[Alexandria Radio Club Reflector] Alexandria Radio Club - August 2022 Newsletter and meeting notice.

Mon Aug 8 10:36:04 EDT 2022

ARC-SHORTS

August 2022

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 ZOOM meeting will be Friday AUGUST 12th at 7PM.  A ZOOM meeting
invite will be sent out soon.  See the President's Corner for details on the
next meeting.  This meeting will be both IN PERSON and via ZOOM. We hope to
have Barry Feierman K3EUI on the NANO VNA.

Last Meeting

Date:               July 8, 2022

Time:               1920 hours

Location:        Hybrid Meeting: Via Zoom & In-Person at APD Community Room,
Wheeler Lane

Presentation

*	Topic:  In Search of the "Optimum" Loop: Magnetic Loop Antennas
*	Presenter: John Portune, W6NBC

Reports

Secretary:  Carol KN4LL

*	Briefed June 10, 2022 meeting minutes

Treasurer:  Don KI4D

*	Current Balance = $10,887.56

Membership: Richard KW4UJ

*	95 paid; 9 Lifetime; Total of 104 members
*	Need to reach out to unpaid members to clean up the membership
roster

Projects: Rick N4ASX/Don KI4D

*	ARES/RACES:  Field Day a successful event; Rick briefed highlights 
*	History Project:  No progress; on hold until meeting with Judge
Kolby happens

Repeaters: Rich KA4GFY/Ian N8IK

*	All repeaters are up and running; no issues reported
*	AREDN Project - Ian is trying to gain access to hospital site to
load new node software

Education/Training:  Rich KA4GFY

*	Technician and General license classes will begin Tuesday, October
4th and finish on Tuesday, December 6th.

Trailer:  Rich KA4GFY

*	Trailer needs a new battery charger with a meter; motion made and
passed to budget $300 to purchase it. 

Webmaster:  Richard KW4UJ

*	Site needs to be updated with WordPress version 6.0

Old Business  

*	Field Day - Rich briefed Stats - QSOs and Bonus Points 

New Business

*	N/A

Net Control

*	14 July:  N8IK
*	21 July:  KA4GFY
*	28 July:  WA6MPR
*	04 August:  WD4ADF
*	11 August:  N8IK

Announcements

*	Next month's meeting will be a hybrid in-person/online
*	Berryville Hamfest - August 7th - Clark County Fairgrounds
*	Sunday, July 11th, 9am- Solar Panels demonstration by Don and Ed 

ADJOURNMENT:  2100 hours

Attendance (20)

Name

Call Sign

Position

Richard

KW4UJ

President

Sean

K4KBK

Vice President

Don

KI4D

Treasurer

Rich

KA4GFY

Training Coordinator

Carol

KN4LLL

Secretary

Ian

N8IK

Director

Jay

KR3W

Ted

W9TCE

Gary

KC5QCN

Bryan

WD4ADF

Brian

KQ4AEQ

Wilson

KM4KLK

Alex

KO4ZMC

Joe 

KO4QQX

Francisco

KF0JUD

Rick

N4ASX

Via Zoom

Bob

KO4ZIK

Via Zoom

Scott

KM4RDR

Via Zoom

Corey

KN4YZY

Via Zoom

John

W6NBC

Presenter Via Zoom

Presidents Corner

Richard, KW4UJ

ARES

Thanks To Sean K4KBK for getting the club a spot in the annual Delray night
out.  We had a few people ask about the club and amateur radio.  Thanks to
Don for coming out as well.

We are always looking for more volunteers and also hope that our volunteers
take advantage of FEMA and ARRL training.  Level I is simple just a few IS
classes (FEMA) might take you a few hours and it's very important to
understand how incidents are organized and how we fit in.

Level II provides a more focused training in communications.

We only have three LEVEL III members. Level III is for those who will manage
an ARES response, drill or public service event.  

CERT is also a good group to work with and volunteer to support.

Finally, the American Red Cross has valuable training.

Like the Boy Scout motto says " Be Prepared"

The trailer still has some projects outstanding.  When the weather gets
cooler, we will clean and paint the roof, add the GMRS, 900MHz and other
changes to the radio suite, Add a better ground system,  and maybe update
the computers on board.  One item that may be of value would be a hotspot to
allow better internet access.

