Montana's Ham Radio Forum

Its that time again! Please join your fellow Ham’s on Saturday, 30 April 2022 from 9 AM till 2 PM for coffee and an informal Swap Meet.

The Great Falls Area Amateur Radio Club will host this event at the Cascade County DES Office, located at 6th St NW and 1st Ave NW in Great Falls.

There is no cost or fee to participate. Just load up all your radio gear in the back of your pickup truck and drive over to the fenced-in yard behind the DES office. The gates will be open by 08:30 AM. Pull in, find a place to park, and drop your tailgate to display your stuff! You can also bring folding tables to set-up and lay out all your items.

To avoid complications with food preparation, we will not serve a lunch. But we will have coffee available!

For more information or if you have any questions about this event, please contact the Great Falls Area Amateur Radio club at (406) 590-1339.

See you there!

Additional activities that will be at the Spring Thaw #7 Swap Meet on 30 April 2022:

Rex (N7RAC) will demonstrate the art of "transmitter hunting". Often referred to as "T-hunts" or "bunny hunts", it involves tracking down a hidden transmitter using basic direction finding techniques. Originally developed for use by Search & Rescue teams to track down the emergency beacon signal from a crashed airplane in remote terrain, it has since evolved into a "sport" in the Amateur Radio world. It is also one of the reasons we consider the Amateur Radio Service to be "self policing". Those who think they will just buy a cheap Chinese radio on the internet and bootleg on the local repeaters will find themselves tracked down by irate hams. (Who will then turn them over to the FCC, so the Federal government can get involved in their illegal activities.)

Cam (N7NBB) will have a radio test station set up for self-service use by anyone curious about the actual output power of their radio. Many manufacturers claim their VHF/UHF mobile radios put out 50-watts when transmitting. But the radio reviews in QST Magazine (an ARRL publication) often show bench tests with results of 45-watts for a "50-watt" radio. Having problems reaching distant repeater sites? It could be your antenna, or it could be the low output power of your "50-watt" radio. Find out for yourself!

Bruce (KA2ODP) will have a demonstration table set up explaining the world of Amateur Radio. Excellent information for those interested in obtaining their ham radio license. Examples of books to prepare you for the Technician Class license exam, vehicle antenna choices for VHF/UHF radios, and vehicle antenna mounts will be just a few of the items on display.