Recent Posts
- Free Amateur Radio Technician License Classes
Free Amateur Radio Technician License Classes offered by the
South Mountain Radio Amateur_(SMRA) Club in Carlisle, PA.
Each complete course consists of five two-hour class sessions on Saturdays from 9:00 to 11:00 AM, one VE Test Session and an additional two-hour session for those that pass the test to receive training on their new radio. It takes seven weeks to complete.
The next SMRA Technician Class in 2024 will be held at:
The Public Safety Training Room, Department of Public Safety,
1 Public Safety Drive, Carlisle, PA
[Note: A textbook ($32.00) and a VE/FCC test ($14.00) will be provided free by SMRA]- Saturday October 5– Welcome to Amateur Radio, Radio Signals Fundamentals,
and Electricity Components and Circuits
Instructor: Ed Otto W3ETO
Read Chapter 1 (no questions on exam), Chapter 2 (35 questions), and Chapter 3 (91
questions, but many of these questions are different versions of the same calculation). - Saturday October 12– Propagation, Antennas, and Feedlines
Instructor: Jack NC3O - Read Chapter 4 (66 questions)
- Saturday October 19 – Amateur Radio Equipment
Instructor: Rick K3RTK Read Chapter 5 (56 questions) - Saturday October 26 – Communicating with Other Hams and Licensing
Regulations Instructor: Rick KC3DRU- Read Chapter 6 (63 questions) and Chapter 7 (30 questions)
- Saturday November 2– Operating Regulations and Safety
Instructor: Jack NC3O Read Chapter 8 (32 questions) and Chapter 9 (43 questions) - Saturday November 9 – VE Test for Technician License
VE Team Leader: Don K3ZR - Saturday November 16 – Students that pass and pay the FCC $35.00 fee will get
their License will receive a UV-5R Radio and be taught how to program
and use it.
Instructor: Rick K3RTK
To register for this class contact:
Don Evans K3ZR
K3ZR@ARRL.net cell 717-418-1700These classes are made possible by a grant from the
Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) foundation www.ampr.org - Saturday October 5– Welcome to Amateur Radio, Radio Signals Fundamentals,
- Interested in being a HAM and Joining our Club?
If so, you have found the right club in Carlisle. We have free training classes, provide FCC Amateur Radio license testing, and have many activities throughout the month to get you engaged with other HAMs and learning. So come to a meeting as a guest and check us out!
Here is more information: The South Mountain Radio Amateurs (SMRA) Club www.N3TWT.org consists of approximately 100 Licensed Amateur Radio Operators with regular monthly meetings on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM at the Carlisle Department of Public Safety building at 1 Public Safety Drive
Carlisle, PA 17013. Testing sessions for the Technician, General and Extra Class Licenses are conducted before each meeting at 6:00 PM. Each meeting includes one or two presentations about various aspects of Amateur Radio. The SMRA Club operates 4 Repeaters on 145.43, 146.46, 443.30 and 146.685 (DMR) MHz and all require a 67 Hz tone. The Club provides communications support for 3 or more biking events annually in the Michaux Forest south of Carlisle. Every June the Club participates in the 2 day ARRL Field Day Event at the County Fire Training Grounds in Carlisle. The Club operates two Monday night radio nets, organizes a monthly Ham Radio Saturday Breakfast on the 2nd Saturday, holds a monthly QRP (low power) dinner meeting, runs various project building sessions, hosts License Training Classes, EMCOMM Training. - SMRA Participates in Fall 2023 SET Exercise
Fall 2023 Amateur Radio Emergency Service Simulated Emergency Test
Eastern Pennsylvania ARES and Pennsylvania American Red CrossOn October 7th, 2023, Pennsylvania amateur radio operators participated in an exercise to test their
ability to communicate with Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and Pennsylvania Red Cross
Regions.ARES conducts Simulated Emergency Tests (SET) twice per year. These exercises provide ARES
organizations opportunities to train for eventual real-world activations and deployments where they will
provide emergency communication (EMCOMM) support to communities in need.The Fall 2023 SET had two elements: 1) The American Red Cross “ARC” element, a general call from
Red Cross to Pennsylvania hams to simulate a check-in message from a Red Cross shelter and 2) The
“ARES” element. Eastern Pennsylvania ARES Emergency Coordinators (ECs) were asked to alert their
units and provide a listing of resources available to deploy.
This exercise simulated a severe Internet outage. Radio operators utilized Winlink combined with VARA HF to send email with attached ICS-213 forms via HF Radio. The day began with Andrew, W3AND and others discussing how to install and configure Winlink w/VARA HF. W3AND also provided a presentation on how the Winlink infrastructure worked. With this software, one can email other HF stations without Internet using only your PC connected to your HF Radio. If parts of the Internet were functional, it is then possible to communicate to regular email addresses as well as HF recipients.
At Noon, SMRA EMCOMM members relocated to either their home shacks or to our Field Day site at the Emergency Services Training Area (ESTA) and sent digital messages related to the exercise.
The full report is located at https://kc3smw.net/octset2023
- SMRA’s QRP Outings
SMRA Members Jack Himes NC3O and Tracey Richard W3EH operate QRP at King’s Gap Park in Carlisle PA. QRP refers to voluntarily lowering the output power of transmitters to 5 watts or less. Operating modes can be Voice (Phone), Morse Code (CW), and Digital. Using low power makes the chase and the contact all that more exciting.
- Field Day Review
The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Field Day is an annual event held on the fourth full weekend in June of each year. It is an opportunity for amateur radio enthusiasts throughout the U.S and Canada to set up temporary communications stations and make contact with like-minded people .The contest part is simply to contact as many other stations as possible and to learn to operate radio gear in abnormal situations and less than optimal conditions
For many clubs and SMRA, ARRL Field Day is one of the highlights of their annual calendar. It is FUN and SOCIAL. It provides an opportunity for organized planning and execution of a sustained effort which is good for Public Service Events planning & coordination and possibly for fitting into State and Local emergency planning.
ARRL Field Day is amateur radio’s open house. It is a tremendous opportunity to show the public who we are and what assets we bring to our communities. That helps keep amateur radio visible, which is important to the long‐term sustainability of our service and hobby. Those interested in getting into the hobby can talk to operators, see and even use some of the equipment under supervision. Some making their very first contact at Field Day.
We use these same skills demonstrated at Field Day when we help with events such as providing emergency communications during Motorcycle events such a Enduro MC, bike-a-thons, and walk-a-thons— these are all large, preplanned, non-emergency activities where Cell coverage may be spotty.
We had 46 visitors at this year’s Field Day, despite some rain, it was an excellent turnout. SMRA set up 6 stations doing: Morse Code, Voice, Digital communications, Satellite communications and operating our Get On The Air Station (GOTA), where the public can give amateur radio a try. Below are some photos of this year’s SMRA event.
NEW Project: Meet the Mentors (MTM)
MTM is special project to help new and seasoned amateurs learn more about the hobby! Hear educational presentations, ask questions and learn!
Read more about it here!