| President: | Jack Reed | WA4FXX |
| Vice President: | Dennis Bodson | W4PWF |
| Secretary: | Mike Callaham | NW3V |
| Treasurer: | Mike Ingles | KG4RKL |
| Activities Chairman: | Alan Bosch | KO4ALA |
| Editor: | Mike Callaham | NW3V |
| April 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Meetings: | Usually Third Tuesday of each month, 7:30 P.M., Red Cross, 4333 Arlington Blvd. (US 50), Arlington,VA. Nonmembers are invited to attend. |
| Net: | Tuesday (except meeting nights) at 7:30 P.M., 144.87/145.47 MHz FM |
| WWW: | http://www.w4wvp.org/ |
| Roster: | http://www.w4wvp.org/roster.censored.txt |
| Affiliate: | ARRL, FAR |
| Information: | Jack Reed, WA4FXX, wa4fxx@amsat.org (e-mail), (703) 685-7933 (phone). |
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Activities Chair Alan, KO4ALA, will actually screen a video on antennas: the ARRL video, Everything You Wanted to Know About Antennas, But Were Afraid to Ask.: "Frank Rutter, K3AW, demonstrated the effects of different antennae using a signal generator and mini-antennae. For antenna skeptics, this is an excellent video, and clearly demonstrates the radiation patterns of different antennae that we normally find only in graphics." This video was last shown at AARC in 1997.
But...wait! There's more! Treasurer Mike, KG4RKL, will take orders for Field Day 2005 T-shirts and/or pins. Price is $12.95 for shirt (S/M/L/X-L/2X-L/3X-L), $5 for pin. Bring your wallet; you could look this suave:
--Mike, NW3V, AARC Secretary
President Jack, WA4FXX, called the meeting to order at 1938. Attending besides Jack were Vice President Dennis, W4PWF, Secretary Mike, NW3V, Treasurer Mike, KG4RKL, and Members Adam, KG4VNC, Ian, KI4DTP, George, KR4MU, Jim, K9AUC, Mike, KA8OPJ, Keith, KG4UIR, Chuck, KI4DHW, and visitor Roy, AI4GO.
The Minutes of the February meeting had been published on the Web only about half an hour before the meeting began. Mike, NW3V, passed around a printed version for Members to read. Jack said he'd postpone voting to approve the Minutes until Members had had a chance to read them. Jack called for the Treasurer's financial report, and Mike, KG4RKL, reported on club finances.
AARC VP and ARRL Roanoke Division Director Dennis, W4PWF, reported on ARRL activities: "Things have been very quiet. At Dayton they may make an announcement.
"I went to the 'fest at Charlotte. There was a crowd on Saturday, but not so many on Sunday. You might be interested in this: Shelby is the second-largest hamfest, but it may not be held this year, because the fairgrounds want to double the rate. They'll..."
Ian, KI4DTP, asked, "Where is Shelby?" Dennis answered, "Thirty miles from Charlotte," and discussion of directions ensued. Dennis picked up the thread, "The real problem is parking. You can park, but you won't know which acre you'll be in."
George, KR4MU, had a question: "They've come up with a new numbered radiogram--ARL47 or whatever. They've adopted it in the [National Traffic System] Second Region, but Fourth Region says they won't adopt it until ARRL publishes it." Dennis replied, "I'll speak to Steve Ewall and get back to you."
Jack said, "Alan, talk to us about Winterfest and EmComm." FAR Representative and ARES Arlington County Emergency Coordinator Alan, KO4ALA, said, we made [number of dollars], but attendance was down to 500, from 700. A lady said that if the weather is good, people go to the Mall or work in the garden [instead of the hamfest]."
Mike, NW3V, complained, "I emailed our Club Report to the Auto-Call editor yesterday, but it bounced, with a message that the recipient's mailbox was full."
Alan, KO4ALA, said that the County installed our 2m horizontally polarized antenna at the ECC. "I'll check on it to see if they did it right."
Alan added, "Did I mention the Arlington Radio Public Service Club repeater on 146.625?" There followed some discussion about the repeater and the club. Then Alan said, "I need to contact Jackie Snelling to do radio training [for CERT]." Chuck, KI4DHW, offered, "I can ask, and get back to you."
Alan requested, "If any of you have copies of email I sent with subject headers Arlington ARES or Arlington Eqp, please send me a copy. I lost mail, cleaning up spyware." Then, in an astounding demonstration of preparedness, Jim, K9AUC, slid a CD across the table to Alan, saying "This should have most of it."
Chuck, KI4DHW, announced, "I'll be working on the Red Cross Gala; we'll us FRS radios...." Jim, K9AUC, and others discussed batteries for the FRS radios. Alan announced, "Maha is selling 11,000 mA-h NiMH batteries," and there followed a discussion about this.
Ian, KI4DTP, asked "Where does it stand now with the Plan?" Alan replied, "It says ...ARES/Arlington ARC..." There followed a discussion of the Arlington Alert system. Chuck, KI4DHW, said, "There was an anthrax event last night, and nothing went out on Arlington Alert." There followed a discussion of the event and of mercury contamination episodes at nearby schools.
Jack asked, "Any other new business?" There was none.
Jack said, "We dis send a $50 gift to the ALS Foundation [in memory of WD4MIS-SK] and received a letter of thanks," which he read. Then to Mike, NW3V, "You can collect this for your correspondence file." Then, to all, "You've all ahd a chance to reda the Minutes...." and it was moved, seconded, and passed, to approve the Minutes of the February meeting as published on the web.
