Current Section Report (June 2026)
Section Manager: Malcolm Keown, W5XX. Section Website at www.arrlmiss.org. Webmaster: W5UE, ASM: K5BAK, K5DSG, KF8PD, K0UPW, K5VOK, W4WLF, KB5YEE, PIC: K5RFL, SEC: KC5IMN, ASEC: AA1NA, W5DIX; SGL: AK5J; STM: WV5Q, TC: N5JGK
***** From SEC KC5IMN. On June 17 a depression consolidated in the western Gulf of America immediately South of the Texas-Louisiana state line forming short lived Tropical Storm Arthur. As the moisture-packed core of Arthur’s remnants stalled over the deep South, it triggered a rare Level 4 out of 4 High Risk for flash flooding along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Training rain bands produced intense localized downpours exceeding 3 inches per hour. This created a dual-threat incident consisting of an overnight/pre-dawn tornado outbreak on June 18, followed immediately by historic, catastrophic flash flooding across Southern and Central Mississippi.
KC5IMN advises that ARES went on standby on June 17 at 0900L with full activation of the Lucedale DMR Talkgroup at 1200L and with the Magnolia Net, the MSPN, and the NE MS DMR Talk Group all on standby.
As the storm stalled over the Gulf Coast VHF/UHF began to be heavily utilized particularly in Stone, Harrison, and Jackson Counties. These nets reported on monitored rainfall, stream levels, high winds, flash flooding, highway inundation, and structural failures. KD4VVZ reported confirmation of a tornado on the ground and its extensive debris field. Numerous reports via Ham Radio went to NWS-Slidell, county EMAs, and sheriff’s offices.
ARES operations secured at 1300 local on June 19. For additional info on this storm event SEC KC5IMN has prepared an extensive After-Action Report. Contact Robert at kc5imn@arrl.net.
***** Thanks to the following clubs for sponsoring plaques for the 2026 MSQP:
High Score – Mississippi (Single Op) – The Magnolia DX Association (recipient KD4VVZ)
High Score – Mississippi Portable (Single Op) – The Mississippi Coast ARC (recipient K2FF)
High Score – Mississippi Portable (Multi Op) – The Jackson Metro ARC (recipient K5MDX/5)
High Score – Mississippi Mobile (Single Op) – k4fmh.com Blog (recipient K4ZGB/M)
High Score – W/VE Station – The DX Hogs – (recipient N8II – West Virginia)
High Score – Mississippi Digital Station – The Magnolia ARC (recipient N5PA)
Mississippi Station Working the Most Counties – The Chickasaw ARA (recipient WJ5ES)
***** In Field Day reports from around the state …..
***** KF8FD in Coldwater reports from Desoto County that the Chickasaw Amateur Radio Association (CARA) and the Desoto County EMA Reserve Team operated as K5K from the Desoto County Agri/Education Center in Nesbit. They operated as 5A this year using mostly wire dipoles and one vertical. All stations were either on generator or battery power for the entire event and all stations operated SSB making close to 300 contacts.
They counted 24 in attendance including a news reporter and one of the county supervisors. This resulted in a full-page article in the Desoto Times Tribune along with Desoto County supervisor Lee Caldwell’s nice Facebook article about the event. And as always, AB8LA did a bang-up job with dinner preparations! They had some awesome pot luck dishes as well. A good time was had by all!
CARA and the Reserve Team have been invited back to the Ag Center for next year and invited to set up at the new EOC, as well.
***** AD5HS in Gulfport reports that the Mississippi Coast ARA conducted Field Day at N5LBZ’s property in north Gulfport. They operated under the club call sign W5SGL and used 4A MS for class and section. They had 4 radio stations but one of them became problematic early on because of antenna and power supply issues. Eventually that station got on the air and made several CW contacts. The remaining stations made SSB contacts although one station switched over to FT8 and made several FT8 contacts.
MCARA operation started at 1pm Saturday and shutdown at 1pm Sunday when Field Day was officially over. They made approximately 185 contacts, which is lower than the last few years. Of note, Saturday afternoon propagation seemed very poor, and our contact rate didn’t pick up until they switched to 40M and 80M at grey line. Propagation on Sunday was great.
For electrical power They had 3 generators and one station using solar and batteries. They also set up a Wi-Fi LAN for logging. They averaged between 12 and 16 Hams at Field Day, but not all of them operated radios. They put out a PR request to local TV stations, but none showed up. They did get the Gulfport Police to show up on Sunday morning!
The one thing they always have is very good camp food. They set up a “mess tent” and had hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage, pie, and plenty of cold drinks for Saturday. On Sunday morning they had a fantastic breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage, biscuits, and gravy and, of course, coffee. Field Day is a hot and sweaty exercise in the South and after a day and a half in 90-degree heat and humidity everyone was pretty well spent by the time they finished taking everything down and packing it away.
