[Alexandria Radio Club Reflector] ARC SHORTS MEETING NOTICE for OCTOBER 2021

Wed Oct 6 11:20:55 EDT 2021

ARC-SHORTS

October  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

Our next meeting will be on ZOOM on October 8th, Program will be Tim Duffy
of DX Engineering.  Topic will be provided with the ZOOM invitation.  We
also will need to NOMINATE officers for next year.  All four officers and
three director positions are needed.  

Last Meeting

Our last meeting's program was Howard Cunningham WD5DBC who provided some
history and rundown on the Marine Corps Marathon.  While there was great
interest, The marathon was cancelled for this year.  I hope that all keep
the last Sunday in October open next year so you can participate.

Presidents Corner

Regular in-person club meeting events are still subject to COVID-19
restrictions at our normal meeting location, the City of Alexandria Police
Headquarters building.  With improving news about COVID-19 in June, the
board contemplated temporary in-person meetings at the Dunn Lorton Fire
Station; however, the rapid emergence of the Delta variant ended that
consideration.  Until we are notified that COVID restrictions are lifted and
that we may resume our regular meetings, we will continue with virtual club
meetings using Zoom.

The September 10th monthly featured Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) 2021 by
Howard Cunningham (WD5DBC).  Howard discussed Marine Corps Marathon 2021
planning and the need for support by Amateur Radio volunteers to support the
45th running of the US Marine Corps Marathon on Oct 31, 2021.  As in 2020,
MCM plans were significantly impacted by ongoing COVID-19 concerns.
However, it was planned that the course would most likely be the same as it
was in 2019 and there would about half the number of runners as in 2019.
The Marathon covers a scenic route starting near Arlington National Cemetery
and continuing into Washington, DC, and back into Virginia, concluding after
26.2 miles at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington.  Amateur Radio
volunteers provide emergency medical and logistical communication support
throughout the course, working in concert with various law enforcement
agencies as well as with local fire and emergency medical services to aid
the participants. Additional ham radio operators were requested to staff
some points along the course, including mile markers, water points, food
stops, and aid stations.  Potential Volunteers were asked to sign up "Ham
Radio" operators for the Marathon on two sign-up sites.  Howard has been
licensed since 1976 and WD5DBC is the only call sign that he has held. He
was licensed in Dallas Texas while working at the HeathKit store located
there.  He has been a "ham radio" volunteer for the Marine Corps Marathon
since 1997, and has been the "ham radio" coordinator for the Marine Corps
Marathon since 2005.  Howard is the Virginia ARES District 2 Emergency
Coordinator and he is a Life Member of the ARRL.

On September 24th, the 45th running of the U.S. Marine Corps Marathon
scheduled on Oct 31, 2021 was CANCELLED due to health concerns.  

Alexandria Radio Club partnered with National Children's Hospital during the
past year to plan an amateur radio link from the ISS to the Hospital on
September 21, 2021.  Club member Joe Porcelli (KT3I) was the club's
technical lead for the event. This was a Multipoint Telebridge Contact via
Amateur Radio between the ISS and students from Children's National
Hospital. Children took turns asking their questions of ISS Astronaut and
Space Station Commander Akihiko Hoshide, amateur radio call sign KE5DNI,
during the ARISS radio contact. Appropriate local Covid-19 protocols were
adhered to as applicable for each ARISS contact. The downlink frequency for
this contact was 145.800 MHZ and could be heard by listeners that are within
the ISS-footprint that also encompasses the ARISS radio telebridge station.
The ARISS team in Casale Monferrato, Italy used the call sign IK1SLD to
serve as the ARISS relay amateur radio ground station.

Children's National Hospital is a nationally ranked, pediatric acute care
children's hospital located in Washington D.C. Children's Hospital is not a
school, however the hospital works with school districts to coordinate home
and hospital teachers to provide an educational program for their patients.
In this regard, the hospital's purpose is to provide stimulating educational
opportunities for students who must miss school due to illness or injury.
Their educational goals include implementation of a STEAM curriculum for
patients that encourages designing, inventing, and creating through
real-world applications. Their educational state-of-the-art facility
(Seacrest Studios) was established by the Ryan Seacrest Foundation in 2015,
and provides kids (serving all children at any age level) an interactive
space to explore radio, television, and social media, share their on-air
talents and participate in programs that are broadcast directly to patient
rooms. Seacrest Studios at Children's National Hospital has been working
closely with NASA and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum while continuing
to provide space and STEAM related programming to their patients and
patients' families.

