News
SM054 – Hamfest Wrapup, POTA meet up, and HOA legislation     |     SM052 – Oklahoma Upcoming Hamfests     |     SM047 – Ardmore Hamarama Hamfest 10/26/2024     |     SM045 – Field Day is Coming!!!     |     SM043 – Checotah Hamfest Today     |     SM041 – Ham Scholarships Available     |     SM037 – OKC Ham Holiday Hamfest July 28/29 – This Weekend     |     SM035 – Elk City and Green Country Hamfests     |     SM027 – Hamfests, Hamfests, Hamfests     |     SM026 – Winlink Hamword Game     |    
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Category: SM News

SM054 – Hamfest Wrapup, POTA meet up, and HOA legislation

October 14, 2025

Hamfest Wrapup

Last weekend was the Ardmore hamfest. The prize winners are all listed on https://hamarama.org/. And, thanks to ALL who showed up, bought raffle tickets, volunteered, and publicized at the six hamfests we had in Oklahoma throughout 2025.
For 2026, we have seven hamfests on the books. We start in January in Checotah, Elk City and Altus in March, Green Country (Claremore) in April, Ham Holiday (OKC) in July, Texoma Hamarama (Ardmore) in October, and we’ll finish the year in Enid in November. Keep up to date with all seven hamfests at https://ok.arrl.org/hamfests/.

POTA Meetup in Norman 10/18/2025

Support the HOA Legislation

Support the ARRL’s HOA legislation by entering your callsign to send letters to your legislators. There are two options for amateur radio operators: English and Spanish. There is also a link for our friends holding GMRS licenses. Those communities requested the Spanish and GMRS links. So,

https://send-a-letter.org/hoa/ — Amateur Radio Operators in English

https://send-a-letter.org/espanol/ — Amateur Radio Operators translated to Spanish

https://send-a-letter.org/gmrs/ — For our friends who are GMRS licensees

SM052 – Oklahoma Upcoming Hamfests

August 31, 2025

Two Oklahoma Hamfests are still on the calendar for 2025. Amateur radio operators attend hamfests to buy things, sell things, learn things, take license tests, and meet old and new friends.

Enid Hamfest
The Enid Hamfest is on Saturday, September 20, 2025; tickets are available online at https://enidarc.org/store. Save $2 and order early, online!

Ardmore Hamfest Texoma Hamarama
The Ardmore Hamfest, Texoma Hamarama, is on October 11, 2025; tickets are available online at https://hamarama.org/tix. Save $2 and order early, online!

Ardmore Texoma Hamarama – Super Raffle

The Texoma Hamarama Hamfest has another super raffle for a Yaesu FT-DX101D HF-50 MHz 100-watt super radio. Get your tickets before we run out at  https://hamarama.org/super/. This 100-watt HF radio is an awesome flagship model. This radio is valued at well over $4,000. Raffle tickets are only $20, with only 300 tickets sold.

The winner of this prize does not have to be present to win, and the winner will be announced at the 2025 Texoma Hamarama Hamfest. So, even if you can’t come, you can participate in the action!

Hamfest Survey

To learn more about what you want at future hamfests, I have built a quick survey to let you help the Oklahoma hamfests build better events in 2026. Please take about 2 minutes to respond to this survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JP2C8VP. All results are anonymous, and I’ll share the results with all of the Oklahoma hamfests. Thanks in advance!!!!

Oklahoma Hamfest Schedule
Elk City – Early March
Altus – Late March
Green Country – Mid April
Oklahoma City – Late July
Enid – Mid September
Ardmore – Late October

All the details about OK hamfests are available online at: https://ok.arrl.org/hamfests/

Plan now, and see you there!!!

Clubs

Amateur radio clubs are the backbone of the hobby. The tremendous local hams have good information, and as Elmers or mentors they love to share it. Send something that your club is doing well to me n5hzr@arrl.org, and I’ll feature your club in this newsletter, and on the ARRL club newsletter. Most clubs are seeing an increase in new member activity recently. Our Oklahoma Affiliated Club Coordinator, Jim Shideler W5JCS, can help you find a club or help your club become affiliated. We currently have 39 clubs listed at https://ok.arrl.org/clubs/. Look for a club near you, or verify that your club is on the list. Send Jim an email at W5JCS@arrl.net if you need club assistance.

