[Alexandria Radio Club Reflector] ARC SHORTS for SEPTEMBER 2018

[Rick Bunn]

ARC-SHORTS

SEPTEMBER 2018 


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
September 14th.  

Mark KM4GML will also provide us with more on Linex.  Tentatively, I will
have someone from the City's Emergency Management office come talk to us.

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. 

August Meeting Minutes

Howard WD5DBC provided a run down on the Marine Corps Marathon for this
year.  The race needs 135 amateur radio operators and he now has 75
volunteers.  Howard stressed that there are positions for everyone.  If you
have just a 2-meter handheld that can be all you need for some positions.
There are aid station positions that require more equipment and may start
using AREDN nodes this year.  You might remember that Mark talked to us
earlier this year about the experiment with AREDN at last years marathon.
Howard is also looking for Net Control operators as well.  

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.  

One highlight of the business portion of the meeting was the appointment of
Don, KI4D as the 2019 Field Day chairman.  Don and Jack have been talking to
the Vienna Wireless Association club looking for ideas on how to make our
field day better.  One issue is having 60 club members and getting everyone
some radio time during the 24 hours of field day.

2-METER REPEATER 

On Friday evening during the storm, our 2-meter repeater had a problem.
Matt, KN4IJH, brought this to my attention.  I forwarded the info to Rich,
KA4GFY, our trustee.  At the time Rich was on the eastern shore, but he came
back early and was able to get access to the repeater and reset the
repeater.  It is now up and operating.  May thanks to Rich for rushing back
to fix the problem.  

An important note on the use of the 147.315 repeater.  AFTER EVERY
transmission, you need to let the repeater drop THEN key up.  For those of
us who are used to 'tail-gating' this may cause the repeater NOT to key up
for you meaning SILANCE on the receiving end.  

On the net last Thursday, we had many check ins who did not listen before
checking in so we had some stations covering up other check-ins.  We had one
station that called in with a CQ CQ.  This means you are calling for ANY
other station to come back to you.  Don, KI4D, our net control station (NCS)
handled that very well, but the station may not have understood, so..

Future Programs
September 14,2018 -- City Emergency Service and ARES /  Linex
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
SAD NEWS from our friends at Mt. Vernon ARC.
I am saddened to inform all of you that our fellow MVARC member and friend
Frank Lempicki AA4ZS passed yesterday morning.
I've known Frank since November of 1995.  Back then, Frank was very active
in all of the club's events, including: Field Day, GW Special Event, monthly
meetings, monthly breakfasts, Ham Radio test sessions, and club events
created on his own initiative.  He was formerly one of the club's Vice
Presidents.
During the last 7 years or so, health concerns somewhat limited Frank's
participation to the club's monthly breakfast, weekend Cherry Tree HF net,
and usage (especially during rush hour) on the club's 2 Meter repeater.
On page 3 of the June 2003 Club's former Newsletter  (
http://www.geocities.ws/mvarc/yorfo/2003/yjun03.pdf ) is an article
("MVARCERS BRING HAM RADIO INFORMATION") describing an event put together by
Frank.  There were other such AA4ZS run events (such as the first ever MVARC
QRP Field Day at Lee District Park in 2002, and first Elmer program), but
the article cited is the only article (of several that I know exist) I could
locate on-line.  I do wish I could have done better.
We will all certainly miss Frank. 
Bob, KT4KS
Hamfests.-  
The St. Mary's County Amateur Radio Association's TailgateFest takes place
on October 6, 2018 at the Hollywood Fire Department Bingo Hall.  It's
located on Three Notch Road in Hollywood, MD.  Here is the link:
http://www.k3hki.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/tailgate-flyer.pdf
The Columbia Amateur Radio Association's CARAFest is on October 7, 2018 at
the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, MD.  Its near the
intersection of I-70 and Route 32.  Here is the link:
http://www.carafest.org/