We continue our interest in Tech-talks, the Alexandria Radio Club board made
a decision to schedule Tech-talks monthly on the 4th Friday of each month.
The next Tech-talk will be on October 22.    Tech-talks topics resulted from
a club survey conducted this past spring with club members.  All sessions
are open to all hams.  These talks will be conducted monthly during the
coming months. The purpose of these sessions is to provide an opportunity
for in-depth conversations, including Q&A, on a variety of ham radio topics.
These sessions also follow up on ideas from club members desiring to build
on their knowledge of ham radio.  Thusly, it is also hoped that these
sessions will build on club mentoring efforts for our newest hams and will
serve to promote their continuing interest in club activities.  Finally, it
is hoped that these sessions will lead to more interest in operator license
upgrades enabled by increased knowledge of ham radio.

This month, we are again delighted and fortunate to welcome a new club
member.  Since last month Heath Wells (KO4TQD) has joined.   Please welcome
him when an opportunity arises.

Most ARES Safety vests were delivered during Field Day weekend for those who
attended.  The remaining vests are being held pending delivery.  Club polo
shirts have also arrived and were made available at delivery points, the
remaining shirts are pending delivery.,      

The list of upcoming club activities and presentations planned for 2021 is
listed below.  The Club also welcomes any ideas from club members for
programs and activities in 2021.  Please send your ideas to
<mailto:president at w4hfh.org> president at w4hfh.org.

Scheduled Activities and Presentations for 2021 updated as of Aug 9, 2020

.             January 8th - ZOOM MEETING, Pentagon Radio Club MARS
Operations by Gary Sessums (KC5QCN), 2021 Plans & Programs, Voting Meeting

.             February 6th - (CANCELLED) FROSTFEST, Richmond, VA    

.             February 12th - ZOOM MEETING, VA QSO Party, Gordon Miller
(NQ4K)

.             February 15th - (CANCELLED) George Washington Day Parade
Participation

.             March (Date) - License Classes begin, Ends May (Date)

.             March 6th - (CANCELLED) St Patrick's Day Parade  

.             March 12th - ZOOM MEETING, How to Learn and Have Fun with
Morse Code by Long Island CW Club, Howard (WB2UZE) and Jim (W6JIM) 

.             March 20-21th - VA QSO Party Weekend

.             April 7th - ZOOM MEETING, FIELD DAY 2021 planning committee
kickoff  

.             April 9th - ZOOM MEETING, West Mountain Radio, Mark Siegesmund
(W9WMR)

.             April 24th (VIRTUAL) WINTERFEST, Annandale, VA

.             May 14th - ZOOM MEETING, Antenna Tuners: When do you need one,
and how do they work? Barry Feierman (K3EUI)

.             May 21-23rd - (CANCELLED) HAMVENTION, Dayton, 

.             June 11th - ZOOM MEETING, FIELD DAY 2020 final briefing

.             June 26-27th - FIELD DAY 2021 Weekend

.             July 9th - ZOOM MEETING, AREDN, Joe Porcelli (KT3I) 

.             August 1st - Berryville HAMFEST, Berryville, VA

.             August 13th - ZOOM MEETING, ARC ARES, Rick Bunn (N4ASX) 

.             September 10th - ZOOM MEETING, Marine Corps Marathon (MCM)
2021 - Howard Cunningham

YOU ARE HERE!

.             October 8th - ZOOM MEETING, DX Engineering, Tim Duffy (K3LR)

.             October 31st - (CANCELED) MARINE CORPS MARATHON

.             November 12th - MEMBERSHIP MEETING, Elections

.             December 10th - MEETING, Christmas party

Proposed Tech Roundtable Topics for 2021 (Panel of experienced club members
and others discussing their experiences with Q&A.)

1.            Ham Activities for New Technician Class Hams 

2.            Handy talkies (HT) options, what kind, how much?  Pros and
Cons   

3.            Building a Go-kit for ARES  

4.            QRP (Reduced transmit power out)   

5.            Portable ops (rigs, batteries, antennas, etc.)  

6.            Mobile installations

7.            Starter Base Station Options 

8.            Stealthy Antennas for city dwellers 

9.            QSL Cards 

10.          Getting Started with ECHOLINK

11.          Getting Started with Amateur Radio Satellite Communications

12.          Parks on the Air for Beginners  

13.          Working with Repeaters

14.          Using NVIS 

15.          Working with Digital modes 

16.          Radio Scanners for Beginners  

17.          Packet Radio

18.          Raspberry Pi Applications   

19.          Virtual Ham Shack Tour 

20.          Ham Shack Hotline

21.          Installation and Logging with N3FJP

22.          Matching Antennas to Feedlines

23.          Propagation and Sunspot Cycle 25

24.          "Time" for new amateur radio operators

Please get vaccinated and stay safe with masks and social distancing.

73 Don, KI4D

ARES

I want to thank all submitted new FSD98 forms and your FEMA course
information to the EC.  Also, many of our volunteers provided the city with
copies of their vaccination cards.  Thank you for taking the time to deliver
paper copies.  All this combined allows us to know who has what capability
and training.  I am still working our ARES Alexandria SOP.  Now is the time
for you to tell me what you think should be included in this document.