ARRL Oklahoma is On The Web

JOIN/RENEW ARRL NOW —  http://arrl.org/join/

73, de N5HZR — Stand by, more follows…

SM047 – Ardmore Hamarama Hamfest 10/26/2024

October 13, 2024

Here comes the Ardmore Hamarama https://hamarama.org hamfest, which will be held on October 26, 2024, at the Ardmore, OK Convention Center. Entry tickets are only $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Flea market tables are going fast for $15. Plan to visit Ardmore to see your old friends, make new friends, attend great training forums, and buy/sell tons of radio equipment.

CORA will offer another chance to win a Yaesu FTDX10 Special Package Super Raffle this year. For only a $20 super raffle entry ticket, you can win a chance to win a $3,000+ deluxe radio package. Only 300 raffle tickets will be sold. This raffle includes the Yaesu FTDX10 Compact HF/50 MHz 100W SDR Transceiver, TekPower TP30SWI 30 Amp DC 13.8V Power Supply, Yaesu SP-30 Matching Speaker, DXCommander Antenna, Coax (50’), CAT Cable, and a Vibroplex SRacer DLX Morse Code Key.

Hotel rooms are available on-site if you’d like to stay the night, and amateur radio license testing will be available Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Tickets can be bought online; all the details are available at https://hamarama.org/tix/.

See you there!

SM045 – Field Day is Coming!!!

June 1, 2024

Here comes the Amateur Radio Superbowl! This year, the weekend will be June 22-23, 2024. Field Day is where tens of thousands of amateur radio operators get on the air to test their emergency operation abilities. It’s also a great place to teach or learn about amateur radio modes that you may not have tried. “Bring someone to Field Day” this year and share your passion. More information about ARRL’s Field Day is available online at https://www.arrl.org/field_day. You can also find a local Field Day on the ARRL site by logging in and visiting https://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator. Publicize your local Field Day site by adding a station at  https://www.arrl.org/field_days/add, and you’ll be on your way!

ARRL Digital Systems

In case you’re concerned about the digital outage at ARRL-land, there’s some background at

https://ok.arrl.org/sm044-arrl-digital-infrastructure-issues/. Systems are starting to come back online. The phone system was restored last week, W1AW started automated operations, ARRL store orders started shipping last week, ARRL FCC tests were uploaded last week, and the https://contests.arrl.org/ site came back online for the upcoming VHF contest and the ARRL International Digital Contest (others to be backfilled.) Logbook of The World (LoTW) and the learning site are still offline.

Ham Holiday – Oklahoma City – July 26-27

The 2024 Hamfest season is in full swing. The Oklahoma City Hamfest, Ham Holiday, will be July 26-27, 2024. Tickets are available online at https://hamholiday.com/tix/. Don’t forget this year’s special Yaesu FTDX10 Operating Package. Everything you need to operate on phone, CW, and digital (except a computer<G>.) Tickets are only $20, and only 300 will be sold. Buy yours today at https://hamholiday.com/raffle/.

ARES Oklahoma

Oklahoma’s Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) is rolling through another storm season. More information is available online at https://aresok.org/. Log in and verify your contact information and training profile by clicking on your name in the upper right. ECs, you now have a way to download your county data in a CSV file from the reports menu.

de N5HZR — 73, Mark

SM043 – Checotah Hamfest Today

January 6, 2024

Crossroads Amateur Radio Club (CARC) presents:

2024 CARC Ham Fest

The Checotah, OK hamfest is scheduled for Saturday, January 6, 2024. The doors will be open from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.

Start your year off right at the CARC Ham Fest

This year’s hamfest will be held at the Granite Station Covenant Church – 1128 White Stag Ave –  Checotah, OK 74426. Directions here

  • $10 at the door includes one door prize entry.
  • Extra door prize entries are available for $2 each or 6 for $10.
  • $20 vendor tables also include one door entry.
  • $15 individual tables.

Preorder your table/tickets at www.carcradio.org/hamfest

Forums

10:00 Oklahoma Link & Wires-X AE5ME

11:00 ARRL N5HZR ARRL Oklahoma Section Manager

See you there!

SM041 – Ham Scholarships Available

December 19, 2023

Each year the ARRL Foundation awards scholarships to deserving amateur radio operators from the funds that they manage. Scholarships range from $500 to $25,000.

