Club News
Tom KØAMD was an AARC member for several years although he was not current on his dues for the last few years. 
A Life of Service
On January 1, 2023, Thomas Eugene Martin, loving husband, father, and papa, passed away peacefully in the company of family and loved ones in
his Omaha home.
Known for his wicked sense of humor and always ready to tell you what he thought, Tom was the youngest of three brothers, born on September 18, 1943, to George and Madge Martin in South Sioux City, Nebraska. After graduating from South Sioux City High School, he went on to attend college and eventually joined the Omaha Police Force in 1967.
Tom married his loving wife Karen in April 1975 and became a family with his three girls, Michelle, Vicky, and Denise, from Tom’s first marriage. Tom and Karen would go on to have his fourth daughter Wendi. Tom was blessed as his family would continue to grow to include grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and his always beloved dachshunds.
Following his retirement from the Omaha Police Force in 1989, Tom would further develop himself by working in private security and then pass the skills he had acquired onto future generations as a technical instructor for the BICSI corporation. His love of electronics spilled over into his personal life as well. Tom could always be found working with his
countless tools in his shop on everything from ham radios to building and fixing remote-controlled cars, boats, planes, and other toys for his grandchildren.
In 2012 Tom was diagnosed with stage 3A lung cancer. Tom persevered through 10 long years of treatments, surgeries, and hospitalizations with Karen by his side. Through humor and spite, Tom outlived all medical expectations and timelines given his diagnosis.
Preceded in death by his parents, George and Madge Martin, and his two brothers, Dick Kjos and Donald Stevenson.
Survived by his wife, Karen Martin; 4 daughters: Michelle Steinbeck (Phil Smith), Victoria Martin, Denise Fromme (Rick), and Wendi McDermott (Michael); grandchildren: Jillian Woodworth (Kevin), Juliea Steinbeck, Stone and Duke Fromme, Alithea, Andrick and Axton McDermott; great-grandchildren, Milo and Mayzie Woodworth; and dachshunds, Leah and Landon.
Visitation: Thursday, January 12th, 5pm to 7pm at West Center Chapel.
Funeral and Catholic Service: Friday, January 13th, 11:00am, at West Center Chapel. Luncheon to immediately follow.
Private inurnment at Resurrection Cemetery following luncheon.
Memorials may be directed to Hearts United for Animals at www.hua.org
Aksarben Amateur Radio Club member:
At our annual Holiday club meeting the we will hold a very brief election of officers and directors for 2023 starting a 7 p.m. It is not too late to volunteer as we will be taking nominations from the floor.
After the elections, it is on to the Holiday party and our big year end raffle events! For those of you who have been attending AARC in-person club meetings since August, and for each month you have attended, you will be entered into the
big yearend raffle, at no charge to you, which include the following individual raffle prizes:
·Yaesu VX-6R transceiver
·JBL Wireless Bluetooth headset that can be used with your phone,
tablet, and ham radios
·Five new ARRL books
·And maybe a one of a kind handmade usable artwork (no partridge
in a pear tree this year!).
Additionally, for our monthly raffle, Adam Kavan will have a lot of ex-
citing prizes.
The club will be providing the “fixings” for sandwiches, (bread, cheese, meat, chips, and beverages.) We encouraged those that are so inclined, to bring a side dish or
a dessert to share. My wife Mary and I will be bringing a big pot of homemade Chili to share.
Hope to see you there.
Pat Connell W0OJU
On Friday December 9 we will have our annual Holiday party with big year end raffles. If you like, bring your significant other or a new ham. We will have chili, lunch meats and cheese with bread and a relish tray and liquid refressments. If you want to contribute bring a side dish or a desert. Hoping to see you all.
--- Pat Connell WØOJU
Join us to hear Keith KEØAEP discuss the various measurement tools that assist in the decision making process and provide guidance to the designer/operator. We are hoping that other experts in the audience will be ready to jump in and share their experience. – Pat W0OJU
The Ak-Sar-Ben Amateur Radio Club is pleased to announce their Flea-esta is back.. Tailgate Style.
The Fun and Festivities this year will be held on September 9 and will take place in the Parking Lot of the American Red Cross at 2912 S 80th Ave (near 84th and Center).
Sales and comraderie will commence after a short club meeting inside. The meeting starts at 7:00 pm and the officers promise to be brief.
So everyone bring your ham radio stuff to buy and display it out of your trunk or off the tailgate. Or set up a table and go high class. We won't judge.
