[SMCARA] SMCARA club meeting... this Thursday (27 June) @ 7:30 PM

[Pete Butt]

Hi Folks,

  Here is a reminder for our upcoming monthly
meeting of the St. Mary's County Amateur Radio
Association this Thursday evening, 27 June 2002,
beginning at 7:30 PM.  A review of field day
operations this past weekend and a discussion of
how to market your excess ham equipment at a
flea market or via the web is on the agenda.

  Please note - annual dues renewals are now being
collected.  Dues are the main financial vehicle 
used to keep your club viable and are spent on
authorized club activities and projects of benefit
to the majority of the club membership.  The largest
use of dues is to sponsor our annual field day
operations at the Hollywood Fire Station with some
funds allocated each year for upgrades to the K3HKI
2-meter repeater system.  This summer, we will be
beginning a move of the repeater to a new site which
will entail some expenditure of club funds to procure
the new antenna and other small items.  Please help
us to continue supporting these very valuable
initiatives by renewing your membership in SMCARA.
Annual dues are $20.00 for a one-year repeater 
sponsorship or $12.00/year for those of you who do
not use the repeater and don't wish to help support
it.  Family memberships are an additional $1.00/year
per family member added to the basic dues.  For
example, dues for a husband/wife ham family would
only be $20 + $1 = $21.00 membership for one year.
We hope that all of you receiving this will consider
renewing your memberships for another year or join if
you are not a member now.  Log onto the club website
at http://www.qsl.net/smcara and download the membership
form, fill it out and mail it with your check to club
treasurer, Garner Hayden, W3SI in Hollywood.
Thanks for your support!

  Field Day 2002 is now history and I dare say that
no one will challenge the statement that this was  
our best field day effort ever since the club was formed
in 1956.  The site, in the field at the rear of the
Hollywood Fire Station, was tailor made for holding an
event of this magnitude and the weather was perfect
for the entire weekend.  The 40' x 40' commercial tent
we had installed proved to be an outstanding shield from
the hot sun and permitted us to have all operating positions
under cover.

  I'd like to thank the many folks who took the time out
of their busy family schedules to come out to the site
and help out with setup/teardown, operations or just to
visit.  We had over 40 in attendance and many came out on
Saturday evening for the picnic.  We operated 3A again 
this year using the club call (K3HKI) and garnered several
thousand points in the process.  A noteworthy achievement
this year was that we were able to find a few stalwarts
who stayed all night to keep the stations going through the
early morning hours (thanks to A.J. Farmer (AJ3U), Warren
Singer (WA3VVV), Barry Shapiro (WR3Z) and Pete (WA3UMY).
I'd also like to publicly thank Gene Talley and the members
of the local REACT organization who brought the revamped
REACT communications trailer to the site so we had a fully
equipped talk-in station.  I'd also like to thank Gene for
assisting with the coordination with the fire department,
getting the grass cut, getting us ice, and a host of other
things - thanks Gene!  Special thanks go out to Fred Stowell
(N3AZ) who provided us with outstanding support putting up
FOUR HF wire antennas (2 dipoles at 90' and two slopers)
plus the magnificent grounding system and the tent lighting.
We grounded everything this year and it really worked.  In
many of our previous field day efforts, we didn't ground the
radios and the amount of RFI was noticeable.  This year, there
wasn't hardly a hint of EMI between stations!  I'd also like
to thank Garner Hayden (W3SI) for donating his beam antenna
and expertise in antenna repairs.  I'd like to thank Tom Clarke
for bringing all the radios from the MARS station on base so
we had some good radios to operate with and I'd like to thank
Barry Shapiro (WR3Z) for providing us with all the help with
the CT logging programs on the laptops and showing everyone
just how great computerized logging really is (I'm a believer,
that's for sure). Barry will help us get the electronic logs
merged together over the next few days so we can see what our
final score was.

  We were graced with a visit by local reporter Paul Liebe
who took some pictures and interviewed Grant Graessle.  And
finally, many of you came out and had a good time putting up
antennas, operating the stations, eating and generally having
a good time. Thank you for your participation!

  I hope to see many of you this Thursday evening at 7:30 PM
at the Lexington Park library rear meeting room.  And don't
forget to help us keep the club solvent by sending in your
dues renewals to our Treasurer, Garner Hayden (W3SI).  Good
hamming and see you on the bands.

  Vr, Pete (WA3UMY)
      President, St. Mary's County Amateur Radio Assn.
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