Albemarle Amateur Radio Club

UPDATE: Kicksat has successfully launched.

Technical difficulties aside, there is a 40% chance weather will permit kicksat to launch Friday and a 36% chance it will launch saturday for a total probablity of 76%.

The probability of launch on saturday is lower than that on friday, even though the weather is more likely to permit launch; this reflects the possibility that it may have already launched on friday.

Bob Pattison, K4DU, writes:

For quite some time now the Earlysville Volunteer Fire Department (EVFD) has supported the Albemarle Amateur Radio Club (AARC) by hosting our annual Field Day station. At the most recent AARC meeting it was suggested that we, the members of the AARC, should support the EVFD by attending their Spring Barbecue. At that time we did not have the date and time. Today I received information about the event in the mail. I share it now with you.

"Our launch is officially on for tomorrow (April 14th) at 4:59 PM EDT. "
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zacinaction/kicksat-your-personal-s...
Kiscksat (the cubesat) should be transmitting tomorrow evening.
Sprites will be deployed 16 days later.

There is also a lunar eclipse late monday night, early morning (roughly 1AM-5PM) Weather conditions: partly cloudy (wunderground hourly forecast).

UPDATE: Rocket was on the pad but launch was scrubbed due to helium leak. Next launch opportunity is the 18th.

Civilian Conservation Corps On-The-Air Weekend
AARC Camp Albemarle Activation
9-10 August 2014

Dirk KG8JK in Petosky, Michigan, is organizing the first of what he hopes will be an annual Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) On-The-Air Weekend on 9-10 August 2014. More information about his effort is available at Dirk's event Web site and in the ARRL news item on the topic.

Why should hams care about this? Amateur radio was the main means of communications with most of the CCC camps! The camps were located in rural areas without electricity or telephone service, so the Army (which administered the CCC camps) put an amateur radio station at every camp and recruited and trained amateur radio operators to run them. There were regular CCC nets to move traffic around the camp system, and I’m sure the operators spent their idle moments chewing the rag, as hams will. The idea of the On-The-Air Weekend is to get as many of the camps back on the air as possible.

I became interested in the CCC during the 30 years that I lived in Michigan, where the Corps had such a profound impact on the landscape, replanting the vast forests that had been clear cut during the 19th century. Here in Virginia the impact was at least as great, if not quite so immediately obvious. We owe our state park system to the CCC, along with many structures on the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive, and many other familiar Virginia landmarks. Virginia was the fifth-largest recipient of CCC dollars and had well over 100 CCC camps in operation at one time or other.

The site that the AARC will be activating for this event is 4-H Camp Albemarle. The 4-H camp was built by workers from CCC Camp Albemarle (Camp S-60, Company #1390), located on the Moormans River near White Hall. The CCC camp was converted into a POW camp late in WW-II, then passed into private hands and no longer exists. The 4-H camp, however, remains much as it was when the Corps completed it, retaining all but one of the original buildings. The Camp Albemarle board enthusiastically supports this event, both for its historical value and for the tie-in between amateur radio and the 4-H mission of promoting science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. I expect there to be a conversation between 4-H folks and the AARC about how we might get involved in a special program they could create around the OTA Weekend.

View Larger Map
Our plans for the on-the-air portion of the CCC On-The-Air Weekend are basic at present. We'll be using W4DO, the Club's special event callsign. There are some fine places at the camp to put antennas in the trees, a nice shelter with power for operating if the weather is good, and good indoor space if it is ugly. Operating hours for the event are 10am on 9 August through 5pm on 10 August; I’ve told the camp officials that we will operate our station only during the day, say 10am-10pm on Saturday and 8am-5pm on Sunday. I’m thinking one station on the air at any time with an emphasis on CW (I’m guessing that was the only mode they used at the CCC camps). We can do more if we have sufficient interest and operators.

If you would like to get involved in this activity please send me email at mike[at]kq9p[dot]us. I’ll add you to the event email list. We’ll need people to operate on the event weekend, to do publicity, and to work with the 4-H on planning and executing whatever educational activity they decide to put together. There is something for everyone to do, even if you’re already committed elsewhere for the actual weekend.

