[Alexandria Radio Club Reflector] ARC SHORTS JUNE 2016 - Alexandria Radio Club News Letter and Meeting Notice.

[Rick Bunn]

ARC-SHORTS

 

JUNE 2016

FIELD DAY ISSUE

 

 

 

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 JUNE 10th.  This meeting will be our FIELD DAY planning
meeting.  Ian, N8IK is our Field Day chairman and will review the plans.  

 

We will run 5A (report is 5A VA).  We will have 5 HF stations each run by a
band captain.  The job of the band captain is NOT to operate the radio for
24 hours, but to manage the station.  Help our members operate the station
and the logging program.  

 

We encourage all of our members, no matter what your license class, to come
out and to operate for a  few hours.  If you see a station in operation and
what to operate, the best way to do it is to approach the member operating
and offer to log and to be next to operate.  As a courtesy, we need to share
the radios and operating time, so a hand off every hour or so would give all
of our members a chance to operate during Field Day.

 

I'm looking for good programs.  If you have a lead, please let me know and I
will see what I can do. 

 

 

President's Corner

 

Greetings to all. Hope you're getting ready for Field Day on the weekend of
the 25th and 26th. Some clubs treat Field Day as a very serious contest, but
our club treats it more as a fun get together where we operate our rigs. 

 

On a side note, I will not be present at the next two club meetings. If I
don't see you at Field Day or Manassas, see you in August!

 

73 DE KI4BXU

 

MAY MEETING MINUTES.

 

We talked a little about Field Day.  Ian has rounded up all the station
captains and reminded all that the station captains are not going to operate
the radios for 24 hours but are in charge of making sure the station is
complete and there to help those unfamiliar with HF operations or with that
radio to learn.  

 

Rich, KA4GFY, provided a great D-Star brief based on the powerpoint slides
presented at the Dayton Hamvention.  As many of us have D-Star equipment,
this was good info.  Rich, thanks for a very complete and timely
presentation. 

 

For those who wanted to get their D-Star handhelds updated with the latest
list, Rick, N4ASX had his laptop with the RT systems software and updated
several of the member's radios.

 

ARES

You may have noticed that the above Field Day article is the same as last
month's with a few updates.  Our club has over 50 members and many past
members who come out to visit on Field Day.  Field Day is not just a
contest, but an emergency preparedness drill and training event.  Two months
ago we had Gary tell us about amateur radio support after Katrina.   The
idea of having an catastrophic event that requires HF communications to
communicate outside the local area is not as farfetched as one would think.
In the event that commercial power goes out, we may have to use HF radio to
communicate both at distance and locally.  So,  our 5A set up will allow us
to see firsthand how each of the major HF bands operates during a 24 hour
period.  During the day some bands are better than others and in the evening
and during the night the lower bands can really surprise you.  Come out to
help set up at 10AM on Saturday and plan to come out sometime during the 24
hours of operation to try at least one station and if you can try more than
one station.

Hamfests -

This month is the Manassas Hamfest and Maker Technology Show, sponsored by
The Olde Virginia Hams.  Its on Father's Day, June 19, so note the date
change.  The location is the Prince William County Fairgrounds in Manassas.
The fairgrounds are located on Rte 234, Dumfries Road just outside Manassas.
Talk in on 146.97 and 442.200 MHz repeaters.  Both use a 100.0 Hz PL.

Training - 

 

Our latest class concluded with 20 candidates earning either a new license
or upgrading to a higher class license.    

 

Technician - 

James J. McGlothin          KM4TZQ

Walid Boonprasit              KM4TZR

Peter Mandaville              KM4TZS

James G. McGlothin         KM4TZT

Keven Cobb                        KM4TZU

Zachary Munoz  KM4TZV

Kevin Dunlop                     KM4TZW

Edward Kang                     KM4TZX

Charlie Cashion  KM4UAA

Manuel Rodriquez            KM4UAB

Abigail Youhas    KM4UAC

Nathaniel Youhas             KM4UAD

Andrew Youhas  KM4UAE

John Maldonado               KM4UAF

 

 

General - 

Scott Granado                   KM4RDR

Mychele Brickner              KM4TZY

Robert Brickner  KM4TZZ

 

Extra - 

Richard Morani  KW4UJ

Isha Youhas                       KW4UK

Michael Fagan                   KR4WE

 

Be sure to listen for them on the air and say hello.  

