News from the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC)
The SPARC web site is at http://www.qsl.net/sterling.
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Field Day
Field Day is coming up on Saturday and Sunday 24-25 June with Antenna Rope Hanging on Friday evening at 7PM.
We updated the plan for last year and updated it IAW the current ARRL rules. Our current plan is to set up on the practice field at Park View High School as in years past. No significant changes.
The draft plan is attached (also available on our website). Things in RED need either someone to volunteer to bring the equipment or needs someone to agree to do it. If a person's name is in RED, then they did it last year but have not yet agreed to do it this year.
We also have all the time open for operators. Get your time slot now by emailed me and I will tentatively put you down on the list. I personally hope to operate mostly during the night when it is more peaceful.
We need coverage for all the radios for the 24 hour period. I know that nighttime and early Sunday morning are not prime time, but we still need operators to man the radios and make contacts.
Let me know how you would like to contribute.
73, Gordon, NQ4K
Club Meeting, Wednesday, 4 May 2016
It is time for the May club meeting. Wednesday, 4 May 2016, at 7PM at the Sheriff's Office in Sterling.
Refreshments will be provided by Jason, W4JAL.
We will start off with the Presentation by Dave, K7HMP/4, on "Telegraph 101" and some specimens from his telegraph key collection. Dave tells me he gave this presentation before to SPARC, but this must have been a decsde or so ago. Maybe some of the older members remember. Dave has been a member of the club for more than three decades. Remind me to tell you how I know that.
We also have some club business.
Virginia QSO Party. The event is over and we are now heavily engaged in re-scoring the logs and determining the plaque awardees. If all goes well, we can bring all up-to-date on these activities.
Herndon Fest and Race (Saturday and Sunday, 4-5 June). We have a completed plan for the Herndon race support on Sunday, but still need help for the booth on Saturday. We are looking for volunteers.
Field Day (Saturday and Sunday, 25-26 June). We have the plan from last year and we will mail this out to all later this week. We can discuss at the meeting.
Nomination of Officers. The end of the year is approaching and we are always looking for people who want to take on the role of President or Vice-President.
See you at the meeting,
73, Gordon, NQ4K
Saturday, April 23, 2016
VQP Scoring Party
The paper log scoring party went well. Photo attached. From left to right were: Shiva, KM4NPL; Henry, K2BFY; Monte, KV4KS; Gordon, NQ4K; and dick, W2YE. We re-scored all the paper logs and enjoyed coffee and pastry. Henry also showed a few pictures of his recent motorcycle trip with his friends.
We now have 362 electronic logs and 45 paper logs for a total of 407 logs. In addition, we received an additional $185 to help cover our VQP expenses.
Altogether a good time.
73, Gordon, NQ4K
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Virginia QSO Party Log Checking
The logs from the Virginia QSO Party have come in. We currently have 403 logs, mostly electronic logs in cabrillo format but we also have 39 paper logs. The electronic logs have been rescored by Eric, AJ4LN, using the software developed by Henry, K2BFY.
We now need to review the scoring of the paper logs. This is a manual process.
You are invited to participate in the paper log scoring party to be held at the QTH of Gordon, NQ4K, on Saturday, 23 April, at 0800. This should take 2 hours or so. My address is in QRZ.
For those who have not done this before, we will teach you how to do it. It is easy.
For attending you get a free cup of coffee or tea or soda and some coffee cake or donuts.
See you on Saturday,
73, Gordon, NQ4K
---
Thursday, April 07, 2016
Blair, KC9BWW, presentation on Weak Signal Operations - JT65/JT9/WSJT
Blair, KC9BWW, gave an excellent presentation at the club meeting last night. I learned a lot and enjoyed the presentation.
Blair provided a copy and we have uploaded it onto our server. See the activities and and scroll down to the link under the April meeting.
http://www.qsl.net/sterling/Activities/activities.htm
Or go directly to the PDF at:
http://www.qsl.net/sterling/Activities/20160406_Blair_KC9BBW_JT65/KC9BBW_JT65_web.pdf
73, Gordon, NQ4K
Saturday, April 02, 2016
Club Meeting - Wednesday, 6 April at 7PM
It is time for the April club meeting. 6 April 2016 at 7PM at the Sheriff's substation in Sterling.
Refreshments will be provided by Blair, KC9BBW.
This past month has gone by quickly. While I did not significant amateur radio work, I did take care of grand-dogs for two weeks and four grandkids for a week. That occupied most of the month.
The presentation for this month is by Blair, KC9BBW, on "JT65/JT9/WSJT Weak Signal Operations." It has seems like for a couple or months, someone in the meeting has stated they made contacts on these programs. I guess it is time I learned something about them.
We also have a couple of items of club business to go over.
Paper Log scoring for the Virginia QSO Party will be at my QTH on Saturday, 23 April at 0800. We normally get about 40 paper logs and they need to be reviewed. Please put this on your calendar and stop by to help. I offer free coffee, soda, sweet rolls and donuts.
Herndon festival and race is coming up and we need volunteers to man the booth and support the race. I will try to email around a draft plan for both. If you are interested in volunteering, please email back.
Field Day is also coming up. Last year was mixed up because of the rain. Hopefully this year will be better. If anyone wants to volunteer to lead the effort, please let me know.
See you at the meeting,
73, Gordon, NQ4K
Archives
April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 June 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 December 2009 January 2010 February 2010 March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 September 2010 October 2010 November 2010 December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 September 2011 October 2011 December 2011 January 2012 February 2012 March 2012 April 2012 May 2012 June 2012 July 2012 September 2012 October 2012 November 2012 December 2012 January 2013 February 2013 March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 June 2013 July 2013 August 2013 September 2013 November 2013 December 2013 January 2014 March 2014 April 2014 May 2014 June 2014 July 2014 August 2014 September 2014 November 2014 December 2014 January 2015 February 2015 March 2015 April 2015 May 2015 July 2015 August 2015 September 2015 October 2015 November 2015 December 2015 January 2016 February 2016 April 2016 May 2016 June 2016 July 2016 August 2016 September 2016 October 2016 November 2016 December 2016 January 2017 February 2017 March 2017 April 2017 May 2017 June 2017 July 2017 August 2017 September 2017 October 2017 November 2017 December 2017 January 2018 February 2018 March 2018 April 2018 May 2018 June 2018 July 2018 August 2018 September 2018 October 2018 November 2018 December 2018 January 2019 February 2019 March 2019 April 2019 May 2019 June 2019 July 2019 August 2019 September 2019 October 2019 November 2019 December 2019 January 2020 February 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 December 2020 January 2021 February 2021 March 2021 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 August 2021 September 2021 October 2021 November 2021 December 2021 January 2022 February 2022 March 2022 April 2022 May 2022 June 2022 July 2022 August 2022 September 2022 October 2022 November 2022 December 2022 January 2023 February 2023 March 2023 April 2023 May 2023 June 2023 July 2023 August 2023 September 2023 October 2023 November 2023 December 2023 January 2024 February 2024 March 2024 April 2024 May 2024
