*New Hams - A guide to getting started in amateur radio* Getting started with your 2-meter handheld. You have your new handheld radio. Now it's time to get your radio programmed and get on the air. Randy Hall, K7AGE, has a few short videos to help you get started. *How to get started on Ham Radio 2 Meter FM, Part 1 - Repeater basics ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmOfkdhJL1U ) * *How to get started on Ham Radio 2 Meter FM, Part 2 - Operating your handheld ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrRLBPhwaus ) How to get started on Ham Radio 2 Meter FM, Part 3 - Programming your handheld ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1PtDM3lI3Q ) * -- Doug KM4LKC Having fun promoting amateur radio technology

Please find the listing of our local area nets. There are more than 100 ways to get on the radio. There is a pdf file as well as a sortable spreadsheet. The spreadsheet can be sorted by date and time, band, mode, and more. Thank you to everyone who helped put this listing together. Enjoy! The Net Listings were updated to reflect a couple of recent changes as of 04/28/2020. -- Doug KM4LKC Having fun promoting amateur radio technology

Please find the link to the CARS Membership Application for 2021 to join or to renew your membership. Thank you for your support! *Link to the Membership Application is here ( http://carsfl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/The-CARS-dues-for-calendar-year-2021-.pdf )*. -- Doug KM4LKC

UPCOMING CLUB EVENTS: The Elks is Open Again - Join us at the Elks Lodge in Punta Gorda for lunch every Friday at 11:00 am. Directions to the Elks lodge locat ed her e ( https://goo.gl/maps/aG22RMYTsLtSJCPM7 ). * Join us for our monthly club meeting on Thursday, January 14th at 7:00 pm. We are meeting in person in Lenox Hall at the First United Methodist Church. * CARS 6-Meter Net - Thursday, January 21st at 7:00 pm on 50.200 USB. JS8 Call to follow on 50.318 USB * Winter Field Day begins on Saturday, January 30th at 9:00 am -- Doug KM4LKC Having fun promoting amateur radio technology

Lawrence, K4ETD, has offered to help our club organize a workgroup to develop a satellite communications system. The club hopes to develop a microcontroller-based radio system to track and communicate with the International Space Station and other low-earth orbit satellites. We are in the very early stages of organizing the project and our first goal is to see who is interested in participating. Let us know if you would like to help. -- Doug KM4LKC Having fun promoting amateur radio technology

If you want to do a group order, please add your name here, If we can get 10 or more people together, we can order the parts for everyone. Angelo, K3YUN shares his recent success building an inexpensive antenna for 6 meters. Angelo is able to work stations 18 miles from his QTH with this easy-to-build project. Angelo shares the following information - *https://vk1nam.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/sota-6m-coaxial-dipole-antenna/ ( https://vk1nam.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/sota-6m-coaxial-dipole-antenna/ )* The lengths that I used are as follows: Measure 54 inches from the end of the coax, cut, and strip back the black outer covering. Carefully cut back and remove the brad shield. Measure from the point where you removed shield down the length of coax 49.5 inches, and place a mark on that point, this is where the 13 turn winding will begin. I placed a piece of shrink tubing at the point where shied was removed to keep water out. After the antenna is completed you can prune the top half of the antenna for best SWR measurements, a photo of my reading is shown. I have had great success with this simple half-wave vertical antenna talking over a radius of 20 miles. Your mileage may vary. *Parts List* * 30 feet of RG58/CU coax cable * 1- 2 inch diameter pill bottle ( photo enclosed) a 2-inch diameter PVC coupler could be subbed * 1- PL259 connector, or connector of your choice. * 2 wire ties * shrinkwrap * 1- 20 foot fishing pole *https://www.walmart.com/ip/South-Bend-Kwik-Stix-20-Telescopic-Fishing-Pole/20594147* Here are some other link about this antenna: *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8hQRjI3BPk* *http://n4ser.org/2018/simple-6m-antenna-for-anyone/ http://vk2zoi.com/articles/half-wave-flower-pot/ ( http://vk2zoi.com/articles/half-wave-flower-pot/ ) * Angelo, K3YUN -- Doug KM4LKC Having fun promoting amateur radio technology

I participate in the Lee county winklink training session run by Steve, W9GPI. Steve does a great job encouraging us to learn the many facets of the winlink program. Are you wondering just what is winlink? Winlink is...a worldwide radio email service that uses radio pathways where the internet is not present and is capable of operating completely without the internet--automatically--using smart-network radio relays. Winlink provides its user's email with attachments, position reporting, weather, and information bulletins, and is well-known for its role in interoperable emergency and disaster relief communications. To begin with, there is no need to get the radio involved. We'll save that for another time. First, let's get the program up and running and get comfortable with sending and receiving messages using the internet function of the program. Take these three simple steps to get started. 1) Watch the following short video -- *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO730gfzYko* 2) Download the winlink express software -- *https://downloads.winlink.org/User%20Programs/Winlink_Express_install_1-5-25-0.zip ( https://downloads.winlink.org/User%20Programs/Winlink_Express_install_1-5-34-0.zip )* 3) Setup your winlink account. - Using Winlink Express, follow the account creation instructions presented by the program. Winlink Express makes the process easy. For more information (and there is a lot of it), see *https://winlink.org/ Doug KM4LKC*

View this email in your browser ( https://us19.campaign-archive.com/?e=[UNIQID]&u=ab598356effafcc2ee0118e9c&id=4799b4a283 ) ( http://www.carsfl.org/ ) *Join us for Winter Field Day on Saturday, January 30th and Sunday, January 31st!* The Charlotte Amateur Radio Society hosts one of our favorite field operating events. We will begin our setup at 9:00 am on Saturday, January 30th. The first contact begins at 2:00 pm and the event will continue for 24 hours. Takedown will begin at 2:00 pm on Sunday, the 31st. This is a great introduction to contesting. We encourage any amateur radio operator who wants to learn more about contesting or emergency communications to sign up for an operating slot. We will have experienced operators working with you to help you get started and learn the process. Winter Field Day is a fun event that promotes operating in different modes and on many different bands. You can *learn more about the event here ( https://www.winterfieldday.com/ )*. We will be located at the Deep Creek Park just across the Desoto County line. The park is next to the Navigator Grill off of Kings Highway. Address and Google Map to the Park *Deep Creek Park 9751 SW Peace River St Arcadia, FL 34269 ( https://goo.gl/maps/GBAe7KzFSQgbbifS8 )* -- Doug KM4LKC Having fun promoting amateur radio technology