Jack, WA4FXX, asked, "Any interest in the Virginia QSO Party on Sunday?" There were several expressions of interest, and in the end Jack summarized, "It's decided we'll start at 1200L on Sunday, and stay until 1600L or whenever we have to go home, whichever comes first." There followed some discussion of the burglar alarm system and the importance of not tripping it. [P.S. A good time was had by all: see KG4VNC's digital images.]
Jack announced several other contests: the CQ Worldwide Sideband Contest on March 26-27, which he called "the end of the biggies." He asked about the lighthouse contest. Dennis, W4PWF, noted there would be a QRP ARCI contest. Jim, K9AUC, said the lighthouse contest was sponsored by the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society. Jack asked, "Mike [NW3V], please blast us out an email tonight about the VA QSO Party, 1200-1600 at W4WVP."
George, KR4MU, mentioned plans to put shelving in the shack (W4WVP), and asked, "Should we try to get a Red Cross computer for the shack?" Jack, WA4FXX, replied, "If they'll let us put the software we need on it."
Adam, KG4VNC, said, "On the Arlington County Net, we talked about putting the AARC website URL into the preamble, and about hosting the website so the URL is shorter. I Googled cheap web hosting and found these two sites at findmyhosting.com: siteflip.com (100MB storage and 3GB/mo. transfer for $11.68 per year; add domain registration for $8.88 per year) and pwrhosting.com." Jack called for a show of hands, which indicated interest in finding out more. Jack asked, "Who owns the domain?" Ian asked, "Is there a secure option, for the roster?" Someone suggested, "Just encrypt it in a Word document." Mike, NW3V, an Open-Source and Open Standards zealot, groaned "Nooo!"
Again Jack prompted for other new business. Treasurer Mike, KG4RKL, said, "I downloaded info for FD2005 T-shirts and pins. Is therre any interest?" Jack directed Mike, NW3V, to note in the Minutes that the Treasurer will take orders for pins at the April Meeting.
President Jack, WA4FXX, adjourned the meeting at 20:53 for the program, but then it was agreed that it was too late to screen the video about antennas and that the screening should be deferred until the April meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
--Mike, NW3V
AARC Secretary
Mike, KG4RKL, advises Members who are Red Cross Volunteers to check the expiration dates on their Red Cross photo IDs. His expired this month, and he notes that others were in the same cohort.
AARC Activities Chair Alan Bosch, KO4ALA, has provided the following schedule (originally published in the January 2005 Arlington Beacon) for the next CERT class. He noted that "missed classes in this course will have to be made up in the next one after that -- September."
| Disaster Awareness | Tuesday, April 5 | 7 to 9:45 pm |
| Medical Operations I | Tuesday, April 12 | 7 to 9:45 pm |
| Medical Operations II | Tuesday, April 19 | 7 to 9:45 pm |
| Team Organization & Management | Tuesday, April 26 | 7 to 9:45 pm |
| Fire Suppression/Utility Shutoff | Saturday, April 30 | 10 am to 1 pm |
| Terrorism | Tuesday, May 3 | 7 to 9:45 pm |
| Search and Rescue | Tuesday, May 10 | 7 to 9:45 pm |
| Mock Disaster/Final Exam | Saturday, May 21 | 10 am to 1:30 pm |
AMATEUR RADIO
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
THE FOUNDATION FOR AMATEUR RADIO, INC., a non-profit organization with headquarters in Washington, D.C., plans to administer fifty-five (55) scholarships for the academic year 2005 - 2006 to assist licensed Radio Amateurs. The Foundation, composed of over seventy-five local area Amateur Radio Clubs, fully funds three of these scholarships. Ten are funded with the income from grants. The remaining forty-two (42) are administered by the Foundation without cost to the various donors.
Licensed Radio Amateurs may compete for these awards if they plan to pursue a full-time course of studies beyond high school and are enrolled in or have been accepted for enrollment at an accredited university, college or technical school. The awards range from $500 to $2500 with preference given in some cases to residents of specified geographical areas or the pursuit of certain study programs. Clubs, especially those in Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin, are encouraged to announce these opportunities at their meetings, in their club newsletters, during training classes, on their nets and on their world wide web home pages.
Additional information and an application form may be requested by letter or QSL card, postmarked prior to April 30, 2005 from:
FAR Scholarships Post Office Box 831 Riverdale, MD 20738
The Foundation for Amateur Radio, incorporated in the District of Columbia, is an exempt organization under Section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. It is devoted exclusively to promoting the interests of Amateur Radio and those scientific, literary and educational pursuits that advance the purposes of the Amateur Radio Service.
ARLS-003: New all-ham crew now safely aboard ISS
ARLB-009: League files opposition to BPL reconsideration petitions
ARLB-010: Huge mass casualty exercise will put Amateur Radio under scrutiny
ARLB-011: W1AW 2005 Spring/Summer Operating Schedule
This is just a sample. For other recent bulletins, check out http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/, or listen to W1AW.
http://siteflip.com
http://pwrhosting.com
http://brauhausdc.org/n8ysz/
The Arlington ARC Roster is online at http://www.w4wvp.org/roster.censored.txt. Do we have your info correct? If not, please contact the Treasurer (Mike, KG4RKL) or webmaster (Mike, NW3V).
The Arlington Amateur Radio Club
4333 Arlington Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22203