[Alexandria Radio Club Reflector] Alexandria Radio Club - ARC SHORTS - November 2020

Mon Nov 9 15:03:13 EST 2020

ARC-SHORTS

NOVEMBER 2020

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.

:  DMR IS UP AND RUNNING 442.4125 +5Mhz Color Code 1.

            PLEASE USE OUR REPEATERS.

Next Meeting

Due to the Corona Virus, our next meeting will be on ZOOM.  This has worked
out well and has as many participants as we have had in our in-person
meetings.  Encourage others to attend

We are also coming to the end of the year and that means that we have to
nominate new club officers and vote in November.  We have term limits, and
this allows new ideas and to share the work of running the club.  We can
make exceptions to by-laws.  This year our treasurer has served two years,
but given the COVID-19 issues,  many would like to have Richard, KW4UJ, to
stay on for another year.

Don, KI4D, has done an outstanding job as president and he has a few ideas
that may require changes to the by-laws.  He may bring them up at our next
meeting.

Last Meeting

Our speaker on October 9th was Steve, W4SHG, the manager at HRO in
Woodbridge and HRO’s national sales manager. Steve covered how many of the
new HF radios interface with our computers to operate in digital modes and
he also covered some of the software that makes these mods more friendly.
We, in this area, are lucky to have a ‘Candy Store” close by.  Many states
are not so lucky.  

Don, KI4D, also held a leadership meeting on the 16th and we should hear
more about that at the next meeting.

Presidents Corner

On October 16th we notified club members about the passing of Roy Wright
(K4AXQ) our webmaster and public information officer (PIO).  Roy was 79 when
he died on October 14, 2020 at Virginia Hospital Center, Arlington, VA from
multiple health issues.  He was a longtime resident of Alexandria, VA; but
grew up in Galax, VA and attended the University of Virginia earning a
degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering in 1964.  Roy later became
a career intelligence officer.  Subsequently, as a natural innovator and
entrepreneur with core Intelligence tradecraft skills, he shared his
discipline and intellect with many small business start-ups, becoming
cofounder or senior advisor. Roy was a vigorous lifelong learner of new
science and technology, constantly pursuing learning, including continuing
education (CE) on-line studies.  As a volunteer, he served as technical
advisor to many organizations, including the Smithsonian Institution.  He
remained active in a multitude of avocations throughout his life including
airplane piloting, amateur radio licensing, and webmaster for many
businesses and volunteer organizations.  He was an active member of Mount
Vernon Unitarian Church and a longtime dedicated member of the Alexandria
Radio Club.  Cunningham Church Life Celebration Funeral Home of Alexandria
is handling arrangements for Roy. Ted (W9TCE), Ian (N8IK) and Don (KI4D) are
assisting Roy’s family with ham radio equipment arrangements, and other
matters.  To assist Roy’s family with his estate, a public auction for his
ham equipment is planned by ARC.   

Virginia continues to be under a state of emergency based on COVID-19.
Based on Executive Order 68 as amended, the latest COVID-19 guidance from
the state of Virginia, it is still  “Safer to Stay at Home” with advice to
continue teleworking if possible, wash hands regularly, maintain six feet of
physical distance when outside of home, and get tested immediately if you
have COVID-19 symptoms. Although many of the legal restrictions have been
lifted under Phase III of opening, the Tidewater region of Virginia has
remained under continuing restrictions because of COVID-19 outbreaks.  Given
the mixed set of indicators concerning reopening the economy and continued
spread of COVID-19 in some states,  Alexandria Radio Club leadership has not
elected to recommend resumption of in-person club activities; we will
continue with our virtual meetings using Zoom.  

At the November 13th monthly meeting of the Alexandria Radio Club voting
will take place for the annual election of officers and for other matters.
According to club Bylaws, each member shall have one vote on any issue that
comes before the membership, provided that the member's dues are paid and
current.  Zoom technology does not allow sufficient capabilities to quickly
ascertain membership of those in attendance for voting purposes.  For this
reason, only currently paid members of our Club will be invited to the
November meeting via Zoom.  For attendance at this meeting, we are asking
everyone to review their membership status and to make sure annual dues are
current by November 10th.  If you are uncertain about your membership
status, please contact the Club Treasurer at  <mailto:treasurer at w4hfh.org>
treasurer at w4hfh.org.  We prefer membership dues payment by PayPal on the
Club website, but checks may be sent to Alexandria Radio Club, PO Box 30721,
Alexandria, VA  22310-8721.  You do not have to have a PayPal account to pay
via PayPal.  On October 16th, the Club leadership group met to discuss
planning for the November meeting and other matters.  The club leadership
group consists of elected officers, committee chairs, and presidents
emeritus. At this meeting a consensus was developed on a set of proposals
for presentation to the Club general membership for consideration and voting
at the November meeting, including a slate of Club officers for the coming
year, the Club Annual December meeting under COVID-19 precautions, and other
issues.

