News from the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC)

The SPARC web site is at http://www.qsl.net/sterling.

Saturday, May 30, 2020

June Monthly Meeting 7PM On-Line

Hi,

It is time for the SPARC monthly meeting. Tuesday, at 7PM, On-line.

Refreshments will be provided by you. I expect they will be good, maybe even great.

We should have a presentation. Details are being worked out.

We should have a tech ten team talk. Details are being worked out.

It is amazing how slow I am becoming the longer I stay home.

We could talk about the upcoming Field Day, but we have cancelled the event. We will still entertain comments of suggestions about the event.

Speaking of getting slow. It is also time for election of new officers for the next year.

    Ray, KD4RSL, has stated he is looking for a replacement as treasurer. So we need a volunteer for that.

    Also, if anyone want to be president, please let us know. I believe the current president will not contest your bid to assume the office.

This will be a Zoom video conference.   Email for connection information or see the meeting announcement on our email list.

See you on Tuesday.
73, Gordon, NQ4K

PS. This is not the Wednesday evening SPARC 2M/Zoom Net which is on Wednesday at 6:30PM.

posted by SPARC'ie # 7:11 PM

Thursday, May 21, 2020

Field Day Update 4

Hi,

This is an update and a decision.

We have been struggling to find a good idea for Field Day. Out normal mode of operation was not going to work. Too many people, too close.

In the last Field Day Update, we asked for people to respond if they would commit to participating in Field Day.

We had only ONE positive response. Plus me makes TWO. We have had several people say they will not participate this year, due to health concerns.

Therefore, we are cancelling the SPARC Field Day event. Field Day is an emergency preparedness exercise, but we are not currently in an emergency requiring communications. We should strive to remain safe.

This does not preclude us individually or maybe in a small group from participating in Field Day. I will from my home. I hope you are able to also.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

posted by SPARC'ie # 6:07 AM

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Wednesday, 20 May, 2M/Zoom Net at 6:30PM - Summary

Hi,

We held our Wednesday 2M/Zoom Net Meeting this evening at 6:30PM.

10 hams signed in. Better jokes this time

Evan, KQ4CI, talked about his experiences with Over-the-air TV reception. Gets approximately 50 channels. A couple of other folks pitched in and said they get 40-50 channels also. I am going to have to try this out.

Hope to see you in the Net next week, Wednesday, 27 May, at 6:30PM.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

posted by SPARC'ie # 7:04 PM

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Virginia QSO Party Awards Ceremony Proposal

Hi,

We are almost done with the selection of plaque awardees. Crown Trophy is still open and accepting orders to produce the plaques.

Barry, KD4BK, is working on certificate inscriptions.

Normally we would hold an awards ceremony at the Manassas ham Fest. But that is cancelled.

Options include 1) cancelling the event, 2) hold it at the Berryville Ham Fest, or 3) hold a virtual ceremony.

I propose a virtual ceremony maybe along the following lines.

1. Saturday, 13 June, at 1000 (same as we would do anyway).

2. Do Zoom or WebEx. We have experience with both.

3. Someone would need to be the Tech person to run the software, allow only appropriate people into the meeting, etc.

3. I would moderate as usual. Give the powerpoint presentation, etc. Use show screen option to show both my smiling talking head and the powerpoint presentation.

4. Someone would need to take screenshots as we normally do with the photographer. Normally Ray, KD4RSL (not available) or my XYL (also not available).

5. Someone would need to take notes as to who was there accepting awards, etc. Normally done by Eric, AJ4LN.

6. We send out an announcement and post the meeting details on our web site.

7. Mail out plaques and certificates after the virtual ceremony.

8. Hope for the best.

Comments?

Volunteers?

73, Gordon, NQ4K

posted by SPARC'ie # 7:52 PM

Field Day Update 3

Hi,

We have has a couple of suggestions.

1. Set up at Inova Loudoun Hospital. LARG will not be supporting a FD site this year although individual might run some multi-op stations.

2. Set up a couple of antennas and let people drive in and use their own radios. Still need to think about logging computers.

3. Maybe Herndon has a park we could use.

4. Maybe an HOA has a shelter we could use.

I should ask another question,

Who will commit to doing a field day site this year?

Who will commit to being a night operator at our field day site?

If yes, let me know.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

posted by SPARC'ie # 7:52 PM

Field Day Update 2

Hi,

Paul, K4PDF, reports that the Lower Loudoun Little League baseball fields are not available for our use. They are following the same guidelines as the Loudoun County school system.

We are looking for ideas on an alternative venue or approach.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

posted by SPARC'ie # 7:51 PM

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Field Day Update 1

Hi,

1. Given that we do not know what the coronavirus situation will be at the end of June, we can proceed with Field Day planning. We can always cancel.

