ARC-SHORTS
March, 2012
By Rick Bunn – N4ASX
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
PLEASE NOTE:
We have moved our meeting location to Alexandria City’s new Emergency Operations Center at 3600 Wheeler Avenue for the remainder of this year.
NEXT CLUB MEETING
Our next meeting is FRIDAY, MARCH 9th at 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. DO NOT PARK ON THE STREET!!! At 7:00 there should be plenty of spaces.
Our program will be High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) by Steve Floyd, W4YHD.
February MEETING – Minutes KJ4FUU
Our February program was the VA QSO Party. Great program and great stats!
Last year the club had a few intrepid soles who activated a needy county. I understand that this may start something with an expeditionary nature within the club.
Secretary’s Report: Nothing to report
Guest: Joe Barasoan, from the Fire Department
Treasurer’s Report:
Share: 2784.60
Trailer 573.19
Checking: 563.26
Education: 2424.82
Total: 6345.87
Committee Reports:
Training: Rich KA4GFY needs estimates of interest in Extra class class size.
ARES: GW 10K Run on 2/18, GW Birthday Parade on 2/20, volunteers needed.
Charlie McCrory retired, replaced by Joe Henderson. We are better engaged with Mark Penn & the govt. The city is happy with us. Good turnout for the hospital drill. Our antennas and coax at the hospital need to be labeled.
DSTAR: 2 new members.
Repeaters: Tim couldn’t make it.Craig K4GOR reports: 2m: RC820 controller has issues, still unsupported. The older CAT 300 controllers can be had for $300.00, remote receivers planned, but no time frame available. 70cm: Keeps shutting off. Tim suggests we sell old controller and use new one. 1.25m:
Converted Micor, needs to be installed, may be up in 6 months.
6m: Plans similar to 1.25m, a little later. 33cm: Up and running 23cm: 2 mobiles tied together, but it works.
Webmaster: Not present, no report
Upcoming Events:
Hamfests: Winterfest (2/26), Timonium (1 day only this year, 3/31)
LA & NH QSO Parties
Old Business:
Trailer antenna committee has not met yet.
New Business:
Budget proposed and accepted with modifications
No audit needed because the officers didn’t change
We need to investigate holding classes @ 3600 Wheeler Ave.
We need to investigate a club seller account on eBay.
Motion to fund D-STAR with club funds and collect donations over the year to pay back the club made by Rick N4ASX — Carried.
Motion to sell ARCOM repeater controller made by Jeremy KF7IJZ — Carried
Motion to buy different repeater controller (C800 DX? Bad handwriting) made by Jeremy KF7IJZ — withdrawn
A new controller is estimated to cost about $300.00.
Editor’s note: Repeaters – Tim has been working his magic and 444.6 is up and has great coverage. Let’s make some use of it! If you’re on the road going to and from work, think about getting up on our 2 meter or 440 machines.
They’re too quiet these days.
GW BIRTHDAY EVENTS:
First, THANKS to all the folks who supported the 10K run. We had a record number of volunteers and a great time after the run. We only had one call for help and it was handled quickly and the rest of the race went well. We got a thank you note from Mr. Shumard for our help with both the 10K and the Parade.
The GW parade went well with the exception of our D-Star file transfer.
Looks like we have some work to do to get Windows 7 to share files with XP computers at the other end. We were able to work around the roblem and the parade organizers never knew there was an issue. This will be something we
address at our D-Star 201 program. We had 15 volunteers support the parade and that too is a record.
Thank you all VERY much for helping out. Great support. We are radio amateurs but there was nothing amateur about the level of support.
President’s Corner
“With the upcoming daylight savings time change nearly upon us, ARC members can begin to look forward to having more opportunities to enjoy longer operating hours during the warmer days of spring.
First, though, thanks go out to all the ARC members and non-ARC hams who turned out to assist in the annual George Washington Birthday Parade activities. Several individuals who have been involved in organizing ham activities associated with the Parade mentioned that they thought this was one of the biggest turnouts of ham volunteers in some years. A lot of fun was had by all those assisting, and, combined with great weather, made for a wonderful weekend to “play” with ham radio. The next big activity threat involves ARC members is the upcoming Virginia QSO party on March 17 and 18.
Mark Travis, KI4OBT, of the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club, gave a great presentation at our last club meeting on the Party, with this year’s big change being the period of operation–10:00 am to 10:00 pm March 17, and 8:00 am to 8:00 pm March 18, local time. We as a club did pretty good well last year in terms of contacts and scoring, so hopefully ARC members will do as well or better this year in making contacts across the Commonwealth. If you haven’t participated in the past, the contest is a lot of fun, and it really tests your skills in trying to make contact with the 95 counties and 39 independent cities around the state. More information can be found at http://www.qsl.net/sterling/VA_QSO_Party/2012_VQP/2012_VQP_Main.html .
