News from the Sterling Park Amateur Radio Club (SPARC)

 Hi,

We had a good meeting.  All on Zoom.  Eight attendees.

The 2M repeater tower took a lightning strike on or close by and burned out a bunch of equipment.  Will be several days or weeks before fixed. 

The jokes.  Not many this week.

How do you stop an elephant from charging?
Take away his credit card.

How do you frustrate a dog?
Drop a piece of salad on the floor.

There are three types of people.
Those that can count and
those that cannot count.

Next Wednesday is the in-person meeting.  Starts at 7 PM at the Sheriff Substation.

HA HA

73, Gordon, NQ4K

posted by SPARC'ie  # 5:15 PM

 Hi,

We had an excellent examination session on Sunday, 25 February 2024.  We started at about 1215 with the class and ended at 2:45 PM waiting for any final walk0ins. 

We processed 19 candidates who took a total of 26 examinations.  All 19 came away with at least a Tech license. 

  19 took the tech exam and passed.  This included license class attendees as well as walk-ins.
 
  7 took the general exam.  2 passed. 5 failed.  The fails were folks who passed the tech exam and tried the general exam.

  We had no one attempt the amateur extra exam.

Over all a very good effort.

The VEs ran a very efficient operation.  Very smooth and fast.  They were:

  Davie, KF4PBU
  John, W3XWT
  Larry, W8ANT
  Jim, N4FAF
  Harry, KI2H
  Chris KO4OZJ
  Amit, WY2Z
  Steve, KN4BGW
  Rhett WW4RL
  Gordon, NQ4K

Thank you all for participating.

We anticipate the next call and exam in May, but we are still discussing the dates.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

posted by SPARC'ie  # 7:48 AM

 Hi,

Excellent meeting Eight attendees.  Eight total attendees.  Went until 8:30. 

Jokes.

Lady walks around a grocery store crying out "Cisco, Cisco,"
The store manager comes over to her and asks "Can I help you. Why are you crying out for Cisco?"
The Lady says "I am calling for my husband."
Why do you call him Cisco?
AT home I call him Lard-Ass.

What did one pig say to the other?
Don't go bacon my heart.

What did one show say to the other?
You may be my sole mate.

Kid is looking at an old family photo album.
Mom, who is this trim and healthy guy with us at the beach?
That is your dad.
Who is the old fart living with us now?

That's all folks,
73, Gordon, NQ4K

posted by SPARC'ie  # 3:42 PM

 Hi,

We had an excellent meeting.  Eleven attendees. 1 on the 2M repeater, 9 on Zoom only, and I was on both.

We asked what mode people use.  Folks use SSB more than CW more than FT8.  Only 1 FT8.  Interesting.

Jokes:

Talked to a 95 year old who always called his wife "My Love."
I asked him why.
He said he forgot her name.

I was at the park watching something flying getting bigger.
Until a frisbee hit me.

I told my wife she should embrace her mistakes.
She gave me a hug.

73, Gordon, NQ4K

posted by SPARC'ie  # 3:43 PM

 Hi,

Excellent meeting!   19 members and guests attended.  Kevin, WB0POH, brought some refreshments.

The presentation by Doug, KM4GC, was very good.  I think I understand grounding better now.  I will probably install a modest grounding system, up until now I have only been using the ground wire in the electrical power system. 

Jerry, K4INT,  is our club call sign trustee and LOTW administrator.  He reported that K4NVA has 32,231 QSO records with 7,143 QSLs. 

73, Gordon, NQ4K.

posted by SPARC'ie  # 7:59 AM