The Birmingham Amateur Radio Club

10/20/2026

SILENT KEY REPORT

Mike Thomason, K4FQF, passed away this last weekend in Marietta, GA. Mike was a long time member of the Birmingham Amateur Radio Club since the 1960's and a friend to many. He was 104 years old at his death.

Mike was presented this plaque mounted on tree bark after this tenure as President of BARC in 1965.

His full obituary can be found online here:

https://us.list-manage.com/usAJUWmMF2s?e=acfd492386&c2id=c2351af3bb4748e15fb3bc0da07fc859

-- Mike Thomason, K4FQF - Jan 30, 1922 - Oct 17, 2026.

10/18/2026

BARC 100th Year Celebration
This event will be for CURRENT & FORMER BARC members
Sunday, October 25, beginning at 2:00 PM at the Trussville Civic Center
October 15th was the date for submission of RSVP responses.


BARC Regular Meeting Notes
Date: October 15, 2026

The meeting opened at 7:00 PM. Edmund K4DZC welcomed 10 attendees in person and 12 participants on Zoom.

Band Conditions

Band conditions continue to vary by time of day and daily solar activity.
POTA activity remains strong.

VE Report

August AG5AT reported that four new technicians passed the October 11th test session.
One examinee has already registered for the November test session.
Exam details are available at aragroup.org/calendar/calendar.htm.

Repeater Report

All repeaters are working normally.

BARC 100th Year Anniversary Celebration

James KA4ZQA reported 70 confirmed RSVPs and six tentative responses.
The time window for submission of RSVP responses has closed as of October 15th.
Light refreshments will be served.
The event will include fellowship and a presentation on club history.

Shelby County ARC Tailgate

Date and time: October 24, 8:00 AM–noon
Location: 1449 Court Place, Pelham, AL 35124 (SCARC meeting location)
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/mv7D3LJenLbbmn1YA

Program: Jefferson County Simulated Emergency Test (S.E.T.)

Mark NR4J presented an overview of Jefferson County’s upcoming S.E.T., scheduled for October 31st from 8:00 AM to noon.
The event coincides with the statewide S.E.T.
Please report the following:
Callsign
Emergency Power (Y/N)
Number of years licensed (with a bonus for those licensed within the past two years)
Location
Participants are encouraged to activate a location; this may be simulated, such as operating from a parking lot.
School
Church
Served agency (fire, police, EMA, or NWS)
Estimated number of people the location can shelter, if it is a school or church
Send written traffic using an ARRL message form or Winlink digital modes (2 m or HF).
Number of emergency-powered repeaters used during the test
BARC repeaters 146.880− FM and K4DSO D-STAR have emergency power.
ARES members are encouraged to take online SKYWARN training: weather.gov/bmx
For more information:
KB4FKN [email protected]
NR4J [email protected]
widelink.com

The meeting adjourned at 8:00 PM.

Reminders

Steven KG5NSH continues to update and verify a local repeater list, including frequencies, offsets, PL tones, and related details. If you can assist, please contact Steven at [email protected].
The “Youth Amateur Radio Net” meets Sundays at 5:30 PM CT on Alabama D-STAR Reflector REF058B.

Upcoming Local Ham Events

BARC regular meeting: 7:00 PM, November 5th
SCARC regular meeting: 6:30 PM, October 22nd, W4SHL.com
Birmingham DX Club regular meeting: 3rd Monday at 6:30 PM at AHRS, BhamDX.org
ARA Group VE test schedule: aragroup.org/calendar/calendar.htm

10/15/2026

BARC 100th Year Anniversary Celebration
This event will be for CURRENT & FORMER BARC members
Sunday, October 25, beginning at 2 PM at the Trussville Civic Center
For more details and to RSVP, go to w4cue.com
PLEASE RSVP by October 15th.


BARC Meeting Reminder

Please join us for the next BARC meeting on Thursday, October 15th at 7 PM.