2. However, we can make some assumptions, predictions, observations, comments, etc.

a Coronavirus will still be around.

b. We should be prudent about exposure.

c. Some of the club members are very vulnerable to serious illnesses, and will not want to attend in person. At least one person in the club has expressed this already and I know of at least two others who should probably severely limit their exposure.

d. We should not have a mass gathering such as a meal, etc. Maybe even setup should be constrained.

e. We should not have a GOTA station, to limit exposing ourselves to random people.

f. Ray, KD4RSL, has indicated that he will be unable to run the UHF/VHF station this year. Most contacts from this station are on 6M.

g. We normally run 3A. Three HF stations, not counting the GOTA station. Two voice stations and one CW station. And we run on emergency power, i.e., Russ brings the club generator.

h. We had trouble last year fully manning the three stations.

i. Maybe we should cut back to 1 or 2 stations.

j. Night manning is problematic. Fewer folks want to work the night shift. Without people that at night, we cannot secure the radios and other equipment.

k. Paul, K4PDF, checked with the Loudoun Public School system. Park View High School fields are not available. All are closed.

m. Paul, K4PDF, is checking with Little League to see if the Jeff Cobb baseball field, or other facility in that complex, is available.

3. Some thoughts on directions for planning.

a. Work toward 2 stations only. One HF CW and one HF SSB.

b. Use generator.

c. Only two antennas.

d. Most bonus point activities can continue: formal message traffic, publicity, satellite contact, etc. Some will not, i.e., those which involve groups of people.

e. Still need computer logging and intranet.

4. Other thoughts

a We should investigate remote operation. Maybe we can work out a method of controlling a radio from home, to avoid having a lot of people on-site. We need a volunteer to investigate this.

b. Potentially, mobile HF rigs could drive in and be part of the operation, however, logging and avoiding duplicates becomes an issue.

5. That is as far as I have gotten in thinking about Field Day.

Comments?

73, Gordon, NQ4K

posted by SPARC'ie # 7:27 AM

Wednesday, 13 May 2020, 2M/Zoom Net at 6:30PM - Summary

Hi,

We had a good 2M/Zoom Net this Wednesday evening. Nine participants. Good conversation.

Jokes are getting better.

Thanks again to Evan, KQ4CI, for the use of the very good repeater.

A couple of items to pass along.

The contest University online course is tomorrow. https://www.contestuniversity.com/
The presentations are online and interesting.

We discussed Field Day for a while. Generally folks for tentatively supportive. Would like to see it go on, but with caveats for safety. One person will decline to participate for health reasons.

See you next week.
73, Gordon, NQ4K

posted by SPARC'ie # 6:49 AM

Thursday, May 07, 2020

New Club Call Sign Trustee

Hi,

Jerry, K4INT, emails that he has received a copy of the K4NVA license and I see that he is now the K4NVA call sign trustee in the FCC ULS.

Congratulations to Jerry.

Red, N3TG, has been the call sign trustee for 20-25 years. A very long time. We should all think him for his dedication when we see him next.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

posted by SPARC'ie # 11:36 AM

Monday, May 04, 2020

Monthly meeting on Tuesday, 5 May, at 7:00 PM - REMINDER

Hi,

Our monthly meeting is tomorrow, Tuesday, 5 May at 7:00 PM. This will be an online meeting using WebEx. Marty, NV3H, has scheduled the meeting. To participate, use the following link.

https://schulman-433.my.webex.com/meet/schulman

I clicked on the link and installed the software a little while ago and it was easy.

We have five items of club business.

First, we will have a new club call sign trustee. Red, N3TG, is relinquishing his role of trustee after many many years. Maybe we can ask him how long he has been trustee.
The new trustee will be Jerry, K1INT. We will transfer trustee ship in a couple of weeks.

Second, Dick, W2YE, as the manager of the Incoming, 4th Call Area, 2 Letter Prefix QSL Buro, tells us that he has a couple of letters that need new letter managers. Maybe Dick, can explain what this means during the meeting. If you are interested, please email back. I personally run the "X" letter. It takes me about an hour a month to sort incoming QSL cards, put bunches of cards in envelopes, and mail them out.

Third, the weekly 2M/Zoom net we are holding on Tuesdays at 6:30PM is fun. We have a simple agenda. Start the net. Do check-ins. All make an initial comment. Have a short story or discussion (usually by me, because I have no other volunteers), Have a final round of comments with joke. We have had around 14 participants and the whole thing takes about 35 minutes. We use the Dulles Radio repeater in Ashburn (145.310(-) PL77) and concurrently use Zoom for those who cannot hit the repeater. Some do both at the same time. Kevin, W4KSL, mentioned EchoLink. I think he is trying to set that up also in coordination with Evan, KQ4CI, the owner of the Dulles Radio repeater. We send out a separate notice before the meeting with as a reminder and with the zoom link. Please join us this coming Wednesday.

Fourth, Ray, KD4RSL, is relinquishing his role as club treasurer. So we need a volunteer to do this. Ray says it does not take much time, but it is a necessary function. Please email back if you are interested.

Fifth, Field Day is coming up at the end of June. Paul, K4PDF, is checking to see if the Park View High School baseball field would even be available. Regardless, we should start thinking about what we want to do.

I think that is it for now.

See you on WebEx tomorrow, Tuesday, at 7PM.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

posted by SPARC'ie # 7:49 AM