***** KD5IWH reports from Olive Branch that the Olive Branch ARC set up in Olive Branch City Park operating 2A as W5OBM with four transmitters: two main, one GOTA, and one VHF. Power was supplied by two generators and a battery/solar panel installation. The antenna farm consisted of a HF Log Periodic, a triband Yagi, and an 80M dipole.
At the end of the 24-hour operation OBARC had made 705 contacts all on FT4/FT8 with the exception of 50 SSB contacts. (Good Score!) In addition one served agency representative dropped by and five visitors, who were very much interested in Ham Radio.
***** From W5PID in Bovina. As stations, antennas, logging equipment, and the opening meal were being set up, the Central Mississippi Amateur Radio Association—about 40 participants and several government officials and other visitors.—gathered early on Saturday, June 27th and throughout the weekend at the Rankin County EOC for the 2026 ARRL Field Day event.
Operating in a 3‑Foxtrot (3F) configuration, the team ran their stations across digital, CW, and voice modes, recording lots of contacts during the 24‑hour operating period that began at 1 p.m.
During the morning, a VE test session was hosted for all 3 license classes, however, there were no walk-ins or willing participants to take advantage of the offering.
During the afternoon, Eugene (N5CMA) presented an informative program on battery management and essential Amateur‑Radio power practices, which was well received by many attendees.
Although band conditions varied, operator activity and enthusiasm remained strong throughout the event. It was a productive and enjoyable weekend of calling CQ, and the group is already looking forward to next year’s Field Day.
Final results are still being compiled. While we acknowledge Field Day is ‘not a competition’ in spirit, it is technically a contest, and the group is optimistic about improving its standings compared to recent years.
***** From the Meridian ARC Spark Gap. The Meridian ARC and the Chickasawhay Repeater Group gathered at Archusa Creek Park Lodge for Field Day.
Twenty-two hams and guests participated in the event, including six youth operators, running entirely off-grid using solar, generator, and battery power. Throughout the 24-hour period, They logged 357 QSOs across 63 states and sections, plus 3 foreign countries, earning a total of 646 QSO points — with more bonus points totaling 2742 points for our official ARRL submission.
Field Day 2026 not only sharpened our emergency communication skills but also showcased the strength and resilience of our local Amateur Radio community. Many thanks to all who participated, those who supplied and cooked the food, and those who supported the effort.
***** K5TLL reports from Hattiesburg that the Pine Belt ARC (K5PN) operated from the Hattiesburg Police Firing Range with 11 new Hams visiting the Site to see what Field Day is all about.
PBARC stayed on the air for 24 hours at one level or the other using a T6 HF beam on a crank up tower, a 40M fan dipole, a 6M vertical, and an end fed wire. They entirely used solar panels and batteries for power on the CW, SSB. 6M SSB, and 2M FM stations.
***** From KD4VVZ in Lucedale. George County ARES Field Day 2026 started off with a testing session, with Ada Turner (George County) and Zayne Robertson (Greene County) passing their Technician exam.
GCARES activated three stations, two Digital FT8 stations with operators: KF5TJO, KD4VVZ, KI5YTQ, KJ5PDA, KI5JJP, KC1FXA, N4LR, N5LRE, and KJ5RAZ. On the SSB station the operators were KG5AZM, KI5RGH , KJ5RAZ (passed test), KG5AZL, and N5LRE. GCARES had 10 – 12 non-Ham visitors, along with spouses of attending Hams. Even though it briefly rained and equipment had to brought inside for about 30 minutes, there were no major issues.
The Youth Civil Air Patrol from George County stopped by, and they even operated the 20-meter voice station and seemed to have a great time doing so. We expect to see some new Hams from the Youth Civil Air Patrol in the near future.
There were some visitors that came by on Saturday after they heard KD4VVZ a few days earlier on the local FM radio station WRBE talking about Ham Radio and Field Day to see what it was all about. And as usual there was plenty of food for the entire event.
….. and EC Reports from around the State …
From EC WX5RJ in Harrison County — Worked three days for Harrison County EMA in Flood Event after TS Arthur. Continued to standby for support calls from responding agencies.
From EC KD5KMO in Houston – Chickasaw- Calhoun Amateur Radio club continues to meet every 2nd Wednesday. We include training on a particular subject at each meeting. This coming week, we have someone with TVA coming to talk about whole house grounding.
From AEC KD5NDU in Yalobusha County – We have been hardening the Water Valley repeater system. We changed out batteries from lead acid to lithium. Changed out the charge controller from pwm to mppt . And went from 400-watt solar panels to 800 watts panels; working on going to 1000 watts. And upgraded the internet link system to a 5.8G small dish.
