after the General Meeting
See Flyer for info on the holiday party.
The party will be at
The Kent Senior Activity Center
600 E Smith
Kent, WA 98030
Kent Senior Activity Center
Nets on K7LED
Social Net
Nightly 7:30 PM, except on Wednesday night.Held on the 2 meter repeater, 146.82 with a PL Tone 103.5
Come join us for a rousing round table discussion and tell us about your adventures of the day.
Informal Net
7:00 PM Sunday evenings.Held on the 220 repeater, 224.12 with a PL Tone 103.5
Casual, informal, fun. Stop on by!
MKARC PNW NVIS Net
7:00 PM Tuesday evenings.Held on the 80 M & 40 M, HF SSB
80M = Primary 3.930 MHz,
alt 3.970 Mhz
40M = Primary 7.225 MHz,
alt 7.235 MHz
Net always starts on 80 M
Technical Net
7:30 PM Wednesday evenings.Held on the 2 meter repeater, 146.82 with a PL Tone 103.5
Lots of great technical information for new and experienced hams alike.
Members Check-in Net
6:30 PM Thursdays evenings Held on the 2 meter repeater, 146.82 with a PL Tone 103.5
Join us for our Weekly Member & Visitor Check In Net. Just get on the roster and listen for your call sign. When you hear it, Check In with your call sign.
Contact Info for more information.
Get your Amateur Radio License
From VE Team lead, Scott, AG7T
Video-Supervised sessions are not as efficient as an in-person one because we can only do 1 examinee at a time for 4 VEs. The 4 VEs are needed due to technology issues. For example, losing network connectivity would require voiding an exam when the VE count drops below 3 or if the examinee is disconnected.
You can see what sessions we are doing by going to https://ham.study/sessions/ag7t . Read https://tinyurl.com/yxf8sbvb before you register for one of our video-supervised sessions.
Contact Mike & Key VE Testing for more information.
Upcoming Technician, General, & Extra Licensing Classes via Zoom Meeting
For the forseeable future, upcoming Technician, General, & Extra licensing classes will be held via Zoom Meeting Conference Server.
Check/verify these online Mike & Key Licensing Class schedules, contacting identified person via email, if interested.
NOTE:These classes are open to all, but requires registration with contact person first.
Club Meetings
The Mike & Key General Membership meeting is held every 3rd Saturday of the month at 10:00 AM.
Click here for information related to these Club meetings
There is always coffee, doughnuts and fellowship. Come early and grab a seat.
Ham Radio Contests
A lot of Hams like Contests, but there are too many to list and maintain here. Luckily, there is the Contest Calendar for information and a complete list of contests around the world.Looking for Net Ops!!
What is a net op? It is a ham radio network control operator. Basically it's just somebody who controls a radio net to make sure that only one person talks at a time. It is a super easy job and can be really fun.
If you are a Mike & Key club member and are interested in signing up for a position, typically once a week or less, let us know. Training is easy. Once you get your feet wet, you'll realize how easy it is and how much fun it is.
Listen in on the nightly nets on 146.82 at 7:30 pm every night. You will see how much fun it is and how easy it really can be.
Send an email to technical@mikeandkey.org, and will get you started.
M&K services the amateur radio community in the following ways:
Programs
The Club presents and promotes amateur radio related educational programs at our monthly meetings and in our community.
Training
The Club promotes training courses and educational programs taught by teams of M&K instructors. These are regularly conducted to instill, expand and improve the skills of novice and licensed amateur radio operators, including courses at all FCC licensing levels.
In 2018, there were 15 classes with 65 teachers giving 1,342 hours and 21 Test Sessions with 132 VEs giving 480 hours. 501 test elements were given to 299 test candidates. The classes passed 190 Technicians, 56 Generals, 31 Extras and created 190 New Hams. Many passed both Technician and General test and three passed all three test at one test session. Several classes passed 100% of the students.
| Free Classes 100% Volunteer |
|||
| Year | Classes | Teachers | Hours (1) |
| 2018 | 15 | 65 | 1349.8 |
| 2017 | 17 | 74 | 1550.2 |
| 2016 | 17 | 70 | 1461.5 |
| 2015 | 15 | 59 | 1241.2 |
| 2014 | 11 | 50 | 1045.8 |
| Totals | 75 | 318 | 6648.5 |
| Annual average | 15 | 63.6 | 1329.7 |
| Volunteer Examinations Volunteers Doing Government Function |
|||||
| Year | Sessions | VE | Hours (2) | Tests | Candidates |
| 2018 | 21 | 132 | 480.0 | 501 | 299 |
| 2017 | 17 | 120 | 428.0 | 689 | 421 |
| 2016 | 18 | 142 | 498.0 | 702 | 369 |
| 2015 | 16 | 150 | 514.0 | 626 | 367 |
| 2014 | 13 | 120 | 412.0 | 383 | 275 |
| Totals | 85 | 664 | 2332.0 | 2901 | 1731 |
| Annual average | 17 | 132.8 | 466.4 | 580.2 | 346.2 |
| Administrative Cost Copies (3) |
|||
| Year | Handouts | VE | $ |
| 2018 | 17940 | 1099 | $ 1903.90 |
| 2017 | 25260 | 1531 | $ 2679.10 |
| 2016 | 22140 | 1440 | $ 2358.00 |
| 2015 | 22020 | 1360 | $ 2338.00 |
| 2014 | 16500 | 933 | $ 1743.30 |
| Totals | 103860 | 6363 | $ 11022.30 |
| Annual average | 20772 | 1272.6 | $ 2204.46 |
Notes:
- 20 hours per teacher, plus 10 minutes administration time per student
- 3 hours per VE, plus 4 hours administration time per session
- 60 plus pages of handouts, plus 2 copies per candidate and one per test
Prepared By
Daniel Stevens, KL7WM
December 15, 2018
FCC Examinations
To encourage and provide the public and amateur radio communities with regular opportunities to obtain and upgrade their FCC amateur radio licenses, trained teams of M&K Volunteer Examiners (VE) conduct monthly examinations for all three classes of FCC amateur radio licenses. Information on our sessions is available at https://ham.study/sessions/AG7T. We give both online and in-person sessions.
