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MARC Calendar
 Click on the event of interest for more information.

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Montgomery Amateur Radio Club 
P.O. Box 3141 
Montgomery, AL 36109-0141

Why MARC?

We would like to invite you to our website and hope to peak your interest in Amateur Radio and come join us in a fun hobby that is full of comradery and friendship and excitement of talking over the "AIR" that's not only local but around the world. There's nothing like you first QSO to a foreign country. It's a guarantee you'll be jumping up and down with joy and excitement.
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Fox Hunt

The next Fox Hunt is Saturday April 22, 2023, more info to come.

 

Otto

73 de N4UZZ

ARES 145.310 Repeater
W4AP 146.840 Repeater
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MARC Field Day

 

Field Day is ALWAYS the fourth full weekend of June, beginning at 1800 UTC (1:00PM CDT) Saturday and ending at 1800 UTC (1:00PM CDT) Sunday. We follow the guidelines of ARRL. 

 

Set up starts at 2:30 PM on that Friday. All are welcome to come out and help set up the antennas and equipment and check for proper operation. All transmissions will start at 1:00 PM on Saturday and ends at 1:00 PM on Sunday. We will be setting up a CW trailer, HF trailer as well as a digital station running FT8.
 
This is a lot of fun and excitement for those who are well versed as well as those beginners who might be a little mic shy.
 
And lots of food! You will not starve as we have our own amateur operators whom love to cook on the grill. Hamburgers, hot dogs, chili (worlds best) and snacks galore. A must see and taste to believe.
 
Again, the public is invited and all are welcome. You do not have to be a ham operator to attend and you still have a chance to talk on a HAM RADIO! A real beginners dream come true.
 
This all happens in the southern portion of Montgomery county at our own Randy Sedlak's farm, 4975 Snowdoun Chambers Road, Montgomery, AL 36116. Randy is a member that allows us to set up and communicate on one of his hay fields for this event. Below is a map for directions. 

 

FIELD DAY CHAIR: 

SETUP: Paul St. John NA4MM We will set up on that Friday afternoon.

We currently have leader volunteers for the three stations. We always need more people as this is a 24 hour contest.

PHONE STATION: Otto Arnoscht - N4UZZ

CW STATION: Randy Sedlak - KV4AC will supply the Porta-a-Potty.

DIGITAL STATION: Otto Arnoscht - N4UZZ 

COOKS: Lew Nyman K1AZE is always cooking the best chili (MARC rejoices!). Ken Brittin AK4KN supplies the grill. Allen Ezelle KN4JUA brings ice and drinks and assist Ken with the cooking.

ICE: Cameron Cole KN4TUB provides the ice.

 

Monthly Club Meetings

The Montgomery Amateur Radio Club meets on the 3rd Monday of each month (except December) at 7:00 p.m. If you are in the area, please attend a meeting as our special guest. In December, the club has an annual awards dinner at a local restaurant. See the Club Events calendar on this website.

Field Day

 

Field Day, a national emergency communications exercise where we will be setting up a CW trailer, HF trailer as well as a digital station running FT8. This is a lot of fun and excitement for those who are well versed as well as those beginners who might be a little mic shy. And lots of food! You will not starve as we have our own amateur operators whom love to cook on the grill. Hamburgers, hot dogs, chili to die for and snacks galore. A must see and taste to believe. Again, the public is invited and all are welcome.

 

Elmer U Classes

 

An Elmer is a Ham Radio term for a mentor and/or helper, that provides advice, encouragement, and assistance to Hams. Most Hams have an Elmer at some point to help them get started and guide them on their first steps into the hobby. As a member of the Montgomery Amateur Radio Club you have tremendous resources available to assist you in the form of fellow Hams with hundreds of years of combined operating experience That are always willing and ready to assist you with the help or advise you may need.

Glassner Memorial Autumn Challenge

We support all kinds of community events with communication support, such as the Glassner Memorial Bicycle Ride, The Kid-One Transport Triathlon at The Waters, the Air Force Heritage Run, and many others. These events are a great opportunity to practice emergency communications, coordination, and traffic handling.

The Montgomery Amateur Radio Club has provided communications and coordination assistance to this effort every year. We are seeking volunteers to man the rest stops and to provide rover and sweeper duties during the ride. This is one of our great community service projects. Thankfully, we have always had volunteers to do the job. We are hoping that it will be easier this year with the new location of the 147.18 repeater on the top of the Ramer water tower.