Now is the time to act for any Senior in High School or any college student returning next fall. The ARRL Foundation Scholarship application period for the academic year 2024-2025 opened on October 30th, 2023, and ends on January 10th, 2024. Do this NOW, before the holiday season gets too hectic.

The descriptions of the many scholarships available are online.

http://www.arrl.org/scholarship-descriptions

It is also effortless to apply as the scholarship application is online.

http://www.arrl.org/scholarship-application

Since only amateur radio operator students may apply, the chances of being selected for a scholarship are good. It would be a shame for our Oklahoma students to miss this opportunity. In recent years 10’s of thousands of scholarship dollars have been received by Oklahoma students.

Since 1973, the ARRL Foundation, with the generosity of many donors and the hard work of a long line of dedicated Foundation Directors, has positively impacted the lives of many young amateur radio operator students. Being awarded an ARRL Foundation scholarship could mean the difference in whether a student can pursue their education in 2024-2025 or not.

Make sure every amateur radio operator student in your area knows this is available, and start that application process TODAY! And, if they need a reference, please be sure to contact me, N5HZR.

Clubs

Amateur radio clubs are the backbone of the hobby. The tremendous local hams have good information, and as Elmers or mentors love to share it. Send something that your club is doing well to me n5hzr@arrl.org, and I’ll feature your club in this newsletter. Most clubs have seen an increase in new member activity during the pandemic. Our Oklahoma Affiliated Club Coordinator, Jim Shideler W5JCS, can help you find a club or help your club become affiliated. We currently have 38 clubs listed at https://ok.arrl.org/clubs/. Look for a club near you, or verify that your club is on the list. Send Jim an email at W5JCS@arrl.net if you need club assistance.

You can find ARRL Oklahoma Section all over the web at:

OK.ARRL.ORG — https://ok.arrl.org/

ARESOK —  https://aresok.org/

ARRL.org —  http://www.arrl.org/sections/view/oklahoma

Blogspot —  http://arrlok.blogspot.com/

Facebook —  https://www.facebook.com/arrloklahoma

Twitter —  https://twitter.com/arrl_OK/

ARRL Member Emails —  https://www.arrl.org/myarrl-account-management#!/edit-info-email_subscriptions

JOIN/RENEW ARRL NOW —  http://arrl.org/join/

73, de N5HZR — Stand by, more follows…

SM037 – OKC Ham Holiday Hamfest July 28/29 – This Weekend

July 27, 2023

This weekend is central Oklahoma’s Hamfest, Ham Holiday https://hamholiday.com/. This two-day hamfest is at the Oklahoma City Community College (OCCC) campus at 7777 S May, Oklahoma City, OK. This campus is on the southwest corner of Oklahoma City, just east of the Will Rogers airport.

On Friday, vendors and flea market table holders will set up their wares from noon to 3:00 pm. The doors will open to the public from 3:00 pm until the banquet begins at 6:30 pm. On Saturday, the building will open for setup at 7:00 am, and the doors will be open to the public from 8:00 am to the show’s end at 3:00 pm. The Hamfest schedule is listed on the Ham Holiday Schedule page https://hamholiday.com/schedule/.

There will be a 6:30 pm Friday banquet to feed and entertain the hams in attendance. They will have a served buffet consisting of Chicken Marsala with mashed potatoes, green beans, a side salad, dinner rolls, cobbler, lemonade, tea, and water. This year the featured speaker will be Joe Eisenberg K0NEB, also known as “The Cat In The Hat” from the Dayton Hamfest and beyond. This banquet is a great place to visit with your fellow hams and the regional, state, and local ARRL leadership present. The banquet information is on the banquet page at https://hamholiday.com/banquet/.

After the Friday banquet at 8:30 pm will be the Wouff Hong ceremony for ARRL members. Register for this short presentation at https://hamholiday.com/wouffhong/ to ensure your certificate will be printed and waiting for you. This free ceremony is for all ARRL members.

There is a raffle for a $3,000 Icom 705 package. This package includes everything you need to operate HF, VHF, and UHF, right out of the box. Antennas, coax, radio, extra carrying handles, antenna analyzer, Begali Morse Code key, and more. Details are available at https://hamholiday.com/raffle/.

The Oklahoma City Hamfest will have another large group of forums to learn about amateur radio, the ARRL, ARES, AUXCOM, TV Weatherman Aaron Brackett, and more. These forums are detailed on the https://hamholiday.com web page.

