Welcome to Cherokee Amateur Radio Society
Club Website for WX4CAR
Serving Cherokee County, GA and the surrounding communities in North Georgia

Announcements

SPECIAL NOTICE TO ALL MEMBERS

Starting In January 2021, we had planned to begin live meetings again at the Long Senior Center. Recent surges in COVID have altered plans and may change month to month. See details below for this month.
If there are any changes to this we will make annoucments via the group.io list and here on this website. Check the Groups.io or our Facebook page for the very latest details.

The risk for Cherokee County residents remains. Here is a link to the latest county info: https://www.cherokeega.com/_focus/corona-virus-plan.php

Future announcements will be posted to the groups.io  distribution and on our Facebook page. Be safe and stay well.    73 from the leadership team

Next Meeting

 
March 13, 2021
The plan for March is to host a live meeting at the W G LONG Senior Center with COVID-19 protocols being observed. Please consider attending.
We will also simulcast the meeting on Go-To-Meeting. We will provide the link for remote participation through our Facebook page and Groups.io

There will be FCC testing this day at 1 PM at the Long Senior Center.
DETAILS HERE

In March we have a Round Table on solving problems with your station, hosted by Jim Millsap (K9APD). We will also have some other experienced hams participating on this panel with Jim to help answer your questions.
Possible topics:
  • What is SWR and what it's important about it? What are the misconceptions?
  • What is the best antenna for my situation and environment?
  • What is an antenna tuner? What does it "tune" and why?
  • How does a repeater work? What needs to be programmed in my radio?
  • Do I need grounding for my station? If so, how, what, and why?
  • How much power do I need?
  • What is the best way to have backup power for my station?
  • What is all the excitement about with the next solar cycle?

What is your question for the panel? You can send questions ahead of the session on the groups.io page.

 General Announcements

2021 Monthly Programs
Our programs in 2021 are featuring a "Back to Basics" theme. We want club members to have the basics of all aspects of planning, building, maintaining, and using a ham radio station.
We are looking for volunteers to give a talk that is in keeping with this theme. Please let one of the officers know about your interest in doing this.

The Huntsville Hamfest looks to be ON for this year.
Details  are here:  HAMFEST

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

Here are things we did so far in 2021:
In February we covered "Station Operating Skills" , presented by Bob Cheek (N4RFC) and assisted by David Poss (KM4IEH). Operating a station successfully requires some skills and basic knowledge of protocol, and this presentation and discussion covered all the basics you need to know. We had a great turnout of 30 people attending live and more online. Slides will be posted.

In January we started off the year with a look at the future of Ham radio as well as kicking off the year with "Back to Basics".

GET ON THE AIR!
Winter is a great time for HF operating. There tends to be more activity as well as numerous contests.

A comprehensive Contest Calendar can be found here:
Contest Calendar

Weekly 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. Consider making this a New Year resolution and join us on the net. You are always welcome.

ARRL sponsored FCC Testing

There will be FCC license testing in March 2021 at the Long Senior Center.

FCC TESTING DETAILS HERE

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

Need help?
Watch this website for more details on additional opportunities for helping new Hams.
Look for Elmering in 2021 as well as new Ham Crams for license upgrades.

General Interest
Topics of general interest to the ham community

Ham Radio Blog from DX Engineering
OnAllBands

Solar cycle 25 has begun! What can we look forward to?  Peak expected in 2025.

The Power Grid and EMP
SolarStorms.org

Looking Ahead

Special Event Meeting (Target is April 2021)

April 1, 2020 was the 60th anniversary of TIROS, the world's first meteorological (weather) satellite.  At the future CARS meeting, Rick Maxwell, W8KHK, will be presenting a program illustrating these very early days in the US space program.  As son of Walter Maxwell (W2DU, SK), antenna systems engineer at the Astro Electronics Division of RCA, he was fortunate to experience much of this history.  This program  was previously presented at the QCWA National Convention in 2010.  Slides will be shown, as well as actual spacecraft hardware!  Beacon, telemetry, and TV transmitters identical to those that flew on satellites such as SCORE, TIROS, RELAY, ECHO, and many other artifacts, will be on display for all to examine.
This is an exciting opportunity you will not want to miss!

Current Space Weather and Propagation

Space Weather Forecasts

Propagation Predictions using VOACAP
VOACAP is the result of 50+ years of U.S. HF research and development Considered by many as the most professional HF system performance prediction tool available on the market Used currently for HF frequency planning by Voice of America and a number of other international HF broadcasters and institutions all over the world.

Other Happenings
Want to present to the group? 
We NEED members willing to present on a topic in an upcoming meeting. Per our survey, topics include DIY projects, various aspects of soldering, batteries and solar power, working ham radio satellites, and using microcontrollers in your project. Please contact Marty, Rob, or Johnathon about your topic.  

What do you want to see presented? Let the leadership team know.

Look for new sessions and all new topics in 2020. Submit your ideas to any club officer.

Slides are posted for the 2017, 2018 , 2019 and 2020 sessions.

Information about 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.

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 in the Woodstock, Georgia area and would like to participate, drop us a note and let us know. This website will provide details about the Field Day site.

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

If you have a question and would like to contact us, use the button at the top to go to the Contact Us page.

Visit us on Facebook at:

Weekly Nets

CARS Weekly Net
Our weekly Net can be found on 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

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

Club Presence on the ARRL
Click the ARRL Logo:

ARRL
News and Information Feed

Our Affiliations

WX4CAR YouTube Channel
Subscribe today!
National Weather Service Radar