Central Alabama SkyWarn

We are amateur radio operators and certified storm spotters who report our observations of severe weather to the National Weather Service for improved weather predictions and possible warning of the population. We operate in the counties of Autauga, Elmore, Lowndes, and Montgomery in the Central Alabama area.

Fox Hunts

Fox hunts and direction finding are fun activities for families and great challenges to sharpen our direction-finding skills. MARC holds several foxhunts every year. Direction-finding is an important skill needed when interference must be hunted down or someone in difficulty should be located. You do not need elaborate equipment to be successful in foxhunts. The winners of recent foxhunts used nothing but their handheld radios with factory rubber-ducky antennas.

Montgomery Hamfest

Our local Montgomery Amateur Radio Club Hamfest is an event organized by us and amateur radio enthusiasts, for social gathering and promotion of the amateur radio hobby. Typically this event is held over a weekend, usually on a Saturday. We feature a flea market where the attendees can buy and sell radio and related equipment, usually outdoors in the parking lot. The equipment found at a hamfest can vary significantly from the newest high-tech gear to used, refurbished, or even antique equipment. Haggling or bargaining is the most common means of a sale. Equipment that originally sold at great expense to commercial users (such as public safety agencies) can often be found at a fraction of the price. Likewise, accessories which are no longer available from manufacturers may be found, and many sales of complete systems are made to buyers who only need one or two components.

 

 

Our 2 Meter Repeater

MARC operates a 2 meter repeater on top of Bald Knob in Wetumpka, Alabama. It is on 146.840 MHz with a negative (-) offset of -600 kHz and a CTCSS tone of 123 Hz. For those using a beam directional antenna, the GPS coordinates are 32.31.59 North X -86.11.46 West. We have three nets a week on this repeater. On Sundays at 7:00 PM is the Hams for the Lamb net, and right after it at 8:00 PM is MARC’s Central Alabama Two Meter Net. Then on every Thursday at 7:00 PM is the Central Alabama SkyWarn Net. This repeater is open to the public for general use at all times except when a net is in progress or when the Emergency Skywarn Weather Net has been activated.

The new KC4EMG ECARES 2 Meter Repeater in Seman

The Elmore County Amateur Radio Emergency Services are volunteer amateur radio operators that serve the  Emergency Management Agency  of Elmore County Alabama. The new repeater is located on the water tower in Seman, Alabama. Coordinates of the water tower to aim your antenna: 32°.43’.47” North  by  -86°.06’.52” West

The antenna has been installed on the South side of the water tower and will be able to serve Autauga, Elmore, Lownes and Montgomery counties. This repeater will be open to public use, except during the times of emergency net control when all general public QSO's must stop and then only emergency or weather communications through the net control is allowed.

The frequency of the repeater is 145.310, - 600 Hz offset and PL tone of 123 Hz. It is operating at 38 Watts of power measured at the antenna with a 1.2 to 1 SWR.

 

Our old repeater has been refurbished and relocated to the water tower in Ramer, Alabama.

The 147.180 repeater is up and running again, this time on top of the Ramer water tower.  The ground elevation is  532' MSL, the antenna height is 150' AGL and it is running at 40W.  This puts the base of the antenna at 682' MSL.

The location coordinates are 32.052508 by -86.208769. This would be Highway 94 E, from 61 and 94 intersection, and about 800' East of Weeping Mary Church on the north side of 94.

It is operating at 147.180 (+) with a encode tone of 123Hz, which is the same as before. Primary coverage is South Montgomery County. Secondary coverage is Autauga and Elmore counties, if you have a good base antenna. It does provide additional coverage into Lowndes, Butler, Crenshaw, Pike and Bullock Counties. This repeater has the capability to be linked to the Jim Bell Wireless Society repeater system for enhanced coverage to the South. 
Photo Credit Ben Wallace 
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Who We Are

We provide communications services to our community, encourage participation in amateur radio, support emergency communications for activities such as the American Red Cross, ARES and Skywarn, conduct FCC amateur radio license testing, and provide opportunities for hams to meet and further their interests in the many aspects of amateur radio.

Lunch Bunch

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MARC Meetings

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MARC Hamfest

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Local Repeaters

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MARC Field Day

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Fox Hunts

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Local Area Nets

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SkyWarn

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MARC Facebook

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MARC Twitter

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MARC Groups IO

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Elmer U Classes

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