Despite some snowy weather there was plenty of activity in the Gloucester County Amateur Radio Club this month. Turnout was strong for the presentation at the General Membership Meeting on how hams can participate in scientific research during the upcoming solar eclipse in April. About a dozen participants showed up for Len Rust, W2LJR’s fascinating Tech Saturday Forum talk about Voice Over IP technology and how it developed and is currently implemented. And more than a dozen Club members got involved in the “Meshtastic” mesh networking project that's expanding throughout the Club's geographic area. Similar activities will continue in March.
General Membership Meeting Time Change In April!
As attendees at the February meeting were surprised to find, the Pfeiffer Community Center has changed their policy for the meeting ending time and now requires the room to be empty by 9:30 pm at which time the alarms will be armed. Last month there was a frantic race to get the A/V equipment packed up and out of the room, so the Board has voted to change the General Membership Meeting time to 7:00 PM beginning with the April 3, 2024 meeting. This will give a little extra time for longer meetings, after-meeting chats and equipment breakdown.
Remember - this starts in APRIL, not in March!
Goodbye And Good Luck To Jim Clark KA2OSV
Past president and long-time GCARC board member Jim Clark KA2OSV attended his last official GCARC event this week, participating in his final Board of Directors meeting before moving to South Carolina. Jim has been active in all of the Club’s major events - he has been a steadfast member of the ticket-taking team for the hamfest, an active Field Day operator and the net control station for the 10 meter net among many other activities. Jim promises to get on the air once situated in his new QTH so we hope he still remains in touch, if only on the air waves.
Good luck, Jim, and thanks for many years of service and friendship.
Member Renewals
Member renewals are getting “down to the wire”. If you haven't renewed your membership by the end of March you’ll be dropped from the Club roster and will no longer receive Crosstalk or any other Club announcements. We hope that you won't want to miss the activities planned for the spring and summer months and will mail your check to PO Box 370, Pitman, NJ 08071 or use the “Pay Dues Here” tab on the website. Base dues are $30 annually but many members have made additional contributions to support Clubhouse activities and other club events.
March General Membership Meeting And Tech Saturday Forum
The presentation at the March 6, 2024 meeting will be “Everything you wanted to know about a ARRL affiliation”, and will cover the benefits of participating in that organization. Having recently received my “Certificate of Appreciation” for 60 years of ARRL membership I can safely conclude that Mom should have bought me a life membership when I was 13 which would have saved me a lot of money throughout my life. But I've also appreciated the value of being an ARRL member and receiving QST and having access to their other publications, as well as the advocacy work that they do for amateur radio, and I'm looking forward to this presentation.
At the Tech Saturday Forum on March 9, 2024 session Jim Wright N2GXJ will present his always-excellent guide to fox hunting and using direction finding equipment as he describes in another Crosstalk article this month. This session follows the antenna building session that Chris Prioli AD2CS organized at which more than a dozen people built tape measure Yagi antennas and step attenuators to be used in locating hidden transmitters. If you participated in that group, or if you're just interested in learning about another fun activity you should plan to participate in this event. As always the W2MMD Clubhouse will be open after that session for general ham-related conversation and project work.
What’s All This “Meshtastic” Stuff?
More than a dozen Club members have become involved in building out a mesh network on 433 MHz using inexpensive radios and an operating system called “Meshtastic”. As described in more detail on the Meshtastic page, Meshtastic offers an easy and inexpensive way to explore a number of facets of Amateur Radio and related activities. It's been gratifying to see the interest in this group project and the number of people who are pursuing different avenues in its development. One YouTube ham presenter commented that it was the biggest “rabbit hole” that he had seen in years, offering opportunities for research into radio, antennas, transmission protocols, microcontrollers, and many other areas. Discussions are occurring on the GCARC Discord group and we've had several Monday night TechNet ZOOM Forum calls to provide assistance and coordination on this topic. I'm hopeful that interest will continue and grow, and that more Club members will find an interesting niche or two in which to develop and contribute.
What’s Coming Up?
With good weather coming we're hoping to resume outdoor activities over the next several months. The SatNOGS station should be back in operation, we're working on replacing the weather station with new equipment, the Wires-X node should be linked into the 440 repeater and initial VHF tower installation may begin if the remaining technical issues can be overcome. The grant-funded VHF equipment may finally be operational, and additional satellite station activities may occur with new satellites being launched. The “Parks On The Air” presentations at the April 3, 2024 General Membership Meeting at 1900 Hours and Tech Saturday Forum session may provide encouragement for this type of operation, and the antenna building sessions in May and June should help members develop the skills to build their own antennas. And with Field Day occurring in June and the ever-popular pizza night at the July meeting the GCARC is packed with activities for everyone for the next several months.
73 de Jon WB2MNF
Full Worm Moon - Monday, March 25, 2024 @ 0301 Hours. This name is traditionally thought to refer to the earthworms that appear as the soil warms in spring. Alternatively, during his travels in the 1760s, Captain Jonathan Carver wrote that this Moon name refers to a different sort of “worm”—larvae—which emerge from the bark of trees and other winter hideouts.
Although some Cree groups used the term Eagle Moon to describe the time around February, others used this term for the Moon cycle closer to spring. The Northern Ojibwe called this Crow Comes Back Moon. The term Goose Moon was used among Algonquin and Cree peoples. Snow Crust Moon was an Anishinaabe term. Sore Eyes Moon is a Dakota, Lakota, and Assiniboine term referring to the blinding rays of the sun on snow. Sugar Moon (Ojibwe) is the time when maple sap runs. Wind Strong Moon (Pueblo) refers to the strong windy days that come at this time of year.
Old Farmer’s Almanac - www.almanac.com