In Person at the Alabama Historical Radio Society Shop:
1801 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35203
(Google Map Address: 759 18th Street North, Birmingham, AL 35203)

Or join us virtually via ZOOM:
ID: 958 8242 7732
PW: 3gUUH6
https://zoom.us/j/95882427732?pwd=UDBHbHIxYUF4MnA1UENNeXNhRVRDZz09

73 BARC

09/30/2026

BARC 100th Year Anniversary Celebration
This event will be for CURRENT & FORMER BARC members
Sunday, October 25, beginning at 2 PM at the Trussville Civic Center
For more details and to RSVP, go to w4cue.com
PLEASE RSVP by October 15th.


BARC Meeting Reminder

Please join us for the next BARC meeting on Thursday, October 1st at 7 PM.

In Person at the Alabama Historical Radio Society Shop:
1801 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35203
(Google Map Address: 759 18th Street North, Birmingham, AL 35203)

Or join us virtually via ZOOM:
ID: 958 8242 7732
PW: 3gUUH6
https://zoom.us/j/95882427732?pwd=UDBHbHIxYUF4MnA1UENNeXNhRVRDZz09

Meeting Program Information

Alan Hargrave, WD5FCA, will be presenting a program featuring the small (tr)uSDX QRP transceiver.

The (tr)uSDX is a low-cost QRP transceiver that can be purchased as a kit or fully assembled. This small package is a five-band software defined transceiver capable of both sideband (upper and lower) and CW. Features include a built-in keyer (with memories), a CW decoder, built-in speaker and microphone, USB computer interface for CAT control, and more. The program will cover hints and kinks from experience and include a live demonstration.


73 BARC

09/23/2026

09/23/2026

BARC 100th Year Celebration

This event will be for CURRENT & FORMER BARC members
Sunday, October 25, beginning at 2:00 PM at the Trussville Civic Center

Please RSVP by October 15th using this BARC RSVP LINK:

https://us.list-manage.com/BUZNNwxI8f_?e=acfd492386&c2id=c2351af3bb4748e15fb3bc0da07fc859

BARC Regular Meeting Notes
Date: September 17th, 2026

The meeting opened at 7:00 PM. Ken WB4FAY welcomed 18 attendees in person and 9 participants on Zoom.

Treasurer and Membership Report

Rosalin KD4ZGO reported that club finances are in good shape.

Ken reported 99 paid members, the club’s strongest paid-membership total in several years.

Ken prepared handouts with QR codes for the club website, the SCARC website, and the email-list signup page that will be given out at VE sessions (and other events).

Band Conditions

Band conditions were mixed last week.
POTA activity continues to be strong.

VE Report

August AG5AT reported three examinees: one new Technician, one person who passed both the Technician and General exams, and one former ham who passed the Technician exam and joined BARC.

More information is available at aragroup.org/calendar/calendar.htm.

Repeater Report

All BARC repeaters are operating normally.

Program: Alabama State Simulated Emergency Test

Mike WX4AL, Alabama Section Assistant Emergency Coordinator, gave a presentation on the Alabama State Simulated Emergency Test (S.E.T.).

The statewide S.E.T. will be held October 31 from 8:00 AM to noon CT and will simulate a hurricane response.

Local groups may conduct their own S.E.T. on any date and do not need to follow the national or statewide schedule. This year’s

National S.E.T. is October 3rd and 4th.
Alabama has had strong participation and high scores several times in recent years.
Participants should complete S.E.T. Forms A and B and submit them S.E.T. Forms.

Mark NR4J said the Jefferson County ARES S.E.T. will be held the same day as the statewide event.

More information is available at arrl.org/simulated-emergency-test.

The meeting adjourned at 8:01 PM.

Reminders

Steven KG5NSH continues to update and verify a local repeater list, including frequencies, offsets, PL tones, and related details. If you can assist, please contact Steven at [email protected].

The “Youth Amateur Radio Net” meets Sundays at 5:30 PM CT on Alabama D-STAR Reflector REF058B.

