Lincoln County Amateur Radio Club
ARRL affiliated club in Oregon
Ahoy from N7REB in Seal Rock. I’m muddling through the process of getting set up for HF data modes with limited success. I’m able to run WSJT-X and JS8Call, but have been unsuccessful at transmitting on FLDigi and Ham Radio Deluxe. I’m especially interested in SSTV, but haven’t been able to figure that out, either.
I have an Icom IC-7300 and a PC running Windows 11 Home. Can you help me post a callout for help on the Facebook page and on the club’s website?
040125 – Cape Perpetua Visit
N7HQR 4 hours
During a storm we lost connectivity on Cape Perpetua. The 147.060 repeater went down as well as the packet APRS weather station.
Upon arrival at the site today, there was no AC power in the rack and the battery was at 6 volts. The setup is a dedicated 20 amp receptacle for our rack, that feeds an outlet strip in the rack. Most of the equipment plugs into the outlet strip, including a UPS that powers the modem/router/computer stuA. I started looking at the outlet strip, and the circuit breaker was tripped on it, and the power switch looked scorched. I tried the turn the UPS on and it
would not run.
The power strip and UPS were removed from the rack and a temporary outlet strip was wired in. I powered up the majority of the equipment, reset the weather station and set the parameters and checked to make sure the weather was making it out on APRS. The battery voltage was too low to safely charge it with the small power supply we have on it, so the battery was removed and should likely be replaced. The 147.060 repeater was plugged in and powered up just fine.
As often happens with amateur radio, we put things together to get them working and it isn’t always the best that could be done. This site should have a few things done for the power situation:
Interestingly, there were signs of arcing inside the case of the outlet strip which shows something faulted but I don’t see what it would have been. I suspect this occurred when the power went out and the generator started and restored power. Perhaps the UPS failed when the generator came back on and that caused the issue, I don’t know.
Here are the parts needed for the upgrade:
Low Voltage Disconnect – https://duracomm.com/product/din-lvd-12/
Power Supply – https://samlexamerica.com/products/12-volt-30-amp-battery-charger-safety-listed/
Outlet Strip – https://tripplite.eaton.com/single-phase-pdu-2400w-120v-13-5-1520r-outlets-5-20p-input-6-ft-cord-1u~PDU1226
That is about $700 in parts, if we need to get a battery that could be another couple hundred at least.
The view North from a little lower down the hill from the tower:
The rack as it was left today after restoring services:
Inside the damaged power outlet strip, notice the burn mark by the white wires:
73
Daron
You never know when we post tips, links, and information who might be out there searching for just such information. We recently received an email from Amanda, whose son Christian is working on his Radio merit badge and found our website and links helpful to his journey.
Amanda suggested we might also find this article useful for sharing information about amateur radio. Tell us what you think:
www.aaastateofplay.com/all-about-ham-radio-for-beginners/
Thanks, Amanda, and thanks Christian. Enjoy your exploration of the world of amateur radio!
The RMS gateways and digipeater are off line on Otter Crest, below is a description of the visit and I’ll update when we get things going again. Shout out to John KN4RTK for making the trip with me and helping. ~Daron N7HQR
033025 – Otter Crest Visit
N7HQR, KN4RTK for 2 hours
Saturday 29th the Winlink server reported our RMS gateway on Otter Crest was unreachable via the internet. We were unable to access the PC remotely, and packet radio command was transmitted via radio to power cycle or reset the PC in case it was locked up, but that didn’t restore service.
When we arrived the PC power light was on, and the link light on the ethernet switch was lit, indicating that the ethernet interface on the PC was alive. We power cycled things, checked connections, no video coming out of the PC and no indication it was running except for the power light.
We removed the shelf that contains the computer, packet radio, modem, etc. and will be working to get it restored to service. In the mean time there is no winlink access on otter crest and no ability to digipeat through otter crest to get to the courthouse or other RMS gateway.
The computer is an OnLogic industrial PC, I think we invested $1000 or so for it, no fan and no moving parts, should just sit and run. I suspect the solid state hard drive may have failed. The computer runs on 12vdc, and is fed with a buck/boost power supply in case the DC power gets below 12v it will keep the PC voltage where it needs to be.
Hopefully we can get this restored quickly and back on the air!
Tool Sale March 22 Only! 8am – 5pm Tools, tools chest, power tools, fishing rods, garden supplies 711 SE 4th St., Newport
There is also an antenna array – unknown type.
