IPRC Website Blog

Hello everyone!   Tonight is the night for our repeater testing exercise, which will be conducted during our weekly net window.  We will be linking the WØNED repeater to the AirLink Gold Hill repeater and testing out the coverage of the IPRC repeater in and around the Nederland area, with a specific focus on the checkpoint locations for the upcoming Ned Ned race event on 11 September.   All members of the IPRC, AirLink, and any licensed hams are welcome and encouraged to participate from any location.  Rick (KKØCOP) will be serving as net control and capturing the data and signal reports from all participating stations.  Several of us will be driving around the Nederland area and testing with mobile and HT radios to make sure that we have solid coverage for the race event, and just to get a better idea of the coverage and functionality of the IPRC repeater.   Regardless of your location and station type, please try to check in to the net usin...

  New Transmitter Hunt Plan Date :   Sunday, August 1st Time : Start 9:00am - End 1:00pm Frequency : 146.565 MHz. Power : 1 Watt main transmitter / 15 mW micro transmitter What the transmitter sounds like : Main transmitter will be a musical series of tones. Followed by my call sign in Morse code The micro transmitter will be my call sign N0CFM repeatedly in Morse code. Time of transmitter : 1.5 minutes on 3.5 minutes off. With ( hopefully ) the two transmitters not overlapping. Boundaries : The transmitters will be within the boundary lines. North boundary : A line starting at the corner of US 287 and West Colorado Road 4 extending west to Lyons West boundary : Approximately US 36 South boundary : Neva Road / Niwot Road East boundary : US 287     Playing area is roughly 9 miles horizontal X 12 miles vertical. Roughly 108 square miles.   Check in Repeater/Frequency : 146.910 - (123.0) Gold Hill.  This repeater is for...

Hello all, Here is the link to the MountainEar article about the IPRC Summer Field Day Event. Thanks to all who participated and supported the event. https://www.themtnear.com/articles/iprc-holds-annual-summer-field-daytry Charley K4NYN

Home Depot has the Tram 1480 dual band base antenna on sale for $70!  I have the 3/4 WL version of this same antenna here in the shack, and I love it.  It has given me three plus solid years of service in all weather.  If you are looking for a budget friendly base antenna, look no further.  This is a great deal.  These sell for almost $100 on Amazon, and the comparable Diamond or Comet antennas start at $100 and go up from there.   https://www.homedepot.com/p/Tram-6-dBd-Gain-VHF-8-dBd-Gain-UHF-Black-Amateur-Dual-Band-Base-Antenna-WSP1480B/314731941?mtc=PSOC-FB-6254634362950&cm_mmc=PSOC-FB-6254634362950-6254634363150-6254634367150&fbclid=IwAR1PhcMmxPWDk-n66cx6gRgV5xekqueu1JkS924tBdbbDt8hP5UmQ3AalIc#product-overview  Please reach out with any questions. 73,  Charley K4NYN

Well, the 2021 IPRC Summer Field Day Event is in the bag, and 24 hours later, the gear has almost dried out. It was a soggy one to be sure, but it was still a very successful, productive, and fun event. Even with persistent rainfall, we were able to run two or three stations for most of the contest portion of the event, and to keep at least one running for the whole 24 hours, making over 300 contacts on 5 different bands, and to most US states, regions of Canada, and even a DX contact or two. Tonight is our normal monthly meeting night, but we voted to not hold one tonight due to the field day event. We will be having a short, informal zoom tonight starting at 6:30 to debrief and talk about the event, look at the photos and results, and chat about anything else on anyone's mind. Please do join us if you are available. 73, Charley K4NYN https://photos.app.goo.gl/hutiWcTrj1t6WWnB8

https://photos.app.goo.gl/hutiWcTrj1t6WWnB8 The IPRC Field Day weekend has officially begun. We are on site in the Bar K Ranch. Antennas are up, camp is set up, and everything is here. All you need to bring is you. Come on out. Charley K4NYN

Hello all,  The IPRC Summer Field Day Weekend Event is now less than two weeks away.  Here are some pictures of IPRC members setting up antennas and making some preparations for the event on Sunday, the 13th.  It was a beautiful day for it, and the weather cooperated.  We got a lot done and really shortened our setup time for the event.  Less setup time and more operating time ... that's a win.  We were also paid a visit by a photographer and reporter from the MountainEar newspaper who did a short interview with club members about the upcoming event.  Thank you to Sal and Karen, Kirk from the MountainEar, and to all who came out to help.   Charley K4NYN

The IPRC weekly net will begin at 7:00 pm tonight on the Airlink  Repeater, hosted by me. :) All licensed operators are welcome to join in and non-licensed folks can  listen in. 73, Matt KD0PYK

Hello IPRC folks,  Just a reminder that our IPRC weekly net will be held tonight at 1900 hours (7:00 PM mountain time).  I will be net control this evening, and I have a plan to have a little fun with it. We will be running the net on the AirLink repeater (details here - https://indianpeaksradioclub.org/net.html) as per usual, but I am going to be operating from at or near the proposed WØNED repeater site, up at the MRS.  I will be operating a radio with crossband repeat function between the AirLink repeater, and our WØNED repeater INPUT frequency (443.550 MHz) simplex.  So in addition to being able to get into the net through the normal AirLink VHF frequencies, you will also be able to find out what your signal, propagation, and path is like to the future WØNED repeater, in as realistic a scenario as possible.   So get your UHF and dual band radio(s) programmed and ready to talk on 443.550 MHz, FM simplex, with no PL tone, and let's have some fun.  Be...

