News from the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC)

Hi,

It is over. A good 24 hours of operating.

I wish to thank every one who participated. You did a great job and I hope that every one had good time.

We managed to keep all the radios operating almost all the time. We had plenty of operators and I believe everyone had the opportunity to get on the air. We even had a few future hams come out and get on the air for the first time.

Dick, W2YE, will prepare our official entry. I believe we did better than last year. We had a few less QSO's but more CW and digital contacts which on the balance should give us a higher score and a small advancement in our ranking.

Again, thank you all for making this a memorable weekend.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

Antenna rope hanging went well. Dead-eye Dick, W2YE, and dead-eye Don, K7CS, eash did one tower. Dead-eye Russ, W3RST, had a really good hanging and did three.

Set up starts at 1000 today. For people who have not been to our field day before, come on out, look for someone doing something, and ask if you can help. There is always things to do to get ready.

Operations start at 1400. 15 minutes before we start we will have a quick meeting and let Kevin, W4KLS, take a group picture.

See our field day web site at:
http://www.qsl.net/sterling/Field_Day/2010FD/2010FD_Main.html

73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

Field Day is upon us. Should be a good weekend. Might be a little hot, but the humidity should be OK.

Events start tomorrow Friday, at 7 PM at Park View High School with stringing the ropes for putting up the antennas. Takes about an hour, if dead-eye Dick, or dead-eye Russ, or dead-eye Don can work their magic with their EZ HANG SlingShot & Reel Device for installing wire antennas.

Please all come out and enjoy a short time of fun and humor.

See our field day web site at:
http://www.qsl.net/sterling/Field_Day/2010FD/2010FD_Main.html

73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

On Saturday, we mailed the Virginia QSO Party plaques that were not picked up at the Manassas Hamfest.

Today, Monday, we mailed the certificates to all participants. Again, to those who did not pick up there certificate at the Awards Ceremony.

If you do not receive a certificate in the near future, please email and we will mail a replacement.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

See: http://www.qsl.net/sterling/HerndonFest/HerndonFest.html

73, Gordon, NQ4K

On, 6/9/2010 5:31 AM, Bud Aiello emailed::
For all the SPARC members that assisted on Saturday and Sunday at the
Herndon Festival activities I would like to say Thank You! With out you it
would have been a long boring weekend and we SPARC would not have been
successful. Despite a couple of HT issues on Sunday morning and Zero (0)
propagation on Saturday we did meet lots of perspective Hams and a few
looking for a Ham Home! Thank you again for all your help and I am sure
Gordon will be posting pictures shortly!

Bud, w4ksn

SPARC held their monthly meeting on June 2nd at the Claude Moore Community Center. Sixteen Members were present.

The annual election of officers took place at this meeting. All existing officers were re-elected to their current positions. Congratulations and thanks for the unselfish support. The officers are:
President: Gordon, NQ4K
Vice-President: Bud, W4KSN
Treasurer: Ray, KD4RSL
Secretary: Mark, KI4OBT

The remainder of the meeting centered on upcoming events: Presentation of Virginia QSO Party awards, Herndon Fest, and Field Day.

Gordon has completed the analysis of the scoring and ordered the plaques. The presentation will take place at the The Manassas Hamfest on June 13th. Several members volunteered to assist with the presentation which is scheduled to begin at 10:00AM.

Bud, W4KSN, discussed our support to the Herndon Fest on June 5th and 6th. Details of volunteer assignments and maps of the foot race were reviewed. As I prepare these notes, the event has already concluded and we had outstanding support both days with a good turnout of the membership. We talked with several members of the community, including a few licensed hams, and made sure they were aware of our club/activities. Bud sends his thanks to all who made it possible. The only downside is the "dead zone" next to the depot -- we weren't able to complete a single HF QSO the entire day!

Most details for Field Day were finalized at this meeting. We welcome all members and anyone interested in ham radio. We'll meet Friday evening (June 25th) prior to the event for initial preparations and then arrive on Saturday to begin setting up the stations. You don't want to miss the traditional Wouff-Hong, Rettysnitch, and Uggerumph Discussion Saturday evening at 6:00 PM local! Initial assignments were made for operator schedules and there are many openings still to be filled. Full details of the plans are on the club website at:
http://www.qsl.net/sterling/Field_Day/2010FD/2010FD_Main.html

This was our last meeting prior to the summer break and there will be no meeting in July. Our next scheduled activity is the SPARC Pizza Party on August 4th. If we don't see you at Field Day, have a great summer.

73,
--MARK KI4OBT

Hi,

Another month has come and gone very quickly and it is time for the June Meeting on Wednesday, 2 Jun 10.

The only ham radio thing I did this month was work on the log metadata for the Virginia QSO Party. The plaque awardees have been identified and we are rapidly coming up on the awards ceremony at the Manassas Hamfest.

Refreahments this month will be provided by Bruce, KJ4MFF.

We will not have a special presentation this month. Instead we will focus on preparing for the June club activities.

First, Bud, W4KSN, will discuss our preparations for Herndon Festival. We will have a booth on Saturday,5 Jun, and support the races on Sunday, 6 Jun.

Second, we will be conducting the VA QSO Party awards ceremony on Sunday, 13 Jun, at the Manassas Hamfest.

Third, we will be operating from Park View High School for field day on 26 - 27 Jun. We need to finalize our plan for this event.

Finally, we have elections for officers for the next SPARC year. We are looking for people who are interested in becoming an officer of the club.

See you at the meeting!

73, Gordon, NQ4K