This year, OCCC will open its cafeteria on Friday until 4:00 pm, and the Cafe & Coffee shop operating hours will be from 7:30 am to 2 pm on Saturday.
The cafe will sell the items below for Breakfast;
• Breakfast burritos
• Breakfast Sandwiches
• Biscuits and Gravy single and double
• Breakfast Combo, scrambled eggs, two bacon or sausage, biscuit, and a fountain drink
• All retail items and beverages will be available.

And for lunch, they will have the following options:

• Cheese Burger, Fries, and Fountain Beverage Combo
• 2 Slices of Pizza and Fountain Beverage Combo
• 1 Chili Cheese Hot Dog, Fries, and Fountain Beverage Combo
• 2 Chili Cheese Hot Dogs, Fries, and Fountain Beverage Combo
• Build Your Own Nachos with Fountain Beverage Combo
• 2 Tacos, Rice, Beans, and a Fountain Beverage Combo

See you there!

SM035 – Elk City and Green Country Hamfests

February 26, 2023

Elk City Hamfest

The Oklahoma Hamfest season starts with the Elk City Hamfest. On March 4, 2023, the hamfest will be at 105 Allee Drive, Elk City, OK 73644. More information is available at the club link.

The doors are open Saturday from 8:00 AM until ???

Admission is $5.00, and tables are available for $5.00 each. No pre-registration is required. Pay at the door.

Early setup is available for Friday afternoon (3/3/2023) from 1:30 PM until 8:00 PM.

Amateur Radio License testing is available on Saturday at 1:00 PM. If upgrading, bring photo identification and a copy of your current amateur radio license. License test reregistration is preferred at  http://www.sites.google.com/view/wcoarc/pre-registration but is not required. You must have a Federal Registration Number (FRN) and a valid email address. There is no fee for the exam.

Plenty of parking is available at the hamfest site, but no RV hookups are available there.

For more information, contact: aa5gw.gary@gmail.com or 580-243-9848.

Talk-in on the 146.76 –offset 88.5 tone repeater or DMR on the 147.225 +offset CC1 TG 304098 machine.

See you there!

Green Country Hamfest

The largest hamfest in the state is the Green Country hamfest on Friday, April 7, and Saturday, April 8, 2023. The hamfest will again be at the Expo Center, 400 Veterans Parkway, Claremore, OK 74017. They will be open to the public on Friday from 4 PM to 9 PM. They will be open to the public on Saturday from 8 AM to 3 PM. Setup on Friday begins at noon. Setup on Saturday starts at 7:00 AM.

You can purchase your hamfest admission and tables online and save at  http://www.greencountryhamfest.org/. Online advance admission tickets are $8.00, preregistered flea market tables are $15.00 each, and commercial booths are $50.00 each. Tickets are $10.00 at the door. Tables are $20.00 at the door. Order early and save. Online preregistration closes March 31, 2023

ARRL amateur radio license testing will be available two times during the event. The first session is Friday evening at 1800, and the second is Saturday at 1300. Testing will be in the Will Rogers Room of the Expo Building and will cost $15.

ARRL West Gulf Division Director John Stratton N5AUS and ARRL West Gulf Vice Director Lee Cooper W5LHC will attend.

More information is available at  http://www.greencountryhamfest.org/. 

See you there!

SM027 – Hamfests, Hamfests, Hamfests

August 1, 2022

Ham Holiday 2022 is in the Books

Thanks to all of you that attended and stopped by the ARRL booth and said HI. ARRL West Gulf Director John Stratton N5AUS and ARRL West Gulf Vice Director Lee Cooper W5LHC joined the rest of the Oklahoma ARRL contingent during the two-day event. If you have some pictures from this event, please send them to N5HZR@arrl.org. The numbers were similar to the 2019 event, so we still all showed up after two years without a hamfest.

This year the group added a high-end raffle of a $2,200 Icom 705 package that was a big hit. Congratulations to Steve Dusking NE5SD, who walked away with that prize. In addition, the grand prize of a Yaesu FTDX10 went to Coy Day N5OK.

Clear your calendar. Ham Holiday 2023 will be July 28/29, 2023.

