LAST UPDATED: 2-NOV-2019 1443

PLEASE NOTE: Newsletter may be undergoing updates during the publishing period.

Proposed Minutes
CLICK TO VIEW MINUTES

Announcements

Next meeting is TUESDAY 5-NOV 2019 PBC West Boca Library
PayPal available for 2020 dues, donation, and purchased items
2020 Membership Dues will be accepted 1-October 2019
Hosted Events: Scout JOTA was weekend of 19+20-OCT
Holiday Party on 12-DEC-2019 Boca Chase Clubhouse
Monday analog nets move to 146.82- PL110.9
Bruce KO4XL Road Tests the Raspberry Pi 4 CLICK HERE TO READ

Calendar

Shack Hosting Events

The following events are planned. Any organization who desires to use BRARA facilities shall contact a board member and provide specific details. CLICK HERE FMI

NO UPCOMING SHACK HOSTED EVENTS SCHEDULED

HOSTED EVENTS: JOTA by Ralph W1DAR and Bruce KO4XA

SAVE THE DATE: Thursday 12-DEC-2019 Holiday Potluck Party
Approximately 6pm to 8pm with setup about 5pm, we are hosting the F2019 Holiday Party at Robert Eng’s W1ENG club house. On behalf of our members, we offer our thanks and appreciation to Robert for offering this facility.

This event is potluck and folks will need to tell us what foods they are bringing.

Please watch for details over the coming days.

This Month’s Speaker

Erik Olmer W4EJO on shelter communications (rescheduled from October)

Ham Shack News

Station-1 Amp temporary replacement is inline
Station-1 ICOM IC-7600 off line for repair at Station-2
Station-1 has gently used and donated IC-7600
Station-2 being used to repair IC-7600
Station-3 FT-1000 is working normally
Station-4 FT-897 is working normally
Station-5 FT-1000MP is new and uses offset dipole on VHF tower
Station-6 Various VHF/UHF radios are working normally with exception of IC-706

Two new floor chair protectors have been placed at HF stations 1 and 2. Outside debris has been removed to PBC recycle facility thanks to Walt W4WCD. Ralph W1DAR was our Radiator Grille coordinator and recently cleaned and repaired our Weber Q3000 grill. The fence gate door has been raised for smoother operation and to meet PBC needs. The shack has been decluttered and reorganized to open up more space. Art WA8VSJ and Bruce KO4XL are addressing the various HF issues such as tuners, amps, switches and radios.

Annual Toy Drive:
Request for unwrapped toy donations

In cooperation with the Blue Knights Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club a donation box will be located at The Shack. Please consider bringing an unwrapped toy to the Radiator Grille on the 26-OCT-2019.

Our appreciation to Mike Ross N4ANO who is one of our members as well as Blue Knights. Mike suggested we provide a donation opportunity and for sure, its with welcome hearts and thoughts our members offer up such gifts.

SHACK ITEMS WE NEED
We are in need to replacing the HF tuner for station-1. If a willing member is able to help finance or donate such an item, our club members and The Shack would be so very grateful and it would help protect our HF assets.

Please see Bruce KO4XL, Art WA8VSJ or Ed N2II for details.

Special Projects

The following are project status

Satellite TOWER BASE installation POSTPONED until Fall of 2019
Satellite ANTENNA and radio installation TBA
DMR repeater internet access IN-PROGRESS

CLICK HERE for DMR Repeater and Antenna Installation Status

How to use PayPal for BRARA member business

CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS

2020 DUES accepted starting October 1 2019
First time members join for the remainder of 2019 and 2020
Dues amounts have not changed from last year.

CLICK FOR DUES FMI

ARRL CANDIDATE ELECTION DETAILS

CLICK HERE for Jeff Stahl K4BH SE Div Vice-Director Statement

Report (by Ed N4II)

We received QSL cards from last fall 2018. Ed said we got new contacts for confirmed 287. Rolled over 251 CW contacts. Worked tough to reach stations on FT8. WAS added 1 state. Got 19 more QSL from 2019 FD.

Ed N4II

Dx Operating News and Information
CLICK TO READ MORE

The very latest information on DX Operating News, including DXPeditions, DXCC, and QSL information

Contests and Special Events
CLICK TO READ MORE

Looking for upcoming contests and special events from around the world?

