News from the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC)

Hi,

Field Day is over for another year.

Still, there is some clean up work yet to do. Dick, W2YE, will collect information compute our score, and make our formal submission. Jim, AF4MO, is working on getting an article in the Loudoun Times. All who worked bonus points, and all who brought visitors should help by sending Dick an email (w2ye@arrl.net).  And we will all work on catching up on our sleep and recovering from too much sun.

It is amazing to see how everyone contributed. Folks just saw something that needed to be done and did it.  The net result was a memorable field day.

A few things that come immediately to mind:

  1.  Watching Chris, KK4HDG, running on the GOTA station Sunday morning. Chris is a new ham and, at eleven years old, is a better contester than I.  Thanks to Tom, WA4BCK, for taking the time Sunday morning to help Chris learn to run.

  2.  Don, K7CS, did a masterful job of working the antennas.  Don and Dick, W2YE, Bill, WF1L, and Ray, KD4RSL, among others, have been talking about antennas since the last field day. Don build several new antennas just for this event. They worked very well.  Since we hear that Don will be with us for 3 or 4 more Field Days, surely we can expect things to get even better.

  3.  We had operators at all the stations most of the time (except for 4 in the morning), and we had both a talker and a logger.

  4.  We had several of the newer club members come out. Don, KC4RCG, Marty, NV3H, and Skip, KJ4LBB, are some that come immediately to mind, but there were others, as well.  It as good to see a new generation of club members join in.

  5.  We also had many visitors this year. Several worked the GOTA station for a contact or two. Tommy, "Z". Evelyn (daughter of Marty), Bob (family member of Tom), and an Indian ham (whose name escapes me right now, but is in our log) come to mind.

Many more things were involved in making this Field Day such a success, but I need to stop. I hope others will share what they remember the most.

Thank you all for making this a most memorable Field Day.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

We gathered at Park View High School for the Antenna Rope Hanging session, but it was windy and rainy. We did not hang ropes.

Our fall back plan is that we start a little earlier tomorrow. Rope hanging takes about an hour, so instead of 1000 let us start at 0900.

See you tomorrow morning at 0900.

Also we will be showing you where to drive your car so that we do not mess up the field as you bring your equipment onto the field. For those of you who have been there before, the school has really improved the grass. It is now much better than the grass at my home.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

Based on comments, I posted a new version of our field day plan which separates the RTTY station out as a demonstration station in the 10M tent.

Weather is still looking good. Mid-80s with low probability of rain.

Remember that antenna rope hanging is tomorrow, Friday, at 7 PM.  We need to hang ropes from 5 light towers. There will be several slingshots (Dick, W2YE, Don, K7CS, Russ, W3RST and others). In addition, we will see the big gun come out for the first time Bill, WF1L said he would bring his tennis ball mortar.

See you there.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

SPARC held their monthly meeting on June 6th at the Eastern Loudoun Sheriff's Office.  We had 18 members and one guest in attendance.

During member introductions, Jim, AF4MO, and Charlie, K3SR, discussed their response to the FCC on amateur support to emergency communications.  Specifically, the FCC was seeking information on the role of amateur radio in emergency communications and how this support might be impeded by deed restrictions or covenants enacted by homeowners associations.  Responses were due to the FCC by May 17th.  Thanks to Jim and Charlie for taking the time to prepare an input.

We were very fortunate to have Dennis Bodson, W4PWF, as guest speaker for the meeting.  Dennis is the Director of the ARRL's Roanoke Division.  He provide a general update on activities at the ARRL and stated that the FCC had received more than 800 inputs from hams on the CC&R request for comments.  He stated that we should look at the law recently passed in Ohio as an example of legislative support to amateur operators.  Dennis then talked about Logbook of the World (LoTW) and announced that there are now more than a half million QSO's entered there.  In the near future, LoTW will also be supporting some of the CQ Magazine contests with WPX (worked all prefixes) currently in beta testing.  Dennis also talked about improvements to the DXCC application process with the implementation of online/electronic applications.  Finally, he summarized recent changes to the 60m band and clarifications on the use of RTTY.  Many thanks to Dennis for coming to our meeting!

