Our club newsletter is simply called the "TARA News" which is published monthly. For 3 consecutive years ('93,'94' & '95), the TARA News earned a distinguished award from Amateur Radio New Service (A.R.N.S.) for its excellence in journalism, the only newsletter from the Capital District that enter this national newsletter competition.

The first club newsletter was called the "TARAable FACTS" which rolled off the press back in 1991, under Editor - Stephan Anderman, K2SMA (ex-WA3RKB). Many of you probably recognize Stephan, who was the voice of the CDARC Bulletins heard throughout the Capital District each week, on the many club owned repeater systems.

During 1992 the "TARAable Facts" turned its editing tasks over to Barbara Agnetta, N2LCD, and Thomas Articola, N2CKV, who continued to build and shape the newsletter. Although their stint as coeditors didn't last that long, their changes to the newsletter were certainly appreciated and enjoyed by the membership.

By 1993 the membership of TARA had grown considerably, and much of this growth can be directly attributed to its first class newsletter. The newsletter took on its new name "TARA News" in 1993 under the direction of Jack Culliton, N2LBZ. Under Jack's leadership the newsletter won 2 of its 3 awards from the Amateur Radio News Service (ARNS). Starting in 1994 Bill Eddy, NY2U, joined the TARA News Team and assisted with monthly publishing tasks.

 

In June of 1995 Bill Eddy, NY2U, and Thomas Remmert, N2TR (ex-N2TTA) volunteered their services to become the next coeditors, and continued until June of 1996. Under their direction the newsletter continued to grow in size, sometimes publishing as many as 20 pages, with a circulation reaching 125 copies per month! Again in 1995 the newsletter earned top honors in the national ARNS newsletter competition. This was TARA's 3rd such newsletter award from this organization. In June of 1996 Bill, NY2U and Tom, N2TR (ex-N2TTA), stepped down as newsletter editors.

On November 1, 1996 TARA's President - Ken Davis, KB2KFV, announced that the "TARA News" has found its new newsletter team. The newsletter assignment was taken over by Steve Kopecky, KF2WA; Kim Fan, N2ZLA; Jon LaBarr, KB2UKV and Craig Wood, N2UID.

Starting with the new team of officers installed in July, 1997, Bill, NY2U was called out of retirement and resumed his position as editor. He encouraged Tom, N2TR to also come out of retirement and take on the position of assistant editor. Every effort will be made to continue with the fine tradition that TARA members have become accustom too! December of 1999 brought back another well known figure with the TARA News, David Pascale, W2VS. David picked up the duties of writing "TARA EDITORIALS" on a regular basis and still does so when his time permits.

On May 14, 2001 the TARA NEWS took another turn for the better, with Marilyn Davis, KB2JZI and Karen Smith, KS2O becoming co-editors of the newsletter. This is the very first time either of them have ventured into this field but you'd never know it by their first issue! Ken Davis, KB2KFV, changed hats with his wife Marilyn in December of 2001 and became the new editor! Are you confused? We hope not! Kenny and these ladies promise to bring you the news and events of this club in a timely manner.

In July of 2006 Karen Smith, KS2O, stepped down from the newsletter team and was replaced by Steve Van Sickle, WB2HPR.

 

December of 2007 the TARA NEWS was once again honored, this time by the ARRL Hudson Divison with an award for Ken Davis for "Newsletter of the Year" for 2007. This was a very prestigious award and it was presented by Frank Fallon, N2FF (ARRL Hudson Divison Director) and Joyce Birmingham, KA2ANF, (Vice Director) at our December monthly meeting in Green Island. This is just another example that the TARA NEWS is still going strong and our editor is making us all proud.

 

The TARA NEWS was not published for a few months due to a computer problem.  It returned in October of 2010 With a new editor, Dick Neimeyer, W2ABY.

Those wishing to receive a complimentary copy of the "TARA News" are requested to send an e-mail to editor@n2ty.org or leave a message on the packet BBS.

