Pilot Knob Amateur Radio Club

PKARC Building and Learning Session
2025-03-20 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Agenda: TBA

Freeze Your Keys
2025-02-22 08:00 - 16:00
PKARC’s winter field day at the Weston Bend State Park

KCHEART Area Annual Meeting
2025-01-18 10:00 - 12:00 | Centerpoint Medical Center, 19600 E 39th Street, Independence, MO, 64057, United States
All Kansas City Hospital Emergency Amateur Radio Team (KCHEART) members who wish to stay affiliated, and those who are interested in becoming a member, are encouraged to attend this annual meeting. Members who need credentials or have expired credentials can get their application and picture taken at the meeting.
Local contacts are Roxann KZØIMO and Rick NJØP. Contact either if you want to coordinate attendance.

October Club Meeting
2024-10-03 19:00 - 20:30 | Pilgrim Community Church, 500 Arch Street, Leavenworth, Kansas, 66048
Tentative Agenda:

Highlighting the Oct 5th SET positions available and encouraging participation

PKARC at the Car Show
2024-09-26 16:00 - 18:00 | Twin Oaks Independent Living, 457 W Eisenhower Rd, Lansing, KS, 66043, United States
There will be a car show in the Twin Oaks parking lot. We plan to have an information table and small radio set-up on display/demo. This is a great PR opportunity and continue to grow our relationship with Twin Oaks.
More information later.

Amateur Radio between the World Wars
2024-09-19 19:00 - 20:00 | Pilgrim Community Church, 500 Arch Street, Leavenworth, Kansas, 66048
Scott Hedberg NØZB will be joining us at our build session on September 19th to provide a presentation on Army Amateur Radio Service from World War I and World War II. This is a web-prepared talk about the development and use of Amateur Radio while the spectrum was available for Amateur use.
All Radio Amateurs are invited. There is no cost. For further information about the build session that follows, see the event announcement.

Special Event Station: Harvey House Museum
2024-09-14 09:00 - 15:00 | Harvey House – Leavenworth, 624 Olive Street, Leavenworth, 66048, United States
Honoring Fred Harvey and his accomplishments in the railroad hospitality industry, PKARC will be conducting a Special Event station at the Harvey House Museum site in Leavenworth, Kansas.
More information to come.

Winlink-II: Digital Field Test
2024-09-07 08:00 - 21:30 | Easton, KS, multiple locations, Easton, 66020, United States
Let’s do breakfast at Hilltop Market and then test our remote digital operations from Easton. We’ll need help setting up a very limited operation:

A digipeater temporarily operating on the hill near Easton Cemetary
A portable digital operation that can send a Winlink message from downtown Easton to Saint John Hospital.

Here’s the tentative schedule:

0800 – Breakfast at the Hilltop Market, Easton
0830 – Deploy to Easton to set up the Digipeater and Winlink station
0900 – Conduct test
0930 – End of Test – Depart Site(s)

All Radio Amateurs are welcome to participate/observe. If you want to bring your portable Winlink set-up, you’re welcome to come and test your station.

Winlink I - SET Preparation Test
2024-08-17 08:30 - 10:00
On Saturday, August 17, a test of Winlink capabilities will be conducted between 0830 and 1000 hours in preparation of the 2024 Simulated Emergency Test (SET) on October 5th. The Winlink test will be our first attempt of providing a digital relay station that would allow a forward-deployed coordination center to relay vital observation data back to the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) in the city of Leavenworth.
This first of two tests will be from fixed locations to test station configurations. A second test will take place in September using portable equipment in the locations anticipated during the SET.

August Club Meeting
2024-08-01 19:00 - 20:30 | Pilgrim Community Church, 500 Arch Street, Leavenworth, Kansas, 66048
Please join us on the 1stThursday, August 1, 7:00 pm for a club get together.

Leavenworth County Fair
2024-07-30 - 2024-08-03 | Leavenworth County Fairground, 405 W 4th St., Tonganoxie, KS, 66086, United States
Each year, Leavenworth County Emergency Management puts out a request for support by volunteers to help with the Emergency Preparedness information display. This is a great opportunity to show our support for the county and make Amateur Radio visible to our friends and neighbors.
Let’s take advantage of the fair to get in touch with potential new Radio Amateurs and to show current hams that Pilot Knob Amateur Radio Club is more fun and informative as ever.
Quite simply, if they can’t see us, they won’t know we’re here. Let’s put up a banner that says “Amateur Radio spoken here!” and get our new web site address in the hands of potential new club members and event participants.

Tower Climb for Mesh Work @ Saint John - Need Ground Crew
2024-07-13 08:30 - 10:30 | Saint John Hospital, 3500 S 4th Street, Leavenworth, KS, 66048, United States
Max KØMDP and Rick NJØP will be climbing the tower at Saint John Hospital on Saturday morning, July 13* starting at 0830 to install the Mesh radio/dish point to Roswell Tower, and to adjust the new WiFi dish to point better toward Providence. These two items are the only thing on the punch list for Saturday.
We need one or more additional Radio Amateurs to assist as ground/safety crew. Please let Rick NJØP know if you can join us. Also, bring your hand-held radio. Safety briefing in the parking lot by 0830 hours.
Thanks!

Next window of opportunity when 2 climbers are available is not until Aug 17th.

