MARA Activities

 

Annual Christmas Hamfest

This very popular event is held in December and draws participants, including dealers, from surrounding states and has gotten bigger each year. There is plenty to see and do for everyone, including testing sessions, special classes and great food. Door prizes are given that any ham would love to win. This event provides a "hamfest fix" during a period of the year during which few hamfests are held.

Minden Amateur Radio Association - Hamfest 2011 - Dec 17

(See a few photos of our 2011 Christmas Hamfest.)

Location:
Our Annual Christmas Hamfest is held at the Minden, LA, City Hall located on 520 Broadway St, Minden, LA.

   

Prizes:

Great door prizes drawn throughout the day!

1st Prize:
Yaesu FT-450D is a compact 9"W x 3.3"H x 8.5"D (w/o knobs), lightweight 8.89 pounds, superb HF/50MHz radio with state-of-the-art IF DSP technology configured to provide World Class performance in an easy to operate package.

The current "FT 450D" model includes some great features not offered with the original: 1) Illuminated Key Buttons, 2) 300Hz / 500Hz / 2.4 kHz CW IF Filter, 3) Front Feet Stand, 4)Classically Designed Main Dial and Knobs, and 5)Dynamic Microphone MH-31A8J Included.

This lightweight package is designed to be used as a desktop radio at home or in portable applications. The FT-450D can also be used mobile with the MMB-90 convenient mobile bracket accessory. Besides home or mobile operation, this easy to pack radio is a DXpeditioner or Emergency Service Provider dream come true - compact, lightweight, high performance receiver, and 100 watts output on 160 through 6 meters Amateur Radio bands.

2nd Prize: (MUST be present to win.)
The Worlds most popular SWR/RF analyzer just got incredibly better and gives you more value than ever! The MFJ-259B gives you a complete picture of your antenna's performance. You can read antenna SWR and Complex Impedance 1.8 to 170MHz.

Read Complex Impedance as series resistance and reactance (R+jX) or as magnitude (Z) and phase (degrees). You can determine velocity factor, coax cable loss in dB, length of coax and distance to a short or open in feet. You can read SWR, return loss and reflection coefficient at any frequency simultaneously at a single glance. Also read inductance in UH and capacitance in pF at RF frequencies. Large easy-to-read two line LCD screen and side-by-side meters clearly display your information. Built-in frequency counter, Ni-Cad charger circuit, battery saver, low battery warning and smooth reduction drive tuning and much more.

Super easy to use! Just set the bandswitch and tune the dial -- just like your transceiver. SWR and Complex Impedance are displayed instantly!

3rd Prize: (MUST be present to win.)
The FT-1900R is a ruggedly-built, high-performance 55-Watt 144 MHz mobile FM transceiver with outstanding receiver performance and crisp, clean audio. Optimized for ease of operation day or night, the FT-1900R is one tough radio for operating in a tough world!

The FT-1900R provides receiver coverage of 136-174 MHz, so you can listen in on a wide variety of commercial, military, public safety, and marine communications.

Included in the FT-1900r is a dedicated, quick-access memory bank that contains the ten standard NOAA Weather Information Channels, so you can keep track of weather conditions expected for your area.

Participating Vendors:
Those vendors who have agreed to participate this year in the hamfest include:

Main Trading Company

Palmetto Antennas, LLC

The SignMan of Baton Rouge

GLA Systems - Henry Allen

Times:
8:00am doors open. Prize drawing held approximately 2:00-3:00pm, with door prizes being drawn periodically during the event.

Talk-In: 147.300 PL186.2 (NLA Link System)

Swap tables will be available for $5 per table for those who wish to sell merchandise.

Tickets:
Entrance tickets are $5 each, available at door at the hamfest.
Prize tickets for the drawings are available at door or from club members and are priced: $1 each, 6-$5, 15-$10, 35-$20, 50-$25, 100-$50.

Tickets may be obtained from any member or contact Fran, KD5LKB, or Dusty, N5COL (email addresses at 'Contact Us' on main menu strip, top of page).

VE Testing - all levels, 9am to 12pm

Field Day Activities

Field Day activities for the club are held in conjunction with the ARRL's annual Field Day in June of each year. This national event tests the skills in setting up temporary communication equipment for possible use in emergencies, and contacts are made to as many other stations as possible during the two days. It provides family fun and operating experiences for all who wish to participate.

Field Day 2011 - June 25-26

This year's Field Day activities will be held on June 25-26 (Sat & Sun). We usually gather around 3:00pm to 4:00pm on Friday to put up the antennas, operating tents, and general setup of the area. Some of us camp out on the site and make contacts with other stations to test our equipment. As always, a lot of fun during the Friday setup and evening.

Each year we have operated a 2A setup, which means two HF rigs. We have one SSB, one CW, a GOTA (Get On The Air) tent for inactive hams, young people, or those merely interested in amateur radio, and a 6-meter operation. (The latter two do not count in the 2A classification.)

Check with members for definite plans, which will be posted here closer to the field day time.

See a few photos of our 2011 Field Day.

Our Field Day site is just south of Sibley, LA, approximately 2 miles and to the west of Hwy 7 with a turn on Fraisier Road.