TARA began building up its TARA BBS/NODE throughout 1996, under the direction of Kim Fan, N2ZLA, and Ray Szlasa, N2VLY. Nearly 12 years later this system is still up and running, with many improvements/additions since those early days.

Presently--this system has a 1200 baud FlexNet Node (N2TY-1 - located in North Greenbush) using a Paccomm Tiny II TNCs, on the frequency of 144.910MHz. Once a user connects to "N2TY-1" the system will provide access to our new FlexNet Node and from there connection to TARA's BBS ( type "M") on this same frequency. The N2TY BBS is using the popular F6FBB BBS Software, version 7.00. This new system was built and installed by KE2PW, Rusty; Mike, KC2JCJ; Russ, WB2LXC; Jim, K2LM and Bob, K2BJG who provided a LOT of support from his home in Florida.

If DX'ing is your game, we have you covered, just connect to our new DX Spider which will get you a fast internet DX Cluster connection. As of October 10, 2001 the N2TY BBS became the main BBS in the Capital District and that still holds true today.

This whole project wouldn't be posible without the many contributions of our member/friends. A special thanks to Tim, AA2WQ and Jim McKnight, K2LM (EX-WA2UMH), for keeping this system maintained. Thanks to Wells Communications for providing us with a building and tower space. Several Antennas for this system were made possible by a donation from Steve Bozak (WB2IQU) and the BOZAK Antenna Co, Clifton Park, NY.

The TARA "Full Service" Repeaters - N2TY have been in service for several years now, located just above the Campus of RPI, in Troy, since August of 1995. Originally TARA's complete repeater system (145.17MHz & 449.225MHz) were located at the Wells Communications site, in North Greenbush, NY. The first of our repeaters, an older solid state RCA. This repeater went into service back in 1991 and was located at the home of W2VS, until a more permanent site could be located. This 440Mhz RCA repeater and Sinclair cavities were quickly replaced later that year by a newer set of cavities and a much more compact solid state RepCo Repeater, running 30 watts. This new repeater was donated to the club by John Pritt, N1JP, who personally installed it at the Wells site, with assistance from Bob Isby, N2LUD, TARA's then repeater manager. The antenna for this repeater is a Diamond F718A brand antenna and fed with 7/8" hardline. (** originally TARA was assigned the pairing of 442.150/447.150MHz by UNYREPCO, that was later changed to 449.225/444.225MHz due to intermod problems.)

Our 2 Meter Repeater went into service back in late 1992 and it's a complete Motorola Micor repeater, running 75 watts. This repeater was obtained thru a donation from the New York State Police and was brought to life by John, N1JP. TARA has always taken their repeater system seriously and back in 1995 it spent approximately. $1,500.00 outfitting this system with a brand new set of Sinclair PASS/REJECT cavities, 7/8" hardline connectors and a new commercial grade collinear antenna, manufactured by Telwave. Part of funding for this project came from a Repeater Fund established by the late J.William Adriance, AA2DC. Since the addition of this new equipment and the move to the new repeater site, our coverage has greatly increased. We now have station regularly checking in from Kingston, NY (south), up to Lake George Region (north), right out west to Amsterdam, NY. These repeaters are used heavily and they are crossed linked full time. During inclement weather, SKYWARN Nets and travelers assistance can be found on these repeater.

June of 2001, TARA members make the decision that the 145.17 & 449.225 Mhz repeaters should be completely rebuilt. Funding for this project was made possible by donation's from members/users of this system. In just a couple of months nearly $3000 was raised for this rebuild. Under advisement from our technical Guru's it was recommended that we replace both sides of the repeater with much newer GE Master II repeaters. These units are proven to be extremely durable and they'll handle the heavy demand that we put on them. Also, a new repeater controller will be added with many added options. The controller of choice for the new system is the Link-Comm RLC-3. This controller allows of up to 8 ports and many additional features, including autopatch capabilities! Within time we hope to add a Davis Weather Station to this system that can be directly monitored by the users of this system. All of these additions are welcome news for our aging repeaters. August of 2004 the new repeaters were unvialed and placed into service. The complete repeater rebuild was completed by Scott Krone, N2YCA. The membership of this organization is greatly appreciative of the enormous amount of time that Scott put into this new system.