This month we are again delighted and fortunate to have as a new club member
Jonathan Pruett (KM4NNQ).  Please welcome him.

ARC recorded Zoom meetings with featured presentations are located at
<https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MG9VUqKOWeoWEWt0oBwychbzh4qILqbI?us
p=sharing>
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1MG9VUqKOWeoWEWt0oBwychbzh4qILqbI?usp
=sharing.

The ARRL is urging all members to file individual comments opposing this
proposed fee.  Obviously, this applies to all amateurs who oppose a fee for
amateur radio licensing. The deadline to make your voice heard is November
16, 2020. The reply comment deadline — that is, the deadline for comments on
comments already filed — is November 30.  See
<http://www.arrl.org/FCC-Fees-Proposal>
http://www.arrl.org/FCC-Fees-Proposal for more information, and the ARRL
guidelines for filing comments on the FCC fee proposal.

Scheduled Activities and Presentations for 2020 updated as of November 6,
2020

*	January 10th – MEETING, 2020 Plans & Programs, Membership Dues
*	February 1st – FROSTFEST, Richmond, VA    
*	February 14th – MEETING, VA QSO Party, Gordon Miller ( NQ4K)
*	February 17th – George Washington Day Parade Participation
*	March 10th – License Classes begin (Ends May 5)
*	March 7th  – St Patrick’s Day Parade  
*	March 13th – (CANCELLED) MEETING, AREDN, Joe Porcelli (KT3I) 
*	March 21-22nd – VA QSO Party Weekend
*	March 29th (CANCELLED) WINTERFEST, Annandale, VA
*	April 8th – (POSTPONED INDEFINITELY) FIELD DAY 2020 planning
committee kickoff (John Marshall Library) 
*	April 10th – ZOOM MEETING, Alexandria CERT, Dr. Marjorie Windelberg
*	May 8th – ZOOM MEETING, WINLINK, Greg Butler (KW6GB)
*	May 15-17th – (CANCELLED) HAMVENTION, Dayton, OH
*	May 16th – HAMVENTION QSO Party
*	June 12th – ZOOM MEETING, FIELD DAY 2020 final briefing
*	June 21st – ARC (STAY SAFE) License Class FCC Exams
*	June 27-28th  – (STAY SAFE) FIELD DAY 2020 Weekend
*	July 10th – ZOOM MEETING, AMSAT, Paul Stoetzer (N8HM)
*	August 2nd – (CANCELLED), Berryville HAMFEST, Berryville, VA
*	August 14th – ZOOM  MEETING Ed’s Twinlead Antennas, Dr. Ed Fong
(WB6IQN)
*	September 11th – ZOOM MEETING, SDR Trends, Bob Nagy (AB5N)
*	October 9th – ZOOM MEETING, Ham Radio Outlet, Steve Gilmore (W4SHG)
*	October 25th – (CANCELLED) MARINE CORPS MARATHON

You Are Here

*	November 13th – Members Only ZOOM Meeting, Year in Review, Elections
*	December 11th – Meeting, Christmas party

Please stay safe with masks and keep up with your social distancing.

73 Don, KI4D

ARES

As winter comes on, a few items to consider.  Change your clock and smoke
detector batteries.   If you keep a go kit, think about operations in colder
weather.  

Batteries of all kinds don’t like cold.  Check their charge states.  

You may want to add cold weather gear, hand warmers etc to you go-kits

If your vehicle has not been serviced now is a good time.   Also, if your
keep emergency gear in your vehicle, good time to check it out.  

If you are an ARES volunteer but have not registered with ARES CONNECT, VA
please do.

Training – If you have not done IS-100, 200, 700 and 800, please take some
time to complete these FEMA classes.  You may also want to look at the ARRL
classes.

ELMER’S INPUTS

With COVID-19 many of us have spent more time with our stations.  Lots of
questions came up on VHF/UHF range which was covered in last month’s ARC
SHORTS.  The best way to get more range is to put the antennas up as high as
you can.  Use low loss coax.  You would be AMAZED at how far 5 watts will go
with a decent antenna up in the air and without losing signal through cheap
coax.

Some antenna fundamentals regardless of the band

1 – Antennas are like the strings on a music instruments.  They work well at
one frequency. Or for multi-band antennas, key frequencies for each band.
To have them work off frequency you need to think about some way to adjust
the match.

2 – Smaller antennas have a higher gain and less efficiency.  An example is
the mobile whips on HF.  They tend to match in a very narrow sub-band and
because they are electrical short (below ¼ wavelength) they tend to not be
efficient.

3 – Antennas are affected by ground proximity.  If you want to radiate up
and down as in Near Vertical Incident Skywave (NVIS) then putting the dipole
or horizontal antenna close to the ground directs the signal skyward.  There
may also be a large change in radiation resistance, so a matching network
may be needed.  Vertical antennas use the GROUND as the second half of the
dipole.  A good ground makes the antenna work well and a poor ground really
hurts efficiency.   In our area, the more ¼ wave radials the better.  A
minimum of 4 per band.  SO if you put up a Hustler 5BTV, you want 4 each ¼
wavelength radials for 75 meters (64’),  40 meters (34’) 20 Meters (16.5’)
and 15 meters ( as 15 is a 3rd hormonic of  40 meters you don’t need
radials). And 10 meters (8.6” All can be tied to the ground side of the
antenna mount and then to the coax outer braid.

