[ARRL-OK] OKMULGEE COUNTY HAM RADIO MEET & GREET - 11 Feb 2017 at 9:00 AM

[Mark Conklin]

Please spread the word...
OKMULGEE COUNTY HAM RADIO MEET & GREET -  11 Feb 2017 at 9:00 AM



All Ham Operators are Welcome and Invited to a Ham Radio Meetand Greet at the Okmulgee County Emergency Operations Center (EOC).    We have some new amateur radio operators in Okmulgee Countyand we would like to have everyone (both seasoned & new hams) come by for morningof coffee and conversation.    And before you know it storm season will be here in Oklahoma. So,we thought it would also be great opportunity for members of the Okmulgee County SkyWarnAssociation WX5OKM also join in the conversations.    Following a short presentation there will be a tour of thecommunications room in the EOC – which of course is equipped with amateur radiogear. 

 Who: OkmulgeeCounty Amateur Radio Operators What: HAM RADIO MEET& GREET When: Saturday11 Feb 2017at 9:00 AM Where: Okmulgee County EOC, 110 N. Alabama Ave, Okmulgee.

 Talk in: we will monitor 147.225 pl88.5 repeater    So please,come join us… we look forward to seeing everyone there.

Thank you, 
Mark Conklin, N7XYO Deputy Director Okmulgee County Emergency Management n7xyo at yahoo.com (918) 232-8346          
65 Great Things About Ham Radio
 Five years ago, on CQ's 60th anniversary, we ran afeature throughout the year titled "60 Great Things About Ham Radio,"in which we listed five "great things" each month. The series wasquite popular and we have continued to receive requests to reprint it. So now,in honor of our 65th anniversary, we're repeating the list—with a few updatesas well as five more "Great Things About Ham Radio." 

1. It works when nothing else does
2. It makes you part of a worldwide community
3. The opportunity to help neighbors by providing public service and emergencycommunications
4. Some of the nicest people you'll ever meet
5. Some of the smartest people you'll ever meet
6. Some of the most interesting people you'll ever meet
7. Some of the most generous people you'll ever meet (along with some of thecheapest!)
8. Lifelong friendships
9. Friends around the world (including those you haven't met yet)
10. The opportunity to go interesting places you might not otherwise go to
11. The opportunity to do interesting things you might not otherwise get to do
12. The opportunity to expand your knowledge of geography
13. The opportunity to expand your knowledge of earth and space science
14. Practical uses for high school math
15. Practical uses for high school physics
16. A good way to practice a foreign language
17. A good way to keep in touch with faraway friends and relatives
18. A good way to get driving directions when visiting someplace
new (with or without GPS)
19. A good way to find the best places to eat when visiting someplace new (withor without GPS)
20. Finding "non-touristy" off-the-beaten-path places to stay, eat,visit, etc.
21. A good way to learn about virtually any topic
22. A good way to bridge the generation gap
23. A good way to keep tabs on elderly/infirm people
24. People named Joe (Walsh, Rudi, Taylor)
25. How many of your non-ham friends have actually talked
to someone in some remote place such as Cape Verde or the Seychelles?
26. How many of your non-ham friends might have talked to an astronaut aboardthe space station?
27. How many of your non-ham neighbors might have a satellite uplink station intheir basements—or in the palms of their hands?
28. How many of your non-ham neighbors might have a TV studio in their garage?
29. What other hobby group has designed, built, and had launched its own fleetof communication satellites?
30. Where else can you play with meteors?
31. Moonbounce
32. Informal way to improve technical skills
33. Informal way to improve communication skills
34. Introduces a variety of career paths
35. Offers unparalleled opportunities for career networking
36. Opportunities for competition in contesting and foxhunting
37. A good way to collect really cool postcards from around the world (despitethe growth of electronic confirmations)
38. Nearly endless variety of different things to do, on and off the air
39. Hamfests
40. Dayton
41. Field Day
42. Working DX
43. Being DX
44. DXpeditions
45. Contesting
46. Award-chasing
47. Double-hop sporadic-E
48. Worldwide DX on 6 meters (once or twice every 11 years)
[The current extended sunspot minimum has shown that mechanisms
other than F2 propagation can offer intercontinental DX
on the "magic band" at any point in the solar cycle.]
49. Tropospheric ducting
50. Gray-line propagation
51. TEP, chordal hops, etc.
52. Getting through on CW when nothing else will
53. Unexpected band openings
54. Building your own gear
55. Using gear you've built yourself
56. Operating QRP from some remote location
57. Experimenting with antennas
58. Working DX while mobile or while hiking
59. Experimenting with new modes and new technology
60. The opportunity to help build an internet that doesn't rely on the internet
61. DXing on your HT via IRLP and Echolink
62. Contributing to scientific knowledge about propagation
63. Keeping track of other people's GPS units via APRS
64. Ham radio balloon launches to the edge of space, and as always...
65. Reading CQ!
Permission is hereby granted to reprint this list in amateur radio clubnewsletters, provided credit is given to CQ magazine. Online editions mustinclude a link to the CQ website, http://www.cq-amateur-radio.com.