This is text that appears on one of our flyers.

[Front Side]

Welcome to The Jay County Amateur Radio Club

The Jay County Amateur Radio Club is located in Portland, Indiana, USA and serves the Amateur Radio Community.  Our open repeaters can be used for general communications (chat) as well as Emergency Communications in East Central Indiana and West Central Ohio.

 If you're a ham, budding ham, or just ham-curious, we have someone that can answer nearly any question you have about the hobby including antenna design, types of equipment, how to get your license, and many other aspects of the hobby.  We invite you to join us at our regular club meetings and perhaps make new discoveries into a hobby that you perhaps barely knew existed.  For example, did you know that you can get a real entry-level hand-held ham radio that can use our repeaters and even EchoLink (more on that on the next page) for under $30?  That includes the battery and the charger.  Step into digital for less than $100!

 JCARC Net

Any licensed amateur can join our net every Tuesday beginning at 8:00 PM Eastern, with one exception.  The third Tuesday of each month is reserved for the club meeting and there is no net.  Beside a license, here is the info you’ll need to join us:

 W9JCA Repeater: 145.210 MHz, negative offset, PL 97.4 Hz, Pennville, Indiana.

 During our Tuesday Net, we also link to the several other repeaters:

 W9JKL (EchoLink 412960), Portland, Indiana: 443.475 MHz+, PL 100.0 Hz

KB8SCR (EchoLink 949238), Fort Recovery, Ohio: 442.675 MHz+, PL 107.2 Hz.

During the net, you can link to JCARC through an EchoLink capable repeater using DTMF codes, on your computer, or your data enabled smartphone using the node numbers above.  They are subject to shutdown during inclement weather. 

Our monthly club meeting is on the third Saturday of each month at 9:00 AM at the Jay County Fairgrounds Scout cabin located close to the east side of the fairgrounds. Visitors are welcome.

 Like us on Facebook at the W9JCA page.  Contact us at w9jcarc@gmail.com

[Reverse Side]

What Hams Do

Whether you would like to chat with your friends on the way to work or school, check into a net to discuss topics of a mutual interest, or volunteer for emergency services, amateur radio is first and foremost about communication.  With hams, that means two way communications by radio.  Radios can be hand-held transceivers similar to a walkie-talkie, a mobile unit for use in a car or other vehicle, or a base station with an outdoor antenna used for local or distance communication.  Regardless of the type of equipment, radio amateurs have a wide range of activities they can pursue.

What is ECHOLINK?

EchoLink is software that allows licensed Amateur Radio operators to communicate with one another over the Internet, using streaming-audio technology. The program allows live worldwide connections to be made between a radio and a nearby EchoLink repeater to another live node, whether it’s a computer, smartphone, or even another repeater.  Likewise, the operator on the other end, with whatever supported device, can connect with you just as easily.  This greatly enhances Amateur Radio's communications capabilities and can easily rival Facebook or Snapchat!   Using EchoLink, amateurs who cannot contact us by radio can check in to our weekly net using their computer or data enabled smartphone.  EchoLink has nodes in 162 countries and around 200,000 users with about 5,000 on at any given moment.  You’d be hard pressed not to find someone to talk to at all hours of the day, or just listen in to general chatter on various repeaters or nodes from all over the world.

DMR – EchoLink on Steroids!

A later entry into the world of communications is called, Digital Mobile Radio or DMR.  A typical DMR is an actual mobile (vehicle) or hand-held, with the latter currently being the most popular.  They can be connected to a power supply and a large antenna to be used as a base station, as well.  A DMR repeater is the interface between your radio and the Internet and can handle up to two users at once using time division multi access.  Once programmed (typically using a codeplug), local or worldwide communications are equally effortless.  On EchoLink, the local repeater will handle a single analog user.  Want to talk to a distant node?  Better have that node number available unless you use the random connect feature.  With DMR, you have color codes, codeplugs, zones, and talkgroups.  Analog has frequencies and CTCSS (or PL) tones you have to know.  (Homework: Look up color codes, zone, talkgroup, TDMA, and codeplug). 

It’s not a cell phone, it’s not private. It's ham radio and it’s a lot of fun!