The September meeting is our "kick-off" for 2024-2025. Our opening presenter was Ed Wilson / N2XDD who is the Hudson Division Director whose "fill-in" term ends on 12/31/2024. The Hudson Division covers from Westchester up to Sarasota and includes Long Island, and Northern New Jersey. Ed was recently elected for the Hudson Division Director's office for 2025-2028. He discussed many items which included his vita accomplishments, digital technologies, a revamping of VE sessions, the return of local Hamfests, Spectrum protection, and many more items.
Our second presenter was Henry Heine / ND2W who introduced the participants to FREEData which is an HF messaging platform that is in alpha development. The program offers many features that can be viewed at their FreeData.App website. It is an open source program where many features might be added by the developers and users. This is another "tool" in the "Toolbox" for communications. The program operates under Windows, Apple, and Linux that can be a store and forward application or direct mode.
The officers and directors reported of upcoming meetings, Public Service events, drills, and education classes for Ham Radio test preparation that are listed elsewhere on this site. The Membership Director Peter / N2TFC reported that the 2024-2025 membership cycle began in mid August and as of September 9 about 65% of the members have renewed so far. The club dues are expected by 09/18/2024.
There were no meetings in July & August. See you in September!
We had our June 2024 meeting that began with an excellent Field Day Powerpoint presentation by Steve Pendzuk / KD2OFD who described all the items needed and used at Field Day including a component breakdown of the typical phone position. WECA will be operating on 80 through 6 meters on phone and CW with 4 transmitters plus a GOTA station using two towers and dipoles. We also had our 2024-2025 elections. Most of the incumbents ran for office again and a few Board members resigned with new people people filling those positions. Tom Raffaelli / WB2NHC was the Emergency Services Director who nominated Steve / KD2OFD to replace Tom who has retired. Due to other personal commitments Kevin Duffelmeyer / KD2PDL resigned, and Henry Heine / ND2W is now the Digital Modes Director. See you in September!
The May 2024 General Session was on Monday, May 13. The presentation was about APRS, its use in the past, and now messaging via APRS. Jason Oleham / KM4ACK gave a very nice presentation. Please click on his call sign above to see more information about APRS applications and usage.
Our April 1, 2024 our General Session meeting took place at the County Center and via Zoom. Our guest speaker was Deborah Kerr / KC2GPV who is the Amateur Radio Communications Director and Founder of Eventhams along with being the NYC Marathon Amateur Radio Communications Director. Deborah discussed the many projects that Eventhams has been involved with and gave a Power point presentation describing their accomplishments.
The March 11, 2024 meeting was a presentation about Discord which is a bulletin board (blog) to share information. Our presenter was Henry / ND2W. If you have questions about this application, Henry can be reached at ND2W@Weca.Org.
On February 12 at The Fire Training Center Fire Fighter Chris Johnson from the Westchester Dept. of Emergency Services gave an excellent presentation about Lithium Ion batteries and the dangers they can pose to the user and fire fighters. He showed examples of failed battery systems and a Power Point presentation with many details. He also discussed how to use and maintain these power packs safely.
Our January 8, 2024 meeting included another great presentation by Steve / KD2OFD with "Apps for Deployment, Events, & Everyday". We also discussed the upcoming Winter Field Day event to be held at the Mamaroneck Harbor Island Park on January 27th & 28th. Please click here to view Steve's presentation.
The November 13th meeting included a PowerPoint presentation with links to supporting documents by Noah / KC2DVT and the use of unsecure communications being used in the Ukraine war. There was mention of analog amateur radios such as inexpensive handhelds that sell on the Internet for less than $100 and even the use of analog AM CB radios!
Our October 16, 2023 meeting included a presentation from the ARRL on how to renew your Ham Radio license as the procedure has changed. Details of how to navigate the FCC's "ULS" pages, what details are needed to known in advance of the upgrade, and other ways to renew your license through organizations like the ARRL. Our next public service event will be the Mamaroneck Turkey Trot Race to be held on Sunday, November 19, 2023. Please contact Kathy / KC2VCT if you would like to be a communications volunteer for this event. She can be reached at KC2VCT@Weca.Org.
For our September 18, 2023 General meeting we had a presentation from Tom Raffaelli / WB2NHC. This was the "kick-off" for the 2023/2024 WECA events season. Tom discussed using "directed Net" communications and proper “Net” etiquette. .
The June 12, 2023 meeting was our Field Day 2023 presentation with a Power Point by Tom Raffaelli / WB2NHC with plenty of pictures from previous Field Days at the Harbor Island Park in Mamaroneck. We also conducted elections for our 2023-2024 Officers and Directors.
Our General membership presentation for the May 8, 2023 meeting was with Mark / WC3W who discussed CQ Magazine's DX Marathon.