Upcoming Local Ham Events

BARC regular meeting: 7:00 PM, October 1st
SCARC regular meeting: 6:30 PM, September 23rd, W4SHL.com
Birmingham DX Club regular meeting: 3rd Monday at 6:30 PM at AHRS, BhamDX.org
ARA Group VE test schedule: aragroup.org/calendar/calendar.htm

09/16/2026

BARC 100th Year Anniversary Celebration

This event will be for CURRENT & FORMER BARC members
Sunday, October 25, beginning at 2 PM at the Trussville Civic Center
For more details and to RSVP, go to w4cue.com
PLEASE RSVP by October 15th.

BARC Meeting Reminder

Please join us for the next BARC meeting on Thursday, September 17th at 7 PM.

In Person at the Alabama Historical Radio Society Shop:
1801 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr Boulevard, Birmingham, AL 35203
(Google Map Address: 759 18th Street North, Birmingham, AL 35203)

Or join us virtually via ZOOM:
ID: 958 8242 7732
PW: 3gUUH6
https://zoom.us/j/95882427732?pwd=UDBHbHIxYUF4MnA1UENNeXNhRVRDZz09

73 BARC

09/08/2026

Save the Date: BARC 100th Year Celebration

This event will be for CURRENT & FORMER BARC members
Sunday, October 25, beginning at 2:00 PM at the Trussville Civic NOAA NWS National Hurricane Center

Please RSVP by using this RSVP LINK.

https://shorturl.at/iYzla

BARC Regular Meeting Notes
Date: September 3rd, 2026

The meeting opened at 7:00 PM. Ken WB4FAY welcomed 11 attendees in person and 12 participants on Zoom.

Treasurer Report

Rosalind, KD4ZGO, and Ken reported that the club’s finances are in good shape.
Several new members have joined in the last few months.

Band Conditions

Several DX contacts were made from mobile stations during the past week.
Several members worked the Arctic DX Expedition.
POTA activity remains strong.

VE Report

The next testing session will be held at the SCARC location. More information is available at aragroup.org/calendar/calendar.htm.

Repeater Report

Ken WB4FAY reported an issue with the Internet provider for the D-Star repeaters on Wednesday. The issue has been resolved, and the BARC repeaters are operating normally.

Club Officers and Board of Directors

With no opposition, the following officers and directors were approved by acclamation.

Club Officers
President: Edmund Sunnasy K4DZC
Vice President: Ken Adkisson WB4FAY
Secretary: Wally Coker KC4ANB
Treasurer: Rosalind Fazel KD4ZGO

Board of Directors
August Treubig AG5AT
Mark Parmley NR4J
Steven Moss KB4FKN
Jeff Drew N4JDU
Michael Spanos K4VCA

Automatic Members of the Board of Directors (per bylaws):
President - Edmund Sunnasy K4DZC
Vice President - Ken Adkisson WB4FAY


Program

Ken presented “Collins Radio: How Did America's Greatest Communications Company Vanish?”

YouTube video: youtube.com/watch?v=UCoEeFYoM4Q&t=17s


The meeting adjourned at 8:00 PM.

Reminders

Steven KG5NSH continues to update and verify a local repeater list, including frequencies, offsets, PL tones, and related details. If you can assist, please contact Steven at [email protected].

The “Youth Amateur Radio Net” meets Sundays at 5:30 PM CT on Alabama D-STAR Reflector REF058B.

Upcoming Local Ham Events

BARC regular meeting: 7:00 PM, September 17th.
SCARC regular meeting: 6:30 PM, September 10th, W4SHL.com.
Birmingham DX Club regular meeting: 6:30 PM, September 21st, BhamDX.org.
ARA Group VE test schedule: aragroup.org/calendar/calendar.htm.
Gadsden Hamfest: September 19th, 8 AM – 1 PM. For more information, visit k4jmc.com.

08/25/2026

All BARC Members and Former Members

SAVE THE DATE

--- Sunday, October 25, 2026 ---
2:00 - 5:00 PM

The Birmingham Amateur Radio Club will be hosting a 100th Anniversary Celebration Event at the Trussville Civic Center -- the same location as the BirmingHamfest each March.