From AEC KD5RRG in Carroll County — At the last Delta ARA club meeting we had a DMR Class and are planning for a storm tracking class in the future.
Here are some upcoming events to put on your calendar:
- EMCOMM Checkin, Aug 5, 3862, 6 PM, POC: W5XX
- W1AW/5 second visit to Mississippi, Nov 18-24, POC: W5UE
- 2027 Capital City Hamfest, Trade Mart, Jan 29-30, POC: AK5J
- 2027 MSQP, April 2-3, POC:W5XX
….. and SEC/DEC/EC Reports in June from around the state: KC5IMN (SEC), K5DSC (Newton), AE5FK (Walthall), NI5I (Perry), KD5KMO (Chickasaw), KD5NDU (AEC)(Yalobusha), WX5RJ (Harrison), KG5RRF (AEC)(Carroll), AD5SG (Jones), KD5SQZ (Hinds), KD5VCB (NM) Stone, KD4VVZ (George/Greene), KF5WVJ (Desoto).
Welcome to the following new Hams in Mississippi in June:
KJ5QEY, Shameka – Hattiesburg: KJ5QGQ, James – Hattiesburg; KG5QGS, Kip – Pearl; KJ5QGY, Robert – Columbus; KJ5QLV, Gregory – Summit; KJ5QMW, Mark – Sumrall; KJ5QNS, Devin – Corinth; KJ5QOG, Dustin – Vicksburg;
KJ5QVG, Vivek – Starkville; KJ5QXD, John – Amory; KJ5QXO, Gary – Liberty; KJ5QXH, Andrew – Ocean Springs; N0SUN, Christopher – Vicksburg;
No license upgrade information was available in June.
Mississippi ARRL Membership as of June 1 was 755.
Welcome to Scot, NI5I as ADEC for the Gulf Coast District.
Regret to report the passing of ….
***** N5MHF of Vicksburg. Joe was an MSU graduate electrical engineer who worked at WES. During his 40-year career he had many exciting and challenging assignments worldwide. His passport was well stamped. W5XX remembers Joe well when Malcolm was trying to complete his thesis research at WES but developed some bad news instrumentation problems. Joe to the rescue! With Joe’s VOM and soldering pencil, all was well in a few hours.
Joe was very active in many professional and civic organization activities. He was one of the cornerstones of the Miss Vicksburg and Miss Mississippi Pageants. His 50 -years of volunteer positions are too numerous to mention, but we would be remiss not to mention Pageant Executive Director, Pageant Executive Producer, and Event Treasurer.
***** Club Newsletters (Editor): the Meridian ARC Spark Gap (W5MAV), the Mississippi Coast ARA Splatter (N5OCT)
HF Net Reports for June – sessions/QNI/QTC (Net Manager)
Magnolia Net 30/1084/8 (KF5BA)
MS Baptist Hams Net 3/11/0 (WF5F) Sunday, 7263 at 4PM
MSPN 30/2093/10 (W5JGW)
Pine Belt ARA 10M Net 4/19/0 (K5TLL)
VHF Net Reports for June – sessions/QNI/QTC (Net Manager)
Capital Area Em Net 4/37/0 (K5XU)
Central MS ARES Net 11/135/0 (KD5SQZ)
Chickasaw/Calhoun County ARES Net 5/30/0 (KI5IKJ)
Delta ARA Net 1/16/0 (KG5RRG)
Desoto County Training and Information Net 5/55/0 KF5WVJ
George County ARES Net 4/47/0 (KD4VVZ)
HARCO Skywarn Net 2/10/0 (WX5RJ) 1 Em Op 1 Skywarn Op
Jackson Metro ARC Net 5/45/0 (K5XU)
Pine Belt ARC 2M Em Training Net 4/49/0 (K5TLL)
Pine Belt ARC Simplex 2M Net 1/6/0 (K5TLL)
South Central MS ARES Net 4/47/0 (AD5SG)
Stone County ARES Net 2/19/0 (KC5VCB)
Vicksburg ARC/MLEN 4/71/0 (KG5YEE)
Walthall County ARES Team Net 4/39/0 (AE5FK)
Yalobusha Skywarn Net 2/4/0 (KD5NDU) 3 Skywarn Nets
Digital Net Reports for June
CMSARES WLK Net 52 QNI from 8 Stations
K5FIT Winlink Hybrid Gateway had 130 connections to pass traffic.
NE MS DMR Net 22/473/0 (KI5IKJ)
Traffic: WV5Q 68, AE5MI 28, W5XX 4
PSHR: AE5MI 118, WV5Q 110, W5XX 74