On April 10, 2023 was our Chirp-Next meeting with Steve / KD2OFD as the presenter. He explained the differences between Chirp and Chirp-Next and the many new features that Chirp-Next that allows better programming control of almost 500 Amateur radios that are supported. To receive a copy of the Power point presentation and code plug file for "WECA" frequencies, please Click here
At our March 13, 2023 general membership meeting we had a presentation from Bioenno Power and their batteries for Ham Radio and commercial systems. These are long term and deep discharge units. Please click here for more information about their batteries for Amateur Radio applications.
Our February general membership meeting was presented by Simon / KD2DOE who discussed how to use your Android phone for APRS, Winlink, and other related topics.
January was our annual Winter Field Day preparation meeting. Our presenter was Simon / KD2DOE who discussed the details of the upcoming event on January 28 & 29, 2023 at Harbor Island Park in Mamaroneck, NY. This year we will have two phone and one CW operating position. As always many helpers are needed to setup, operate, and take down the three stations (3I) for the event. For details, please contact Steve Pendzuk / KD2OFD by sending email to him at KD2OFD@Weca.Org or send email to Bill / KA2OFM@Weca.Org.
For our Dec 12, 2002 - General member meeting - our guest presentation was with with Ria Jiram / N2RJ who is the ARRL Hudson Division Director. She gave a presentation of "Happenings at the ARRL"
Our November 14, 2022 meeting was with WECA member Steve / KD2OFD who discussed "Operating DMR and Weekly Nets - Tips for operating on DMR". There was a short review of previous DMR presentations, and then he went into the many digital nets that Steve has found. These are not just local nets, they are nets from across the US, ARES/RACES, NTS, and foreign English language nets. Steve also demonstrated how to find active talk groups, and how to connect to them. Click here for a copy of Steve's presentation.
Our October 10, 2022 presentation was with Wayne Smith / WB2ONZ who with a slide show discussed the Civil Air Patrol and their missions.
Our September 12, 2022 meeting was a "kick-off" for the 2022/2023 WECA events season. The presentation was with Tom / WB2NHC who discussed repeater usage, and proper 2 meter repeater etiquette. Peter / N2TFC gave an update regarding the membership renewal drive that is currently in motion. About 55% of the club has renewed, so please renew today. If you did not receive your renewal notice via email on or around August 28, please send email to Membership@Weca.Org. Bill / KA2OFM told us about the upcoming member meeting presentations, and Kathy / KC2VCT spoke of the upcoming Public Service events that will begin on September 24. Bob Wilson / N2DVQ reported on the repeater systems which are all fully operational including EchoLink which was offline due to a failed drive that Bob was able to restore. Finally Bob "Radar" Casino / N2GDY talked about the past and upcoming VE test sessions. The 2022 Technician exam preparation class begins on Tuesday, 9/13/2022 at 7pm at the Fire Training session in Valhalla, NY.
The June 13, 2022 meeting was a Field Day 2022 presentation with Tom Raffaelli / WB2NHC with plenty of pictures from previous Field Days at the Harbor Island Park in Mamaroneck. We also conducted elections for our 2022-2023 Officers and Directors.
Our guest presenter for the May 9, 2022 meeting was the ARRL Hudson Director - N2RJ / Ria Jiram who discussed ARRL / Hudson Division happenings & News.
On April 11, 2022 our General member meeting was with Ron Tomo / KE2UK who discussed the MARS (Military Auxiliary Radio System).
At the March 14, 2022 meeting we had a great presentation about contesting by Tim Duffy / K3LR. He showed the group his contesting station which was AMAZING! Tim also gave the group a short presentation on DX Engineering's new Amateur Radio products.
Tom Raffaelli / WB2NHC gave a presentation at our February 14, 2022 general meeting on the use of Winlink for Amateur Radio.
Our January 2022 meeting was a presentation about radio wave propagation with Rich Kautz / KC2HZW.
Our November 8 meeting was a DMR / Digital Radio presentation by Steve / KD2OFD. His Power Point may be viewed here.
At the October 11, 2021 meeting our guest presenter was Ria Jiram / N2RJ who is the ARRL Hudson Division Director.
For our September 13, 2021 meeting we had two presenters. Tom / WB2NHC who discussed "Ham 101", and how to operate at public service events, and on the Ham bands. Our second guest was Deborah Kerr / KC2GPV who gave a presentation on the 50th Anniversary of the NYC Marathon and its Ham Radio volunteers.
There were no member meetings in July and August 2021. There were however Board meetings on the forth Monday in July and August 2021.
The June 14, 2021 meeting was a Field Day 2021 presentation with Tom Raffaelli / WB2NHC and plenty of pictures of previous Field Days at the Harbor Island Park in Mamaroneck. We also conducted elections for our 2021-2022 Officers and Directors.
Our May 10 meeting was presented by Tom Raffaelli / WB2NHC who discussed WECA's relationship with RACES / ARES complete with a Power Point slide show.
Our April 12, 2021 meeting was with Valerie Hotzfeld / NV9L. Valerie has been a guest presenter at WECA before when she gave a lecture about the Puerto Rico Hurricane response in 2018 of which she was a Ham Radio volunteer. Although she has created many presentations, this meeting was about about contesting and a film clip about the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. .