73, Mike KQ9P

The AARC monthly meeting will be held at 7:30PM, Tuesday 2014-04-08. Ed Berkowitz N3US will give a presentation on Contesting. The public is welcome to attend. The board meeting is in the same location at 7PM.

Click this button to add to your google calendar:

Meeting Location: NRAO Auditorium, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA.
Lat/Long: geo:38.036817,-78.518115
google map

The Albemarle Amateur Radio Club will kick-off a Technician Class (the entry level license) on Saturday, April 19, at 9 a.m. in the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville. This will be a self-study class requiring the American Radio Relay League Ham Radio License Manual textbook at a cost of $29.95 ordered from www.arrl.org The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual will guide you as you get started in the hobby–as you select your equipment, set-up your first station and make your first contact. You will use this book to study for your license exam. Every page presents information you will need to pass the exam and become an effective operator. The class is free and you will be guided by a team of instructor/counselors. The course will end with the FCC Examination on Saturday, June 28, at the Earlysville Volunteer Fire Department at 9 a.m. For registration and/or information, please reply by email to: jecrosby[at]comcast[dot]net

What is ham radio and why would you want to get a ham license and get involved in this exciting hobby? Here is an 11 minute introductory video made by a Canadian club:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMWn5HkFPnU
And an 8 minute "DIY Magic of Ham Radio" video from the US national ham organization:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlDwVhx7miQ

More details below the fold.

Sun Mar 30, 2014
Arrive at 7:30AM, safety meeting at 8:15AM; drivers must attend.

Homepage: none
Route: http://www.mapmyride.com/us/charlottesville-va/jeff-cup-loop-route-1547968
Registration: https://www.bikereg.com/22430
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JeffersonCupRoadRace
Start location:
Leslie H Walton Middle School
4217 Red Hill Road Charlottesville, VA 22903-7922
+37° 55' 15.58", -78° 33' 8.78
geo:37.920994,-78.552439 (calculated from above coordinates)
geo:37.921495,-78.551065 (from google map link on bikereg)
UTM: 715135.8128E 4199874.193N Zone 17

Prepare for rain. Weather forecast as of this writing means rain is likely all morning and possibly into afternoon. At these temperatures, being wet carries a risk of hypothermia!

UPDATE: Postponed, possibly to somewhere between March 30th and April 2nd.
"KickSat is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida on March 16, 2014 at 4:41 AM. To check the latest date, look for 'SpaceX CRS 3' on SpaceFlight Now. I believe the launch will be televised on NASA TV, which you can see both on cable/satellite TV in the U.S. and online."

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zacinaction/kicksat-your-personal-s...

AARC is running a ground station for this project. Contact K4IB or AK4OL to participate.

The 2014 VA QSO party is this weekend, Saturday March 15, 10 AM - 10 PM and Sunday 8 AM - 8 PM Virginia local time. This is a contest/operating event "to promote amateur radio activity in the 95 Virginia Counties and 38 Virginia Independent Cities". At least on station of each QSO must be in VA; VA stations can work stations anywhere out of state stations can only work VA stations. Virginia Mobile/Expedition stations get a 100 point bonus for each Virginia County/Independent City from which they log a valid QSO. Multipliers are the total number of Virginia counties, Virginia Independent cities, U. S. States (except Virginia), Canadian Provinces, and DX entities. HF (No WARC bands), VHF, and UHF.

http://www.qsl.net/sterling/VA_QSO_Party/2014_VQP/2014_VQP_Main.html

AARC will be holding its quarterly VE (Volunteer Examiner) session where people can take exams to obtain or upgrade an Amateur Radio (ham radio) license, adminstered for the FCC by our ARRL accredited Volunteer Examineers (VEs). Your exam will be graded on the spot.
http://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/earlysville-va-22936-9999-2

Earlysville Volunteer Fire Station
283 Reas Ford Rd, Earlysville, VA 22936
http://www.earlysvillefire.org/
https://maps.google.com/?f=q&daddr=283+Reas+Ford+Rd+Earlysville+VA+22936+US
Latitude: 38.144678 Longitude: -78.491183. Maidenhead Grid Locator: FM08SD14BR

Add to your google calendar:

Jim Wilson, K4BAV, will give a talk about telegraphy.
Meeting is at 7:30PM. Board meeting a half hour earlier.