Library
M&K assembled, maintains and operates a free lending library of targeted educational and scientific books, electronic media and journals covering topics related to amateur radio licensing and operation, communications systems, electronics theory and experimentation, emergency communications, etc. It also loans electronic testing equipment to community amateur radio operators to properly install and operate their stations. The library expands constantly and is open to the entire community.
Disaster Exercises
The Club actively participates in support of government entities, in state, regional and national emergency communications exercises, simulating major disasters. These range from one-day check-in events to major multi-national multi-day exercises which simulate disasters where all traditional communications infrastructure has been destroyed. Amateur operators must set up, operate and maintain complete high frequency (HF), very high frequency (VHF) and even ultra-high frequency (UHF) satellite communications systems, solar and traditional electric power generation, diverse antenna systems, computers, radio transmitters and receivers. In one annual exercise alone Club members volunteer over 1,500 hours.
Swap Meet
Each year, M&K sponsors and conducts a large amateur radio and electronics show and swap meet to provide the public, amateur radio operators, experimenters, and service groups with access to a wide range of components, equipment and educational materials in support of their communications needs, emergency and public service requirements. The meet annually draws hundreds of exhibitors and participants from all west coast and Pacific Northwest states.
Emergency Operators
The Club provides trained and skilled radio operator-members to government emergency services (Police, Fire, and Emergency Management agencies) and public disaster response and support agencies (e.g. hospitals, Red Cross, Salvation Army) for emergency communications and support during actual disasters and regular exercises.
Public Service
M&K members also provide communications support to regional municipalities and public service organizations for community and charitable events, such as Seafair, Veterans and community parades, "special people" and sporting events, etc., assisting with coordination, safety, traffic and crowd control.
Repeaters
M&K created and maintains two VHF radio repeater sites, with emergency power capabilities, allowing general and emergency communications across a large region of Western Washington. The repeaters are open to all amateur radio operators -- the public, emergency communications and public service groups.
Youth
The Club sponsors periodic scholarships to college students, and contributes to the educational programs of the non-profit American Radio Relay League (ARRL). M&K also donates radio equipment to charitable causes and schools. Members help support and train youth and civic groups, such as Boy Scouts and Red Cross, in emergency preparedness and communications.
Publications
The Club publishes a monthly electronic and paper newsletter with educational, technical, and informative articles, distributed to members, other public and emergency service organizations, and interested community. It also publishes an annual public service booklet, listing public service events, emergency preparedness groups, communications networks, radio repeaters, conferences and amateur radio organizations in the Puget Sound region. They distribute over 3,000 copies each year, free of cost to groups, individuals and government entities involved in disaster response, emergency preparedness and management, public service, and amateur radio communications. M&K maintains an Internet website and social media sites to provide educational, informational, and charitable news and material to the amateur radio, disaster response, emergency preparedness, public service communities and the general public.
Leadership
M&K members provide trained and experienced leadership to emergency communications, disaster response, and diverse public service groups around the Puget Sound region.
ARRL Special Service Club
M&K is once again an ARRL Special Service Club. It takes effort by the membership to achieve and maintain this status which must be renewed every two years. The ARRL defines a Special Service Club as follows -- A club that exists to go above and beyond for their communities and for Amateur Radio is what defines a Special Service Club (SSC). They are the leaders in their Amateur Radio communities who provide active training classes, publicity programs and actively pursue technical projects and operating activities.
In 1970, it was reorganized and has remained as one of the most active and viable Radio Clubs in the Seattle area for over a Half Century!.
Activity in the Club is as varied as the hobby of Amateur Radio itself. Within the Club there are groups that engage in Contesting, DX, VHF/UHF, SSB, CW, Construction/Experimentation, Packet, some Public Service, and Traffic Handling. While the Club cannot be everything to everybody, it does provide a base of support for most radio interests.
Within the membership are many of the prominent "doers" and "shakers" of Pacific Northwest Amateur Radio. Members are encouraged to be "active" in the Hobby, the Club, and the Community.
Amateur radio - A Modern Hobby
If you've ever wondered about Amateur Radio, here is a short introductory video