Hamcation

Save the date 8-February 2020

We will begin taking reservations to travel to Orlando in a large van.

New Website Capability

No new capabilities

Member Online Auction is LIVE

Please stay tuned for updates

Public Classified Section is LIVE

Please stay tuned for updates

Please note: items are Negotiable

Training Video

No new Training videos

Training Classes
CLICK FMI

Free Laurel VEC Testing
CLICK TO READ MORE

About Our Members

We honor and remembered our members who have passed

Keith McPhail K3SKM
Linda Lindeman N4JNL
Sidney Gogel W2FUR
Bob Dobski KB8WJF
Nob Fox W1VEI
Myron Goldstein WA2PWJ CLICK FOR OBIT

Good and Welfare

If you know of an amateur or their family dealing with health issues or may have lost someone, please let us know. Robert.K K3SUH is our go to person to send a communication in the form of a card to the person or family.

CLICK HERE to email details.

New Membership Form
CLICK FOR MEMBERSHIP APP AS PDF

KN4GML Nikko Pabion
N1JIW Joseph Wiesenfeld
WA2ROA Henry Seidner

Statistics

30 Member renewals for 2020
163 paid members
3 new members
7 pending online applications
6 silent keys
130 regular members
4 associate members
22 family members
1 lifetime

Our Scheduled Nets

COORDINATED NETS BEING REFORMED
We are adjusting the content and format of the Monday night Voice Com net. This means shortening the NCS script and refocus on the net content. For example, we used to have checked in stations provide project updates and address questions. Please join us the next few Mondays as we poll those station offering ideas and feedback.

BRARA Net Update – 145.29 moving to 146.82
The BRARA 145.29 repeater located at the Social Security building in Boca Raton FL near RT95 and Yamato has been experiencing audio issues for a few months. Given this, the two nets that occurs Monday on that machine will transition on a temporary basis to the GCARA 146.82(-) PL110.9 repeater located near the Boca Regional hospital in Boca Raton FL.

Please note the new BRARA DMR repeater is behaving just fine and can be used by those with DMR radios locally on TG-311027.

NET DETAILS FOLLOW

SUNDAY
8.00pm ET SEFL DMR Tech-Net
GCARA 443.3500+ CC-11 TS-1 TG-3112529 (NO CHANGE)

MONDAY
7.00pm ET Voice Com Net
GCARA analog 146.82- PL110.9 (TEMPORARILY RELOCATED)

7.30pm ET DMR BrainWaves Not-A-Net
BRARA LOCAL 442.875+ CC-1 TS-2 TG-311037

8.00pm ET SoCounty NBEMS Net
GCARA analog 146.82- PL110.9 (TEMPORARILY RELOCATED)

Other Local Analog Repeater Nets

Daily 6.00 pm SEFL Traffic 146.61 MHz
Tue 7.30pm CERT Plan-B 145.29- PL110.9
Fri 7:30 pm SATERN Net WARC 147.285 + PL-103.5 CANCELLED

Club Repeaters

144.390 APRS Repeater (NOW ACTIVE)
145.070 Packet Repeater (OFF LINE)
GPS Location: 26.39724 –80.09485

From this past Sunday net a few very informed DMR technical experts suggested anyone using a mobile DMR hotspot such as a Pi-Star to use the Texas server 3102. The reason is this server is much more stable and not experimental like some others.

Please read Bernie’s BLOG post on further details that applies to us all.

WHAT IS TGIF TALKGROUP

On Fridays at 8.30ET on TG-31665 is the TGIF Net. In order to participate, you have to change you pi-start DMR Master from 3102 to TGIF_Network om the drop down list and update your pi-star settings. Once the pi-star has recycled and is operating normally, connect to you hotspot on TG-31665 and enjoy the net. When you are done, change the DMR Master back to 3102. Have fun.

TGIF CONNECTION UPDATE

I reached out to one of my friends at BM to find out about TGIF. TGIF is not part of BM and is not on their network. They are apparently using a software made by Ty Weaver to host their system and a product called HB Link. The HBLINK is what allows your hotspot to connect to it and basically emulates a Brandmeister server type connection. This being the case the only way to reach their TG is connecting to their server or linking through someone else who has a connection.