Meeting Location: NRAO Auditorium, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA.
Lat/Long: geo:38.036817,-78.518115
google map

The Beacon was posted late waiting for the minutes of the February meeting. The minutes came in just after posting the newsletter without them. The president asked that the minutes be posted in a special edition of the newsletter. That has been done and can be found in a file "201403 Special" next to the regular edition.

The 2014 Vienna Wireless Society Winterfest is on Sunday, February 23 in Vienna, VA (Northern VA) at the gymasium of the NVCC Annandale Campus, 8333 Little River Turnpike, Annandale, VA 22003.‎
geo:38.833216,-77.236872 (Google Maps)
Talkin: 146.91Mhz NV4FM Northern VA FM Association Tysons Corner Repeater. -0.600Mhz, no tone.

Website: http://www.viennawireless.org/winterfest.php

Mike McPherson, KQ9P, will be doing a presentation on ARES/RACES.

Meeting will be at NRAO but I believe it will be in a different room than usual as another group will be using the auditorium.

Meeting Location: NRAO Auditorium, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA.
Lat/Long: 38.036817, -78.518115
google map.

Frostfest will be on Saturday, February 1, 2014, from 8:30AM-3:30PM at the Richmond Raceway complex.

Details, directions, website links, floorplan, and video below the fold.

Annual meeting at NRAO 7:30PM Tue Jan 14. Election of officers for 2014.

Update: Bill Arnold K4IB and Mike McPherson KQ9P gave a presentation on the Kicksat project which launches on February 22.

No, that isn't a picture of a cute little robot. Or is it? It is a robot for moving your antenna but in a previous life it was a weatherproof mount for moving large expensive closed circuit TV cameras at secure facilities. With the cover removed, the motors look like eyes. Seller had 25 available and at least 11 have been sold but some are still available. New, it cost about $1000 or in the same price range as a Ham Alt/Az rotator but these are available surplus and in this case we have an unusually low price of $30 $39 on a Pelco, let alone one with the rare feedback pots, plus a reasonable price on shipping. I have purchased one and another club member has followed suit and a couple more plan to do so.

While these aren't quite as good for amateur use as a proper az-el rotator, at least for large antennas, you will probably never get a deal anywhere near this sweet on one of those.

This article will describe these mounts in more detail and will also discuss how antenna rotators in general work, balancing and wind loading issues, and the history of stepper motors.

AARC will be holding its quarterly VE (Volunteer Examiner) session where people can take exams to obtain or upgrade an Amateur Radio (ham radio) license.
http://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/charlottesville-va-22906-9999-12

Sat, December 14, 9am – 12pm
NRAO Headquarters, 520 Edgemont Road, Charlottesville, VA 22906-9999
geo:38.036806,-78.518087
Google Map

Note that the breakfast bunch will be gathering at Panera Bread before the VE session.

Travel Advisory: The good news is there is no football game to disrupt traffic; unfortunately, at the time of this writing, the weather forecast for saturday includes snow, ice, rain, and freezing rain starting around noon.

Hourly forecast (Charlottesville)

The Albemarle Amateur Radio Club invites you to join the membership for the 50th Anniversary Celebration at the Annual Awards Banquet on Tuesday, December 10th. The celebration will take place at the Elks Lodge across from the entrance to Towe Park.

We plan to gather between 6 and 6:30 pm for a social with a cash bar. We will take our seats at 6:30 at which time dinner will be served. The dinner will include a Fruit and Cheese Table, Filet of Beef, Crab Cake, Country Style Green Beans, Baked Potato, House Salad, Tea or Coffee, and Cake. A vegetable plate will be available if the desire is stated in the reservation. Dinner tickets will be $25 per person pay at the door. Change is always a problem so bring the correct amount of cash or your personal check.

We will need your reservation by Friday, December 6, to make sure we have a place setting for each person and enough food for everyone. Reservations should be made by return email to deason[at]comcast[dot]net or by calling Don Eason, Jr. N4UVA at 434-973-9119.

Michael has lined up some great raffles and the food and festivities will be excellent.
Look forward to seeing everyone there and please bring exact change

Just a reminder that tonight's banquet at the Elk's Club is on! Also, the mugs are in. We are asking for a $3 donation to the repeater fund for each mug.