Category Archives: GCARS Special Events

Test Session Tomorrow, 9/14/19

GCARS VE Test Session tomorrow , Sat. Sept. 14 @ 9:30 am
**Exams are held at Southminster Presbyterian Church at 1401 Hoffman Rd. in Gastonia, NC 28054

The cost for the test is $10. The $10 cost covers all test levels taken at that exam session provided that the examinee passes the previous level license exam. (So it is possible to take the tech, general and extra exams for $10 given each prior level is passed).

GCARS examinations are accredited through the WCARS VEC.

2019 GCARES Field Day!

When: Saturday, June 22 @ 2pm thru Sunday, June 23 @ 2pm Where: North Belmont Park 3110 Hickory Grove Rd. Gastonia NC 28056 Who: Everyone!

This event is free and open to the public. .Everyone is welcome to come out and experience amateur radio. We will be making as many contacts as possible within a 24 hour period on emergency power. If you are interested in amateur radio or know someone who is, then come on out to field day and learn more about the hobby.
**We will be setting up at 8 am on Saturday, June 22nd and breaking down at 2 pm on Sunday, June 23rd** All help is appreciated!
***We will be having our Family BBQ Supper on Saturday, June 22nd around 5:30 or 6. Thank you to all who signed up to bring a side item. Everyone is invited to join us and enjoy the fun fellowship with amateur radio operators and their families!!!!
Can’t wait to see you there!!!!

Fox Hunt! Fox Hunt! Fox Hunt!

It’s time to hunt the hidden transmitter! Please join GCARS this Saturday, March 2nd @ 10 am on 146.535 simplex frequency. We’ll meet at 8 am at Grits N Greens in Lowell for breakfast before the hunt! Bring your attenuators and radios and let’s have fun finding the fox!! There will be a prize for the first to find the transmitter!

https://www.facebook.com/events/644652555991672/?active_tab=about

2019 Ham Hike!

ALL HAMS AND THEIR FAMILIES ARE WELCOME TO HIKE WITH GCARS. We will be doing the HAM HIKE on the last Saturday of each month.​ We will start with nice leisurely strolls around the Lake Trail. It is approximately .80 miles around the lake. That’s less than a mile…YOU CAN DO IT!! Since this is a HAM HIKE, bring your HT radios so we can test our signals while we hike. If enough people show up, we may even do an impromptu Hiking Net �.

Date: February 23rd (last Saturday of February)
Time: 9:00 am
Location: meet at the Lake Trail near the Kayak/Boat Shack at Crowders Mountain State Park

Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/252218995714267/?active_tab=about

GCARS Winter Field Day 2019

Please join us for Winter Field Day 2019!

Come and enjoy some ham radio fun while practicing emergency communications protocol on the air! Set up is at 10:30 am on Saturday if you can help. Our Winter Field Day Feast is at 5 pm with pork butt, hamburgers and hot dogs. Remember to bring a side dish, dessert or drinks if you can. We hope to see you there!

Location:

p1808 Ratchford Dr, Dallas, NC 28034-7528

Civil Air Patrol & GCARS/GAARC/GC ARES/RACES Team Up!

On August 1, 2017, GCARS, GAARC & GC ARES teamed up with the Gastonia Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol.  At the request of the squadron leadership, we presented a nearly 2 hour program introducing the group (and in the main, the cadets) to amateur radio and its many facets: radio history & theory, transmission modes, radio applications and new technology. We demonstrated HF, VHF, and UHF radios, using analog and digital voice and data modes.

Annlette, KV4WB, GCARS President (and GAARC and GCARES member) smiles as she helps the CAP cadets learn about amateur radio

 

Bill Stevenson, AJ4JZ, GCARS VP and GC ARES Emergency Coordinator (and GAARC member) presents amateur radio to the Gastonia CAP squadron

The cadets of the squadron were very responsive, asking many bright questions and displaying fine manners and discipline. A couple of the adult members of the squadron are hams and they enjoyed the update on many of the new technologies in amateur radio today.

It was a great night- we greatly appreciate the opportunity to visit with the Gastonia CAP. We have been invited back to the Gastonia CAP on November 28, 2017, to give a presentation on “Satellite Communications”.  Cheerfully, we look forward to working again with this great group, a group that shares our passion for public service and technology!

Check out the Gastonia CAP Composite Squadron’s FaceBook page.

https://www.facebook.com/Gastoniacap/ 

 

 

2017 Winter Field Day Results Finally!

 

 

Hey GCARS Family and Friends,

Just found out (just was posted on their site recently) that GCARS did very well in the 2017 Winter Field Day Contest.

GCARS placed 10th overall in the Outdoor category and 5th in the “2 Oscar” category, with a score of 9044! This is a great result for our first WFD and very casual contesting style! 

Great job to all those who participated in Winter Field Day 2017!

(If you were wondering about ARRL (Summer Field Day 2017), the log deadline is 7-25-17, and we should have the results in about a month and a half afterwards).

7-22-17: 70 cm Fox hunt! (Hidden transmitter location contest)

 

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Malene

No, we are not really chasing foxes! We are going to try to find a hidden transmitter on the 70 cm band. NC0G, George, will be our venerable “fox” and try to out smart the participants as he hides the transmitter somewhere in Gaston County. It’s hide-and-seek on steroids! Much fun, but also with a practical use: it sharpens our radio-direction finding skills to assist with public services, such as locating lost seniors, illegal transmitters causing harmful interference, or even downed aviators.

NC0G, a.k.a., “the Fox”

The “fox hunt” will begin at 10 a.m., July 22, 2017. There will be a preliminary breakfast for the teams to meet and greet at the restaurant known as “Grits and Greens” in Lowell, NC at 8:30 a.m.

Anyone is welcome to participate: you don’t need to be a licensed ham to receive a signal (only to transmit one).  Come on out, it will be a lot of fun!

Below is an example of a directional antenna we built for the 70 cm band:

GCARS President, Annlette, KV4WB, holding a 70 cm “Moxon” antenna that she built.