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Operation Talladega Signal - March 28, 2026

09 March 2026
West Georgia Amateur Radio Society

Big Oak Hunt Camp, Talladega National Forest

Make plans now to come out and join us for a what is shaping up to be a very interesting day. We are calling this “Operation Talladega Signal.” This will be a simulation of a lost/injured hiker on the Pinhoti Trail. WGARS has obtained the blessing of both the US Forest Service and the Cleburne County Sheriffs department and will be setting up an incident command at the Big Oak Hunt Camp. From this location teams will be assigned for triangulation and extraction. The plan is to use 2 meters for communicating among ourselves, but we will need rigs capable of listening on the UHF FRS frequencies for the hiker.

More information will be made available at the 3/10/2026 meeting of the WGARS. Anyone who could like to participate, regardless if you are a member of WGARS or a licensed ham are welcome to participate.

Winter Field Day 2026 Shirts

16 January 2026
West Georgia Amateur Radio Society

WINTER FIELD DAY UPDATE
The WGARS will be moving ahead with it's Winter Field Day operations. Due to the threat of hazardous weather and the kindness of the Carrollton Parks and Recreation Department we will be operating at the "Oak Mountain Pavilion." The Pavilion is located at 1840 Stripling Chapel Rd, Carrollton, GA 30116. This location is just down the road from the W4FWD repeater.

A little bit about the Pavilion. It is very large and does have bathrooms. We hope to set up some protected canopies under the pavilion with some heat so we can enjoy our lunch and fellowship.

Set up will begin at 10 a.m. with lunch planned for 12:30 p.m.. I have included this link to the sign-up sheet for lunch if you would like to bring something to share.

Operations will commence at approximately 2 p.m. and weather permitting extend through to 2 p.m. on Sunday. We do reserve the right to cease operations if the weather turns hazardous so please check in on the 146.640^-131.8 (W4FWD) repeater and make certain we are still there.

73 and hope to see you there.

John, WD8LQT

WFD2026

Winter Field Day shirts are available for ordering! Just click HERE to place your order online today!

WGARS is participating in Winter Field Day 2026, January 24th-25th.
Don't miss this one! We are planning to go back to the original site of WGARS' first winter field day, McIntosh Reserve Park. This is a beautiful county park off of Hwy 5 west of Whitesburg, GA. The club will be setting up on a bluff that overlooks Chief McIntosh cabin and the Chattahoochee River. Setup will commence at approximately 10 a.m. on Saturday morning with operating starting somewhere around 2:00 p.m. and lasting through 2:00 p.m. Sunday. Chili and assorted goodies at 12:30 Saturday. The club trailer will be set up with 4 operating positions (possibly with some new club owned rigs) and make for a nice warm place to make contacts. If you wish to camp, the area we are using does not have water or electricity. It is basically a field, so come prepared. Restrooms are available within walking distance (a pretty nice walk that is).

Gold Rush Special Event 2025

12 September 2025
West Georgia Amateur Radio Society

Looking for your contact certificate? Click Here to view, download, and/or print.

The West Georgia Amateur Radio Society will hold its third annual “Villa Rica Gold Rush” special event September 27^th, 2025 using the W4G Call Sign on 15,20,40, and possibly 80 meters in CW, Phone, and Digital modes. Operation on all modes and bands, including the 10 meter “bonus band”, will occur on September 27<sup>th</sup> from 12:30Z until 19:30Z from the original Pine Mountain Gold Mine Operations Building at the Pine Mountain Gold Museum in Villa Rica, GA. W4G will operate outside those hours using bands and modes chosen by our individual operators.

Certificates for making a single contact, all bands, all modes, and bonus band contacts will be made available. When the event begins we'll put up a status page which will include the operators and bands they are operating on, as well as recent contacts. Please note that some operators will manually log their contacts and may not immediately appear on our status page. Certificates are normally available within moments of making contact, however it may take up to 24 hours for digital and manually logged contacts.

You can view our operating status here!

WGARS Weather Balloon Launch

07 July 2025
John Playford

Keep your eyes to the sky (as well as this website and facebook) for the upcoming WGARS Balloon Launch. This will be a weather balloon with a payload containing APRS, a Fox, and assorted sensors and cameras. The challenge here is to track the balloon on its ascent and descent to retrieve the payload. These balloons generally rise and travel for approximately two hours. Then when reaching their critical altitude (which is determined by the pressure inside the balloon vs. the pressure outside the balloon and around 110,000 feet) they burst and parachute down for approximately an hour. Now we need to go get it!

The launch is slated for Saturday July 26th. The launch site is yet to be determined. Check back here for more details.

Skywarn Operations for those “just passin’ through.”

30 May 2025
WD8LQT - John Playford

Recently, my wife and I were on a camping trip/Hamvention/family visit adventure. This adventure took us to Buck Creek State Park in Clark County, Ohio during spring thunderstorm season. Thursday night May 15th and Friday May 16th were beautiful southern Ohio spring day’s. Temps in the high 70’s with a nice breeze and a few scattered clouds. While at the Hamvention on Friday, I spoke with a gentlemen who was part of the local skywarn network. I made the smart remark that I hoped his services wouldn’t be needed anytime soon, only to hear his reply of “definitely will get called out tonight.” He indicated we all might need to hunker down for what lay ahead that evening.

Preparing For Winter Field Day

06 January 2025
K4SBE

Winter Field Day [January 25^th & 26^th, 2025] is just around the corner. It is always on the last full weekend of January, beginning at 16:00 UTC on Saturday and running through 21:59 on Sunday. If you have participated in several Field Day club events, you may think there is no reason to prepare. Well, you are wrong!

Good To Know – Now, Put It To Practice!

29 December 2024
West Georgia Amateur Radio Society

Every Thursday evening, the West Georgia Amateur Radio Society (WGARS) repeater hosts the Carroll County ARES training Net at 8:00 p.m. EST on the W4FWD repeater, on a 146.640 Mhz frequency, with a negative offset and a 131.8 Hz sub-audible tone. These nets provide our club with an abundance of information, operating techniques, and ways to improve our radio skills when operating over the repeater or as a participant in a net. During the net, those participating are able to ask questions, bring up issues related to ARES and EMCOMM, or ask questions related to the Amateur Radio world.

On this past ARES Net, December 26, 2024 ARES Emergency Coordinator (EC), WX4BK, went over several important communication skills, radio

2025 WGARS Election Results

21 November 2024
John Playford

Well, the results are in......nominations were slim...your present officers of 2024 will be back for another year in 2025. This includes:

President - WD8LQT, John

Vice President - KM4WQC, Matt

Secretary Treasurer - KM4UPX, Brian

WGARS Fall Activities

24 October 2024
John Playford

So what’s been going on with WGARS this fall you ask? It can be described in one word – Lots! Activities have included a high altitude balloon launch and chase, two stage fox hunt, POTA (Parks on the Air) operation at Mt. Cheaha and an organized NVIS (Near Vertical Incident Skywave) experiment. Since we have already reported on the balloon launch/chase and NVIS Exercise, this article will serve as a run-down of some of the other activities.

The Fox Hunt – September 28, 2024.