KS-LV-ARES: Cross-Band Repeater Test II
2024-07-06 08:00 - 09:30
Our first cross-band repeater (CBR) was a great success. In preparation for the October 5th Simulated Emergency Test (SET), we will deploy a CBR to a location in the county where communications are iffy at best. The objective is to create a Leavenworth connected communications zone for handhelds and mobiles west of Stranger Creek.
Current plans are to meet at Hilltop Market in Easton for breakfast at 0800.
See KS-LV-ARES: CBR Test II – FRAGO for details.
If you have a deployable CBR kit and would like to set it up for this test, please contact Rick-NJØP.

Independence Day 2024 - Club Meeting Postponed
2024-07-04
If you’re doin’ nothin’ for Independence Day, work the 13 Colonies event instead.
See “July Club Meeting” on July 18th for our postponed July Club Meeting details.

Annual 13 Colonies Special Event
2024-07-01 10:00 - 2024-07-07 23:00
This is a fun event that is spread over a week leading to a certificate. This is a great contest for beginners.
2024 Event Dates / July 1 (9AM Eastern) to July 7 (Midnight Eastern)
(July 1, 2024-1300 UTC to July 8, 2024-0400 UTC)
YOU DO NOT NEED ALL 13 COLONIES TO GET THE CERTIFICATE
YOU DO NOT NEED TO GET THE 2 BONUS STATIONS FOR A CLEAN SWEEP

2024 ARRL Field Day is June 22-23
2024-06-22 08:00 - 2024-06-23 15:00 | Veterans Administration Park, 2900 Home Pl, Leavenworth, 66048, United States
Equation: Fun + Sun + Camp Out + Ham Radio + Emergency Preparedness +Battery/Solar Power + Great Band Conditions – Rain/Thunder = Field Day!!
Join us for Field Day 2024 at City of Leavenworth Veterans Administration Park, (39.28743° N, 94.89487° W) or 2900 Home Pl., Leavenworth.

Kit-Building Session - CANCELLED
2024-06-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Pilgrim Community Church, 500 Arch Street, Leavenworth, Kansas, 66048
“Unfortunately we need to cancel our regular scheduled meeting for tomorrow evening due to a scheduling conflict at the Pilgrim Community Church. For those who were planning to tune antennas or configure computers for Field Day, we will be available Saturday morning during FD setup to assist you. I hope to see each of you at the VA Park this weekend.” Steve, WØSER

JARA/KCHEART: Mesh/WIFI/UHF Ant Work - 2nd Try
2024-06-18 08:30 - 11:00 | Saint John Hospital, 3500 S 4th Street, Leavenworth, KS, 66048, United States
This is the next opportunity to perform maintenance at Saint John Hospital and Providence is the morning of June 18th. That’s a Tuesday. Here’s the overview of what needs to be done in order of precedence:

Align 5 GHz WIFI (private) antennas for the Command Net
Install Mesh dish and aim toward Roswell Tower
Extend Internet connection for PiStar from KFØKBC to SJH
Test UHF transmit on the roof

We can use as many hands as are available.

PKARC June 2024 Meeting - Field Day Prep
2024-06-06 19:00 - 20:30 | Pilgrim Community Church, 500 Arch Street, Leavenworth, Kansas, 66048
June club meeting Agenda includes:

Preparations for Field Day in June
(Bring any Windows computer you plan to log with)
Mid-Event update for Louis and Clark Trail On the Air Event June 1-16
Wrap-Up of May 17-23: Amelia Earhart Ham Radio Event
Results of Golden Spike Anniversary Special Event May 11-12
Tales from those who went to Hamvention May 17-19

There will be no Build Session in May. See you in Ohio.
Don’t forget to check ARRL for the latest online publications.

Lewis & Clark Trail on-the-air Event
2024-06-01 - 2024-06-16
Help PKARC put Kansas on the map for the Lewis & Clark Trail On-The-Air event. This early June event runs June 1-16 and we need operators to put Kansas on the air for the event. We are the only club in Kansas supporting this trans-west event and stations need Kansas to complete the required contacts for certificates and awards.
Scott Gardner K2SCT is our coordinator.

KS-LV-ARES Cross-Band Repeater Test
2024-04-14 19:30 - 20:00
We will be conducting the April 14th, Sunday Night ARES Information & Training Net on a different frequency than posted. See our post on KS-LV-ARES.signaleer.us web site for details.

JARA/KCHEART: Work Day at SJH and PMC
2024-04-13 08:30 - 23:00 | Saint John Hospital, 3500 S 4th Street, Leavenworth, KS, 66048, United States
We’ll assemble as two teams: One team with climber(s) at Saint John Hospital (SJH) and a smaller roof-only team at Providence Medical Center (PMC) at 0830 hours for a safety briefing and work to begin before 0900. This maintenance event is focused on outdoor Wi-Fi and Mesh antennas. All hams are welcome to support the effort, but participants must be at the safety briefing. Contact Rick NJØP if you plan to help out.

Annual Emergency Preparedness Fair
2024-03-23 10:00 - 15:00 | Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saint, 1020 Limit Street, Leavenworth, KS, 66048
Attended the Fair already? See our announcement. Otherwise, we’ll look for you at:
March 23rd, 2024 from 1000-1500 hours, there will be the Annual Emergency Preparedness Fair at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1020 Limit Street Leavenworth, KS). Zach Phillips, Master Deputy, is asking for a couple volunteers to help attend a booth that Emergency Management will have set up at this event. It is a great way to engage with the local community and to spread the word about being prepared for any future disasters. Volunteers do not have to stay the full time frame. Any help would be appreciated. Just let Zach know if you could work and what times. As the day gets closer, he will send out a reminder. Emergency Management number is 913-684-0455.
