After many hours of work, the forums have been successfully converted to phpbb. In addition, the forum install has been integrated into wordpress with WP-United, and tapatalk has been installed and activated.

This means you can now access our forums from your mobile device via the free tapatalk app.

These changes were made to improve our neglected, and seldom used forums, with the hopes that they will find more use within the group in this format. The prior install, simple|press was difficult to maintain, and while reliable, was somewhat cumbersome to administer. PHPBB is a proven forum platform that is both open-source and secure. It supports some of the largest forums on the internet with ease. I was able to import all prior forums, posts, and users. Your website login and password will allow you to login to the forums, and if I can get the intergration tweeks worked out, will authenticate one login to both systems.

So, without further gilding the lily, I present to you our new and improved forums: http://nwmoares.org/forums

Let me know what you think, if you find anything that is broken, or if you have suggested improvements.

73 ~ Blair

For additional information contact:

Trevor Black KC0QLU

568 NW 305^th Plattsburg, MO 64477

816-783-3608

kc0qlu@nwmoares.org

“Who ya’ gonna call? Clinton County Radio Hams!”

Public Demo of Emergency Communications June 22-23

Plattsburg, MO

– Despite the Internet, cell phones, email and modern communications, every year whole regions find themselves in the dark. Tornadoes, fires, storms, ice and even the occasional cutting of fiber optic cables leave people without the means to communicate. In these cases, the one consistent service that has never failed has been Amateur Radio. These radio operators, often called “hams” provide backup communications for everything from the American Red Cross to FEMA and even for the International Space Station.

Clinton County “hams” will join with thousands of other Amateur Radio operators showing their emergency capabilities this weekend. Over the past year, the news has been full of reports of ham radio operators providing critical communications during unexpected emergencies in towns across America including the California wildfires, winter storms, tornadoes and other events world-wide. When trouble is brewing, Amateur Radio’s people are often the first to provide rescuers with critical information and communications.

This weekend, June 22-23 at the Plattsburg Fire Station, the public will have a chance to meet and talk with the Northwest Missouri ARES® ham radio operators and see for themselves what the Amateur Radio Service is about as hams across the USA will be holding public demonstrations of emergency communications abilities. Beginning at Noon Saturday and ending at Noon on Sunday, you are invited to stop by anytime day or overnight to see the demonstration.

This annual event, called "Field Day" is the climax of the week long "Amateur Radio Week" sponsored by the ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio. Using only emergency power supplies, ham operators will construct emergency stations in parks, shopping malls, schools and backyards around the country. Their slogan, "When All Else Fails, Ham Radio Works” is more than just words to the hams as they prove they can send messages in many forms without the use of phone systems, internet or any other infrastructure that can be compromised in a crisis. More than 35,000 amateur radio operators across the country participated in last year's event. "The fastest way to turn a crisis into a total disaster is to lose communications,” said Allen Pitts of the ARRL. “From the earthquake and tsunami in Japan to tornadoes in Missouri, ham radio provided the most reliable communication networks in the first critical hours of the events. Because ham radios are not dependent on the Internet, cell towers or other infrastructure, they work when nothing else is available.We need nothing between us but air.”

In the Plattsburg area, the Northwest Missouri ARES® Group will be demonstrating Amateur Radio atthe Plattsburg Fire Protection District on Bush Street behind ShopKo. They invite the public to come and see ham radio’s new capabilities and learn how to get their own FCC radio license before the next disaster strikes. Amateur Radio is growing in the US. There are now over 700,000 Amateur Radio licensees in the US, and more than 2.5 million around the world. Through the ARRL’s Amateur Radio Emergency Services program, ham volunteers provide both emergency communications for thousands of state and local emergency response agencies and non-emergency community services too, all for free. To learn more about Amateur Radio, go to www.emergency-radio.org. The public is most cordially invited to come, meet and talk with the hams. See what modern Amateur Radio can do. They can even help you get on the air!  

The Plattsburg 2M 146.895 machine is back online after replacing the Voice chip in the controller. Thanks to ARCOM for sending the part free of charge!

Can you spot anyone you know?  Hambash was held last Saturday at the Ararat Shrine in Kansas City. A good number of hams from NW Missouri were in attendance. A good time was had by all.

WD0BC, KC0NOX, WU0G, KG0CX and KC0QLU enjoyed a nice outtting at Wallace State Park in Cameron, MO. 3 stations were setup. 2 QRP portable stations and 1 mobile setup. WINLINK email was sent and received by WU0G, and several conacts were made witht he QRP stations. The best contact for the day was made by WD0BC on his Elecraft K3 and his ALEXLOOP antenna into Slovania using 10W.
Fun was had by all!!!

KC0GP and KC0QLU installed several upgrades in the Cameron EOC ham station.

Begining April 18th, NF0L will be teaching an Amateur Radio Licensing Class. This class is being sponsored by Cameron Venture Crew 911, and Cameron CERT. The class will focus on real-world application of Amateur Radio in an Emergency Communications and hobby environment. Our goal will be to achieve General Class licensure for participants. The format of the class will be interactive, with a large amount of hands-on exposure to differing amateur radio methods, modes, equipment, and interests. The NWMO ARES Group will host a testing session at the conclusion of the class. 

There is no cost to attend, and anyone interested is welcome. There is a $14.00 fee to test for licensure.

This months meeting will be a short business meeting at the Cameron PD and then we will meet up at Wallace State Park just east of Cameron for a mini Field Day style event. We plan to get out the generator,portable tower, batteries and set up our equipment. Plans to use WINLINK, APRS and other modes to test our abilities are on the agenda. Anyone is welcome to come out and set up or just operate. Feel free to invite prospective hams or just bring the family out for a few hours…