October 10, 2023 Weekly This & That Newsletter
October 12th Membership Meeting Features 160m Antenna Program
Elmer Presentation Will Kickoff Thursday’s Meeting at the Lakehouse at 6:45 PM
The ARC’s monthly membership meeting has been rescheduled due to the Life in the Sun events throughout SCHH last week.
The Club’s membership will meet on Thursday evening, October 12th, in the Bayside Room at the Lakehouse.
Lon Seward, WB4KSG, will kick things off at 6:45 PM with an Elmer Presentation about Power Strips.
Lon’s presentation will be followed by Rick Garan’s (WA8NLX) main program about the design and installation of his 160-meter antenna. The main program will begin around 7 PM. It will be followed by our Membership Meeting.
Hope to see you there!
SCHH ARC Has a Fantastic Fair: Great Camaraderie, Great WX, and Four New Members!
What a wonderful October morning and early afternoon it was at Town Square for SCHH’s annual Chartered Club Fair. The SCHH ARC set up at its usual location outside the rear door of Pinckney Hall and was ready to roll with a CW station operating on 20-meters and a 2-meter hand-held on display. QSL cards and back issues of QST were also on display. Amidst all of the activity, KE4HAM even managed to have a QSO with a station in Indiana.
Four new members joined the ARC on Saturday during the 10 AM – 1 PM Fair. Welcome to Ted Kunzog (KQ4LCK), Tom Reinhardt (WA2JTZ), Gordon Smith, and David Homyk (N2TKS). Welcome to these new members as well as to Stanley Grabiec, (KD8VL) who also recently joined our Club!
In addition, five current members of our ARC re-upped for 2024: Bob Officer (WA6WAY), Jean Shaner (NH6EI), Jim Shaner (NH6BS), Mark Florczak (WA2MZB), and Jack Frisch (K2ITZ).
Set-up was aided by Ed Stratton (W1ZZ, photo below) and Frank Pollino (K2OS) bringing items from the Club’s storage area to Town Square. Bob McCormick (KD8IH) and Harve Hnatiuk (KB3FW) helped Ed and Frank with the set-up and in getting KE4HAM on the air.
Ken Finke (KN8F) and Sherwin Tames (N4QNW) devoted hours to helping the Club recruit new members and welcome current members to our Club Fair location. The Club thanks Brad Fox (K3BR) from nearby Rose Hill for joining us for much of the Fair and for donating a J-Pole 2m antenna to the Club.
Thanks to all who helped the ARC at the Club Fair…it was a great success. Thanks also to all who stopped by, signed up, renewed, or just said hello.
A BIG THANKS is extended to Ron Frick, AI4HH, who organized this year’s Club Fair but had a bad cold and wisely stayed home on Saturday.
Look for more photos from the Club Fair in the next issue or two of “This & That”.
The Old Saying: “When All Else Fails….”
Always a talking point when discussions turn to amateur radio, this Colorado ARC got some nice coverage in their local newspaper.
Humor
Upcoming Event: ARRL EME Contest
From the Earth to the Moon and Back! Frank Pollino, K2OS, is leading this effort for the Club. More details the ARRL contest can be found here. Current plans are to operate from Lake Somerset on the afternoon of Saturday, November 25th.
Frank has assembled an antenna donated to the Club in years past and is testing it so that it can be used in November. As you can see, it is an impressive beam antenna!
More details on our EME Outing will be provided at upcoming membership meetings and in future issues of “This & That”.
Contests Galore This Weekend!
Need an (or maybe another) excuse to get on the air? Check out all the great contests that will be going on over the coming weekend! The PA QSO Party is usually very good…lots of stations in a state (commonwealth, actually) that has lots of counties (aka, multipliers).
Club Website
Click here to get to the Club’s website: https://www.ke4ham.org. If you notice any errors or have site-related questions, email: webmaster@ke4ham.org.
SCHH ARC Nets:
Sunday NET (8 PM) operates on 147.550 MHz simplex and EchoLink node: KE4HAM – L
Wednesday Nets (8 PM) operates from KK4ONF/Jasper repeater, 147.060+ and EchoLink node: KE4HAM-R
Thanks to our regular Net Controls: Bob Officer, WA6WAY; Russ Treadwell, N1ZK; and Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW.
Thanks to Ron Frick, AI4HH, for keeping the nets on EchoLink.
Net Control Schedule:
— Wednesday, October 11th, 8 PM EDT: Russ Treadwell, N1ZK
— Sunday, October 15th, 8 PM EDT: Bob Officer, WA6WAY
If you are interested in being a Net Control, please let Ron or Harve know. No regular skeds are available but we do need substitutes from time to time when a regular Net Control Station is unavailable.
Being a net control does not require a huge station or large antenna…just a solid signal, a positive attitude, and a willingness to facilitate communication. There are many in our club that meet those qualifications!
SCHH ARC Net Reports:
Last week’s check-ins and traffic:
— Wednesday, October 4th: KE4HAM/KB3FW (Net Control), AI4HH, K2ITZ, WA6WAY, KQ4KOO, KN4MIY, AA4KK, WA2LWO. QNI=8, QTC=0.
— Sunday, October 8: KE4HAM/WA6WAY (Net Control), AI4HH, K2ITZ, W1ZZ, KB3FW, KQ4JKI . QNI=6, QTC=0.
Note – QNI = Number of Check-ins to the net, including Net Control; QTC = Traffic handled (Radiograms).
Please check into our nets when you can. The nets are informative and interesting and foster club camaraderie.
Other Operating:
Daily — DX spotting and open chat 24/7 on 147.550 MHz simplex and the Jasper Repeater, 147.060+ (no Echolink).
KB3FW – SCHH ARC President