Once again in August of 2005 we were forced to make some additional repairs to our repeater system. This time we needed to replace our hardline's running up to the antennas. We needed to raise nearly $2,200 for this project and the membership came through in record time. In a little over one week we were able to raise the funds needed for this project. In the end we decided on putting up a new run of 250' of 7/8" hardline to the 2 Meter side of the system. Also, we ran another 150' of 7/8" hardline to replace the 440 side too. In turn we took the existing run of 7/8 hardline on the 440 side and used this for a dedicated IRLP/ECHOLINK link. TARA received a very generous donation from Steve Bozak, WB2IQU, of BOZAK ANTENNA COMPANY of Clifton Park. This donation included 2 brand new BOZAK 440 MHz - 6db gain - vertical antennas. All of the antenna's and hardline were installed by Robert Isby, N2LUD, who graciously donated his personal services. This project was completed in early September of 2005!

Fast foward to June 2009 and we find that James McKnight, K2LM has become our new repeater technician. Instantly he began doing a complete service on the entire repeater system an made numerous repairs. Also in November of 2009 the City of Troy made repairs to the antenna railing on top of the water tank. This has been a problem for many of years and it was great to finally get this taken care of. Later November Jim installed the new WD-100 Weather Radio which provides automated weather updates 24/7. 

The TARA repeaters are available for anyone wanting to use them for public service events or nets.  All we ask is you let us know your intentions so it can be approved by the board of directors.

In January 2016 both repeaters were upgraded to Yaesu DR-1X (Fusion).  They are running in automatic mode. so will work with both Fusion digital radios and traditional analog FM radios.  Repeaters are  linked in analog FM mode only. 

 

The membership of TARA has established 3 very distinct and attractive awards that are bestowed each year to those that have given their personal best, just like those whom they are named after. The first such award to be presented is the Thomas M. Remmert, Achievement Award, presented annually to a member for their "positive accomplishments and attitude towards our club." This award was first presented to Thomas M. Remmert, N2TTA (now N2TR), back in 1994 at the annual Field Day Dinner held at Frear Park. Other recipients of this award are:

Jack Culliton, N2LBZ, 1995

William J. Eddy, NY2U 1996

Karen A. Smith, KS2O 1997

Kenneth T. Davis, KB2KFV 1997

Stephen Kopecky, KF2WA 1998

Tim Davis, W2KHU and Gloria Davis, KC2BRY 1999

MacDonald Smith, KB2SPM 2000

Marilyn Davis, KB2JZI 2001

Randy Stein, KA2TJZ 2002

Hollins M. Meaux, N2YQW 2002

Nick Demos, NW2D, 2003

Roy Warner, N2OWC, 2004

Margaret Warner, N2PEK, 2005

Kenneth T. Davis, KB2KFV, 2006

Karen A. Smith, KS2O, 2007

Robert Isby, N2LUD, 2008

Kenneth Smith, WA2TQK, 2009

Beth Whiting, KC2BSC, 2010

Susan Fritts, KC2IBI, 2011

Ray Ginter, N2ZQF, 2012

The second award that TARA presents each year is the William J. Eddy, NY2U, Community Service Award, in honor of their founding president, known to club members as "Mr. Bill". This award will be presented to those that have given "outstanding service to the community and his fellow amateurs through participation in the Volunteer Examiner Program, SKYWARN and other public service activities." This award was first presented on June 18, 1996 to William Eddy, NY2U. On September 28, 2011 Mr. Bill passed away after a long ilness. May he rest in peace!

