Meetings and Discussion

This section of the web site will recap previous meetings and any discussion that was raised at these meetings or since that time. This will give the membership time to digest what was brought up and then pose any questions, comments, or suggestions. It will also have downloadable files of any pertinent program material presented at these meetings.

RARC Meeting May 28, 2026

President Patrick KO4HEX called the Reelfoot Amateur Radio Club meeting to order at 6:30 pm on May 28th at the Obion County Library. The group had 15 members in attendance and 4 guests. The guests were N4DM William Dionne; KR4FLO Kyle Gallimore, lead dispatcher and IT director for the OCSD; Obion County Sheriff Karl Jackson; and EMA Director Danny Carr. It was an honor to meet these guys. Their visit tonight was to clarify recent questions about amateur radio operators and weather reporting activities during storms or disasters. They appreciate our help and rely on us during emergencies like the 2009 ice storm when the only form of communication in and out of west Kentucky was amateur radio.

Noel KJ4UNX reviewed old business and then discussed the financial report. Everyone made a motion to accept the report.

Patrick KO4HEX took over and started with a new business.

He asked the group how they liked the April meeting at the Discovery Park of America (DPA). After some Q&A on the subject and weighing the pros and cons, the club voted and made a motion to switch to the DPA starting in July. Thanks, Tonya KR4BTJ, for getting us set up with the DPA.

Social media presence was next; there have been some hiccups with MeWe lately, so Patrick asked what everyone thought about starting another Facebook page or even trying Discord. A motion was made to hold off until after Field Day to dive deeper into the issue.

Harrell WD4LAR is responsible for filling slots for an upcoming W1AW/4 operation June 16th. There are several signed up for various modes and times, but he needs more operators to volunteer. Parks on the Air "Support Your Parks" weekend is July 18-19. So get out there.

An ad hoc learning events/projects day was proposed for club activities. A WSPR 10-milliwatt transmitter featured in the April QST is one of the possible projects in the works. It looks like a fun project.

Mike AK4VU brought refreshments this month. Fried chicken, BBQ, potato salad, slaw, chips, cookies, and cold drinks. The food was incredibly delicious and satisfying. Thanks, Mike, it was awesome.

We talked about all things Field Day for the next 30+ minutes, stations, computers, operators, food (one of the most important things), and all things that make up Field Day. Station setup will begin at 6:30 PM, Thursday June 25th at the Field Day shop. This will be followed by antenna setup and system check at 1 PM, Friday afternoon. The Field Day event will kick off at 1 PM on Saturday and last until 1 PM Sunday. Be there !

Upcoming events
ARRL VHF contest June 13th-15th
CQWW VHF contest—CW/SSB July 4th-5th
North American QSO party July 18th-19th

RARC Meeting April 23, 2026

Our president, Patrick KO4HEX, called the April 23rd meeting of the Reelfoot Amateur Radio Club to order at 6:30 pm at the Discovery Park of America for the first time. There were 17 club members and 1 guest, KO4TDD, James Wolfgang.

Old business was reviewed by secretary Noel KJ4UNX, and then the club's financial report was reviewed.

Patrick talked about the POTA activation at Reelfoot Lake Park. He, Phil N4PWG, and Tonya KR4BTJ made 40 contacts. They had a wonderful time until the weather got cold and rainy. Field day prep was discussed. It was decided to again compete in class 2A Battery and with QRP power. More will be talked about next month. Initial planning for the Christmas dinner was discussed, including everyone's preferred dining options and the process for making reservations.

Kelvin KR4FET brought a taco bar with all the fixings plus some. He also brought rice to use in addition to taco shells, something he picked up from his service in Okinawa, Japan. It was very delicious. Many thanks Kelvin !

This month, Jamie WB4YDL delivered a presentation on beginning amateur radio satellite communication. This presentation focused primarily on FM communication as this is the simplest way to start. The link - Beginning Satellite Communications . Future presentations on SatComm are planned for more advanced methods.

RARC Meeting March 26, 2026

Thursday, March 26, 2026, the Reelfoot Amateur Radio Club monthly meeting was brought to order by our new president, Patrick Hall, KO4HEX. Due to not wanting to eat cold pizza, refreshments were served with cold drinks. I think the BBQ chicken pizza is the best. Thanks very much, Patrick; it was excellent. There were 11 members in attendance with one guest, Patrick's young son (who said he was just here for the pizza). Hi hi hi. Secretary Noel KJ4UNX reviewed the financial report and discussed old business.

New business was discussed next. Patrick passed out a rough draft of a resource page with information for club activities like POTA events, nets, get-togethers between meetings, and many other news items for members/non-members. On POTA day, April 18th, Patrick rented a shelter at Reelfoot Lake so everyone can participate. Starting around 9 am until whenever you get tired. Kelvin Todd volunteered to cook food for the event, and Patrick volunteered to bring drinks.

Robert KG4ZDN announced that the South Fulton DMR UHF Repeater is on the air with excellent coverage, with an 8-bay antenna located on top of the South Fulton Water Tank.
444.1125 + offset Color Code 1
TS1 Static TGs: 314431, 314710, 311035, 2 (KA4BNI Cluster)
TS2 Available for Dynamic Groups

June 16th, Tuesday: Our section will have the chance to operate W1AW portable. Harrell WD4LAR is in charge of this operation. Please contact him as soon as possible to obtain the time slot you would like to operate. All modes are accepted and encouraged. There will also be another date to operate W1AW on a Tuesday in Sept; the date is to be announced.

