JULY 4th RED, WHITE & BLUE BREAKFAST The BEARS will gather for breakfast at Emerald's Eatery in South Windsor at 8 AM on Saturday, July 4th. This is an informal, pay-your-own-way event that everyone is welcome to. This is an opportunity for new hams or prospective hams to chat with BEARS members, find a mentor, get information on license classes, operating techniques, opinions on rigs and antennas, and lots more.
Emerald's Eatery is located in the Stop 'n Shop plaza in the center of South Windsor. Talk-in is on the BEARS repeater, 145.110, PL 77.
A group photo will be taken for use as the banner on the new, revised version of this website. Please wear your blue "Hungry Bears" tee shirt if you've got one.
The FOXBOX is currently deployed. The BEARS President N1TUP occasionally puts a "foxbox" out in the woods or in an obscure but public place, so amateur radio operators can practice their direction-finding skills. This is an "ammo box" containing a battery, a low-power transmitter, and a controller that issues an ID in morse code whenever it hears a certain code transmitted. The details -- simplex frequency, PL code, and the codes to wake and reset the box, are all available at the Yahoo "CTFoxhunters" group. You will also find posted there some hints by hams who have found the box. (Please don't give the exact location if you find it, just some clues, bearing, or general area.) Once you've tried it, you'll understand why we need to practice. It's not as simple as taking two bearings and "voila". Radio waves bend and refract as they pass over lakes, hills, iron deposits, etc. And when you get close enough, the signal swamps most receivers and seems to come from everywhere at once. As one hunter put it recently, sometimes you feel like you need at least four hands and two radios to find the fox.
Calendar of BEARS events Please submit calendar items to the webmaster for posting. The following are sanctioned BEARS events:
July 4, Saturday-- Red, White and Blue BREAKFAST at Emerald's Eatery, 8 AM, South Windsor. Wear your blue "Hungry Bears" tee shirt for a group photo to be used on the new web site, please.
Calendar of local amateur radio-related events
These events are NOT sanctioned BEARS events, we're just listing them here as a convenient reminder for amateur radio enthusiasts, regardless of what club memberships they hold.
July 15th -- "August Storm Phase II" emergency drill will be hald at varous towns in Connecticut. Check with your ARES EC and/or your town Emergency Manager to volunteer.
Local Nets of interest to BEARS
BEARS Traffic Net - Sun thru Fri, 9:15 PM on the 145.110 repeater, all checkins welcome, with or without traffic. Net Manager, Rusty Hack NM1K
Manchester Emcomm net, Tues & Thurs at 7pm. Net Manager, Ray Gagnon, KB1JJX
ARES Region 3 net, Monday 8pm, 147.345. ARES DEC KB1KIX. All checkins welcome, especially hams in and of the 41 towns in Region 3. NOTE: net may use EDH or other alternate repeaters.
Skywarn Weather Net, 9pm Thursdays, various repeaters
NARL INFO net, Thursdays at 7:30 pm on 145.450. Net Manager Steve Ewald, WV1X
Nutmeg VHF NTS Traffic net, weeknights 9:30PM, ICRC's 146.880 repeater with PL of 77. Net Manager, K1HEJ
The "BEARS of Manchester, Inc." amateur radio club meets monthly in Manchester, Connecticut, USA.
Emerald's Eatery is located in the Stop 'n Shop plaza in the center of South Windsor. Talk-in is on the BEARS repeater, 145.110, PL 77.