News from the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC)

Hi,

At the September 2009 SPARC meeting, Gordon, NQ4K proposed that the two outgoing officers of the club (John, de N3QT and Jim, AF4MO) be elected Directors. John has served a long time a club secretary; we are not sure when he started. Jim served for the past two years as vice-president. The club so voted.

They will join Dick, W2YE, as directors of SPARC.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

The annual Boy Scout Jamboree of the Air (JOTA) weekend is coming up October 17 & 18, 2009 http://www.scout.org/jota Due to family commitments this year I will not be able to participate and am looking for and individual(s) who would be willing to spend some time with the Scouts on Saturday October 17, 2009 (9:00AM to 3:00PM).

What is required is to setup a HF station, make contact with other scouts or individuals and let the local scouts be on the air and communicate with their fellow scouts around the USA or the World, depending on propagation!

You would be responsible to supply all the gear to do the event, rig, coax, antenna, power supply and power extension (100’) and anything else you deem necessary. I will be happy to loan an antenna and some coax for the event but am unable to be there myself. It will take place in a parking lot in Ashburn on Caldwell CT just off Loudoun County Parkway and Waxpool Road. There are light poles in the parking lot at sufficient height and separation to hang a HF antenna.

If this is something you would like to do and can commit to, I will be happy to fill you in on all the details. Please let me know ASAP so we can lock it in for the Scouts.

73 & Thank you,

Bud, w4ksn

The results of the 2009 ARRL DX Phone Contest were published in the Sep 2009 issue of QST (page 79) and SPARC posted a score of 267,267 points. This was good enough for 12th place in the Local Club Category. The contest was held the weekend of March 7th - 8th and seven SPARC members submitted logs. Although the top score was over 2 million points, it wouldn't take a large increase for SPARC to move into the top 10.

73,
--MARK KI4OBT

Thanks to an excellent turnout of club members and the outstanding efforts of Bill, WF1L, we had a very successful day getting the Herndon train station on the air. The log for special event station K4H has more than 80 entries from a wide range of locations.

The set-up team arrived early and had the radio and antenna installed in short order. The antenna was stretched from a nearby tree to a flagpole on the other end of the lawn. Power was provided the entire day by one of Bill's hefty marine batteries. Despite an initial problem with high SWR and some noise from an unknown source (possibly the power lines), we enjoyed many fine QSOs. After checking conditions on the bands, we made nearly all of our QSOs on 40M. At special request, Henry, K2BFY, completed a few contacts on 2M. Although the weather was cloudy most of the day, we did not have any rain.

Pictures from the event are available on the SPARC web site. Take special note of Gary's, K4SRX, full conductor uniform. He had a great time discussing Herndon rail history with the several visitors we had throughout the day.

Charlie Waddell, a member of the Herndon Town Council, visited our station at the end of the day. He asked a few questions about our operation and thanked all of us for supporting the event. Richard Downer, a member of the Town of Herndon Historical Society and a former Town Council member also made a stop by the SPARC station. Finally, we were interviewed by reporters from the Observer and the Connection newspapers. Keep your eyes open for an article in an upcoming paper.

Thanks to all for this fun event.

73,
--MARK KI4OBT

On Saturday, Sept 12th, we'll activate special event station K4H at the W&OD train station in Herndon. This activity recognizes the 150th anniversary of the arrival of rail service to Herndon.

The special event station will run from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM local time on the following frequencies: 3.865 MHz, 7.265 MHz, and 14.265 MHz (all on phone). Assistance is needed in setting up and operating. Please arrive an hour early if you can help set up.

To receive a QSL for this event, please send an SASE to
Bill McCourt – WF1L
1554 Twisted Oak Drive
Reston, VA 20194

We had 16 SPARC members at our September meeting. Members discussed their summer radio activities and participated in our annual "show and tell". Highlights included Henry’s (K2BFY) miniature frequency counter, Bill's (WF1L) lightweight, hand-carry QRP station and Gordon’s (NQ4K) code trainer. If you’d like more on the CW trainer, you can check out the RUFZ web site.

Jim, AF4MO, showed some of his previous certificates from the Hiram Percy Maxim birthday event (Jim’s birthday is on the same day, just a few years later). SPARC members that work for the QSL bureau can append the /140 to their call sign for this event. See details at the ARRL site.

Bill, WF1L, discussed an upcoming event (Sep 12th thru 20th) activating multiple stations along the old Route 66. You can find more info at the W6JBT web page.

Bud, W4KSN, presented the upcoming activity calendar. In the near term, we have the Herndon train station event (Sep 12th) and Sterling Fest (Oct 10th). Separate announcements will be posted for both of these.

Dick, W2YE gave a report on the QSL bureau operations and Ray, KD4RSL, gave the treasurers report. The next meeting is Wednesday, Oct 7th, at 7:00 PM in the Claude Moore Park Community Center.

73,
--MARK KI4OBT