[Alexandria Radio Club Reflector] ARCSHORTS OCTOBER 2018

[Rick Bunn]

ARC-SHORTS

October 2-18


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 
ARE UP AND RUNNING - HAM IT UP! Get on the air!
SPECIAL NOTE:  DMR IS UP AND RUNNING 442.4125 +5Mhz Color Code 1.

NEXT CLUB MEETING

 Our meeting is held on the 2nd Friday of each month at the Alexandria
Police Dispatch Center at 3600-Wheeler Ave.   Just off Duke Street just east
of Quaker Lane.  Meeting starts at 7PM and ends at 9PM.  The next meeting is
OCTOBER 12th..  

We do NOT have a program as yet, but I am looking..

Many of our members have dinner at Atlantis Restaurant in the Bradlee
Shopping Center on the south side of Rt 7 just east of 395 most arrive
around 5:30. Our program presenters are invited to join us. 

Sept Meeting Minutes

We had hoped that the City Emergency Management office would provide a
program for this meeting, but .   I will try to get them to reschedule.

Mark, KM4GML, provided a demonstration of updating his first harmonic's from
Windows to Linex.  There was also a discussion of other activities.

Don, KI4D, is next years Field Day chairman.  We are looking for ways to
improve our performance and give more operators a share of the operating
time.  If you have ideas, please let Don know.  He can be reached at
KI4D at arrl.net <mailto:KI4D at arrl.net>  .

We had a great turnout with many new members.   We do need ideas for
programs.  We have our elections in November and our dinner in December.
Ian, N8IK passed out a list of possible menu changes for the dinner.  The
dinner will be at Fiona's in Kingstown in place of our December meeting.

Marine Corps Marathon.

Howard, WD5DBC, gave us a presentation of the support to this years
Marathon.  I understand that he still needs VOLUNTEERS.  Usually, September
30th is the sign-up deadline.  If you would like to volunteer but need help
with gear, please bring this up at the next meeting.  

The Marathon is an ALL-DAY event.  If you're at the beginning of the race
you may be able to leave early, but for many the day goes from 4AM to 5PM.
If your running a handheld, make sure you have sufficient battery power.  A
mobile antenna and a 12V battery would help.


To sign up for the Marine Corps Marathon, you need to go to
WWW.MARINEMARATHON.COM <http://WWW.MARINEMARATHON.COM>  and volunteer as a
HAM radio volunteer.  Then go to the ham radio site (MCMHAM) to provide
details on your gear and what your preferences are.   This is the most
PUBLIC of public service events.  The Marine Corps says nice things about
ham radio and so do those whom we interact with on race day.   If your free,
please consider volunteering.  


Future Programs
October 12, 2018 - Planning for 2019, Nominations, budget etc.
November 9, 2018 -- Elections
December 14,2018 - Annual Holiday Party.   (Fiona's)

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.  If you know someone you would like to have present a program,
let me know Rick, N4ASX
Hamfests.-  
The Carroll County Amateur Radio Club's Mason Dixon Hamfest will be held on
October 28, 2018 at the Sportsman's Hall Roller Skating Rink in Upperco, MD.
The address is 15500 Hanover Pike.  Talk-in on the 145.41 MHz repeater (PL
114.8 Hz).  Here is the link:  https://k3pzn.net/
The Prince George's County Emergency Radio Association' SantaFest will be
held December 8, 2108 at the American Legion Youth Camp, 9201 Surratts Road
in Cheltenham, MD.  Talk-in is on the 145.230 MHz repeater (PL 110.9 Hz).
Here is the link:   http://pgares.org/santafest/
 
Training - 
We started our class on October 2 with a small, but enthusiastic class.  If
you know of anyone interested in becoming a ham, let them know.   There is
still time to get into the class without missing too much.  
The new Technician question pool became effective on July 1 and the
questions have been updated to cover areas today's Technicians will be doing
once licensed.  The General question pool will change July 1, 2019 and the
Extra question pool will change July 1, 2020.

