The next club meeting at Alexandria Hospital is at 7PM on June 10th. The program will be FIELD DAY. We will work on teams, make sure that all stations are ready to go. If you plan to join us for Saturday evening dinner, Karen (N4ASX – XYL) will be the chief cook and the club will provide the BBQ, Hot Dogs, Hamburgers etc. but its up to the members to bring all the other STUFF. Please have an idea of what you want to contribute.
73 Rick N4ASX
‘ARC-SHORTS June 2011 Club Repeaters: 53.13, 147.315, 224.820, 444.600, 927.6 (-25Mhz) and 1282.600 (All PL 107.2) DSTAR 145.38, 442.060, 1284.600
NEXT CLUB MEETING
Our next meeting is June 10th at Alexandria Hospital at 7PM. Our next
program will be Field Day!
MAY MEETING
Minutes from 5/13/2011
Marshall, KI4MWP ran the meeting. Rich, KA4GFY, reported that week 7 of our Tech / General license classes are complete with a few dropouts. Marshall reports that duplicate registration entries have been purged. Tim, planned a second fox hunt for the next month.
Did anyone work the Armed Forces Crossband Test? If so, we would like to hear more about the operation for a better attempt next year.
Rick was not able to make the meeting, but Field Day planning continues with Jeremy, KF7IJZ, “volunteered” to be the Safety Officer. Jeremy, being the videographer of QSO party fame, will also document Field Day when he’s not operating.
Jeremy also lead a discussion of alternative logging software for Field Day. This year we will continue to use WIN-EQF and look at a networked solution for next year. Interference issues were discussed
An anonymous donor donated commemorative bricks for the ARRL terrace for Jim Switz and Tommy Lucas
Guest speaker was Dennis Bodson presenting the state of the ARRL, pending legislation (HR 607 is dead). Dennis also answered questions from the floor about the court case in California, and the interference to GPS systems by high-powered land-based transmitters, which were originally supposed to be low-powered from satellites.
The Christmas Party will be 3rd Friday in December @ Mango Mike’s
Net Controls:
5/19/2011: Tom KJ4FUU
5/26/2011: Ian N8IK
6/02/2011: Rich KA4GFY
6/09/2011: Hal KC4ZYP
Next meeting: 6/10/2011
Hal KC4ZYP was the winner of the 50/50 drawing.
TECH AND GENERAL CLASS (Update)
The Technician and General classes wrapped up on May 24 with an exam session. Fourteen people took a total of eighteen elements. We ended up with five new Technicians, four new Generals and one new Extra. Listen for some new calls on the air! I have not spotted the new calls yet on the FCC website as of the time I am writing this.
I want to thank N4ASX, N4CWP, KT4MV, W9TCE, KI4D, KI4MWP and N8IK for all their help in teaching the class and helping with the exam session. Also, a big thanks to K4AXQ for making his office space available to us for teaching the class.
73, Rich, KA4GFY
DAYTON HAMVENTION
Dayton Hamvention is the biggest event. Funny how we travel for 10 hours to buy gear, look at stuff and meet friends who live less than an hour from us.
Seriously, it’s a good time and you will see all aspects of ham radio and all the new gear coming out this year will be unveiled at Hamvention.
This year’s pilgrimage to Dayton was attended by KA4GFY, N4CWP, AF2D, KI4MWP, W3RST, N4ASX, N8IK, W9TCE and KI3O.
The big news in new equipment was from Elecraft, who introduced the KX-3 transceiver. It’s a 160 through 6 meter all mode transceiver about the size of a brick (without the weight) and the output is a respectable 10 watts.
It was such a hit that the lines in front of the Elecraft booth were several deep at any one time. Like their other radios, this one promises to be a winner.
Alinco rolled out a couple of prototype radios. One was a new 2 meter HT.
The other was something not seen before, an HT with the 220 AND 900 MHz bands on it. If you have been interested in trying 900 MHz, you know the only option right now is converted commercial gear. Not that its all bad, but commercial gear does not have the ability to change frequencies and other parameters on the fly like we have become accustomed to. While the radio is not for sale yet, Alinco anticipates a release date of later this year.
GRE America introduced their new PSR-800 scanner. This one is capable of decoding the TDMA format some public safety agencies are adopting. At first glance, it looks like the price will be in the neighborhood of the other digital scanners.
Just outside the gate, several Emergency Communications groups were displaying their equipment. The displays ranged from a box with equipment that can be deployed quickly in a hospital or shelter all the way up to a complete trailer with a dedicated vehicle to pull it. This is a great way to share ideas with other groups on what works best.
EVENTS IN JUNE
June 11 and 12 – ARRL June VHF QSO Party. This is a great opportunity to try out the CW and SSB modes on 6 and 2 meters and 70 cm on your HF through UHF radio. Most of the activity is in the lower portion of the bands. For CW, most of the activity will be between 50.000 and 50.100 MHz, 144.000 and 144.100 MHz. For SSB, listen between 50.100 and 50.200 MHz and between 144.100 and 144.230 MHz. Keep in mind the calling frequencies of 50.125 and 144.200 MHz. You should hear some activity around those frequencies. On 70 cm, most activity centers around 432.100 MHz. You will be amazed at how far VHF and UHF CW/SSB travels.
