Projects

Current “Works in Progress” that the combined talents of various CCARC members are working on…

  • We are working on hosting a Hamfest, September 23 2017. If you would like to help, that would be awesome! If you are a vendor and would like table space, please contact us!

 

  • WV0CQ is working on getting a VE Team together for CCARC. Volunteer are needed. If you would like to become a ARRL Accredited VE, please visit this link: http://www.arrl.org/become-an-arrl-ve

 

  • The City of Madison has devoted a room, 14’x12′ for the use of the club to house club equipment and to setup communications for the preparedness of the community in the event of disasters (Shack, aka “Le Shaque”). We will augment the government emergency services radio system and be prepared in the event of storms, or other disasters, to supplement and/or have emergency comms available for fire, police and ambulance dispatch. The “shack” will be the coordinated EOC center should it be called upon by the City of Madison – per an agreement with the City Office of Emergency Management.

 

Here’s a partial list of things we need for “Le Shaque”:

  1. At least one couch, no more than two couches, clean and comfortable. We’ll need to see if more than one is really needed after putting in the first couch.
  2. An HF radio, capable of 160m – 6m.
  3. A mobile 2m radio.
  4. A 2m antenna.
  5. A 6m antenna (I’ll take care of this, I have a new 6m vertical to donate.)
  6. A HexBeam antenna (my suggestion, as I have one and it works well, would be a nice directional antenna 20m – 6m)
  7. A roof mast (I’ll take this one as well, I purchased one for future use of the club should be get a shack)
  8. A rotator (Another that I already have ready for the club, I purchased an extra for the club when Radio Shack was going out of business).
  9. Ground wire. We’ll need a large ground strap coming into the shack from outside.
  10. At least one deep cycle battery, for use during emergencies.
  11. At least one solar panel capable of 25w or more.
  12. A solar controller. The one I purchased for my own use was $30.00
  13. We already have the multi-band di-pole that belongs to the club.
  14. At least 1, probably 3 comfortable office chairs.
  15. Surveillance DVR w/ ability to automatically send snap shots instantly upon tripping the circuit – (I have this covered)
  16. Surveillance camera, Night vision (I have a non-night vision camera for now, but need a good IR camera)
  17. Alarm system w/ cell phone dialer (I am working on this as I write this)
  18. Flat screen TV
  19. Office Desk – √ – Mathew said he has one to donate.
  20. Laptop – √ – John has one ready to go.

I’ll add to this list as we think of other things we may need.

We have replaced tile in the floor, cleaned up the room somewhat and most recently, installed a security alarm system. Much more work to do, but this is a project that will benefit the community for a long time to come.

 

 

 

 

* We are working on the repeater site for the Boone County Firefighter’s Mutual Aid Association

  • Found a viable locationphoto 1
  • Obtained permission from all parties involved, including land the owner and leasee.photo 2
  • Obtained telephone pole to be used as a temp tower and a person to come on site and set the pole.photo 3
  • Waiting for the weather to break to set the pole. Pole and antenna raised on 20 July 2014. Tested as a viable location.photo 4
  • Working on which direction to go for a storage cabinet/building for the equipment.photo 5
  • Working on the solar system for power generation. Solar system chosen and purchased.
  • Working on the land lease agreement with the land owners at this time. We have come to an agreement, we’re now waiting to get the agreement signed. Agreement signed.photo
  • Obtained (Through BCFFMAA sources and Alpha Natural Resources), 2x CAT 12v 1500CCA batteries for use with the repeater system.
  • 20 July 2014 – went onsite and installed pole and antenna. Tested with the new repeater and simplex. Good to go!

 

 

* VHF/2M Repeater System – Currently housed in a temporary ‘test’ location, this repeater is being worked on to meet the needs of the club. Members are combining efforts to modified the repeater donated to us by Paul Fortune and his son Tuffy. The repeater(s), both the 2m and the 70cm are now in their permanent home on Workman’s Tower in Boone County. This tower space was donated by the Boone County Commission in order to facilitate the needs of our club and the alternative use during emergency disasters. We are about 110′ off the ground. There’s still some work to be done and a few bugs to iron out, but we use the repeater daily.

* UHF/70cm Repeater System – Same with the 2M repeater, we have it in ‘test mode’ and we’re getting ready to put it on a tower. We hope to purchase a 2m/70cm antenna capable of handling both repeaters at the same time.  We did in fact get a dual band antenna and the equipment needed for simultaneous use, however, there’s some kinks to be worked out and we want to go higher on the tower (see above).

 

 


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