Regards,
Bernie NY4Z

GCARA DMR REPEATER AND HOTSPOT PACKET DROPOUT
GCARA have adjusted their DMR repeater to use DMR server 3102. This should help reduce te DMR packet dropout. Our many thanks to GCARA and the group of folks who implemented this change.

Local DMR Repeaters
CLICK FOR REPEATER LIST

Scheduled DMR Nets
CLICK FOR DMR NETS

Sun 8.00 pm TG-3112529 SeFL FL Tech Net
Mon 7.30 pm TG-311037 BrainWaves NotANet (LOCAL ONLY)
Wed 9.00 pm TG-3 NA Tech Net
Thu 8.20pm TG-31777 NotQuiteRight Net
Sat 12.00 noon TG-1 WW
Sat 8.00 pm TG-310035 GCARC KnowItAll Net

South East Florida (SEFL) DMR Tech Net: With the new DMR Brandmeister Repeater installed and awaiting internet access, that repeater DMR ID is TG-311037. At a future date, we will be transitioning from TG-3112529 to TG-311037. A whole lot of communication and monitoring will occur well before this happens.

South East Florida (SEFL) DMR Tech Net: Sundays at 8pm on TG-3112529 which is the DMR ID for N4BRF our club callsign. You may also access the Gold Coast ARC DMR 70cm Repeater on 443.3500 CC-11 to join the fun. A new code plug has been provide to enable members to access the GCARC TG-3112529. See our HOME page for the codeplugs.

BRARA DMR BrainWaves NotANet: On Mondays at 7.30pm on TG-311037 to local user only until IP is available and after which it shall continue but open to all DMR amateurs. The purpose is to use the repeater plus test radios, codeplugs, audio and have fun. There is no NCS so just find an opening and announce yourself.

BRARA Open House

We meet every Wednesday and Saturday morning between 09:30 and 13:00 for our Open House, and for any work that needs to be done at the Shack. Anyone interested in exploring Amateur Radio is encouraged to stop in for a visit.

Newsletter Guidelines

Thanks for all who submitted articles and I hope you continue to do so. We’re also looking for new writers as well. Here are some guidelines for article submissions.

Text should be in MS Word or equivalent, saved as a .DOC file
Write your best stuff, but don’t sweat the grammar. That’s why there’s an editor.
Please submit pictures/illustrations as separate files, don’t embed them in the text.
Be sure to submit clear, in-focus photos

Club Ham Shack

West Delray Regional Park
10875 West Atlantic Avenue
Delray Beach, FL 33446

Board of Directors Scheduled Meetings

We hold scheduled monthly Board meetings at 12:00 Noon at the Shack on the Sunday preceding the next General Meeting.

Donations and Contributions

Contributions to BRARA— a 501(c)(3) organization—are tax deductible as charitable donations. As you complete your membership renewal or begin your year-end tax planning, please consider making a donation to BRARA.

Please donate to BRARA via Amazon Smiles:
Search for: Boca Raton Amateur Radio Association

CLICK HERE TO SMILE AT BRARA

Planned Giving: Please also consider BRARA when updating or initiating planned giving (including charitable gift annuities, bequests and gifts or retirement plan assets) and other assets.

Apparel Donations

$10 donation–BRARA Name Plate with your Call Sign

For More Information

Website: www.brara.org Twitter: BRARA@N4BRF Instagram: #BRARA_N4BRF

Facebook: CLICK VIEW FACEBOOK

Please be advised that the above are the official BRARA social media sites. No other social media sites are recognized by BRARA.

Newsletter Contributions

Got an idea for an article? Or constructive critique? Want to share club news and events? How about writing a short 30-minute project idea? Your submissions to the Radio Flyer are needed to help keep this one of the best club newsletters in South Florida.

Please send articles to BRARA@BRARA.org

Ham Shack Access Rules

To obtain a key to the BRARA Ham Shack you must be a member in good standing for a minimum of one continuous year, hold a valid FCC Amateur Radio License, and complete a short training session with one of the Club officers.

Address

the Radio Flyer
P.O. Box 480162
Delray Beach, FL 33448-0162

Copyright and Protection

Reproduction of material from any BRARA web page without written permission is prohibited.

Regards and 73 from The Shack
de N4BRF