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Greetings to all, and I hope you are keeping warm and getting plenty of on-air time in the shack. Amateur Radio is a great year-round hobby, but it is especially valuable in the winter time, when the short days and cold temperatures force us to spend most of our time indoors. With the new sunspot cycle well under way, band conditions are improving and new opportunities to work DX are occurring almost daily. It is looking like 2022 is shaping up to be a good year for Amateur Radio, and GCARC will be involved in more facets of the hobby than any one ham can possibly do.
Right now we are in the planning stages for our upcoming antenna work, so that we will be ready to go when the weather breaks, and work on the grounding project for the VHF/UHF room will be resuming in the mean time. We are also planning some upgrades and improvements to the HF station that will allow more flexibility in switching from local to remote operation and vice-versa. Right now there are some issues with configuration that cause problems when making the switch, and we hope to resolve these with the addition of some station hardware. The end result will be that W2MMD will be on the air more frequently, and for more total hours. Our Club station is our greatest asset, and is the envy of many area clubs, but the fact is that it is really under-utilized. Making the station more flexible and easier to access should significantly improve that shortcoming.
Another major GCARC asset that is in need of some improvement is our 2M Repeater. While a long established reliable machine, the performance of the repeater is not what it once was, despite being a fairly new unit. There may be issues with antennas, feedline, or other ancillary hardware which causes the repeater performance to be degraded. In the coming months, we will be seriously looking into these issues and hope to get the machine back to former greatness. This is a priority now, since repeater usage is increasing at this time, after a long period of relative inactivity. I hope to see the repeater busy with activity, day and night, like it was back in the 80's and 90's. Good VHF and UHF radios are more affordable than ever, and a great way for us to get new hams on the air.
Speaking of new hams, the licensing classes, run by Chris AD2CS, are coming along nicely, and at the same time we are hosting VE testing at the Clubhouse, directed by Gary, N2QEE. This is a great combination that will help us grow the Club while we grow the hobby. Historically, GCARC has enjoyed some of its best increases in membership whenever the Club has gotten serious about training for license exams, and I for one am pleased to see that this still is the case. Another great thing to see is that the recent licensees and students are becoming fairly active members almost immediately upon joining the Club. This will enable us to maintain our momentum going forward, and stay involved in the myriad of activities that we have taken on. This is a great thing to wave in the faces of those within our hobby who have proclaimed that "clubs are dead".
That's about all I have for this month. I would like to welcome to the Club new members Robert DeBord N2AFK, Paul Hart KD2WKL, and Mike Thompson KG4JYA; and Associate members Dominick Cocciolone and Keith Dreyer. We are pleased to have all of you with us, and hope that you enjoy many years of membership in GCARC like so many of us have, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the meeting on February 2nd.
73 for now, de K3TS
Right now we are in the planning stages for our upcoming antenna work, so that we will be ready to go when the weather breaks, and work on the grounding project for the VHF/UHF room will be resuming in the mean time. We are also planning some upgrades and improvements to the HF station that will allow more flexibility in switching from local to remote operation and vice-versa. Right now there are some issues with configuration that cause problems when making the switch, and we hope to resolve these with the addition of some station hardware. The end result will be that W2MMD will be on the air more frequently, and for more total hours. Our Club station is our greatest asset, and is the envy of many area clubs, but the fact is that it is really under-utilized. Making the station more flexible and easier to access should significantly improve that shortcoming.
Another major GCARC asset that is in need of some improvement is our 2M Repeater. While a long established reliable machine, the performance of the repeater is not what it once was, despite being a fairly new unit. There may be issues with antennas, feedline, or other ancillary hardware which causes the repeater performance to be degraded. In the coming months, we will be seriously looking into these issues and hope to get the machine back to former greatness. This is a priority now, since repeater usage is increasing at this time, after a long period of relative inactivity. I hope to see the repeater busy with activity, day and night, like it was back in the 80's and 90's. Good VHF and UHF radios are more affordable than ever, and a great way for us to get new hams on the air.
Speaking of new hams, the licensing classes, run by Chris AD2CS, are coming along nicely, and at the same time we are hosting VE testing at the Clubhouse, directed by Gary, N2QEE. This is a great combination that will help us grow the Club while we grow the hobby. Historically, GCARC has enjoyed some of its best increases in membership whenever the Club has gotten serious about training for license exams, and I for one am pleased to see that this still is the case. Another great thing to see is that the recent licensees and students are becoming fairly active members almost immediately upon joining the Club. This will enable us to maintain our momentum going forward, and stay involved in the myriad of activities that we have taken on. This is a great thing to wave in the faces of those within our hobby who have proclaimed that "clubs are dead".
That's about all I have for this month. I would like to welcome to the Club new members Robert DeBord N2AFK, Paul Hart KD2WKL, and Mike Thompson KG4JYA; and Associate members Dominick Cocciolone and Keith Dreyer. We are pleased to have all of you with us, and hope that you enjoy many years of membership in GCARC like so many of us have, and I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the meeting on February 2nd.
73 for now, de K3TS
February 1, 2022 - Year of the Tiger
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February 2, 2022
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Happy Birthday, Tom
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Happy Birthday, Abe
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Sunday, February 13, 2022
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Sunday, February 13, 2022
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February 14, 2022
Happy Birthday, George