Dick, W2YE, provided an update on the QSL bureau.  He currently has one letter open.  If you have some time to spare for the bureau, please see Dick about volunteering.  He also mentioned that he would have a table at the Manassas Hamfest.

The remainder of the meeting was dedicated to preparations for Field Day.  Eric, AJ4LN, reported a successful gathering to test the logging software and networking of the field day computers.  Gordon, NQ4K, reviewed the detailed plan and schedule for the weekend (including the operating schedule).  The latest version can be found on the SPARC website at http://www.qsl.net/sterling/Field_Day/2012FD/2012FD_Main.html.  Preparations begin Friday evening at 7:00 PM, with preliminary work on antennas.  Actual station setup begins on Saturday morning at 10:00 AM (local).

Remember, there will be no meeting in July.  After Field Day, our next activity is the Pizza Party in August.  Have a great summer!

73,
--MARK  KI4OBT

Hi,

Pictures from Herndon Fest and the Virginia QSO Party have been posted to our web site. In addition, the VQP summary briefing has been posted with all the statistics of the event.

See the top two items on the 2012 VQP mail page at:

 http://www.qsl.net/sterling/VA_QSO_Party/2012_VQP/2012_VQP_Main.html

See the Herndon Festival pics from the page:

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

 If anyone has additional photographs of either event, please email me. Especially, photos of Herndon Festival. We do not have photos of all who helped with the booth.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

Mark, KI4OBT, has announced he will step down as secretary.

Our secretary:
  Keeps minutes of our meetings and posts them to our news web site.

  Keeps track of the membership of the club and keeps our on-line club membership roster up to date.

  Coordinates the annual pizza party at Joe's.

In addition, through not part of the secretary duties, Mark helped with presenting Virginia QSO Party briefings in the local area to other amateur radio clubs.

We are now looking for a person to volunteer to be the secretary for the club.

See you at the meeting on Wednesday.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

On, 6/5/2012 12:37 PM, Mark Travis emailed::
Gordon,

I don't know if you've had any responses for new officers.  I've thought
about it long and hard and I'm going to need to step down as secretary.  The
main reason is that I'm going to be taking some classes this fall and
spring.  They meet one night a week (guess which night) and every other
Saturday.  The time I  will be able to spend on club activities will be very
limited.

73,
--MARK   KI4OBT

Hi,

It is time for the last club meeting of the 2011-2012 SPARC year before we take a break for the summer. Wednesday, 6 June, at 7:00 PM.

I have had a very busy month so far. Preparation of certificates for the VQP is coming along well. I worked the Herndon festival booth and Herndon 5 and 10K  races this weekend. The only thing I did not do was get on the radio. Probably the wrong priority.

Refreshments will be provided by Eric, AJ4LN.

Our guess speaker this month will be Dennis, W4PWF, Director, ARRL Roanoke Division. Most people in the club know him. He has been an advocate for ham radio for many years. He will talk about current ham radio issues and ARRL activities.

We have several items of club business. We may of may not get through hem all, so in order of priority, these are:

  Final coordination for Field Day. Jim, KF4PQL, has reserved the space at Park View High School. Don, K7CS, et. al., have been discussing antennas and I think don has put together a new wire antenna. Eric, AJ4LN, held a computer logging set up session today - we will hear from him on how well it went.

  Coordination for VQP Awards Ceremony.  This will be held at the Manassas Hamfest at 0900 on Sunday, 9 Jun.  There is no indoor space for us, we I opted to held the event outside in one of the sheds. We had the options to use one of the indoor spaces at 1200, but this is too late. Most folks do not want to stay that late. This means there will be no presentation, just some talking and passing out of the plaques.

  Election of Officers. We are always looking for new people to step forward and volunteer to be a club officer. I know that our current president would be happy to allow a new person to assume the position and bring new vitality to club.

  Activity calendar for next year. We have a full calendar and I believe that most are happy with the events. It has been suggested that we hold a additional technician class preparation session and examination session in the fall.

See you at the meeting.

73, Gordon, NQ4K