[Alexandria Radio Club Reflector] ARCSHORTS JAN 2021

Wed Jan 6 23:08:02 EST 2021

ARC-SHORTS

JANUARY 2021

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.  Gary KC5QCN will
provide a program on the Pentagon MARS station.

Last Meeting

ARC Meeting Minutes 

December 11, 2020

1900 hours

Our meeting opened with a moment of silence in remembrance of those who
departed.

The following are silence keys (SKs)

Craig E. Church (N4GOR)

William Jack Hranicky -(KO5TZ)

Roy Wright (K4AXQ)

Our guest speaker on December 11, 2020 was Barry Feierman, (K3EUI), now a
retired High School Physis and Astronomy teacher 1970-2011. Berry provided
us with a power point briefing demonstrating its function and use as well as
a comparison to various Antenna Analyzers, but his main topic was on the
NANO VNA (Vector Network Analyzers

Our President has proposed an update to our Bylaws that will be discussed at
our next meeting. 

The following Awards were given:

*              Outstanding Elmer Award -- Mr. Ian Keith, N8IK

*              Rookie of the Year Award -- Mr. Bryan A. Pettigrew, WD4ADF

*              Most Outstanding and Innovative Contributor to club
capabilities

Award -- Joe Porcelli, KT3I

*              Do It! Award  -- Mr. Richard C. Adamy, KA4GFY

*              D-STAR Extraordinary Member Award -- Mr. Marshall DeBerry,
KI4MWP

*              WINLINK Rookie Participation Award -- Mr. Ryan Stinebiser,
KO4EBY

*              Event Photographer Award -- Mr. William Wilson, KM4KLK

*              Most Impressive New Mobile Station Award -- Mr. Jack Parker,
W4JJ

*              Parks on the Air Award -- Mr. Jason Palmer, WA6MPR

*              New Zealand Support via Radio Award  -- Mr. Peter Laager,
N2KFA

*              Club Contester of the Year Award -- Mr. Randy Kelly, WB4MJF

*              Club FIRST RESPONDER Award -- Ms. Monica Wilson KC2IAY

*              Club Leadership Award -- Mr. Don Lewis, KI4D

*              Alexandria Radio Club Ham of the Year -- Mr. Richard (Rick)
R. Bunn,

N4ASX

*              Life Time Membership #010 Award - Mr. Harry Jones

*              Life Time Membership #011 Award - Mr. Richard (Rick) R. Bunn,
N4ASX

*              Life Time Membership #012 Award - Mr. Richard C. Adamy,
KA4GFY

Presidents Corner

Thanks to Club members who have already paid dues for 2021!  This note is
mainly a reminder for those who renew club membership each year in January.
For those who renew in months other than January and want to be pro-active
or want to avoid the rush, you may also pay your renewal dues by January
which will result in 12 months of membership being added to the date of your
last dues payment.  Membership dues is $25.00 per year, please see our
website for more details.  The easiest and quickest way to pay dues is via
PayPal on the W4HFH website at  <https://w4hfh.org> https://w4hfh.org, or
you may mail a check or money order to Alexandria Radio Club, Inc., P.O. Box
30721 , Alexandria, VA 22310.

As you know, since 1954 we have been the amateur radio focal point serving
the Alexandria Community.  We provide our members with interesting programs,
mentoring, workshops and club activities that appeal to all license classes
and technical abilities, please see our attached club brochure.  For 2021,
we are making an extra effort to deliver interesting and educational
programs for club members given the COVID-19 environment.  We also welcome
your ideas as a valued club member, and we thank you for your continued
support of our Club.  

73

Don, KI4D

ARES

For many years, the ARES organization in the Commonwealth of Virginia has
not been all it should be.  BUT changes are being made for the better.
ARRLVA.ORG

First thing to keep in mind is that MOST of our activities are in support of
our LOCAL jurisdictions.  Alexandria Radio Club has been supporting the
Alexandria ARES group.  One does not need to be a member of the club to be
an ARES volunteer and a club member is not expected to join the ARES group.
The club has somewhere around 80 members and about 14 are ARES volunteers.

ARES training is required within the first year of being a volunteer and
that is to complete FEMA IS-100.  It takes about 30 minutes on line.  Other
training is outlined in the TASK BOOK that has been issued to ARES
volunteers and establishes levels of training.  Beyond LEVEL 1 there is no
absolute requirement for training, but it is recommended.

We recently participated in a LOCAL drill at the request of the INOVA
Alexandria Hospital and I would like to thank those who participated.
Drills are not meant to show off our skills but identify lessons learned.
We now understand that the need to have access to an operating area in each
hospital is important and have access to an outside antenna (or antennas) is
critical for communications between sites when primary communications
channels go down.   I will be working on that this year.  

Special thanks to those who volunteered.  We got great marks from the
hospital emergency manager and from the City Emergency Manager.

