Category Archives: Alabama QSO Party

November 2015 Club Meeting Highlights

What a great last business meeting of the year. As always the meeting was informative and well attended.

  • A plaque was presented to W4DHN (our Club call sign) for achieving the Top Alabama Club Score in the 2015 Alabama QSO Party. This achievement speaks highly as to the efficiency of our Club station and our members.
  • Congratulations to those members elected to serve as Club Officers for the 2016 calendar year: President – Robert|N4RNR; Vice-President – Densie|KJ4VDE; Treasurer – Ed|KJ4LTA; and Secretary – Rachel|KM4DSK.

After the formal portion of the Club Meeting, we held a Show and Tell:

  • Don|K1DC brought in one of his cherished WWII era ARC-5 receivers for a demonstration, as well as his 40m QRP transceiver he built from a kit. Austin|KM4DSK was gracious enough to lend a hand by demonstrating his CW proficiency on the QRP transceiver (fed into a dummy load), and picked up bythe ARC-5 receiver. It was fascinating to see one of our youngest hams (10 years old) and a vintage receiver coming together. Thank for sharing Don!
  • John|KK4LST brought in his IRLP Node to share with the Club. John lives in one of those “antenna restricted” condominiums, so the IRLP node helps John communicate with hams all over the world via this amateur radio linking system. Very cool, John.
  • Jim|KC4HW brought in a vacuum variable capacitor he just acquired to get checked out. Although he did not plan to particpate in the Show and Tell, we twisted his arm to share his new acquisition. Many in the Club had never seen one before, so it was a great, unexpected opportunity.
  • Finally, Robert|N4RNR brought in his portable QRP station, which consisted of an MTR2, 3-band transceiver and a matching 3-band end-fed have-wave dipole antenna. The MTR2 is a CW only rig, covering 40m, 30m, and 20m.  With a 9v battery, it is capable of 3w output and 5w with a 12vdc power source. It’s amazing how an entire 3-band amateur radio station can easily fit in your pocket.

Thanks again to all those participating in this year’s Show and Tell.

Get on the Air in June!

If you ever needed an excuse to get on HF, here are two great, upcoming opportunities to GET ON THE AIR in June!

2015 Alabama QSO Party
Saturday, June 6, from 11:00 AM CST (1600 UTC) to 11:00 PM CST (June 7 0400 UTC)

Come join in on the fun as hams from all over the great State of Alabama occupy the HF bands for the 2015 Alabama QSO Party. Whether you are a single- or multi-operator, operating CW and/or SSB, from a fixed, portable, or mobile station, at QRP, low power, or full legal limit, we need as many Alabamians as we can get to participate in this year’s event. Participants in the Alabama QSO Party are limited to the 10m through 160 meter bands (excluding WARC bands – 60/30/17/12m). More information and the all important rules are located at www.AlabamQSOparty.org.

Don’t have an HF station, yet? No problem! The Wiregrass Amateur Radio Club (WARC) will be participating as a Club Station, again this year. WARC will operate from their Club Station, W4DHN, located in the American Red Cross Building, located at 1004 Montezuma Avenue, in Dothan, Alabama. So, come on out and join us for a half hour, and hour, or the entire 12-hour period.

ARRL Field Day 2015
Saturday, June 27, from 1:00 PM CST (1800 UTC) through Sunday, June 28, 1:00 PM CST (1800 UTC)

Don’t miss out on the single-most popular radio event of the year. The Wiregrass Amateur Radio Club (WARC) will participate in Field Day 2015 from the campus of Northside Methodist Academy, 2600 Redmond Road, in Dothan, Alabama.

Field Day is part educational event, part operating event, and part public relations event – but mostly, it’s ALL about FUN! So, come on out and join us. In fact, bring your family, your friends, and your neighbors to share in the excitement. Hope to see you there.