Hello all,  Scott (WØSJE) and I are playing around with DMR and hotspot stuff a bit.  We were able to do a private call between ourselves yesterday by creating each other as a digital contact in our radios.  Then, you just go back in to view that contact and press the PTT and call them just like you would on an analog radio. This is pretty cool, but it is only a 1-1, two radio conversation.  I am working on getting us an actual talkgroup so that we can have multiple participants in a QSO.  According to the Brandmeister page, how you do that is just to find one that is not in use and start using it.  They want you to use it for a couple of months before formally requesting it, in order to ensure that it's free and unused, and then you apply for it and they will name it.   As it stands now, I am using Brandmeister TG 31415 (yes, that's the first 5 digits of pi, and yes I am that much of a nerd), and if it's open, we would ask BM to name it WØNED....

  REMINDER: Please join us via zoom tonight at 7:00 PM for the IPRC  monthly   club meeting.  We will be discussing the upcoming field day event, and the prospect of returning to in person meetings in the near future.   Hope to see you all there!  

  Hey all, Just a reminder that there is a fox (hidden transmitter) hunt coming up this weekend on Sunday.  This one will be a lot closer to our area than the previous ones have been, and that may not happen again for a while, so please consider participating.  The basic information is below, and all hams of any license or skill level are welcome to join in, as are non-licensed ham enthusiasts.  Please reach out to me if you would like more info.   Date: Sunday May 16th Time: 9:00am Frequency: 146.565 MHz Boundaries: North boundary: A straight line East/West on South Boulder Road West boundary: follows 93 South boundary: A straight line East/West on 58th Ave. East boundary: I-25  Also, as some of you already know, we have decided not to hold the IPRC 2021 Summer Field Day event at the Rock Lake area at the Bar K Ranch as previously planned.  The Bar K Association changed their minds at the last moment and decided that they did not want people stay...

  CQ CQ CQ ... calling all stations! Please join us tonight at 7:00 PM (mountain) for the IPRC weekly net.  Details and frequencies can be found here: https://indianpeaksradioclub.org/net.html Hope to hear you there!

  When your power goes out, so you have to power your base radio and DMR hotspot with your go box. Talk about roughing it!

Club  Zoom Meeting tonight! Put on your best denim jacket, grab a cup of coffee, and join us via zoom for the Indian Peaks Radio Club monthly meeting, tonight at 7:00 PM (mountain time). Sunglasses are optional. Tonight we will be discussing the ongoing WØNED repeater project, hearing from the AirLink group about their repeater project, and finalizing the location and plans for the IPRC Summer Field Day Weekend Event taking place on 26 and 27 June. Hope to see you all there! Charley K4NYN

Hey all,  Robert (NØCFM) has announced the details of the next fox (hidden transmitter) hunt.   This one will be a lot closer to us, and in an area that many of us are a lot more familiar with, so it should be a lot of fun.   Here are the details for the hunt.  More to come.  Please reach out with any questions.     Date: Sunday May 16th Time: 9:00am Boundaries: North boundary: A straight line East/West on South Boulder Road West boundary: follows 93 South boundary: A straight line East/West on 58th Ave. East boundary: I-25

  DMRs sure can be a big ol' PITA to get working just right, but they can also do some cool stuff that not too many analog radios can do.  I don't care who you are ... this is just plain cool! - Charley, K4NYN

Greetings everyone!   I got an incredible and unexpected surprise yesterday when Doug (K2AD) emailed to say that he had our repeater programmed, tuned, and functional in one of his mobile comms vans.  It is currently located somewhere near Firestone, and using the commercial antenna atop the pneumatic mast on the van (likely not extended), but it is in fact operational.  We did some testing with it yesterday and last night, and it was crystal clear and sounding good, even from Nederland.   This is only a temporary arrangement for testing purposes, and in no way reflects what the repeater's capability and reach will be given it's temporary location and configuration, but it's a huge step toward getting the repeater up and functional.   Please join me in extending our gratitude to Doug for helping us with this project, and feel free to try and reach the repeater and test it out from your location.  I will be monitoring it as I am able...

Hello IPRC members and friends! Don't forget that our weekly net will be held tonight at 7:00 PM on the AirLink Gold Hill repeater. Follow the link below for more details. All licensed hams are welcome and encouraged to join our weekly nets. Hope to hear you there! https://indianpeaksradioclub.org/net.html

Hello all, Hope you're having a great weekend. We're once again looking for a volunteer to host tomorrow evening's weekly net.   As always, we strongly encourage folks who haven't yet hosted a weekly net to give it a try.  Once you get the script, it's really quite easy, and actually a lot of fun to be NCS, and you get to choose the discussion topic.  If you are willing and able to host the net tomorrow night at 7, please reply here and let us know your topic of choice, and I will make sure that you have the script and check in form documents if you don't already have them.   Thanks and 73, Charley K4NYN