[Alexandria Radio Club Reflector] Alexandria Radio Club Newsletter and Meeting Notice ARC SHORTS January 2015

Tue Jan 6 09:40:11 EST 2015

ARC-SHORTS

JANUARY 2015

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 ALL AR UP AND RUNNING - HAM IT UP! Get on the air!

NEXT CLUB MEETING

Our next meeting is January 9th at our normal location, 3600 Wheeler Ave,
just off of Duke Street about half a block west of Quaker Lane.    Our
program will be provided by Bill Liles NQ6Z. Presenting "100 years of ham
antennas".  Bill is a member of AMRAD and provided this presentation at one
of the AMRAD meetings.  We also have some beginning of the year business.
We will have the program FIRST and then do the business meeting.  We need to
approve the budget and any committee chairs.  

DECEMBER   MEETING MINUTES

Only 25 or so folks attended the holiday party, but we all had a great time.

Hamfests -

Hamfest season starts later this month with the Post Holiday Hamfest on
January 25, 2015, in Odenton, MD.  It's sponsored by the Maryland Mobileers
ARC.  It's a short drive to the Odenton Volunteer Fire Department.  Talk-in
is on the 146.805 MHz repeater (PL 1072).  

Richmond Frostfest is scheduled for Feb 7, 2015 at the Richmond Raceway
Complex.  Its sponsored by the Richmond Amateur Telecommunications Society.
The hamfest website says Frostfest is bigger and better this year.  Kudos to
RATS for organizing a great hamfest. The Raceway Complex is about 2 hours
down the road and is easy to get to. Talk-in on the RATS 2 meter repeater
146.88 (PL 74.4).  In addition to our usual 147.315 simplex, we will try
something different.  If you have a 900 MHz radio, try 927.600 MHz simplex
well the 2 meter frequency.              

A couple hamfests have made big changes.  The Vienna Wireless Society's
Winterfest is moving to March 22, 2015, according to the VWS website.  The
Baltimore ARC's hamfest is moving to Father's Day, June 21, 2015 and the
location is in Upperco, MD.   More details to follow.

Its not too early to start thinking about the Dayton Hamvention.  Its always
the third full weekend in May, so that means May 15 through 17.  Thursday is
normally the travel day, but there was interest in touring the US Air Force
Museum, so we will travel on Wednesday, May 13 and do the museum on May 14.
If you have any interest in aviation, this is well worth the visit.

I have 6 rooms at the Holiday Inn Fairborn and 2 and a half are already
spoken for. There are several other hotels in the area, but they are filling
up fast.  Other club members may have a room or two available nearby. Gas
may remain cheap for the foreseeable future, so plan on making the trip.
The breakdown is usually $60 to $80 for gas, plan on $350 for hotel, $28for
the Hamvention ticket and bus fare, along with your meals and purchases.

Training - 

Our class and several visitors took their exams on December 2.  Out of the
25 different people taking exams, 24 walked out with a new license or an
upgrade.  The breakout is 19 Technician, 5 Generals and 1 Extra.
Congratulations to everybody for a job well done.   

Here are the new licensees and their callsigns:

New Licenses -

Gagner, Philip A                                KW4DV

Bonanno, Mark V                             KM4GML

Joyner, Christopher A    KM4GMM

Coulter, Robert A                             KM4GMN

Pagdanganan, Merwynn              KM4GMO

Bonanno, Zea M                               KM4GMP

Bonanno, Casey L                            KM4GMQ

Kalinowski, David C                         KM4GMR

Schmeelk, Peter G                          KM4GMS

Burke, Neil T                                      KM4GMT

Sharp, Pamela D                               KM4GMU

Helba, Mark M                  KM4GMV

Sherman, Robert S                          KM4GMW

Kluba Jr, Robert F                             KM4GMX

Weidman, Alev E                              KM4GMY

Wittrock, Rosemary                        KM4GMZ

Anderson, Michael L                       KM4GNA

Rheem, Bryan S                                KM4GNB

Delaune, Jules M                             KC3EAO

Williams, J H                                       KC3EAP

Randazzo, Paul A                              KC3EAQ

Replogle, Kathryn E                         KD9CRY

Bates, Robert L                 KG5FDO

Upgrades-

Morris, David W                                KK4ZUU

We had one candidate whose license expired and took advantage of the recent
rule change to get back into ham radio.  This is a great development for
someone whose life got in the way of their ham radio activities.  As long as
the individual had a General, Advanced or Extra class license and provide
positive proof, they can reinstate their license by taking the current
Technician exam.     

We look forward to hearing our recent graduates on the air.

Our next class is scheduled for March 3 through May 5, 2015.    

Contests -

January 17 and 18 - North American QSO Party, SSB.  Exchange is name and
state.  

January 24 through 26  - ARRL January VHF Contest.  All modes on bands above
50 MHz.  The exchange is your 4 character grid square.  Most of us are in
FM18.   

December 27 - Radio Amateurs Canada Winter Contest - Exchange for
non-Canadian stations is RST and a serial number.

February 7 and 8 - Vermont QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and your state.

February 7 - Minnesota QSO Party.  Exchange is your name and state.

February 7 through 9 - Delaware QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.

February 8 - North Amercan Sprint, CW.  Exchange is the other station's
call, your call, a serial number, your name and your state.     

February 9 through 13 - ARRL School Club Roundup.  Exchange is RST and
class, individual, club or school club.  Work as many school clubs as
possible.

Club Repeaters - 

The Alexandria Radio Club owns more repeaters than other clubs in the area.
We have repeaters on every ham radio band between 6 meters and 23 cm.  Here
is a great opportunity to try a new band.  With the exception of the 23 cm
repeater, all our repeaters are commercial grade equipment which should run
for many years with minimal work.  The 23 cm repeater is constructed from 2
Yaesu 23 cm mobile radios with a controller in between.  All the repeaters
provide good coverage in Alexandria and the surrounding area.

73, 

Rich, KA4GFY

Future Programs

Craig, KK4INZ, has been asked to provide a program on how FEMA can make use
of Amateur Radio in times of an emergency. Hopefully he will be disaster
free in February.

We will have a program on digital modes to follow up on the article above.

We will have too demonstration programs.  The first will be a showing of our
GO BOXES.  What do you have ready to go, if you need to support a public
service event or a disaster away from home.   Second will be "What do you
use as a logging and shack control program?"

We hope to have an update on use of some of the newest solar technology, use
of the new microcomputers and I am trying to find someone to talk about
converting our old XP laptops to use a version of Lenex.

If you have an idea for a program, please let Rick know and he will try to
find someone to provide the program.

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 $11.00.

A few years ago,  a bunch of us went to the Air and Space Museum at Dullas,
is there an interest in another trip (Yes, I know it's not radio).  We can
also plan for a trip the antique radio and EW museums.

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: ARC SHORTS JAN15.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 118414 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/alexandriaradioclub/attachments/20150106/45babbc4/attachment-0001.pdf>