Radio Central Amateur Radio Club Home Page

Field Day 2017 - Are You RadioACTIVE?

Check Out our Preliminary Operating Schedule Here!

We need people to commit to time slots so we can plan to fill all of the time slots. The schedule is a starting point. You can add your call sign to the op schedule by E-mailing me at

Radio Central's June Meeting:

Wednesday June 28, 2017

Propagation on Low HF Bands with a 43 foot Vertical Antenna

Presented By Steve Sussman-Fort, AB2EW

"Social Half Hour" starts at 6:30 PM

Meeting starts at 7:00 PM

Middle Country Public Library in Centereach

You are invited to attend Radio Central Amateur Radio Club's June meeting on Wednesday June 28 at 6:30 PM at the Middle Country Public Library in Centereach.

Our June meeting will feature Steve Sussman-Fort, AB2EW, who will give a presentation on a homebrew 43 foot vertical antenna.

Contacts are surely declining on the upper HF bands as we head toward a sunspot minimum. However, because of the peculiarities of the ionosphere, we can still expect good propagation on the lower HF bands. The reasons for this are based upon the fact that radio-wave propagation changes not only in response to the number of sunspots, but also in response to the time of day, the season, and geography.

The 43-foot vertical antenna is, for a number of reasons, a good choice for single or multiband HF operation, particularly on the lower bands. Steve will discuss the properties of this antenna, along with strategies for low-loss impedance matching to your transmitter. Finally, Steve will show the design, matching, construction, and operation of a very effective 43-foot vertical antenna in AB2EW’s backyard.

Our 2017 General Meetings will be at the Middle Country Public Library in Centereach. You can get directions to the Middle Country Public Library here.

N2T Special Event Station

Radio Central Celebrates Tesla's 161st Birthday on Saturday July 8

On Saturday July 8, 2017, Radio Central Amateur Radio Club will once again in the Tesla Science Center’s celebration of Nikola Tesla’s 161st birthday. We will operate Amateur Radio Station N2T (November Two Tango). Last year we contacted about 90 stations from as far as Spain and as nearby as local neighborhood hams in Shoreham. Our objective is to have fun and to celebrate not only Tesla’s birthday but also the tireless efforts of the Tesla Science Center’s leadership and volunteers, rescuing Wardenclyffe from developers and working towards the eventual creation of a Tesla science museum on Long Island.

Ham Radio and Distracted Driving

In light of increasingly strict "Distracted Driving" laws, our ARRL Hudson Division Director contacted the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles to get their position on operation of mobile Amateur Radio equipment with respect to Distracted Driving laws. The DMV responded with a letter of opinion that appears to be very favorable to Amateur Radio. Basically is says that talking via ham radio does not constitute a violation of the Distracted Driving laws. It should be noted that though the DMV's letter (which can be downloaded from the Hudson Division web page here, of or from the RCARC web page here) is pro-Amateur Radio, it's an opinion from the DMV, not a binding agreement, so it's still possible to get pulled over, cited, and required to appear in court. More importantly, you should always give the road and traffic absolute priority over operating your radio while driving. In Mike Lisenco's own words: "Feel free to print out this opinion, but understand that it is not a license to be stupid! Let’s hope that you never need to use it."