SHARE:  

City of Chesapeake PSOC

Amateur Radio Progress Report

March 1, 2024

Greetings,


For over six decades the local Amateur Radio operators have provided services to the citizens of Chesapeake.


Our senior Amateur Radio operators tell of times in the 1960s when they established radio communications to the local government for relaying vote tally's from rural poll judges.


Today we are starting our fourth year supporting and developing the Amateur Radio station, N4CEC at the Chesapeake Public Safety Operations Center. We have learned a great deal about our community and modern emergency communications.


We are excited about continuing our journey together. This report illustrates the current progress we have made.

ARRL Special Service Club


The Chesapeake Amateur Radio Service club that supports the City's N4CEC station has qualified as an American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Special Service Club.


Several criteria had to be meet to be designated a Special Service Club.

CARS Board of Directors did an excellent job generating the application document. The document gives a good overview of what the CARS club is doing for its members and Amateur Radio in general.


A link to the application document is here.

N4CEC HF Winlink RMSNode


N4CEC is now hosting a Winlink VARA HF RMSnode.

For the past year the PSOC Amateur Radio station N4CEC has hosted a very high frequency (VHF) Winlink node for sending and receiving radio email from around the immediate area from our 200-foot tower.


The service has been a great success among local Amateurs interested in emergency digital communications.

By adding a lower frequency (40 meter band) Winlink service, our station can now send and receive Winlink radio email from vessels at sea and locations in North American and around the world.


The map shows a test of our antenna coverage using WSPR technology on the 40-meter band.


We are very happy to be apart of the over 650 Amateur Radio stations in North America that make this service available.

Shack Day Maker Session

Richie Palmieri, K4VBR hosted a balun construction session at our last CARS Shack Day. The group made a 49:1 balun for portable field operations with End Fed Half Wave (EFHW) antennas.


The 49:1 balun is a key component for portable antennas on the HF Amateur Radio band. These wire antennas are compact to carry and can be erected in as little as a few minutes over an existing tree limb.


It's important that our Amateurs have the skills to fabricate these antenna components from locally available parts for emergency communications.


A short YouTube video of our Shack Day build is found here.

Community Center Shelter Antennas

The City of Chesapeake has provided VHF and UHF antennas for installation at the local community centers.


The mounted antennas and associated cabling are being permanently installed at dedicated locations inside the community centers for Amateur Radio use.


The City has provided VHF/UHF radios along with power supplies and digital modems for each emergency shelter. They are located at the PSOC in portable "go kit" carrying cases.

The PSOC has nine of these "go kits" that our Amateurs will be taking to the local shelters in the next few weeks to test the new antenna installations. They will also be ensuring the kit components are in order and able to send a Winlink radio email and a position report back to our PSOC tower.

Thank you for your support in developing Amateur Radio emergency skills in the City of Chesapeake.


Regards,



John, N3JC

N4CEC

Facebook  X  YouTube

Link

Link

Link

Link

Link