Update: Registration for Sea-Pac 2025 is open! Dates are May 30 – June 1. Friday Workshop subjects will be emergency communications (emphasis on Winlink) and DMR. For more information and to register: https://www.seapac.org/
We are excited to announce that the newest issue of the SEA-PAC Waves is available to download! Click this link for the SEA-PAC Waves.
We are looking forward to SEA-PAC 2025 and the SEA-PAC committee has been hard at work. We have some great things to share, so you are going to want to read this issue of the Waves!
Please feel free to copy and distribute this to your friends and clubs.
The SEA-PAC Committee
To subscribe or unsubscribe to the SEA-PAC mail list, send your name, call sign preferred email address to info@seapac.org.
If you are seeing the November 2024 issue of the Waves, please refresh your browser cache.
Coastal communities in the Pacific Northwest have a lot in common. In coastal Cascadia many people live in small towns or rural areas, which are often isolated by terrain and everyday radio / cellphone dead zones. Natural disasters don’t stop at jurisdictional boundaries. During times of disaster and service interruption, the usual transportation corridors to and from the coast may be cut off — the nearest help may be located in an adjacent coastal community.
The Cascadia Coastal Community Amateur Radio Net was established in to facilitate ongoing interaction between coastal groups (or agencies) interested in emergency or disaster-related communication. The purpose of the net is to share information and to facilitate communication between coastal communities in AK, WA, OR and CA in order to build community awareness, prepare for interruption of services and disasters, and to enhance overall community resiliency.
Net participants are those interested in sharing information on upcoming emergency or disaster-related training events and opportunities (posted to a calendar on www.cascadiacoastalcoalition.org), as well as, summaries of actual events. Starting in March 2025, the net will be run on the first and third Thursday of each month at 13:30 Pacific time on Brandmeister ‘Western Oregon’ TG 31412.
This is a directed net. Check-ins will share information with other net participants. The net is open to all licensed amateurs who have an interest in emergency or disaster-related communications especially those associated with ARES/ RACES, Hospital Communication groups, Medical Reserve Corps, Community Emergency Response Teams, and neighborhood groups.
Although there are a few DMR repeaters in our area of interest, most participants can use hotspots to access the DMR network. In addition to the net, the Western Oregon talk group 31412 may be used as an evaluator back-channel during large-scale training events (e.g., Disaster Airlift Response Team drills, Cascadia Rising, IronOR). If you need help with DMR let us know. We also have a few DMR radios and hotspots to loan out for folks to become familiar with DMR amateur radio.
For more information see –
WANTED: I need a 100 pF ceramic capacitor rated at 1kV to complete my 49:1 unun, if anyone has one they can spare…Thanks! John ki6ifa
Check out the Buy/Sell page for this and other Wanted and For Sale items.
Purpose:
The purpose of the net is to share information and to facilitate communication between coastal communities in AK, WA, OR and CA in order to build community awareness, prepare for interruption of services and disasters, and to enhance overall community resiliency.
Net participants are those interested in sharing information on upcoming emergency or disaster-related training events and opportunities, as well as, summaries of actual events. The net will be run on the first and third Thursday of each month at 13:30 Pacific time on Brandmeister ‘Western Oregon’ TG 31412.
This is a directed net. Check-ins will share information with other net participants. The net is open to all licensed amateurs who have an interest in emergency or disaster-related communications especially those associated with ARES/ RACES, Hospital communication groups, Medical Reserve Corps, Community Emergency Response Teams, and neighborhood groups.
Although there are a few DMR repeaters in our area of interest, most participants can use hotspots to access the DMR network. In addition to the net, the Western Oregon talk group 31412 may be used as an evaluator back-channel during large-scale training events (e.g., Disaster Airlift Response Team drills, Cascadia Rising, IronOR). Cascadia Coastal Coalition:
Cascadia Coastal Coalition (http://cascadiacoastalcoalition.org/) is an Oregon 501(c) (3) not for profit organization. Our mission is to promote disaster readiness, response, recovery and resilience in support of Pacific Northwest coastal communities. We promote awareness, training, and exercise development and coordination. We strive to build coastal public agency and private entity cooperation, and act as catalyst for statewide and regional coalition development. Our initial projects center around Medical Care and
Emergency Communications during the initial phase of disasters. During the past few years we have worked with coastal communities in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington
We are sorry to report that Darroll Morehouse KK6ZZ passed from this life peacefully January 15.