed

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