Dixie Amateur Radio Club

The Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc. is an association of federally licensed Amateur Radio operators (also known as "ham radio" operators) who primarily reside in southwestern Utah, mostly in the greater St. George City metropolitan area. We also have members who live in rural areas of Washington County and in areas outside of the county.

The Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc. is a formally "Affiliated Club" with the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) "The National Association for Amateur Radio". Our Club is a non-profit IRS 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Our members are all volunteers. We are experienced and capable of providing non-commercial radio telecommunications, independent of public and/or commercial networks. Members of our Club provide vital communications services in this part of the state of Utah and we strive to live up to ham radio's motto: "When all else fails... ...Amateur Radio works!"

Amateur Radio operators provide, in many circumstances, the first and only reliable means of communicating to an from an affected area in the first several days following a natural disaster. This was well proven during the deadly Indian Ocean tsunami in December 26, 2004 and in the days and weeks following Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Our Club also provides local public safety and health and welfare communications services for local events such as the annual St. George Marathon, the Huntsman World Senior Games, and many other cycling and running events in the area.

To explore our web site please use the web site navigation links located at the bottom of this and every page on this web site.

For more information on the Club please CLICK HERE. Or you can use the "About the Club" link found at the bottom of each page this web site.

If you are interested in becoming a licensed Amateur Radio operator come and meet us at our next club meeting. Information on our club meetings is available below in the "Latest News + Announcements" section on this page or using the "Club Meeting Info" page link. Information on how to contact the Club is found using the "Contact the Club" page link.

Web Site Navigation

Latest News + Announcements

The Dixie Amateur Radio Club has many happenings that have been recorded for historical purposes. We have a "Story Archive Page" other recently archived stories shown on that page. Click on this LINK to view the Story Archive Page.

Club Board Meeting will be held on Thursday, February 2nd

The Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Board normally meets on the first Thursday of every month in Room E of the St. George City Community Arts Building which is located at the corner of 100 South and Main St. in St. George. Board meetings will begin at 7:00 p.m.

Anyone can come and attend the Board meeting. Please come prepared to share any ideas that you have for monthly club meetings, special events, activities, etc. that will keep the Club running as well as it has in the past.

Click HERE for information on the Club's Board.

General Club Meeting will be held on Wednesday, February 15th

The next general club meeting of the Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc. will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 15, 2011.

Club Meetings are normally held on the third Wednesday of each month except in December when the Annual Meeting and social event/dinner is scheduled.

Unless otherwise advertised here, our Club's meetings will be held at the St. George Community Building. The Community Building is located at the far southwest corner of Washington County's Gayle M. & Mary Aldred Senior Citizens Center property which is located at 245 North 200 West, St. George, Utah.

SCHEDULED MEETING HIGHLIGHTS:

Announcements & Introductions
Other Club Business.

Additional information on our monthly Club meeting and the V.E. Exam Testing Session held before the meeting is available by clicking HERE.

You can also use the "Club Meeting Info" link found in the navigation section of this and every page on this web site. A link to an interactive map of the location is also provided on the Club Meeting Info page.

V.E. Testing Session Held Every Month of the Year

For those wanting to take the FCC test for a new Amateur Radio license or upgrade to a higher license class, there will be an ARRL Volunteer Examiner administered exam test session held at 5:30 p.m. on the third Wednesday of every month, except December, prior to the Club's monthly meeting. The monthly exam is always held at the same location as the Club Meeting. (use the link immediately below or the "Club Meeting Info" link found in the navigation section on every page on this site).

We have also sheduled a V.E. session on four Saturdays during 2012 so that those who cannot participate in the monthly 3rd Wednesday exam session will have an opportunity to take a test with our V.E. team. The Saturday sessions will be held at the Hurricane City Library, in their Conference Room and will start at 1:00 p.m. The address is 36 South 300 West. They will be held on the following dates in 2012: March 17, June 16, September 15, and December 15.

Information on V.E. Exam Testing Sessions is on our "Club Meeting Info" page, available by clicking HERE.

A link to an interactive map of the location of the monthly exam (and Club Meeting) is also provided on the "Club Meeting Info" page.

Club Newsletter Published

The Club has a new Newsletter Editor. He is JadenTaylor, KE7ZPD, son of Club President Scott Taylor, KE7YIQ.

Jaden has just published a combined September 2011 edition.

Jaden needs your help to expand the Newsletter and keep it going.

Click HERE or see the "Club Newsletter" link above (or on the bottom of any page on this site) to view the latest Club newsletter.

FOX HUNTS (Hidden Transmitter Searchs) top of page

From time to time, hidden transmitter search exercises known as a "Fox Hunt" are held by the Club. The most recent hunt was held on Saturday, May 21st. When the next event date is scheduled it will be posted here. For those interested in participating in future hunts (which will be announce here), you can build a tape measure beam (see the info on this below). Here is some information on other types of RDF units:

"Homing-type" DF antenna units:

Purchased Kit:
There is an inexpensive ($45) direction finding device that can be purchased as a kit which works very well at locating the fox. You can find information on their "Searcher" direction finder kit on the RainbowKits web site.

                        Here is a direct LINK to the "Searcher" direction finding device.