Our March 8, 2021 virtual meeting was a presentation by Alan / W2AEW who discussed the use of basic test equipment usage, meters and oscilloscopes. This was a great presentation to new Hams as well as experienced license holders. The Power Point slide presentation in PDF format may be downloaded here.
The February 8, 2021 virtual Zoom meeting had two presentations. The first presentation was by Joe Eisenberg / K0NER discussing kit building . Joe presented a very in depth tour of kit building, sources, and best practices for building all types of kits. The second presenter was Rob Calouri / KD2QLQ discussing WinLink - the Amateur radio email application. Rob gave a step by step presentation of getting started with Winlink on 145.07 (WB2ZII-10 [WECA]). He also discussed modems, speed, protocols, file attachments, and clear text (non-secure) exchange of messages.
The January 11, 2021 virtual Zoom meeting was a presentation by Steve / KD2OFD concerning APRS. Please click here for Steve's presentation.
The December 2020 virtual meeting featured a series of short presentations by WECA Members. The presenters included a digital presentation by Kevin / KD2PDL. Richard / KC2HZW discussed his home station. Stan / WA2NRV gave a presentation about the long lost art of soldering and Kathleen / KC2VCT gave a Holiday Culinary presentation.
The November 2020 virtual meeting was all about CW. Our guest presenters were from the Long Island CW Club. Howard WB2UZE and Jim W6JIM did a great job discussing the art to learning CW. They have a Very Successful Program on how you can Learn CW.
The October 2020 "Zoom" meeting featured Rich Kautz / KC2HZW who discussed propagation on the six and ten meter bands. He will also discussed using FT8 for long distance contacts on 80 to 6 meters. We are sorry that you missed a very informative set of presentations!
Our September 2020 virtual meeting had a presentation by John Lembke from the Westchester Department of Emergency Services and radiological training for Indian Point . Deborah Kerr / KC2GPV who is the Amateur Radio Communications Director at eventhams@gmail.com discussed Ham Radio's participation in the various foot races hosted by the New York City Road Runners. Such races include the New York City Marathon usually held the first Sunday in November which is cancelled for 2020. Other races include the half Marathon and NYC Triathlon.
Our June 2020 meeting was about Field Day 2020 and how the club was going to participate in this yearly event as stations at home and not at Mamaroneck's Harbor Island Park. Please click here to see details about how WECA participated in this unusual Field Day event.
Our May 2020 virtual meeting using Zoom was led by Ria Jiram / N2RJ- the Hudson Division Director. She discussed many topics about the ARRL including how to handle Field Day 2020 and VE testing.
The April 2020 meeting was our second virtual meeting using Zoom. Our presenter was Adrian Ciuperca / KO8SCA who discussed his DXPeditions to Tokelau and Bhutan.
The March 2020 WECA Meeting was our first "Virtual Meeting" using "Zoom" the live presentation sharing website with Steve Pendzuk discussing DMR radio and its programming. Please click here to see Steve's excellent Power Point presentation in PDF format.
The February 2020 meeting was a Web presentation by Jason Oldham / KM4ACK and the use of Raspberry PI computers for Ham Radio Applications. Jason has published many YouTube videos about Raspberry Pi usage in Ham Radio.
Our January 2020 meeting with Bill KA2OFM and Simon KD2DOE discussed the upcoming Winter Field Day event in Mamaroneck.
At our December 2019 meeting member Rob Calouri / KD2QLQ gave a factual presentation about Internet Security. Many members learned about some of the fallacies that exist about Internet security and how one can better protect themselves and their information.
The November 2019 meeting featured a presentation about Echolink by Steve Pendzuk / KD2OFD. A Power point presentation was shown and is available as an Acrobat file by clicking here.
Our October 2019 meeting presenter was John Lemke from the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services (DES) who discussed the use of dosimeters and the correct protocols that are in place should a radiological event occur. WECA member Kai Chen / K2TRW gave a presentation explaining what DMR is, described and provided history regarding the various flavors of DMR, and had a question and answer session while showing DMR products from Anytone. It was a busy night!
Our September 2019 presenter was Tom Raffaelli / WB2NHC who gave a presentation and slide show about good Ham Radio operating procedures.
Our June 2019 presenter was Tom Raffaelli / WB2NHC who gave a presentation and slide show about previous Field Day events.
Our presenters at the May 2019 meeting was Deborah M. Kerr / K2GPV and Mike Hoeft / K2MPH who are the 2019 Verizon NYC Triathlon and TCS NYC Marathon Amateur Radio Communications Directors.
The April 15 meeting was an ARES presentation by Dave Galletly / KM2O from the Hudson Division and Tom Raffaelli / WB2NHC.
Our March 2019 meeting was a Skype connection with Bob Heil.
If you missed Kevin & Rob's Raspberry Pi presentation in February 2019, click here to view it.