News from the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC)

Hi,

It is time for our July monthly meeting.  We will have the meeting on WEDNESDAY, 1 JULY, at 7 PM.  This will be an on-line Zoom meeting.  Connection information is below.

We have switched the meeting from Tuesdays, back to Wednesdays.  Tuesdays, are no longer available at the Sheriff Sub-station community room.  But now Wednesdays are available again. 

We will not be having our weekly 2M/Zoom Net meeting on Wednesday, because we will be having our monthly meeting.  We will resume the Wednesday Net meeting the following week.

Refreshments will be provided by you.  I personally will try to have a Joe Froggers rum-and-molasses cookie, a classic New England treat.
     https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/joe-frogger
     https://brickandtree.wordpress.com/2009/12/12/the-history-of-joe-frogger-cookies/

We will follow our usual program.  At 7 we will start with introducing ourselves along with comments about our recent amateur radio or other activities of note.

We also have a few items of club business.

First, we sent out an email asking if anyone wanted the club to have a booth at Sterling Festival this year on Saturday, 10 October.  We had not one reply.  We will check again during the meeting to ensure that the club wants to opt out this year, before we cancel.

Second, we will ask if we want a club meeting in August.  Normally August is our Pizza Party at Joe's Pizza.  We will ask for the consensus on Pizza party or an on-line meeting.

Third,  final activities on the Virginia QSO Party are coming along slowly.  We held the on-line awards ceremony, hosted by Marty, NV3H.  The presentation will be available on our web site shortly.  We have mailed out some of the plaques.  We hope to deliver the remaining ones to folks in the local area.  We are almost ready to print the certificates.

Finally, we are still looking for a new treasurer.  Please email if you are interested.

At 8 PM, Marty, NV3H, will introduce our presentation. 

Marcel Stieber, AI6MS, will join us from California and talk about "  Everything you need to know about Lithium Batteries." Batteries are a necessity for almost all portable radio operations. With the advent of modern battery chemistries, the choices available to the radio amateur are plentiful. This presentation will focus on the three common battery types: Lead-Acid (SLA/AGM), Lithium (Lion/Lipo), and Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP/LiFePO4). Marcel will discuss the pros and cons of each chemistry, common uses and misuses, and everyday application tips for your latest amateur radio project.  You can read more about Marcel at https://www.qrz.com/db/ai6ms.

See you at the meeting,
73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

Another good meeting.  Seven folks checked into the net.  Berry, KD4BK, only half checked in.  We could see him on zoom, but could not hear him.

The jokes are getting better. 

The key item of discussion is the time for the meeting.  It was suggested that we move the meeting from 6:30 to 8:00 PM.  6:30 seems to be dinner time for some.  We put it to a vote.  Two for changing the time.  Five abstentions.  The meeting will start at 8:00 starting next week.

Remember, next week with be a monthly club meeting on Tuesday, and we will also have the Net on Wednesday.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

Our weekly 2M/Zoom Net will be Wednesday, 24 June, at 6:30PM. 

You can join us on 2M repeater or on Zoom or both.

Same agenda.
  Open net
  Check-ins with comment
  Short story/tech talk (looking for volunteer)
  Final round of comments with Joke
  Close net

73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

Our weekly 2M/Zoom Net will be Wednesday, 3 June, at 6:30PM. 

You can join us on 2M repeater or on Zoom or both.

Same agenda.
  Open net
  Check-ins with comment
  Short story/tech talk (looking for volunteer)
  Final round of comments with Joke
  Close net


73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

Good meeting.  Eight members joined.  Interestingly, most were by Zoom with only one on 2M (plus me).

The jokes were better.   A lot of talk.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

I am updating the online membership list for our club.  See
https://www.qsl.net/sterling/Members/members.htm

If you are a member, think you are a member, or want to be a member, please email back and I will add you to the list.

Using this list, I will update the ARRL Contest Club "Eligibility List."  This is the list that ARRL uses to verify if you are a member of a club for the purpose of competing in the club competitions in ARRL sponsored contests.

It is also getting near the end of the SPARC year.  Typically we run our activity calendar from September to August.  Sometime when we get motivated, we will archive the current on-line list and start a new version to reflect changes in the next SPARC year.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

Our weekly 2M/Zoom Net will be Wednesday, 3 June, at 6:30PM. 

You can join us on 2M repeater or on Zoom or both.

Same agenda.
  Open net
  Check-ins with comment
  Short story/tech talk (looking for volunteer)
  Final round of comments with Joke
  Close net


You can join us on 2M or on Zoom or both.

2M on the Dulles Repeater 145.310 (-) PL77

Email for Zoom information.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

Our weekly 2M/Zoom Net will be Wednesday, 3 June, at 6:30PM. 

You can join us on 2M repeater or on Zoom or both.

Same agenda.
  Open net
  Check-ins with comment
  Short story/tech talk (looking for volunteer)
  Final round of comments with Joke
  Close net

You can join us on 2M or on Zoom or both.

2M on the Dulles Repeater 145.310 (-) PL77

Email me for ZOOM meeting information.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

Hi,

We had a good meeting.  26 members and guests checked in.  A nice turnout.  Zoom worked well. 

We had three out of town guests. 
   Rob, W4VRD,  from South Carolina and a former member of our club, 
   Mark, KI4OBT, from Florida and a former member of our club, and
   Phil, KL7VO, from New York, a friend of Joe's who visited WWV with him. 

We had a very good presentation by Joe, WB2SAI, on WWV.  It is posted here. 
https://www.qsl.net/sterling/Activities/20200602_Joe,_WB2SAI_WWV/20200602_Joe,_WB2SAI_WWV.pdf

I learned that you listen to WWV using AM.  I had been trying using CW and SSB.  Learn something everyday.

Charlie, K3SR, gave a short talk on the future of amateur radio.  It is here. 
https://www.qsl.net/s/sterling//Activities/20200527_Charlie-K3SR_Future_of_Amateur_Radio/20200530_Charlie_K3SR_Amateur_Radio.pdf

How we make amateur radio grow is a difficult question.  Something we all have to work at. 

SPARC will not be doing a field day site. 

Recently however ARRL changed the rules for this year to allow club entries.  Therefore include our club name in your log.  ARRL uses "Sterling Park ARC" as out club name.  ARRL also says that they will allow stations operating on commercial power (i.e., home stations or class D stations) to contact other home stations.  Normally this is not counted.  Your logging software should be updated to allow this change by the time field day.   

We decided to have a July monthly meeting.  Normally we skip this, but the on-line approach worked well. 

We postponed a decision on the August Pizza party.  10 person group limit may still be in effect. 

73, Gordon,  NQ4K

Hi,

We are all set for tomorrow. 

We will open up the Zoom video conference at 6:30. This offers an opportunity for those unfamiliar with Zoom to join early and resolve any problems.  Notice that you can join even if you do not have a camera or microphone and listen.

See you tomorrow evening,
73, Gordon, NQ4K 

Hi,

We have a speaker.  Joe, WB2SAI, will tell us about "History and Visit to WWV."  I tuned into the WWV signal and could hear it.  Then I had to reead an article about the signal to figure out what I was hearing.  Should be an interesting talk.

We also have at least one discussion.  Charlie, K3SR, want to pose a question one the future of amateur radio.  He talked a little about this on our 2M/Zoom net last Tuesday.  I am looking forward to the discussion.

See you Tuesday evening,
73, Gordon, NQ4K