From 2:00 - 3:00 PM there will be light food and tables for sitting and catching up with friends and swapping stories of your experiences with BARC.

From 3:00 - 4:00 PM there will be a program about the history of the club along with recognitions and presentations.
Following the program, we will have an hour available for fellowship and discussion of interesting facts that everybody learned about our history.

There will be BARC momentos (swag) for members and former members in attendance!

For all members and former members, please click the link below to RSVP. This will help us better plan.

BARC Anniversary Celebration RSVP Link

https://us.list-manage.com/176U5RKBfnb?e=acfd492386&c2id=c2351af3bb4748e15fb3bc0da07fc859

(If sometime later, your situation changes and you need to alter your RSVP response, please just submit another RSVP response with the new information.)

08/09/2026

BARC Regular Meeting Notes
August 6th, 2026

At 7:00 PM, Ken WB4FAY welcomed 17 in-person attendees and 13 participants on Zoom.

Treasurer’s Report
Ken reported that the club’s finances remain in good condition.

Band Conditions
Six-meter band openings are becoming less frequent.
Operators reported occasional openings into Asia on multiple bands.
POTA activity remains strong.

VE Report
August AG5AT reported that the next VE testing session will be held August 9th at the Shelby County location. More information is available at aragroup.org/calendar/calendar.htm.
Reminder: The Technician question pool changed July 1st.

Repeater Report
Ken WB4FAY reported that the BARC repeaters are operating normally.

ARRL Section News
The ARRL is considering moving the Alabama Section from the Southeast Division to the Delta Division.
The Delta Division currently consists of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

The Southeastern Division is the largest division and currently includes Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Alabama ARRL members should receive additional communication from the ARRL in the form of an opinion poll about the proposed move.

The primary reason given for the proposal is to rebalance membership between the Southeastern and Delta divisions.
The proposed change would not affect Alabama’s placement in the FCC 4th call district.

BARC's 100 Year Anniversary
There was some discussion about BARC's milestore anniversary. The club is 100 years old in 2026.

There is a desire to have an event later this year to celebrate this milestone and to acknowledge the contribution of the many people that have made BARC so successful. We would hope to invite current and former members of BARC.

Ken, WB4FAY, made an appeal for someone to volunteer to coordinate the planning and ex*****on of an event this fall.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Following the meeting, James Pilman, KA4ZQA, and Anne Matthews, KI4KCI, have stepped up and will begin immediately to work on this.

Watch for more information as this unfolds and PLEASE help James and Anne as this comes together for what will likely be a Sunday afternoon event in October.

Program
Alan Hargroves WD4FCA gave a follow-up to his abbreviated June presentation, “GridTracker: Hints and Kinks.”

GridTracker 2 is a complete rewrite of the original version 1.
Originally, the program monitored WSJT-X traffic and plotted it on a map.

It can import ADIF log files from most logging programs.
It has become an easy-to-use amateur radio hub for live decodes, logbooks, spot reports, weather, solar conditions, and more.
GridTracker 2 is free, open-source amateur radio software. Optional donations are accepted.

Optional third-party services, such as SimplePush or Pushover, are available and may require subscriptions or one-time purchases.
Runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, including Raspberry Pi systems.

Helpful link:
gridtracker.org

The meeting adjourned at 8:21 PM.

Reminders
Look for more information on the BARC Centennial Celebration.
Steven KG5NSH continues to update and verify a local repeater list, including frequencies, offsets, PL tones, and related details. If you can assist, please contact Steven at [email protected].
The “Youth Amateur Radio Net” meets Sundays at 5:30 PM CT on Alabama D-STAR Reflector REF058B.

Upcoming Local Ham Events

BARC regular meeting: 7:00 PM, August 18th

SCARC regular meeting: 6:30 PM, August 11th, W4SHL.com

Birmingham DX Club regular meeting: 6:30 PM, August 17th, BhamDX.org

ARA Group VE test schedule: aragroup.org/calendar/calendar.htm

Huntsville Hamfest: August 22nd and 23rd. Discount tickets at hamfest.org