Mark Cockson, AA7MC, made the attached presentation on the FT8 digital mode at the July 2026 Kachina club meeting. It defines what FT8 is, how it works, and how to set it up and start operating.
Category: Technical
Wind Farms Communications Impact
Planning is currently underway for construction of large wind turbine farms in Apache county. Concerns have been raised about the potential impact to communications, emergency services, aviation, weather radar, as well as amateur and GMRS users of communications facilities at Greens Peak. The following documents provide more information on the subject and encourage communications users to express their concerns and support for further studies before construction is approved.
White Mountains Radio Users’ Statement of Concerns
Town of Eagar request for further studies
Free On-line Ham Operating Classes
A free, weekly, 3-hour Amateur Radio Operating Class on Zoom will begin on Thursday April 2 and run through June 18. Sessions will be 2 to 3 hours long beginning at 6:30 PM, EASTERN time. Typically, two topics are covered per evening. The presenters will be folks very experienced in the various subjects.
Click here for a detailed syllabus with dates for each session. Attend them all, or any that you like, but you must register for the classes. To receive registration information, contact Rol Anders, K3RA, at roland.anders@comcast.net.
Subjects will include:
- All About Operating–A general Introduction
- Amateur Radio Organizations—Local to International
- Ham Radio Operating Awards
- DXing-History and Tips from the Experts
- QSLing-How to get that needed confirmation for DXCC or WAS
- VHF/UHF Weak Signal Work and “Roving”
- Image Operating—Slow Scan and Fast Scan TV
- Remote Station control over internet
- Learning CW in the no-code era
- Digital Modes—From RTTY to FT8 and beyond
- Contesting—How to get started, tips for the beginner and intermediate contester
- Logging Software—What’s available, how to use
- Propagation—A general intro to HF Propagation with emphasis on the declining phase of the current solar cycle
- Amateur Satellites—How to get started
- Portable (backpacking) operation and POTA—Tips from an expert
- Setting Up a Modern (or not so modern) HF Station
- Lightning Protection and Grounding
- Traffic Handling
- Public Service, Emergency Communications
MeshCore Presentation
Matt Lunati, N7OEI, presented the attached material on MeshCore networking at the February 2026 club meeting. See attached.
Meshtastic
Meshtastic is an open source, off-grid, decentralized, mesh network built to run on affordable, low-power devices using LoRa technology. At the July 2024 KARC meeting, we had a presentation by David Waller, KG7NCV. David is deploying the Meshtastic network in the Mesa, AZ area. Information on this project is described here:
Catalog of Meshtastic equipment
At the August 2024 KARC meeting, Matt Lunati, N7OEI, described his recent activity with the Meshtastic network and demonstrated a small (2.0″ width) Heltec network transceiver. It connects via bluetooth to a phone or tablet, and provides access to the mesh network.
Emergency Preparedness
The presentations at the monthly meeting held on June 11, 2024 provided interesting and useful information on emergency preparedness. The presentation material is provided here:
Ready – Set – Go presented by Deputy Kirby Coppedge of NCSO
Emergency Communications presented by Kevin Parmenter, KG5Q
Frequency List compiled by Earl, AD7EO
July 2021 Meeting Presentation – Starlink Internet
At the July 2021 meeting, Kevin Parmenter KG5Q, Dennis Mills WA7ZZT, and Guy Walters K7KGW made a presentation on the Starlink satellite-based internet service. This new service is coming out of beta testing and offers greatly improved internet service for rural communities. To view this presentation, click here.
June 2021 Meeting Presentation – ARRL Status
At the June 2021 monthly meeting, Rick Paquette W7RAP, the ARRL Arizona Section Manager, made a presentation on the status of ham radio and ARRL activities. Click here to view his presentation.
Horse Fence Dipole Project
On 2/24/21 Bill Turley KJ7GYH and and Mike Lackey KB7VMG came over and helped Jim Mortensen W7AZY put up a 35’ pole for a horse fence inverted V dipole antenna. Jim used the quad to pull the pole up and the other three of us walked the pole up and helped secure the lines. This took place during 20 mph winds! Thank you Bill & Mike! Here are a few pictures:
KF7UBT Go Box
At the November 2020 meeting, LeDair Dixon, KF7UBT, made a nice presentation on his go box, solar panel, and antenna. Here are a few pictures from the meeting.