4 – Random wire antennas can work, but remember you need to have a good
tuner and your pattern will be somewhat unpredictable.

I recently talked to Jack, W4JJ and he told me he had improved his mobile HF
station with a stronger antenna mount.  

Mobile Capability:

HF, VHF, and UHF

*	Icom IC-7100 exciting an ALS-500M amplifier (HF/VHF/UHF)

*	Scorpion SA-680 screwdriver antenna covering 10 Through 80 Meters
*	Diamond 6 Meter monoband antenna
*	Mirage B-5018-G, 160 watt VHF amplifier

*	Icom ID-5100A Deluxe Mobile - 2m/70cm 50W D-Star Transceiver
*	Icom ID-1 1200MHz Digital Transceiver

I want to thank Jack W4JJ for sharing his pictures.  Lots of amateurs don’t
get into running mobile stations or even home stations that are this
capable.

73 Rick

N4ASX

Hamfests –

The spread of COVID-19 (AKA Corona Virus) has put a major damper on
hamfests. 

As of November 1, 2020, the Santafest in Cheltenham, MD is still on the
calendar.  Zit’s sponsored by prince George’s County ARES/RACES. Here is the
link:   <http://www.pgares.org/> http://www.pgares.org/

With the ongoing COVID-19 situation, be sure to check the websites to make
sure the hamfest has not been cancelled.  This may be a lean year for
hamfests, or any other activity where people gather in large numbers.  Check
any hobby/activity and we are all going through the same issues.  

The Vienna Wireless Society’s Winterfest scheduled for March 14, 2021 has
already been cancelled. 

Here’s hoping 2021 will be a better year.

Training –

I am exploring the idea of doing a General Class on-line for those newly
licensed folks who would like to upgrade from Technician to General.  If you
are interested in upgrading, please contact me at  <mailto:ka4gfy at arrl.net>
ka4gfy at arrl.net. 

I am in the process of learning how to do exams on line.  It’s not as easy
as it sounds.   One online exam system looks very promising.  Another is
slightly complicated on the technical end, but much more involved on the
paperwork side.  

Being able to offer remote exams gives us another tool in the toolbox.
Another alternative may the “drive-in” exam.  

The makers of the Flash Player software announced they would no longer
support the software after December 2020.  The ARRL Exam Maker program runs
on Flash Player, so ARRL announced that the current version would be the
last.  ARRL has suggested an alternative which I am working on.  

Contests –        

*         Nov 7 thru 9 – ARRL Sweepstakes, CW.  Exchange is the other
station’s call, serial number, class, year first licensed and ARRL section.

*         Nov 21 thru 23 – ARRL Sweepstakes, SSB.  Exchange – see CW above.

*         Nov 28 and 29 – CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW.  Exchange is RST and
zone.  We are in zone 5.

*         Dec 12 and 13 – ARRL 10-meter contest.  Exchange is RST and state.

*         Dec 20 – ARRL Rookie Roundup, CW.  Exchange is Name, 2-didget year
you were first licensed and state.

Every Sunday evening at 8 PM local time, the K1USN Radio Club sponsors the
“Slow Speed “Contest.”  The exchange is similar to a QSO.  See the rules
here:  <http://www.k1usn.com/sst.html> http://www.k1usn.com/sst.html.

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/>
http://contest-log-submission.arrl.org/  Be sure to convert your file to
Cabrillo format before submitting.  Most logging programs support the
Cabrillo format.

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.   

Speaking of state QSO parties, there is now a state QSO party challenge.
You can start accumulating multipliers by submitting a log in any state or
provincial QSO party to 3830scores.com QSOParty Groups.io.forum and State
QSOParty.com.   

There was some good news about the solar cycle.  ARRL reported the Royal
Observatory of Belgium determined the solar minimum between Solar Cycles 24
and 25 occurred in December 2019.  For the next few years, we should see
improved propagation on the HF bands. 

Repeaters –

The club repeaters are all up and running.  We are still in the process of
configuring the DSTAR server and resolving any issues.  Once the server is
placed in service, we should have full use of the DSTAR repeaters.  They are
working in local mode. 

The DMR side is working normally with access to the DMR servers..  If you
use the DMRVA codeplugs, they have updated codeplugs on their website with
the new DMR repeaters added since early this year for many of the popular
handheld and mobile DMR radios.  The codeplugs include more than just the
DMRVA system repeaters.  Their website is   <http://www.dmrva.org/>
http://www.dmrva.org/

We have resumed (semi-regularly) the follow-on net on one of the other
repeaters after the Thursday net on the 2-meter analog repeater.   

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

73, Rich, KA4GFY

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