[Alexandria Radio Club Reflector] Alexandria Radio Club Meeting Notice - JUNE 10th ARCSHORTS

[Rick and Karen Bunn]

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.