We are still working with INOVA to ensure that we can support them in the
event of a disaster or emergency beyond their normal operations.  Not only
is Alexandria Hospital moving to the Landmark site in 2028, but there will
be a new hospital next to the HealthPlex and I will work with the Fairfax EC
to make sure we can support them as well.

As part of Field Day, the VHF/UHF radios in the EOC were checked out and
performed well.

Activities and Events - Rich KA4GFY

Hamfests -

The Tidewater Hamfest and Swapmeet is August 16 at the Ambassador Club of
Portsmouth, 364 Peninsula Avenue in Portsmouth.  Talk-in is on the 146.850
MHz repeater (PL 100 Hz).  Here is the link:
<http://virginiabeachhamfest.com/> http://virginiabeachhamfest.com/

The Shelby Hamfest, "The Grand-Daddy of Them All," is September 2 through 4
at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds in Shelby North Carolina.  Talk-in on
the 146.88 (no PL) repeater.  Here is the link:
<http://shelbyhamfest.com/> http://shelbyhamfest.com/

The Hagerstown Tailgate Fest is September 17 at the Maugansville Brethran
Bible Church, 17904 Binley Avenue, in Maugansville, MD.  It's sponsored by
the Antietam Radio Association.   Here is the link to the flyer:
<https://w3cwc.org/images/2022-ARA-TailgateFest.pdf>
https://w3cwc.org/images/2022-ARA-TailgateFest.pdf

The Columbia Amateur Radio Association's CARAFest will be October 2 at the
Howard County Fairgrounds.  Here is the link to CARA's hamfest page:
<https://www.carafest.org/> https://www.carafest.org/

The Hollywood, MD TailgateFest takes place on October 8 at the Hollywood
Volunteer Fire Department.  It's sponsored by the Saint Mary's County
Amateur Radio Association.  Here is the link:    <http://k3hki.org/>
http://k3hki.org/

Training -

Our next Technician and General classes are scheduled to start about October
4 and end December 6, 2022.  Some of our visitors at Field Day expressed
interest in becoming hams themselves and I have been receiving a few
inquiries about our next class.  If you know of anyone who has always wanted
to become a ham, but hasn't known how, send them our way. If you are a
Technician looking to upgrade or know a Technician looking to upgrade, let
us know.  We have been teaching both classes via Zoom and it is working very
well.

Contests - 

*         August 13 - Kentucky State Parks on the Air.  Exchange is state.

*         August 13 and 14 - Maryland/DC QSO Party.  Exchange is entry class
and state (most of us operating from home will be a "standard" station).

*         August 20 and 21 - North American QSO Party - SSB.  Exchange is
name and state.

*         August 27 through 29.  Hawaii QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and
state.

*         August 27 and 28 - Kansas QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.

*         September 3 and 4 - Colorado QSO Party.  Exchange is name and
state.

*         September 4 and 5 - Tennessee QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and
state.

*         September 10 - Ohio State parks on the Air.  Exchange is state.

*         September 10 and 11 - Alabama QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and
state.

*         September 17 and 18 - Iowa QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.

*         September 17 and 18 - Texas QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and state.

*         September 17 - Wisconsin Parks on the Air.  Exchange is state.

*         September 17 and 18 - New Jersey QSO Party.  Exchange is RST and
state.

*         September 17 and 18 - New Hampshire QSO Party.  Exchange is RST
and state.

*         September 24 and 25 - Maine QSO Party.  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 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 2-meter repeater to Reflector
062C for Virginia and Maryland communications, and the 70cm Reflector 030C,
for long-range communications and the 23cm voice repeater to Reflector 025B,
the Northern Virginia local reflector or 001C, the world-wide 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.   

The DMR side is working normally with access to the DMR servers.  If you are
new to DMR, DMRVA has codeplugs for some of the more common DMR radios on
their website.  Their website is   <http://www.dmrva.org/>
http://www.dmrva.org/   DMRVA 

I recently purchased an Alinco DJ-5XT handheld for analog and DMR use.  So
far, it is performing very well.  I will do a quick review in a later ARC
Shorts.

The Alexandria Radio Club has one of the only 23 cm analog repeaters in the
area.  Give it a try on your IC-9700, G-7 or ID-1.    

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.  The Wednesday night net is starting to pick up some
momentum.  We link the repeater to Reflector 62B at net time 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

-- 
Civil Air Patrol National Capital Wing
*"Citizens Serving Communities"*

CFC Charity #26757
www.NatCapWing.org <http://www.NatCapWing.org>

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