[Alexandria Radio Club Reflector] FW: February Section Manager's Report, Covering January

[n4asx at cox.net]

Good stuff from ARRL.  Encourage those who are not members to join both ARRL and consider making the commitment to support ARES.  ARES is our payback to the community for our frequencies, helps defeat antenna restrictions,  supports STEM and a few other positives.  

73 Rick
N4ASX

-----Original Message-----
From: ARRL Members Only Web site <memberlist at www.arrl.org> 
Sent: Wednesday, February 8, 2023 12:33 PM
To: N4ASX at cox.net
Subject: February Section Manager's Report, Covering January

++Safety Note++

While we haven’t had any measurable snowfall in my neck of the woods (yet!), remember that we’re not getting any younger, and things like shoveling snow, operating snow-blowers and snow-plows are far more dangerous than we may think. Over-exertion, equipment that’s been sitting idle for most of a year, and of course the snow and ice, all can make for a recipe for disaster. Be careful, take plenty of breaks, and dress appropriately. You can easily overheat from exertion and get a heat injury even in the winter. Make sure and always have another pair of eyes watching over you in case something goes awry, and remember that removing the snow and ice can wait. It’s better to take multiple passes than to try and rush it and risk an injury, or worse.

++Affiliated Club Coordinator++

>From Mike WA8AHZ: 

+++Engaging Inactive Hams in the Neighborhood+++

ARRL makes the point “As licensed Hams we are all ambassadors of Amateur Radio and we should always be looking at ways in which we can welcome newly licensed hams and project a positive image that will attract others to Ham radio.”  But ELMERing should not be just for the new Ham.  Consider the many licensed Hams in Virginia who haven’t been on the air for years, or even decades.  As active Hams, consider reaching out to find an inactive Ham in your neighborhood, and invite him/her back to the hobby.  How to find an inactive Ham near you? 
Consider using the following app.  Look for a Ham you don’t know with an older issued radio call sign, and a “low” QRZ lookups number. 
https://haminfo.tetranz.com/map 

+++Virginia QSO Party, and Virginia’s VOTA Activation of W1AW/4+++

Are you planning to work the VA QSO Party (VQP) on March 18-19th?  If you are, you'll be helping us to put the VQP on the map!  We are historically ranked behind the PA, FL and CA QSO parties, based on the number of log entries submitted.  Just 100 more operators activating across Virginia would make a huge difference!  As a special incentive, this year during the VQP you can sign up and operate as W1AW/4.  ARRL has requested Virginia help celebrate the contributions of thousands of ARRL volunteers during Virginia's activation of Volunteers on the Air
(VOTA) event.  Can’t make the VQP this year, then still consider signing up to work as W1AW/4 from March 15th thru the 21st.  

•	To sign up for working as W1AW/4, see:   http://bit.ly/3iYqWCS  
•	VQP Rules are at:
https://www.qsl.net/sterling/VA_QSO_Party/2023_VQP/2023_VAQP_Rules.pdf
and 
•	ARRL VOTA rules are at:  http://www.arrl.org/volunteers-on-the-air

Questions, contact Evan, KM4SK at evanmann <at> aol <dot> com 

73,
Michael Aimone, WA8AHZ
ARRL VA Section Affiliated Club Coordinator 

++Upcoming Events++

+++Hamfests+++

2023 PVARC Mini Ham Fest 02/18/2023
Location: VFW Post 9292 Elkton
13958 Spotswood Trail
Elkton, VA 22827
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/pvarc/home
Sponsor: Page Valley Amateur Radio Club
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Talk-In: 146.625 131.8
Public Contact: Tim Matter , KM4TGC
611 Williams Avenue Shenandoah, VA 22849
Phone: 540-421-2948
Email: pvarccarrie at gmail.com

Winterfest - The National Capital Area Ham Radio Fair 03/19/2023
Location: Oakton High School
2900 Sutton Rd.
Vienna, VA 22180
Website: https://viennawireless.net/wp/events/winterfest/
Sponsor: Vienna Wireless Society
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Talk-In: K4HTA repeater, 146.685 MHz, Offset: -0.600 MHz, CTCSS of 110.9 Hz Public Contact: John Higi , W4FSO
9893 Georgetown Pike No. 153 Great Falls, VA 22066
Phone: 703-216-8368
Email: john_higi at yahoo.com

ThawFest 04/22/2023
Location: American Legion Greene County Post 128
636 Madison Road
Stanardsville, VA 22973
Website: http://gcvarc.net
Sponsor: Greene County VA ARC
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Talk-In: 145.470 / -0.6 / PL151.4
Public Contact: Tim Stevens , KM4YRX
1196 Allen Farm Lane Earlysville, VA 22936
Phone: 434-960-5555
Email: farmert at bigtomato.us

W4OVH Ole Virginia Tailgate 06/03/2023
Location: Field Across from Signal Hill Park
9300 Signal View Dr. Manassas Park
Manassas Park, VA
Website: https://w4ovh.net/tailgate/
Sponsor: W4OVH Ole Virginia Hams
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Talk-In: 146.970
Public Contact: Don Meyerhoff , WA2SWX
14014 Betsy Ross Ln. Centreville, VA 20121
Phone: 703-597-3211
Email: wa2swxdm at gmail.com

We currently do not have a Section Convention host, and here are currently no other hamfests or conventions in the Commonwealth. Please submit any requests for an ARRL sanctioned event, go to http://arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events and follow the instructions there. Remember that all of the requests go through the Section Manager and the Division Director, so allow for plenty of time for these to be reviewed. Please reach out to me if you’d like to get your club (or combination of clubs) to host the Section Convention.