EVENTS IN JUNE
June 11 and 12 – ARRL June VHF QSO Party. This is a great opportunity to try out the CW and SSB modes on 6 and 2 meters and 70 cm on your HF through UHF radio. Most of the activity is in the lower portion of the bands. For CW, most of the activity will be between 50.000 and 50.100 MHz, 144.000 and 144.100 MHz. For SSB, listen between 50.100 and 50.200 MHz and between 144.100 and 144.230 MHz. Keep in mind the calling frequencies of 50.125 and 144.200 MHz. You should hear some activity around those frequencies. On 70 cm, most activity centers around 432.100 MHz. You will be amazed at how far VHF and UHF CW/SSB travels.
Up Coming Events
HAMFESTS
June 12 – Old Virginia Hams Hamfest at the Prince William County fairgrounds in Manassas. This is a good hamfest close to home, so there is no excuse for missing this one. It features indoor and outdoor flea market space. If you participated in the VA QSO Party, the Sterling Park ARC hands out awards and certificates to participants.
July 17 – Baltimore Radio Amateur Television Society Hamfest at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, MD at Route 144 and 32, just off Interstate 70. This is a good hamfest to locate parts for that construction project.
August 7 – Berryville Hamfest sponsored by the Shenandoah Valley ARC. This hamfest is home to the Ruritan’s BBQ. Its worth a short drive to the country. Its also one of the last in the DC, Northwestern VA, West VA, Central MD area for the year, so people looking to clean out their basement or garage often bring their “surplus” items to sell.
President’s Corner
One of the great things about amateur radio is the willingness and generosity of amateurs in providing service to their communities as well as other individuals. This was recently on display through the generosity of an anonymous ARC member in their remembrance of W4TBL, Tommy Lucas, and WA4CCF, Jim Schwitz, by honoring their memory through the ARRL Diamond Terrace program. For those who may not be aware, the Diamond Terrace offers amateurs a way of permanently honoring radio amateurs by placing an inscribed brick In the ARRL headquarters Diamond Terrace area. In addition, a companion Lucite brick can be made available for presentation to the family or friends. I recently presented to the representatives of Jim and Tommy’s family the Lucite bricks, much to their surprise and appreciation. They wanted me to make sure to convey to ARC members their sincere thanks and appreciation for all the help and assistance that ARC members had provided to Jim and Tommy over the years, as well as to the families. It is through such generous acts that I believe our service has such a high positive recognition with the public, and this positive attribute is something I feel confident that our club will be able to maintain in the coming years. As mentioned elsewhere in this issue, Field Day planning is now in high gear. I am sure that we will be able to provide the public with another great example of the capabilities of what the Amateur radio service can provide during this event, and I look forward to seeing ARC members there in force June 25-26 at Ben Brenman park.
73 Marshall
Field Day
Team captain’s meeting will be at 1300 on June 12th and June 19th. Team captains are responsible for all aspects of their stations, but ALL members and friends of members are encouraged to come out and operate.
Field Day will take place on June 25th and 26th .
This year’s Field Day will be at Ben Brenman Park off Duke Street just west of 4600 Duke. Our location will be to the south part of the park behind the tree line and accessible over foot bridge. We will run a 5A station with a free Get on the Air (GOTA) station and VHF/UHF station. Two stations will be dedicated to CW ops and the remaining three to SSB.
SET UP at 10 AM Saturday
OPERATING Starts at 2 PM Saturday
OPERATING Ends at 2 PM Sunday
CLEAN UP, PACK UP and turn in logs by 4 PM Sunday.
This year we will use generators for power, so far we have four 2KW generators available to us.
Karen Bunn (703)317-9305 is our food chairperson this year. The club will provide the hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ but expect that others will bring the side dishes, and other stuff. Please coordinate your contribution with Karen. You can also let me know at the next meeting.
There will be a meeting at the park for team captains and others who are interested on June 18th at 10AM to review set up plans and make sure all team captains have all they need.
All members past and current are encouraged to come out and operate.
Friends are also invited to participate. Students and young folks who might be interested should also be invited.
If you have an interest in CW operation our two CW team captains want to help you out.
If you want to try out your own radio, antenna or other piece of gear, we ask that you do not set up a separate station but work with one of the 5 stations, the GOTA station or VHF/UHF station to substitute your piece of gear, so we don’t have interference or rules issues.
You do NOT have to be on site for the duration of field day, drop in when you can and operate when you can and have fun. BUT, Don’t miss dinner!
Usually, we break for dinner about 6 or so, but we not too formal about it.
If you have any questions call Rick, N4ASX, our Field Day chairman this year
(703) 317-9305.
Social Events
Pre-meeting dinner is now at Atlantis in the Bradlee Shopping Center at 5:30 PM. This is also a chance to meet our guest speaker as we offer to buy dinner for them prior to the meeting.
Monday Night Half Price Burgers – There is a group that gets together at Shooter McGee’s (Duke and Paxton Streets) on Monday evenings at 6:30 PM. A good burger and soft drink runs about $9.00.