[SMCARA] Reminder: SMCARA meeting this coming Thursday, 28 February at 7:30 PM

[Pete Butt]

Folks,

  Just a reminder... the monthly meeting of the St. Mary's
County Amateur Radio Association (SMCARA) will be held this
coming Thursday evening, 28 February 2002 beginning at
7:30 PM sharp.  The meeting is held in the rear multi-purpose
meeting room of the Lexington Park library at the intersection
of Coral Drive and Tulagi Place, diagonally across the 
intersection from the new Lexington Park post office near
Gate #2 of the Naval Air Station. Talk-in will be provided on
the 146.64 MHz 2-meter repeater (open access, no PL required)
or the 443.05 MHz UHF repeater (open access, no PL required).

  Guest speaker for this month will be Tom Clarke, W4OKW,
who will be providing an insight into the latest happenings
with APRS and GPS.  I'm sure that everyone will learn something
from this month's talk and demonstrations to take home and
apply to their own station's operation.

  Again, this month, we will have some light refreshments for
everyone attending.  We will start with a very short business
meeting and then roll right into Tom's talk.  To speed up the
50/50 raffle a little, we will be selling tickets prior to the
start of the meeting.

  I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible!

  Pete (WA3UMY)
  President, SMCARA

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               Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

  As some of you may know, SMCARA member Gene Talley, N3NO
was involved in a serious motor vehicle accident last weekend
while responding to a fire call in Hollywood, Maryland. While
proceeding through a green traffic light at the Route 235
intersection in Hollywood, Gene's truck was broad sided by the
driver of another pickup truck who ran the light.  After being
extricated from the wreckage, Gene was flown by a Maryland
State Police helicopter medivac crew to Suburban Hospital
Trauma Center in Bethesda, Maryland.  N3NO suffered a broken
clavicle, broken ribs, a severe head concussion, and numerous
cuts and bruises.  His Ranger truck did not survive the accident.
The driver of the other truck was also injured and was issued
some 19 moving violations by the state police including failure
to stop for a red traffic light, failure to yield the right of
way, driving with a suspended license, driving an unregistered
vehicle, no insurance, etc.  Not a particularly smart individual.

  Gene is currently resting at home in Hollywood recuperating
from his injuries.  We wish him all the best in getting through
this tough time and hope that everything heals up ok.

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                     More IRLP news...

  We were particularly gratified to see the great turnout of folks
for the January SMCARA meeting with 46 of you showing up!  The 
presentation by Pete Butt on the new Internet Repeater Linking Project
(IRLP) node here in Lexington Park got a lot of folks thinking about
using this new capability to make new friends and contact new places
around the world.

  If you were unable to attend, point your web browser to this web
address:  http://www.qsl.net/wa3umy and then select the IRLP link
on the left side (third one down) to get complete information about
this new capability.  Even if you don't have a UHF radio to get up
on the 443.05 MHz repeater, you can still link to one of the nine (9)
reflectors via an Internet audio capability and listen to some of the
IRLP action.  Complete details are provided on the web site on how
to listen on the Internet.

  Pete traveled to Davidsonville, Maryland this past Thursday 
evening and gave an interactive IRLP talk to about 35 members of
the Anne Arundel Radio Club.  A number of them have since sent e-mails
thanking Pete for coming up and making them aware of this new mode.
It looks like we might even see another node or two in that portion
of Maryland!

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                     Upcoming Hamfests...

  - Sunday, 3 March 2002:  "Winterfest" (the National Capital Area
    Ham Radio Fair), at the Northern Virginia Community College,
    Annandale Campus, 8333 Little River Turnpike, Annandale, Virginia;
    opens at 8 AM, Admission is $6.00, All activities are indoors
    (NO TAILGATING OUTSIDE), Guest speakers include Riley Hollingsworth,
    Chief of Enforcement for the FCC; RFI expert Mike Martin; and ARRL
    Director Dennis Bodson.  Sponsored by the Vienna Wireless Society,
    see http://winterfest.home.att.net for additional details.

  - Saturday, 6 April and Sunday, 7 April 2002:  "2002 Greater Baltimore
    Hamboree & Computerfest" at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in 
    Timonium, Maryland (also hosting the ARRL Maryland State Convention).
    Hours are Saturday (8 AM to 5 PM) and Sunday (8 AM to 3 PM).  Indoor
    and outdoor tailgate areas open at 6 AM each day.  Admission is $6/day.
    Sponsored by the Baltimore Amateur Radio Club, Inc., 3 buildings with
    over 1,100 INDOOR selling spaces plus 5 acres of outdoor tailgating
    area; see http://www.gbhc.org for more information.

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  Hope the see you at the meeting!


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