Home-Built:
If you want to understand the technology behind this type of RDF unit, an excellent tutorial is available on the Utah Amateur Radio Club (UARC) web site.   Mike Mladejovsky, WA7ARK, designed the circuits presented on the UARC website.

                       Click on this LINK to go directly to the RDF page on the UARC web site.

Doppler Direction Finder units:
If you want a Doppler-type direction finding unit in a complete kit form, they can be obtained from several sources. One of these is at the at the following link:      http://www.gssteched.com/rddf1.html

2 meter Band Tape Measure Beam and Attenuator Plans/Kits top of page

There were numerous requests for information on how to build the tape measure beam that was presented at the January 21, 2010 Club Meeting. Please use this link to get all the information you need:
http://theleggios.net/wb2hol/projects/rdf/tape_bm.htm

In addition, there are project plans/kit for the construction of an active attenuator that could be used with the 2 meter tape measure antenna above for fox hunting. You can get information about the attenuators here: http://www.homingin.com/joek0ov/offatten.html

Join The Club, or Renew Your Membership top of page

You are encouraged to join the Dixie Amateur Radio Club or renew your membership for 2010. Please use the "Join the Club" link at the bottom of any page on this site to learn how to join the club. Or simply come out to our Club meeting (see info above) and join at that time. If you are new: " Welcome to the Club!". To renewing members: "Thank You!"

Club Mentoring Program top of page

The Club has implement a voluntary list of local Amateur Radio operators who have expressed a willingness to assist aspiring as well as newly licensed ham radio enthusiasts in learning more about the hobby and helping when questions/difficulties arise.

Click HERE to find out more about this new program and view a list of willing and able mentors to assist you as you come into this exciting hobby. You can also reach this information by using the "Contact the Club" link at the bottom of each page on this site.

Equipment Classified Ads top of page

There is never a bad time to clean out the ol' ham "shack" of those items that really need a new home. We have had many news ham operators join our ranks at recent Volunteer Exam sessions who may be looking for rigs and all of the ancillary equipment that you may have lying about the shack that could be put to use in the shack of a new ham.

Please visit the "Equipment Classifieds" page on this web site for items that are for sale and to see items that hams are looking for that you might be willing to part with. Send requests for posting items for sale or wanted to the webmaster at: w7drc@arrl.net

Amateur Radio Practice Exam Site Available top of page

An Amateur Radio operator in Colorado, Hamilton Carter, KDØFNR, has created a set of free online exam practice tests that he hopes hams will find useful.

Within the practice tests, online study resources, (Wikipedia, NASA, ARRL, etc.), are provided for many of the questions. The list of resources available for each question is constantly growing because users can add their own favorite links to the study materials. Users can also track their test scores over time and see which subelements are giving them the most trouble.

You can see the practice tests at: http://copaseticflow.blogspot.com . Please let Hamilton know if you find it handy, or if you think of any ways to make it better. His e-mail address is: hcarter333@gmail.com

Check the Status of Your New or Upgraded Ham License top of page

Those who have just recently taken and passed an Amateur Radio examination (see below) administered by the Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc. at a ARRL-VEC Volunteer Exam session may check the status of your first license or your upgrade by going to American Radio Relay League (ARRL) web site portal that has up to date information directly from the Federal Communications Commission database. Everyone else can verify the expiration date of your license using this portal.

One source you can use is this link to the ARRL: http://www.arrl.org/fcc/fcclook.php3 . Use it to look up whether your new license is effective (and discover your newly assigned call sign). You can confirm your upgraded license status (if you took and passed a test to upgrade).

Another great link is the ULS lookup on the FCC's web site. On that site you can print out additional "reference copies" of your license and see the status of your license and any application matters related to it. You can choose to search by name, callsign or your FRN number.

This helpful search page can be found at this link: http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSearch/searchLicense.jsp

Volunteer Exam Session Results top of page

There were six candidates who successfully passed an Amateur Radio license exam (either for a first time license or an upgrade) at the Wednesday, January 18, 2012 exam session conducted by ARRL-VEC accredited volunteer examiners from the Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc. See the table below for the results of this session:

NAME:	CALLSIGN:	HOME TOWN:	LICENSE EARNED:
Hans Ralph Kuhni	Awaiting License	Park City, Utah	Passed Technician Class Amateur License
Craig Fackrell	Awaiting License	Cedar City, Utah	Passed Technician Class Amateur License

Please note that it will take about 5-7 days from your exam date for the ARRL-VEC office in Newington, CT to receive the exam packet via priority mail and then electronically submit your license information into the FCC database. As soon as that occurs, and you are assigned an FCC callsign, the table above will be updated to list the callsign assigned by the FCC and provide a link to that licensee's current FCC information. You should receive your hard-copy of your licesnse in the mail in approximately 2-3 weeks.

Club Information

Mailing address: Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc.; P.O. Box 422; Santa Clara, Utah 84765
Club e-mail address: w7drc@arrl.net

For additional Information on the Club, please contact:
Club President Harold Wells, KE7OZG, via e-mail at haroldewells@hotmail.com

For new and aspiring Hams with general questions about Amateur Radio or have specific technical questions: Use the "Contact the Club" link on any page of this site to take advantage of the Club's volunteer mentors.

Dixie Amateur Radio Club, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Your tax deductible donations to the Club are always accepted and very much appreciated. (Consult your own tax advisor)