Current Activities
TTARS coordinates several activities related to Amateur Radio in Trinidad and Tobago on most popular amateur radio bands, including HF bands and the two meter band.
TTARS holds an annual emergency exercise, or Field Day which may or may not coincide with the IARU region 2 field day. Local radio amateurs operate from a sponsored campsite, usually a beach house in a remote region in the North East of Trinidad called Toco and talk to other hams worldwide.
TTARS operates three FM repeaters on the two meter VHF amateur band. Trinidad is covered by two repeaters. One of them is located on the Northern mountain range and its operating frequency is 147.93 MHz with a negative shift of 600 kHz and covers most of the island. However, coverage is best in the Northern part of the island. Sometimes, hams from other Caribbean Islands such as Grenada and St. Vincent are able to talk to hams in Trinidad via this repeater. This repeater is the most heavily used by local hams. The second repeater in Trinidad is located in the Central Range and operates on 146.94 MHz with a negative shift of 600 kHz. It covers most of the island but its coverage is best in Central and South Trinidad. There is a third repeater in Tobago on 147.76 MHz, also with a negative shift of 600kHz. This repeater covers Tobago and North East Trinidad.
TTARS runs two club nets. The first net is the Sunday night 2 meter net held on the 147.93 MHz repeater on Sunday nights at 7:59PM local time or 2359 UTC. If the main repeater is not available, 146.94 is used as an alternate. The second net is the Hummingbird net and is held on 7.159 MHz LSB in the 40 meter band on Sunday mornings at 9AM local time or 1300 UTC. These repeaters are available for use in emergencies as listed by the U.S. Navy.
The local Boy Scouts movement, in conjunction with TTARS participates in the worldwide annual Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) where scouts are given the opportunity to talk to Scouts in other parts of the world via amateur radio.
Classes are held for those wishing to take the examination in order to obtain an amateur radio license. The locations vary from time to time, but there is usually one in Presentation College, San Fernando run by Anthony Lee-Mack, 9Y4AL.
Occasionally, TTARS sponsors amateur radio contests. The most notable of these is the Worked All Trinidad and Tobago Simplex or WATTS contest. The objective of this contest is to make contact with as many amateur radio operators in Trinidad and Tobago without the aid of repeater stations or satellites. The club station 9Y4TT is also active for some contests including the IARU HF championships.
TTARS operates the QSL Bureau for Trinidad and Tobago.
Read more about this topic: Trinidad And Tobago Amateur Radio Society
Famous quotes containing the words current and/or activities:
“Natural Man, in our current version, is a disgruntled adolescent.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“Both at-home and working mothers can overmeet their mothering responsibilities. In order to justify their jobs, working mothers can overnurture, overconnect with, and overschedule their children into activities and classes. Similarly, some at-home mothers,... can make at- home mothering into a bigger deal than it is, over stimulating, overeducating, and overwhelming their children with purposeful attention.”
—Jean Marzollo (20th century)