Welcome

arrlAn ARRL Affiliated Special Service Club

The Santa Fe Trail Amateur Radio Club is a general-purpose club with the goal of promoting and supporting the educational and operational aspects of ham radio through ham radio classes, on-the-air events, and hands-on activity. THE SATURDAY BREAKFAST MEETINGS ARE HELD  AT PERKINS IN GARDNER EACH SATURDAY. YOU ARE WELCOME TO JOIN US 6:30 AM TO ~8:30AMThe monthly business meeting is the 2nd Saturday of each month. This meeting is a hybrid meeting in which you can attend in person at Perkins in Gardner or you can attend via a Zoom connection. Additionally, the club holds a Tech Night presentation via Zoom the last Thursday evening of each month at 7:30 pm. Log in to the web site and select the "Links/Zoom Links" menu to find meeting links or contact a club officer.

HF Propagation

Upcoming Events

28 Mar 2024;
07:30PM - 08:30PM
Tech Night - KIØKK
12 Apr 2024;
04:00PM - 09:00PM
Green Country Hamfest - Day 1
13 Apr 2024;
08:00AM -
SFTARC business meeting
13 Apr 2024;
08:00AM - 03:00PM
Green Country Hamfest - Day 2
20 Apr 2024;
08:00AM - 01:00PM
Ararat Shrine ARC Hambash
25 Apr 2024;
07:30PM - 08:30PM
Tech Night - NØAZ
27 Apr 2024;
09:00AM - 03:00PM
Tallgrass Prairie Natl Preserve

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MEETING TO ORDER:

The President, Jeff Darby KS0JD, called the meeting to order in the Market Grill at ~7:15 AM. Attendees introduced themselves by name and call-sign. A total of 23 club members and 1 guest were present.

SECRETARY-TREASURER REPORT: 

Marty Peters, KE0PEZ, reported the receipts ($1130) and disbursements ($463.24) for the month of January, the current checking account balance, and the balances in the general fund and the repeater fund. The $720 donation from the City of Olathe was the main receipt during February.

2020 Ham Class--Extra [Jim Andera – K0NK]

The annual ham class at the Salvation Army facility in Olathe is going well. Students are engaged and appreciate lively lectures. Jeff Darby KS0JD, Larry Hall KD0RIU, George McCarville WB0CNK, Jim Andera K0NK, and Greg Wolfe KI0KK are teaching the class. Three classes remain. A test for the Extra Class License will follow the concluding session.

Repeater Relocation [Jim Andera – K0NK]

There has been a major reorganization at Olathe Medical Center. Some of the personnel at OMC who would have coordinated this project are no longer there.  Jim has established contact with the OMC representatives that now oversee this project, and he has conveyed a plan that includes the benefits to the OMC of having this repeater on site as well as an outline of steps that would lead to the goal of an operational repeater. The plan includes suggestions for appropriate radio equipment and antenna structure. OMC contracts out their electrical work to Heartland Electric, so we would cooperate with them on this project. Jim hasn't heard anything negative about this project from the OMC representatives. This is an ongoing project. Tentatively, SFTARC will be responsible for supplying and maintaining electrical equipment and antennas while OMC will be responsible for creating any holes in building walls and/or ceilings, supplying and attaching the antenna mounts, and supplying electric power for the radio equipment.

Club Newsletter [Greg Wolfe – KI0KK]

Newsletter inputs are due by 7PM Wednesday, February 12.

Kansas Day Event [Del Sawyer K0DDS]

The event was a great success; 8 operators participated. Rick Nichols wrote up the event, and his article and photo were featured as a full page in the Gardiner News. Rick's article also appeared in eHam.net, a community website for amateur radio operators. Way to go, Rick! During the event, operators made 20 CW contacts on 30 M and 103 phone contacts on 20 M and 40 M. The ARRL Winter Field Day started in the afternoon, making the 20 M and 40 M bands quite lively. It was a lot of fun, and we are looking forward to doing it again in July when our club participates in the Kansas QSO party.

OTHER BUSINESS:

It was moved and seconded to donate $100 to the Salvation Army to recognize its support of the amateur radio community and its mission of providing emergency services to the public. The motion passed unanimously.

It was moved and seconded to authorize $150 to purchase a portable 12 V power supply to power the club IC-7300 at events for which the power supply in the trailer is not available. Marty confirmed that club funds are currently sufficient to cover such an outlay. A suggestion was made to consider a power supply made by Powerwerx. President Darby will take the lead in determining the power supply that best suits the needs of the club. 

ADJOURN:

A motion to adjourn was passed unanimously at ~7:30 AM.

Trail Bytes

HamClock as an Operating Aid
17 Mar 2024

HamClock is a Linux based application that provides more than a clock for you Ham station. HamClock also provides several operating aids that can be selected by the...

BuddiPole POWERmini
23 Jan 2024

KM4ACK reviews a charge controller for portable operation. This controller provides metering and on configuration settings. A good choice if you are operating on battery...

Ham Radio on the Today Show
06 Jan 2024

On January 5th, 2024, NBC's Today Show featured a segment showcasing an ISS contact from Harborcreek High School in Harborcreek, PA.  Journalist Harry Smith and a...

What Not to Buy
22 Dec 2023

KM4ACK reviews the five purchases he regrets. Jason provides some excellent comments on several products common in the Ham market place today. The YouTube comments also...

NVMe SSDs on the Raspberry Pi 5
17 Nov 2023

An SSD for the Raspberry Pi 5, YouTube by: Jeff Geerling.... Click "Watch on YouTube" to see notes  

Bad Fuses
09 Jul 2023

YouTube Video by Tom, WA2IVD Tom tests the characteristics of blade fuses used by many hams. The surprising results for cheap no-name fuses vs. brand name devices is some...

Basics of Ferrite Beads
04 Jul 2023

YouTube Video by W2AEW A good tutorial on the use of Ferrite beads for filtering and RFI suppression. Also search YouTube for additional tutorials by W2AEW.  

Radio Memory Programing Using RT Systems External Data
26 Jun 2023

RT Systems software provides an easy way to program memories for a mobile or HT. You must purchase the RT Systems software for your specific radio and have the required data...