Training - 
Our next class starts on October 2 and ends December 4, 2018.  We do have
students signed up. 
I have been asked many times why we teach a "traditional" Technician class
where the material is spaced out over several weeks, rather than the weekend
or one day "cram session" approach.  We tried a one weekend class once and
we came to the conclusion that the students did not get very much out of the
class.  In fact, the only people who did pass were the XYL (or soon to be
XYL) of club members, both of whom had been around ham radio for a while.
There are 257 pages divided into 11 chapter in the current ARRL Technician
book and over 400 questions on the exam.  
So, in an abbreviated course, how do you decide what is covered and what is
left to the students to do themselves?  Its incorrectly assumed that most
students need the technical material, so those parts of the book are covered
and the non-technical parts are left to the students.  Somebody with a
background in electronics may not need the technical side, but the rules,
regulations and operating techniques are what they need, and it's not
covered.      
Unlike many other licensing classes, we teach the material, not the test.
So, it won't matter what the question is, the student will know the correct
answer.  Our success rate runs around 95% of our students passing the
material, often with very good scores.     
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.
.  If you know of anyone interested in becoming a ham, let them know.  There
are spaces available.  

Contests - 
September 8 - Ohio Parks on the Air.  Exchange is your state.
September 8 through 10 - ARRL September VHF Contest.  Exchange is 4
character grid square.
September 9 - North American Sprint, CW.  Exchange is the other station's
call, your call, serial number, your name and state.
September 15 and 16 - Iowa QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.
September 15 and 16 - New Hampshire QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.
September 15 and 16 - Washington State Salmon Run.  Exchange is RST and
state.
September 15 and 16 - New Jersey QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.
September 16 - North American Sprint, RTTY.  Exchange is the other station's
call, your call, serial number, your name and state.
September 22 and 23 - Maine QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.
September 23 - North American Sprint, SSB.  .  Exchange is the other
station's call, your call, serial number, your name and state.
September 29 and 30 - CQ Worldwide DX Contest, RTTY.  Exchange is RST, CQ
Zone and state.  We are in zone 5.
September 29 and 30 - Texas QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.
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.
 
Don't forget, be sure to send in your log within 5 days after the contest
ends for all ARRL sponsored contests. 
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.  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.

Repeaters (Trustee report)-  
 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.  
If you are active on the club's digital repeaters, you will often hear hams
from all over using them.  Some of these people are linking into our DMR
repeater via the DMRVA talk groups or into the DSTAR repeaters through the
various DSTAR reflectors.  But, we also have a large number of local hams
who are regular users of our DSTAR repeaters who are not members of the
Alexandria Radio Club.  
While club membership is not a requirement for using the repeaters, there is
an unwritten rule in ham radio that you SHOULD join the club that
owns/operates the repeater(s) if you are a regular user.  So, when you hear
a new call on one of the repeaters, and they live in the local area, ask
them if they belong to the Alexandria Radio Club.  If they are not a member,
invite them to the next club meeting.       
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 - It looks like Hurricane Florence is headed our way.  If it hits as a cat
4 in S.C.  you can expect that it will turn north.  This may have an impact
on our area.  Please keep your handheld radios ready to go and think about
checking your go-kits as we may be needed if the city's super system fails.
Remember to make sure all is safe at home before you offer to volunteer.
2 - Ian, N8IK, dropped by my (N4ASX) QTH and we checked out my AREDN node
and installed MESHCHAT.  This new system may be the way we can provide 100MB
digital communications for ARES supported organizations.   Once we know
more, ARES will look into installing AREDN nodes in the city.  Unlike D-Star
1.2GHz this system is much cheaper and so far, once installed seems to work
well.  The units we have been looking at are 2.4 GHz so LINE OF SIGHT is the
rule.  
3 - For those who have CITY ID-51A,  Please bring them to the next meeting
so we meet our inventory requirements (once a year) and please check in to
ONE of the weekly nets a month to make sure they are still working and you
are familiar with their operation.  No list of repeaters is 100%, so if you
want changes, let me know and we will set up a programming session to update
the list.

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.


 
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