I encourage all ARS volunteers to look at the four most wanted FEMA classes
IS-100, 200, 700 and 800.  

Without the Marine Corps Marathon, we do not have an ARES drill for October.
I many work up an exercise in November. 

Another activity was the G.W. Classic 10-mile run.  Thank you all for
volunteering, but the sponsor said they did not want our help this time, but
maybe in April.

73 Rick

ELMER'S INPUTS

More on WINLINK EMS.  Ed W4EDF asked for someone to practice PACKET PEER TO
PEER.  We set up a schedule and found one outstanding piece of information.

First, for Peer to Peer you need to put the other stations call sign or SID
in the to line, select PACKET PEER TO PEER.  This mode does not require the
internet.  But is only from one station to another.  When you draft up your
message you NEED to change from mode from the default PACKET to PACKET PEER
TO PEER.  Then when you connect the message, now in your outbox will be sent
to that station.  This is true of the other modes like VARA.

There is another program included with WINLINK RMS and that is SIMPLE
TERMINAL.  It is just that like YAPP or HYPERTERMINAL it is simple so as you
type each line is sent and you can monitor the packet traffic.  

73 Rick

N4ASX

Hamfests -

The spread of COVID-19 (AKA Corona Virus) has put a major damper on hamfests
for 2020 and early 2021.  However, with people getting vaccinated, there are
more hamfests showing up on the calendar.  Let's hope this continues.

The Mason-Dixon Hamfest will be held October 23 at the Army National Armory
in Westminster, MD.  Hours are from 7 Am to 12 PM.  Here is the link:
<https://k3pzn.net/mason-dixon-hamfest/>
https://k3pzn.net/mason-dixon-hamfest/

It looks like the Mason-Dixon Hamfest is end of hamfest season for us in
this area.  However, 2022 is not far off.  The Maryland Mobileers Amateur
Radio Club hold their hamfest in late January and the Richmond Frostfest in
early February. 

Training -

With our last class in the books, time to start planning for the next one.
Our next class is scheduled to start October 5 and end December 7.  That
leaves everybody enough time to get their new amateur radio equipment for
Christmas.  If you know of someone who has always wanted to become a ham
radio operator, send them to our website to sign up for the class.

We have been hearing some of recent graduates on the air.  Be sure to
welcome them to ham radio.

Contests - 

*         October 9 and 10 - Nevada QSO Party.  RST and ARRL section.

*         October 9 and 10 - Arizona QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.

*         October 9 and 10 - Pennsylvania QSO Party.  Exchange is serial
number and ARRL section.

*         October 9 and 10 - South Dakota QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and
state.

*         October 16 and 17 - New York QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and
state.

*         October 17 and 18 - Illinois QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and
state.

*         October 18 through 22 - ARRL School Club Roundup.  Exchange is RST
and class (Individual, Club, School).

*         October 24- North American Sprint, SSB.  Exchange is other
station's call, your call, serial number, your name, your state.

*         October 30 and 31 - CQ Worldwide DX Contest, SSB.  Exchange is RS
and CQ Zone.  We are in zone 5. 

*         November 6 through 8 - ARRL Sweepstakes - CW - Exchange is other
station's callsign serial number, class, your callsign, check (year you were
1st licensed), ARRL section.

*         November 20 through 23 - ARRL Sweepstakes - SSB - Exchange is
other station's callsign serial number, class, your callsign, check (year
you were 1st licensed), ARRL section.

*         November 27 and 28 - CQ Worldwide DX Contest, CW.  Exchange is RST
and CQ Zone.  We are in zone 5.

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 0000 (8 PM EDT 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 2 meter repeater to Reflector 030C, another
busy reflector.  If you want to link to another reflector, be sure to unlink
the repeater first and then link to the reflector of your choice.  All we
ask is you unlink the reflector you were listening on when you are finished
listening.   

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 some
of the new DMR repeaters.  The codeplugs include more than just the DMRVA
system repeaters.  Their website is   <http://www.dmrva.org/>
http://www.dmrva.org/

DMRVA has announced on their website they will be partnering with the
Hospital Emergency Amateur Radio Service (HEARS).  HEARS operates linked
repeaters primarily located in Southwest Virginia, North and South Carolina.
New talkgroups will be added to the DMRVA system and at least one talkgroup
will be deleted.  We will have the details as soon as we see them.  

In case you missed it, N8IK sent out a "Handy Intro Guide to DMR."  It does
a great job explaining some of the terms you hear about DMR.

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.    

Ian, N8IK, has started a Wednesday night DSTAR net on the 145.380 MHz
repeater at 8 PM.  We have linked the repeater to Reflector 62B so members
and former members outside the local area can join in.  Some time ago, I
asked the folks who maintain the lists of DSTAR reflectors to create a
Virginia perma-link reflector.  Many other states have them.  Be sure to put
Reflector 62B in your DSTAR programming.  

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

73, Rich, KA4GFY

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