There is no charge for a space, and no charge to attend. That is right.. it is FREE!!!!! And everyone is welcome to attend.
Field day radio operations will commence at 1 p.m. on June 25 and end 24 hours later. The AARC Field Day Site is on the west side of the Palrang Fieldhouse in the Boys Town Village. It is the biggest building on the campus and is 200 yards east of the Blue water tower. There will be AARC signs pointing you in the right direction. For your GPS - the address is 122 Heroes Blvd, Boys Town, NE 68010. I would suggest using the Dodge street entrance.
The BT police will block off both ends of the west Palrang Field House Parking lot for our exclusive use. You can move the cones to drive in and park and please put them back in place after entering. We will be entering and exiting through the west Field House door only. Please do not drive over cables or coax.
We will be operating 3A from this site, unless someone wants to bring a dedicated VHF station and antenna.
- A CW/Digital station for operating on 10-80 meters. (Pat W0OJU will provide)
- A SSB station for 20-10 meter operations using the club beam on the tower. (Pat W0OJU will provide)
- A third stations for operating SSB on 40-80 meters. (Brian Sohl KE0GKB will provide)
BT will bring their emergency generator trailer and supervise its used during the entire operating period. This generator is very quiet, and no RF noise! The site has been checked and it has low to minimal RF noise!
Our operating positions will be using 5 large folding table with rolling office chairs inside of the field house. Adjacent parts of the field house have AC and it will be cooler and drier than being outdoors. Restrooms are available in field house. Please note that 4.1 of the field day rules allow for this as: “Such stations must be located in places that are not regular station locations and must not use facilities installed for permanent station use, or use any structure installed permanently for Field Day”
We needs volunteer for setup Saturday morning, operations, and tear down on Sunday afternoon. We will also need extra runs of 50 ohm coax with male and female to female connectors for joining coax. Please wear your club gear when possible. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. of your availability.
We will be erecting antennas starting at 10 a.m. and ready to operate at 1 p.m. We may be having elected officials as visitors. Additionally we may be having BT youth and staff wanting to learn more about amateur radio. These two activities generate additional points for the club.
Additionally, Boys Town Security will provide security and safety for this event. If we leave during the night the building will be secured until the next day.
If you can’t join us onsite you can still submit your FD contacts from you home, portable and mobile to the Ak-SAR-BEN aggregate Club Score. An aggregate club score will also be published, which will be the sum of all individual entries indicating a specific club (similar to the aggregate score totals used in ARRL affiliated club competitions). Participants from any Class can optionally include a single club name with their submitted results following Field Day. For example, if Podunk Hollow Radio Club members Becky, W1BXY, and Hiram, W1AW, both participate in 2022 Field Day -- Hiram from his Class D home station, and Becky from her Class C mobile station -- both can include the radio club’s name when reporting their individual results. The published results listing will include individual score is for Hiram and Becky, plus a combined score for all entries identified as Podunk Hollow Radio Club.
Other Fidel day rules of interest are: 7.3.14. Web submission: A 50-point bonus may be claimed by a group submitting their Field Day entry via the https://field-day.arrl.org/
More information on FD Rules can be found at https://www.arrl.org/field-
Hope to see you there and if you have any questions email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
When: Sunday May 15 from 10-2 pm. Cooks and setup will start at 9 a.m. Food will be served starting 11 a.m.
For: Open to all AARC and BARC members and a “plus one”. Additionally, we welcome anyone interested in becoming an amateur radio operator to join us at the picnic!!!
Where: Walnut Creek Lake and Recreation Area at 9902 Schram Rd, Papillion, NE at the large pavilion that is closest to lake on the east side.
Menu: Hot Dogs and buns, chips, relish, pork and beans, and non-alchol beverages. (If you would like, please bring a covered dish to share.)
Activities: In addition to lively conversations, and if you like, please bring any new radio toys etc. to share and educate others.
Free Raffle for any person attending. Prizes include one 3 day pass to the Dayton 2022 Hamfest!and many other prizes.
RSVP to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by May 10 at noon. Please let us know if you will coming by yourself or with “your plus one” to better help us plan on the quantity of food needed.
Volunteers Needed to help unload the grill at 9 a.m. on Sunday. Please email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you could be available.
Because of the weather potential - the AARC meeting for Friday January 14 will not be held at the Red Cross.
But will be held via Zoom! If you are not a member of the AARC but would like to attend, please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
for the Zoom invitation.
This does mean at least a delay in the hands on Wire Fishing Program. Watch for that to come up as a program again soon!