And, for those who may be familiar with the suite of amateur radio software products produced by Scott & Kimberly, N3FJP & KA3SEQ, good news–Scott has issued updates for all their software as of the end of February for the first time in about five years. Scott has indicated that he plans to become re-engaged in writing and producing amateur radio software again, so this is good news for those of us who use their logging program for the Virginia QSO Party. More information can be found at their web site, www.n3fjp.com . And, one last thing–it’s not too early to be thinking about visiting the Dayton Hamvention this year. For those who may be interested, please feel free to contact Rich Adamy, KA4GFY, for more information.
73, Marshall KI4MWP
Future Programs:
March – HAARP – Steve Floyd W4YHD (Confirmed)
April – Tim -KT4MV -Aviation Communications (Confirmed)
May – ARRL News – Dennis Bodson W4PWF (Confirmed)
June – Field Day
July – D-Star 201 – KI4MWP (beyond the local repeater)
August – ARES/AMSAT/Other??Sept -MCM – Howard, WD5DBC or Tom, N4ZPT (tentative)
Oct – AMRAD (tentative)
Nov – Elections
Dec – Party
Up Coming Events
Dayton Hamvention- REMINDER
Rich, KA4GFY had a great article in the last ARCSHORT. If you’ve not been to Dayton, they you’ve missed an incredible hamfest. Imagine 30,000 hams in one place and any type of electronics gear you might think of.
Rich talked about new gear. Hamvention is where the manufacturers show off the NEW stuff before it gets to the stores. The major stores have their “get you to the store” deals. A bunch of us purchased ICOM 706MkIIGs for $700 one year when the list price was over $1000 and the shipping was free.
There are also great deals on mom and pop operations. Logging software, parts, batteries, antennas. You name it and it will be available.
Rich has some rooms available and car pooling is the ONLY way to go. It’s about a 12 hour trip each way but if you’re in a car or van with a few friends it’s a great time.
If you would like to go, the group leaves on Thursday and returns either Sunday or Monday (depends on the group). If you want to join the group, call Rich, KA4GFY or talk to him at the meeting and reserve your room with him.
A great side visit is the Air Force Museum. It gets better every visit.
Some of our group has been interested in the outdoor sports and Cabela’s is on the way home.
Spring Licensing Classes
The Alexandria Radio Club is sponsoring Technician and General licensing classes beginning March 20, 2012. Class will run for 10 weeks, with exam night the last class. The cost is still $50, which includes the book, test fee and classroom materials.
The location is 2331 Mill Road, Suite 100, through arrangements made by Roy, K4AXQ. It’s near the Federal Courthouse and the Eisenhower METRO station.
Class starts at 7 PM and ends around 9 PM.
If you know someone looking to become licensed or upgrading, send them our way. Signing up is easy. Email me ka4gfy@arrl.net, phone (703) 969-6615 or sign up through the link on the club web page. If you haven’t seen it, check out the announcement on the club’s web page.
Upcoming Hamfests:
March 31 – Baltimore Hamboree and Computerfest – Sponsored by the Baltimore Amateur Radio Club, located at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. This is probably the largest hamfest in the area. It features new equipment, along with indoor and outdoor flea market space. Note, it’s only one day this year.
It’s about a 90 minute drive from Alexandria, right off I-83 at exit 17 on the Northwest side of Baltimore. Talk-in is on the Baltimore ARC’s 146.670 (PL 107.2 Hz) repeater. This is probably the largest hamfest in the area. It features new equipment, along with indoor and outdoor flea market space.
Note, it’s only one day this year.
Contests
March 10 & 11 – Idaho QSO Party
March 11 & 12 – Wisconsin QSO Party
March 17 – 10 10 Mobile QSO Party
March 17 – Russian DX Contest
March 17 & 18 – Oklahoma QSO Party
March 17 & 18 – Virginia QSO Party
March 17 & 18 – North Dakota QSO Party
March 24 & 25 – CQ WPX SSB Contest
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 6:15PM. A good burger and soft drink runs about $10.
Visit to Udvar Hazy – Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Rick, N4ASX, has agreed to organize a visit to Udvar Hazy out near Dullaus Airport. Tentative date is Saturday April 7th. Let’s plan to meet at the Fire Training Center parking lot and carpool to Udvar Hazy. They don’t charge for entrance to the Museum but they charge $15 per car to park. Rick can take three in his vehicle.