 

Contests -

 

June 4 and 5 - Alabama QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.

 

June 11 through 13 - ARRL June VHF Contest.50 MHz and up.  Exchange is 4
character grid square.  Most of us are in FM18.

 

June 18 and 19 - West Virginia QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.

 

June 25 and 26 - ARRL Field Day.  It's not really a contest, but an
emergency preparedness exercise.  The goal is to communicate with as many
other stations as possible over the course of the weekend under less than
ideal conditions, like the aftermath of a disaster.  The Alexandria Radio
Club will be located at Joseph Hensley Park in Alexandria.

 

 

Club Repeaters - 

 

The Alexandria Radio Club owns more repeaters than other club 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 analog repeaters are commercial grade equipment which
should run for many years with minimal work.  

 

The 23cm amateur band is about as high in frequency as most people go in
their ham radio career.  For many years, equipment had to be constructed.
The amateur satellite folks use this band for an uplink.  Here in the US, we
use 23 cm for weak signal work, FM repeaters, satellites and ATV, as well as
other modes.

 

Like all of our bands above 420 MHz, we share it.  Believe it or not, we
share 23 cm with aircraft surveillance radar.  With a good antenna, you can
hear radar pulsing through our repeater frequency.  It doesn't cause a
problem.  We are not sure which airport that belongs to.

 

With the popularity of drones, many drone operators want video of their
airborne adventures.  Unfortunately, the manufacturers of the airborne video
equipment thought our 23 cm band was a good place to park.  They never asked
anyone, they just did it.  Here is a good example of repeaters all over the
country on 23 cm would have forced them to look elsewhere.  The good news is
they are not too prevalent in this area and because they are unlicensed,
they have to put up with any interference we give them.

 

The Alexandria Radio Club has one of the very few 23 cm FM voice repeaters
in the DC area.  There is one in Haymarket that we can hit from our area
with a good antenna.  The only other 23 cm repeaters are all DSTAR digital.

 

Our repeater consists of 2 Yaesu 23 cm mobile radios (no longer made) and a
Connect Systems controller in between.  It runs 10 watts into a 15 dB gain
antenna, with an ERP of about 320 watts.  ICOM used to manufacture a 23 cm
FM repeater, but discontinued it.   Most repeaters in Japan are on 23 cm,
but supposedly there is not enough of a market in the US to sell 23 cm FM
repeaters here.  However, taking a look in the ARRL Repeater Directory, it
shows 23 cm repeaters all over California. 

 

Alinco manufactures a 2 meter, 70 cm, 23cm FM handheld.  They seem to be the
only manufacturer producing non-DSTAR equipment for 23 cm.  ICOM has
discontinued the ID-1 mobile radio, which does both DSTAR and analog.  The
ICOM America folks at the Dayton Hamvention did not know what would be
replacing the ID-1.  With more hams in Japan than the US, it looks like too
lucrative a market to toss away.   If you can find a retailer with an ID-1
in stock, they are going at practically fire sale prices.    

 

Our repeater has good coverage around Alexandra and some coverage outside
the immediate area.  Overall, the 23 cm band is good for general use.

 

As always, ham it up and get on the air.

73, 

Rich, KA4GFY

 

Future Programs

 

June - Field Day final prep.

July - VHF Contesting (tent.)

August - DX Contesting (tent.)

September - HF Portable Operations (tent.)

October - ARES ops and City interface

November - Club Elections

December - Club Party

 

Let me know what you want to hear about.  HELP !!!!  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 Burgers - There is a group that gets together at 6:15 PM on
Mondays at a local burger joint.   Mark up on the 147.315 repeater and join
them for the fun.  At this time the group meets at SMASH BURGER At Van Dorn
and Pickett St. Parking around the back of the building off Pickett.

 

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