News from the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC)

Hi,

The last meeting of the year, the December meeting, is the coming Wednesday.

I had a great month. I worked the three big ham contests. the ARRL Nov Sweepstakes CW and Phone contests and am working the CQWW DX CW contest - 40M only, so I am taking a break now until the band opens up again later this afternoon. Having a lot of fun.

Refreshments for this month will be provided by Kevin, W4KLS.

We have a lot of club business to go over.

First, we will review the status of the VA QSO Party. I believe Mark, KI4OBT has started to give presentations on the Party to interested clubs. I have been collecting donations for plaques.

Second, Bill, WF1L, can go over the plan for the special event station at the 5th annual Herndon holiday train show on 11 Dec.

Finally, as a club we are considering switching to N1MM from CT for our field day logging program. I have a few videos to show to introduce us to the N1MM logging program.

See you at the meeting!

73, Gordon, NQ4K

SPARC held their monthly meeting on Nov 3, 2010 at the Claude Moore Community Center. Fifteen members attended. Following member introductions, we discussed upcoming club activities.

SPARC will operate a 2 meter station from the W&OD caboose on Saturday, December 11th. The station supports the Herndon Holiday Train Show and will operate from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Set up is at 9:00 AM. Bill, WF1L, is the event coordinator. The plan for the event can be found on the website at http://www.qsl.net/sterling/OSE/2010_Herndon_Caboose_SES/Plan.html.

Gordon, NQ4K, discussed plans for the upcoming Technician Class. Volunteer instructors have been identified for some of the subject areas, but a few others are still needed. Contact Gordon if you would like to help out. Tentative dates are planned for February and we're looking for recommendations for a location.

Pre-planning continued for the 2011 Virginia QSO Party. Rules have been finalized and there will be no changes for 2011. Gordon is soliciting for plaque sponsors and making arrangements for presentations to Virginia clubs.

Dick, W2YE, provided the QSL Bureau report and stated his new letter managers are working out fine.

For our presentation this month, Tom WA2BCK provided an excellent briefing on contesting. Tom said that he would rather run in a contest (as opposed to search and pounce) and provided many suggestions for operating in any contest:

• Make your own goals and try to improve over the previous contest.
• For station setup, place the computer monitor directly in front of you. Setup additional equipment to the right and left.
• Buy the best chair that you can afford. Adjustable height is a big plus.
• Use a headset with a mic.
• Map the key strokes in your logging program to automate the QSO as much as possible.
• If you will be operating for a limited time or with low power, the best time to operate is on Sunday.

Thanks to Tom for all the great ideas.

They next club meeting will be Dec 1st, 2010, at 7:00 PM at the Claude Moore Community Center.

73,
--MARK KI4OBT

Congratulations Sparcies!

We placed 15th Nationally and 1st in Virginia for our 3A category for
Field Day!

Way to go, Team!

Bill - WF1L