+++Contest Calendar+++
2023 February

13-17   School Club Roundup
18-19   International DX – CW

2023 March

4-5        International DX– Phone  

April 2023

16       Rookie Roundup – Phone

The calendar can also be found at https://www.arrl.org/contest-calendar

+++Virginia QSO Party+++

The VA QSO party, hosted by Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club is on the same time/date slot as the first of two rounds where we will have “guest” operators as W1AW/4, so that will be a great opportunity to get some twofers (or maybe threefers or fourfers!) in the logs. Mike is working on trying to get some coverage into the harder to get Counties/Independent Cities, and Suzy KD5YBF and I are planning to fire up the land barge and going to SW VA to activate some of those down there. We’re going to make that a week or more long, with the first weekend being devoted to the QSO party, and the remaining time to meeting with folks, and getting on the air from some of the beautiful State and Federal lands.

++Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES)++

+++ARES January Report+++

For the month of January, there were over 1,100 hours reported. HQ has changed the reporting structure, and a new form is being rolled out.
More on this as it develops. The stations reporting this month are:
N4LNQN, N4MDR, KY4LP, KD6AKC, KG4BIR, KN4RPA, KN4AOB, WA4JN, KQ9P, AD4TJ, K4RMY, WA4RTS, K4MSR, W4RJG, WB7EDM, KM4YSI, KA8TNF, W4SVP, WA4PGI, WD4ITN, K4YNO, W4BEA, KM4HHR, N4ASX, KG4GIY, KH7RC, KB4OPR, KI4LLA, K4MVM, WB4KZI, K4FOY, WD4ITE

Comments from the districts:

D1: Combined weekly voice and Winlink nets, Winlink gateway operations.
D2: Met with Page County ARC looking at a potential EC Attend Zoom Club meeting. 
D5: We run our normal weekly training nets (5) as well as our weekly Tech Topic training nets (5). We held (4) Technician Training sessions in preps for an Exam Session in February.  Additionally, we held part 2 of a 3-part Operations Planning Meeting this month.  Lastly, we had several people participate in Winter Field Day.
D7: Alexandria Radio Club participated in Winter Field Day at Alexandria Fire Station 210.  This was attended by 8 operators and was supported by the Alexandria Emergency Management office as a demonstration of HF portable operation.  The city performed a call up on Everbridge of ARES volunteers as a drill.  Due to the workweek event and short response time, only 9 of 25 responded, working on improvements.

Please remember that your reports are essential for demonstrating to our partner organizations that we have the capability and capacity to assist them in their communications needs, and are the responsibility of every EC to complete monthly, no later than the 2nd of each month. The response we have had from our partners and potential partners has been very positive, but we need to sustain that, and improve our capabilities. Marty KE4KEW is working on another round of Zoom calls where he can discuss this more in depth.

++Get On The Air (GOTA) For Life Initiative++

>From Ed KW4GF:

Josh Nass Speaks With GOTA For Life Design Team

At a special meeting of the section’s GOTA For Life Design Team, Josh Nass KI6NAZ, creator and host of the wildly popular YouTube channel “Ham Radio Crash Course” presented his views on how to keep 25–50-year-old amateur radio operators on the air. Anyone can access basic notes on this presentation and other GOTA notes at www.emcommwiki.org. Just write GOTA in the search block and click on the GOTA For Life link.
Section club presidents who would like to view Josh’s presentation may make this request for the pro-gram’s link at KKW4GF at Arrl.net.

There is a presentation for clubs which parallels the Team’s work.
Please contact Ed at KW4GF at ARRL.net to set up a Zoom presentation.

The team’s initial work will conclude in 2023.

++Section Manager Close-out++

We continue to work on getting folks to activate the rarest counties for the Virginia QSO Party. The Southwestern portion of the state has the most of those, but there are a few scattered about. The Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC) has provided a graphic that shows those hot spots. You can find that at https://emcommwiki.org/index.php/Virginia#Volunteers_On_The_Air

Also, the Volunteers On The Air Event overlaps with the March round of the W1AW/4 Virginia activation, so this is a great opportunity for a “two-fer!” Please let me or Mike WA8AHZ know if you’d like to help out on the activation of either W1AW/4, or some of those rare counties/independent cities. Suzy KD5YBF and I are planning to attempt activation of some of those.

Keep an ear out for us! We’d love to hear you on the air!

73,
Jack KE4LWT

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ARRL Virginia Section
Section Manager: Jack R Smith, KE4LWT
ke4lwt at arrl.org
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