Stephen Kopecky, KF2WA 1997

Gerald Murray, WA2IWW 1998

Paul "Skip" Wilson, KE2XF 1999

Karen A. Smith, KS2O 2000

Randy Stein, KA2TJZ, 2001

Roy Warner, N2OWC, 2002

Margaret Warner, N2PEK, 2002

Kenneth T. Davis, KB2KFV, 2003

Pat, KB2SRC & Barney, KB2KDY, 2004

William Kelly, KC2JDW, 2005

Beth Whiting, KC2BSC, 2006

Craig M. Wood, W2XAD, 2007

Howie Cummings, N2HIC, 2008

Mark Tremblay, KC2NXA, 2009

William Lambertsen, N2UIF, 2009

Robert E. Dillon, Jr., KT2D, 2010

James McKnight, K2LM, 2011

MacDonald Smith, W2VLT, 2012

Field Day June 24, 2001: TARA presented Paul "Skip" Wilson, KE2XF, with a new award in his name. Skipper was of one of TARA's founding members. Skip also was one of those hams that always gave his club 100%, no matter what you asked of him. He was actively involved in many of the functions that our club supports and he was our 1st Field Day Chairman, back in 1991. On December 12, 2001 Skipper passed away after a long battle with cancer. May he rest in peace!

Stephen Kopecky, KF2WA 2002

MacDonald Smith, KB2SPM, 2003

Randy Stein, KA2TJZ, 2004

Karen Smith, KS2O, 2005

Kenneth Smith, WA2TQK, 2006

Richard Carter, WA2COI, 2007

Hollins Meaux, N2YQW, 2008

Ray Szlasa, N2VLY, 2009

Roy A. Warner, N2OWC, 2010

Charles Friderici, KC2KVZ, 2011

Richard Neimeyer, W2ABY, 2012

In September 2014 the net was discontinued due to lack of interest, it was replaced by the TARA Ragchew Net on the same time/date as the former Trader Net, Sunday at 830 PM on the TARA repeaters.  This is a net where hams can check in and discuss any topic of interest to them or ask questions of other hams.You do not have to be a member of TARA to check in to this net, all hams are welcome. 

TARA had the ONLY weekly amateur trader net found in the Capital District, the TNT Trader Net, found on the 145.17 & 447.075 MHz repeaters each Sunday, at 8:30 PM.  This net was first established back in the summer of 1991, making its debut on the 147.27 MHz (WA2SPJ) repeater on Bald Mountain.

Our first net control for this weekly net was Mark, N2LIJ. Mark ran this net for several months until he had to give it up due to a change in his employment. Picking up the net from Mark, N2LIJ was Bill, NY2U. Bill continued to run this net until the fall of 1995 when Dave, W2VS (ex-WB2HKR) took over the job as net control station. Again in the summer of 1996 Bill, NY2U, volunteered to pick up net duties after Dave, W2VS, found himself unable to run the net each week.

December of 1995 TARA took a bold move and created the TNT Handi Ham Challenge. Thanks in part to David Pascale, W2VS, was able to raise $126.00 for this worthy organization. David personally donated $1.00 for each check-in we had during this special net night, all toll we had 126 check-ins!

By 1996 this event was well underway to becoming one of the Capital Districts most attended nets. December 12, 1996 marked the second year that TARA sponsored the TARA HANDI-HAM CHALLENGE. This challenge helps raise needed money for the Courage Handi-Hams of Minnesota, which helps handicapped individuals with all the necessities that are needed to get on-the-air, including arranging for "Elmers" to assist them along the way.

Starting on January 15, 2001 TARA announced its "new" TARA e-Classifieds section on the TARA Web System. This service allowed Capital District amateurs a electronic method to Buy, Swap or Sell their Amateur relater goodies. Unfortunately, in early 2007 this service was discontinued due to the continual SPAMMERS that attacked this service. Also, the amount of traffic just wasn't worth the troubles to keep this service going.

 

 

TARA's Educational Team is looking for a volunteer(s) to step forward so we can again hold classes like we did in the past. If we get enough folks that are interested in starting up a class we'll post the time/dates here on the TARA web pages, keep checking back.

Here is a link to a local group holding classes:  Capital Area Radio Enthusiasts (CARE)