Next month's meeting will be at the Discovery Park of America (DPA) due to the Friends of the Library annual book sale. All the money raised will be used for library projects. Please come out and support our library. Thanks, Tonya KR4BTJ, Vice President, for taking charge and getting a room at the DPA for us.

Chuck KJ4JIG gave a great presentation of uninterrupted power supplies and backup batteries. He talked about their uses in your shack and everyday uses throughout your house. He brought several examples, both good and bad. The highlight was his 12/24 volt 900+ amp go box. It can power a POTA station for days and a QRP station for weeks. Thanks, Chuck, for the great info and presentation.

Please remember that the April RARC meeting will be at Discovery Park of America.

RARC Meeting February 26, 2026

The second meeting of the year for the Reelfoot Amateur Radio Club kicked off at 6:30 PM at the Obion County Public Library. There were 13 members in attendance and 2 guests. We led off with refreshments provided by Steve, KQ4UB. We had some really great pizza from Domino's. That BBQ Chicken was a hit!

Patrick went over the financial report which was up from last year and then began collecting dues. Old business included updates from the emergency communication training that Harrell, WD4LAR, was conducting on Tuesday's during the month of February. There were 33 in attendance with 181 souls reported from AR, AL, MS, NC, KY, TN. Ryan, KG4ZDF, coverd the new 440 MHz repeater that is now at the Obion County Sheriff's Office on 442.95 MHz. The GMRS repeater project is on hold for the moment. Phil, N4PWG, let us know that in the LAPC meeting, there were discussions that Robin Woods is going to sell Wood's Communication. This is potentially ripe for a DMR repeater.

Several Hamfests are coming up that were discussed:

Hamfest in Perryville MO March 11th
Memphis Hamfest March 11th
Trenton Hamfest - canceled
Hoxie Hamfest was the previous weekend
Cave City is on the 7th

We then moved on to elections

President - Patrick, KO4HEX, nominated by Jamie, WB4YDL

Vice President - Tonya, KR4BTJ, nominated by Jamie, WB4YDL

Secretary/Treasurer - Noel, KJ4UNX, nominated by Glen, N4MJ

All were unanimously elected by acclimation. Congratulations to the new Officers!

Noel, KJ4UNX, moved on to a presentation showing how to put a PL 259 socket onto a piece of coax. This was a non solder socket, crimp only. After he stripped the coax and got the socket into place, he demonstrated the certain type of crimper that you need, and then moved on to the heat shrink to make it nice and neat. Patrick and Tonya brought up the meeting location for April, which will be moved to Discovery Park of America because of a conflict with an event the library is having.

RARC Meeting January 22, 2026

The First meeting of the year was held on Jan 22nd and the Obion County Public library. The meeting had fairly light attendance with 6 members, due to oncoming inclement weather. Vice President Phil, N4PWG called the meeting at 6:30 where Patrick, KO4HEX reviewed the financial report. As it stands the balance is currently $ 1,859.19. New business was started with discussions of Winter Field Day that was going to be held at the Church of Christ in Troy. Unfortunately, due to the snow that will accumulate over the next several days, Winter Field Day at our location will be canceled for safety reasons.

We also brought up that the Fulton County Amateur Radio Club has re-named to the Ken-Tenn Amateur Radio Association. Additionally, the General Class that they are providing is at about the halfway point and the students seem to be absorbing the information with some decent practice test scores.

Patrick, KO4HEX then moved into a show and tell with the ARRL satellite antenna. It is a portable 2m/70cm antenna designed for entry level satellite communication. He went over some of the challenges and early learnings of his attempts to make a QSO. He is still looking for the first one. Jamie, WB4YDL made comments that this is a good intro into what will be a more in-depth discussion on SatComm later this year with a more detailed presentation that he will be giving, including a new project  with a Sat Cube!!

There was some discussion on Emergency Communication with updates from Harrell, WD4LAR, on the TN Phone net. He also stated the importance of Winlink and its wide acceptance across ARES. He will be hosting a training on the 3980 frequency on Feb the 3rd, 10th, 17th, and 24th that will last about 45 mins.

We hope the weather improves and to see everyone at the next meeting Feb 26th.

Archive of Previous Year's Meetings

All files below are in PDF format and require Adobe Acrobat® reader to view:

Previous Power-point Presentations and Handouts

Getting Started with Amateur Radio Satellites
Packet Radio and APRS
Summits on the Air
Programming Your HT with CHIRP Handout
Power Supplies
DMR - Digital Mobile Radio
RF Receiver Architecture
Introduction to EME Communications
An Introduction to Contesting Powerpoint (updated 2024)
An Introduction to Contesting Handout (updated 2024)
HF Receiver Principles: Noise and Dynamic Range Powerpoint
HF Receiver Principles: Noise and Dynamic Range Handout
Amateur Radio Operational Awards
Narrow Band Emergency Communications System
PSK31
ARES - Winlink
Emergency Communications - Special
Basic Message Handling
Introduction to Emergency Nets