ARC-SHORTS January 2012
Club Repeaters: 147.315 (PL 107.2), 444.6 (PL107.2), 224.82 (PL107.2), 53.13 (PL107.2), 927.6 (-25Mhz, PL107.2), and 1282.600 (PL 107.2), DSTAR 145.38Mhz, 442.060, and 1284.600
NEXT CLUB MEETING
Our next meeting is January 13 at the Alexandria City’s New Emergency Operations Center at 3600 Wheeler Ave. We will meet in the Community Room on the first floor. Parking is the public lot right in front of the building. At 7:00 there should be plenty of spaces. If not, I believe there is also parking on Wheeler.
We hope to get an idea of what the city’s emergency plan has for Amateur Radio participation and some of the experiences with amateur radio the new Director and Deputy Director have had in the past.
DECEMBER CHRISTMAS PARTY
The December meeting was the Christmas party at Mango Mike’s. All had a good time and a list of awards was read. All had a great time. All in all a great way to end the year and kick off the new year. I hope all had a great Christmas and have a Happy and Safe New Year.
THE NEW YEAR
Now that we have had the Christmas holiday and we are into a new year. It’s time to think about where we want our club to go this year. 2011 was a great year for the club and we have the same set of officers that made that happen. At this time it appears that we will have good programs for all of our meetings. But the biggest part of a successful club is the activity of it’s members.
I expect that we will kick off with the GW Birthday parade on February 20th and we will support he 10K run along Eisenhower Ave on the 18th. D-Star will be a part of it but the main communications will still be with 2 meter handhelds. If possible we may want to use handheld APRS or DPRS radios to track the progress of the parade (start and end).
Prior to the GW Parade we need to do some updates and repairs to the club’s comm. Trailer. Rich, KA4GFY did some installations earlier last year in preparation for the Marine Corps Marathon. A donation of a Kenwood D710A was made to allow the trailer to have APRS and PACKET and the club did pick up a newer laptop to run D-Star.
N4ASX is the lead for the Bull Run Run on April 14th and will need all the help he can get. This one is primarily done on 6 meters, but we can also use 2 meters and relay.
Last year a suggestion was made that club members may want to do a few field trips to non-amateur radio related places. A few suggestions were: The Udvar Hazy Center (National Air andSpaceMuseum–DullasAirport), The Flying Circus inBealeton,VA.(I see an aviation theme here!). There are some electronics museums in theBaltimorearea that made a good trip.
We will also try to get Jeremy, KF7IJZ to do more coordination with Newbie’s on the Air.
January Program
Our first program was to be Mark from Vienna Wireless to talk to us about the Virginia QSO Party contest. We received an invitation from the City to tour the new EOC and we did not want to turn it down. Mark will attend the February meeting which will give all of us time to hear about the QSO party and be ready to have AT IT!
Future Programs
February – VA QSO Party
March – HAARP – Steve Floyd
April – ARRL Dennis Bodsen W4PWF
Up Coming Events
Licensing Class
The next licensing classes are scheduled to begin Tuesday, March 20 and end May 22. Both Technician and General classes will be offered. This is later than we normally start, but the winter weather should be cleared out by then.
If you know anybody who is looking to become licensed but is intimidated by the material, a class is a great way to get into ham radio.
HAMFESTS and CONTESTS
1/29 – PostHolidayHamfest 2012. Sponsored by theMarylandMobileers ARC. Location is the Odenton VFD station on Route 175. Talk-in on 146.805 (PL 107.2)
2/4 –RichmondFrostfest. Sponsored by theRichmondAmateur Telecommunication Society. Location is the Richmond Raceway Complex,600 E. Laburnum AvenueinRichmond. Talk in on 146.88 (PL 74.4).
2/26 – Winterfest – Sponsored by theViennaWireless Society. Located at theAnnandaleCampus ofNorthern VirginiaCommunity College. Talk in on 146.91. Don’t forget, the Alexandria Radio Club has tables for club members to sell their unneeded items and buy more.
3/31 – GreaterBaltimoreHamboree and Computerfest. Sponsored by theBaltimoreAmateur Radio Club. Located at theMarylandStateFairgrounds inTimonium. Talk in on 146.67 (PL 107.2)
5/18 – 5/20 –DaytonHamvention. Sponsored by theDaytonAmateur Radio Association. Located at the Hara Arena inTrotwood,OH. It’s not too early to start thinking about going. We have six rooms reserved.
Upcoming Contests
1/14 – North American QSO Party – CW.
1/21 – North American QSO Party – SSB
1/21 – 1/23 – ARRL VHF Sweepstakes – SSB and CW
1/27 – 1/29 – CQ WW 160 Meter Contest – CW
President’s Corner
Social Events
Monday Night Half Price Burgers – There is a group that gets together at Shooter McGee’s (Duke and Paxton Streets) on Monday evenings at 6:15 PM. A good burger and soft drink runs about $9.00.
FINAL NOTE: For many of us DUES and DUE and we need to make some donations to D-Star for the gateway.
73 Rick
N4ASX