Don Lewis, KI4D - Alexandria EOC

William Wilson, KM4KLK - Alexandria Hospital operations

Richard Bunn, N4ASX - Alexandria Hospital operations

Larry Walker, K4LDW - Alexandria Hospital Emergency Manager shadow

Harry Jones, N4CWP - Healthplex operations

Mr. Epstein Gersohn KO4IUK - Healthplex operations

Kenton Van Lue, W4RUS - Mt. Vernon Hospital operations

Jim Hylton KN4HYT - Mt. Vernon Hospital operations

We will also be working on establishing AREDN relay nodes around the city so
that there is a back up to communications if and when the internet goes
down.  With help I will get a letter out to building managers asking them
for access to their roofs to install AREDN relays, first to run on 120VAC,
later with solar charging batteries.  

This year the City's EOC was opened and we activated the station for the
INOVA drill.  I hope you all saw Don KI4D operating the station.  I have
asked the city to install an HF antenna and a third VHF antenna for 220MHz
and more 2meter and 440MHz capability.  

This year, more members have participated in WINLINK WEDNESDAY and I do
appreciate that.  Text and e-mail have become a large part of our support to
the served agencies.

Red Cross will have a statewide drill later this month (January 16th).
There will be another nationwide drill in October.  We also treat the Marine
Corps Marathon as an ARES drill on the last SUNDAY in October.

I have asked the Club President to reserve one meeting for a program on
ARES.  Send me your questions and I will tailor the program to address them.

73 Rick

N4ASX

ELMER'S INPUTS

I am now down in sunny Florida and was going to install an 75/40 meter
dipole, but I pulled a muscle in my back, so it will have to wait for my
next visit.  

At both my shack in Alexandria and in Cape Coral Florida, I keep THREE ARRL
publications.  A more or less current issue of the RADIO AMATEUR'S HANDBOOK.
Yes they are expensive, but if you have one that is only a few years old
your have 90% of the new book.  The next is the ANTENNA HANDBOOK.  The last
one I purchased came as four books.  Great resource.  And the third, and
maybe the most important is the ARRL OPERAING MANUAL.  This has most of the
stuff to answer all the everyday questions.  I had a 2013 copy here, but it
was very much out of date, so I ordered a new version, and it is very well
written and worth the cost (12th Edition).  If you can only have one of
these three books, I recommend the Operating Manual.

73 Rick

N4ASX

Hamfests -

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

With the ongoing COVID-19 situation, be sure to check the websites to make
sure the hamfest has not been cancelled.  2020 was 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 Richmond Frostfest for 2021has been cancelled.  

The Vienna Wireless Society's in-person Winterfest scheduled for March 14,
2021 has already been cancelled.  However, Vienna Wireless has scheduled a
virtual convention via Zoom on Saturday, April 24, 2021 from 9 AM to 2 PM.
Here is the link:    <https://viennawireless.net/wp/events/winterfest/>
https://viennawireless.net/wp/events/winterfest/ 

While not in the local area, HAMCOM has closed their doors after 41 years.
The organizers cited COVID 19 and the rising cost of facilities as the
reasons to close their doors.  HAMCOM was the largest hamfest in Texas.  

I mention this because once it is safe to attend gatherings again, we need
to be sure to go the hamfest in large numbers to make it worthwhile for the
organizers to continue.

At the present time, Berryville and Hamvention are on the calendar.  But
that could change depending on whether large groups are permitted.   

Here's hoping 2021 will improve as the year goes on.  

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

After months of learning the ropes of remote exams, I am beginning to sit in
on remote exams to learn the practical end.  One take-away here is that
remote exams are far more labor-intensive than in-person exams.    

The next step is to get our VE team up to speed so we can do remote exams.
Looking at  <http://www.Hamstudy.org> www.Hamstudy.org, there appears to be
a lot of interest in becoming licensed by the number of exam sessions that
are full.  It appears that VE teams are giving all the exams they can
handle.

Contests -        

*         Jan 9 and 10 - North American QSO Party, CW.  Exchange is name and
state.

*         Jan 16 and 17 - North American QSO Party, SSB.  Exchange is name
and state.

*         Jan 16 thru 18 - ARRL January VHF Contest.  50 MHz and up.
Exchange is 4-character grid square.  Most of us are in FM18. 

*         Jan 30 and 31 - Winter Field Day.  Exchange is category and ARRL
Section.

*         Feb 6 and 7 - Vermont QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.

*         Feb 6 - Minnesota QSO Party. Exchange is name and state.

*         Feb 6 and 7 - British Columbia QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and
state.

*         Feb 6 - North American Sprint, CW.  Exchange is other station's
call, your call, serial number, your name and state.

*         Feb 8 through 12 - ARRL School Club Roundup.  Exchange is RST and
class.  Most of us will be "Individual."

*         Feb 20 and 21 - ARRL International DX Contest, CW.  Exchange is
RST 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.

Every Tuesday at 0100 (8 PM EST Monday for us) is the Worldwide Sideband
Activity Contest.  Exchange is RS and age group (OM, YL, Youth YL or Youth).
Here are the rules:  <https://wwsac.com/rules.html>
https://wwsac.com/rules.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.   

Repeaters -

The club repeaters are all up and running.  The DSTAR repeaters are seeing a
lot of activity.  We have been linking the 70 cm repeater to Reflector 001C,
the world-wide reflector and the 23cm repeater to Reflector 030C, another
busy reflector.   

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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