News from the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC)
The SPARC web site is at http://www.qsl.net/sterling.
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Meeting, Wednesday, 4 April 2018 at 7PM
Another month has gone by and it is time for our April monthly meeting.
Wednesday, 4 April, at 7PM at the Sheriff's Substation in Sterling.
Refreshments will be provided by Bill, K4UPE.
This should be an interesting meeting.
The presentation is TBD. We have tried to contact a few people and we will see what happens.
We have a few items of club business to discuss.
We can get an update on the Virginia QSO Party Post-Party activities. We have received 321 logs so far. The deadline for submitting logs is 15 April, so we still have a while to go.
Herndon Festival is coming up on Saturday and Sunday, 2-3 June. We normally have a booth on Saturday and support the 5/10K races on Sunday.
The Manassas ham fest is on Sunday, 2 June. This is when we pass out the awards for the Virginia QSO Party.
This means our club effort will be split between supporting the races and the VQP awards ceremony. We will need everyone's help again this year.
Finally Field Day is at the end of June on 23-24 June.
At the end of the meeting, we will have our Tech-Ten-Talk. I do not know what it will be yet.
Should be a good meeting.
73, Gordon, NQ4K
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Virginia QSO Party Starts Today
Today, at 10:00 local, the Virginia QSO Party starts. See our website for more information. www.qsl.net/sterling
Please take this opportunity to get on the air, make a few contacts, and submit a log.
If you need some help doing this, please let me know.
Personally, I probably will not get on the air until about noon today. Babysitting grand kids this morning takes precedence over the Party.
See you on the air!
73, Gordon, NQ4K
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
SDR DF Presentation Slides by Eric, AJ4LN
The slides from the presentation by Eric, AJ4LN, on "Android + SDR + Antenna for direction finding" are now available on line at:
http://www.qsl.net/sterling/Activities/20180307_DF_SDR/20180307_Eric_AJ4LN_DF_SDR.pdf
73, Gordon, NQ4K
Monday, March 12, 2018
Virginia QSO Party 17-18 March 2018
The Virginia QSO Party is this coming weekend, 17=18 March. All the information about the party is on the SPARC website at http://www.qsl.net/sterling/VA_QSO_Party/QSOParty.htm. The hours are 10 AM to midnight on Saturday and 8 to 8 on Sunday.
The Virginia QSO party is a friendly contest. We encourage hams in Virginia to get on the air and try to activate all the 135 Virginian counties and independent cities.
Members of SPARC have been working on the Party for several months to get ready. Now is the time for the rest of us to help out by getting on the air, making a few contacts, and sending in a log.
Most of us work HF, but we anticipate a lot of activity on 2M simplex. Find a high hill and try to make a few contacts. Even your handheld will work. For those in the Sterling area, the high hill behind Costco at the northeast corner of Potomac View Rd (Rt 637) and Cascades Pkwy (Rt 1794) is a good place to try. There is a short service road off of Potomac View Rd just before the intersection. It gives a nice view west to the mountains. See the rules for the recommended frequencies.
I will be operating fixed station from my QTH. I have a small shack with one radio and a G5RV antenna. I hope to to get on the air periodically for most of Party. I invite all to visit my modest shack. Especially those who have not worked HF before; come on over and I will give you a short introduction to contesting. Please call or email to arrange a time. I do not have space for more than one or two at a time.
See you on the Air!
73, Gordon, NQ4K
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Meeting, Wednesday, 7 March, at 7PM - Update
I forgot the closing agenda item. The Tech-Ten Talk. No sure what it will be.
Also, there is the possibility that Henry, K2BFY, will talk us though the 2M band plan.
A lot on the agenda. Please come out and join us.
73, Gordon, NQ4K
Meeting, Wednesday, 7 March, at 7PM
The March monthly meeting is upon us. The past month has gone by fast.
Refreshments will be provided by Eric, AJ4LN.
We have two presentations for the meeting.
First, Matthew Devaney, Master Deputy, Loudoun County Sheriff's Office "Project Lifesaver Demo." Project Lifesaver program is an electronic based tracking system for people with medical conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Autism, or other conditions, that have a tendency to wander from home and become lost.
Second, Eric, AJ4LN, will show us he "Android + SDR + Antenna for direction finding." He used this successfully for a foxhunt a couple of years ago and it worked very well.
We have a few items of business.
The Virginia QSO Party is coming up on 17-18 March. Please plan on participating. Typically some club members open up their stations to people who want to operate. If anyone wants to open their station, please let us know at the meeting.
We also have three events in June coming up. These are the Herndon Festival booth (2 June) and race support (3 June) , the Manassas Hamfest and VQP Awards ceremony (3 June), and finally, Field Day (23-24 June). Please put these on your calendar. We will need a lot of help to make these happen.
73, Gordon, NQ4K
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