Ponca City 22 is Coming

The Kay County Amateur Radio Club Trunk-N-Tailgate will be in Ponca City, OK, on September 17, 2022, at the VFW, from 8 AM to 2 PM. All of the details are available at  https://ok.arrl.org/ponca/ – See you there!

Hamarama 22 is Coming

The Ardmore hamfest, Hamarama, will be held at the Ardmore Convention Center on October 21/22, 2022. This two-day event runs from 5 PM to 8 PM on Friday and from 8 AM to 1 PM on Saturday, and it pulls in lots of folks from the North Texas area. All of the details are available at  http://hamarama.org/ – See you there!

Enid 22 is Coming

The Enid hamfest will be at the Stride Bank Center on November 5, 2022. This location is a new location for them, and it has lots more space available. This one-day event runs from 8 AM to 5 PM and brings in a lot of folks from Kansas. All of the details are available at  https://enidarc.squarespace.com/enidhamfest – See you there!

Clubs

Amateur radio clubs are the backbone of the hobby. The tremendous local hams have good information, and as Elmers or mentors they love to share it. Send something that your club is doing well to me n5hzr@arrl.org, and I’ll feature your club in this newsletter, and on the ARRL club newsletter. Most clubs are seeing an increase in new member activity recently. Our Oklahoma Affiliated Club Coordinator, Jim Shideler W5JCS, can help you find a club or help your club become affiliated. We currently have 41 clubs listed at https://ok.arrl.org/clubs/. Look for a club near you, or verify that your club is on the list. Send Jim an email at W5JCS@arrl.net if you need club assistance.

ARRL Oklahoma is On The Web

JOIN/RENEW ARRL NOW —  http://arrl.org/join/

73, de N5HZR — Stand by, more follows…

SM026 – Winlink Hamword Game

May 23, 2022

Hamword is a Winlink-based game that mimics the popular five-letter word guessing game, Wordle. I built this game to give hams a way to practice their Winlink skills while having some fun guessing an unknown five-letter word. All of these rules, and the leaderboard, are at https://hambooks.org/hamword/. You may have already seen this on the front page of https://qrz.com/.

The only thing you need to play the game is an amateur radio license and an active Winlink account. You can learn more about setting up Winlink at  https://ok.arrl.org/nts/ntsoksoftware/. If you are up and running on Winlink, give it whirl. If not, this is a great time to set it up.

So far we’ve had almost 100 hams from 28 different ARRL sections plus seven countries play the game. We’ve processed nearly 1,000 Winlink email messages and have had some great feedback from across the country.

How to Play

Once you have Winlink up and running, send a five-letter word via Winlink to the tactical call sign HAMWORD. The subject line can be anything you wish, and the message body should contain just your guess. Your messages will be graded and returned via a Winlink message at 00, 15, 30, and 45 minutes past the hour.

Response Key

Since Winlink doesn’t allow text colors, you will receive a five-number “key” to guide you in your next choice. The numbers 0, 1, and 2 are returned using the following definitions:

  • 0 means that the letter above the key is not seen in the word that you are guessing. (Similar to gray.)
  • 1 means that the letter above the key is used in the word you are guessing, but it is in the wrong location. (Similar to yellow.)
  • 2 means that the letter above the key is used in the word you are guessing, and it is in the correct location. (Similar to green.)

Weekly Reset

The guessed word will reset weekly at 00:00Z on Monday (Sunday evening in the United States) in this game. So, make your guesses throughout the week and make sure you solve the puzzle before the word resets. You have six chances to solve the puzzle each week.

Good luck, have fun, and let me know how Hamword works for you.

Clubs

Amateur radio clubs are the backbone of the hobby. The tremendous local hams have good information, and as Elmers or mentors they love to share it. Send something that your club is doing well to me n5hzr@arrl.org, and I’ll feature your club in this newsletter, and on the ARRL club newsletter. Most clubs are seeing an increase in new member activity recently. Our Oklahoma Affiliated Club Coordinator, Jim Shideler W5JCS, can help you find a club or help your club become affiliated. We currently have 41 clubs listed at https://ok.arrl.org/clubs/. Look for a club near you, or verify that your club is on the list. Send Jim an email at W5JCS@arrl.net if you need club assistance.

ARRL Oklahoma is On The Web

JOIN/RENEW ARRL NOW —  http://arrl.org/join/

73, de N5HZR — Stand by, more follows…

Oklahoma ARRL
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