Contests - 
October 6 and 7 - California QSO Party.  Exchange is serial number and
state.
October 13 and 14 - Nevada QSO Party.  Exchange is serial number and state.
October 13 and 14 - Pennsylvania QSO Party.  Exchange is serial number and
ARRL section.
October 13 and 14 - Arizona QSO Party.  Exchange is serial number and state.
October 13 and 14 - South Dakota QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.
October 15 through 19 - ARRL School Club Roundup.  Exchange is RST and
class.  Most of us will be "I" for single operator.  Anyone can participate,
not just school clubs.  
October 20 and 21 - New York QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.
October 21 and 22 - Illinois QSO party.  Exchange is RST and state.
October 27 and 28 - CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB.  Exchange is RS and CQ
Zone (we are in zone 5).
Nov 3 and 4 - ARRL Sweepstakes, CW.  Exchange is the other station's call,
serial number, precedence, your call, check (year first licensed) and
section. 
While it's not a contest, don't forget Jamboree on the Air the weekend of
October 19 through 21.  Boy scouts and girl scouts from all over the world
will be on the air.  
Don't forget, be sure to send in your log within 7 days after the contest
ends for all ARRL sponsored contests.  ARRL now uses a web application for
contest log submissions.  Here is the link:
http://contest-log-submission.arrl.org/  Be sure to convert your file to
Cabrillo format before submitting.  Most logging programs support Cabrillo.
REMEMBER to support the CLUB'S score for contests by providing Ian N8IK your
info (Name, Call sign and Grid Square location) and submit your scores for
the contests you play in.  If the contest asks for a club affiliation, the
Alexandria Radio Club is on the list of contest clubs.  Contesting is one
way we show that we are using our frequency allocations. 
Contests may not be your thing, but contests are a great way to show outside
interests we do use our valuable spectrum.  By showing we use our spectrum,
other services will have a hard time proving that we don't use our spectrum
and it's up for re-allocation to someone else.  
Contests can also be a great way to become introduced to HF communications.
While it can be intense, pick the contest and jump in.  Most contests have a
limited exchange so it is usually easy to get what the other station needs.
State QSO parties are a great introduction to contesting.  Most are low-key
and the exchange is limited.   

Repeaters -  
 In addition to the regular Thursday night net on the 147.315 repeater,
there was a proposal in the February ARC Shorts to do a follow - on net on
other ARC repeaters.  The rotation would include other analog repeaters as
well as the digital repeaters.  
The DSTAR repeaters and DMR repeater lost connectivity to the internet at
the end of September during a power problem.  While the repeaters came back
on line as stand-alone repeaters, the power supply to the modem connecting
the repeaters to the internet failed to restart when the emergency power
took over.  Ian, N8IK, was able to cycle the power supply and re-boot the
computer on the DSTAR repeaters.  All are now working normally.   
The club repeaters are all up and running.    The Alexandria Radio Club has
analog, DSTAR and DMR repeaters.  No other club in the area has that many
repeaters.  As always, ham it up and get on the air. 
73, Rich, KA4GFY

ARES
Three items:
1  - We got lucky with hurricane Florence.  If you spent time on HF, please
let Rick, N4ASX know, so he can provide an after action up the ARES chain.
Hurricane season is not OVER yet.
2 - AREDN.  This could be our way to provide ARES support.  ARES will build
a few nodes to install on some of our sites in the city.  If you build a
system, you should first set up one you can take where you may be assigned.
If you also add as system to your home QTH, please let us know.  This will
add to our MESH coverage.
3 - I will meet with he ES Chief in October.  To discuss AREDN and other
ways we can support the City.  So far, we have 15 ARES volunteers.  Could
always use more.
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.  Mark up on the repeater about 6PM and join the group.
The location does change!  IF you have a good spot, you might suggest it to
the group.
 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: ARC SHORTS OCT  2018.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 173093 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/alexandriaradioclub/attachments/20181009/cb6d102d/attachment-0001.pdf>