Annual Armed Forces Crossband Test

The US Department of Defense (DoD) will host this year's Armed Forces Day (AFD) Crossband Test on May 13, 2023. This annual event is open to all licensed amateur radio operators and will not impact any public or private communications. For more than 50 years, military and amateur stations have taken part in this event.

General Class Starts April 23

The Anne Arundel Radio Club will be holding its annual General Class beginning Sunday, April 23. The Class is free and will be held over Zoom. The class begins at 1 pm and will run for several Sunday afternoons. To register, visit https://www.w3vpr.org/preregister

The only expense would be the ARRL textbook for the General license available from ARRL or Amazon. 

Special Event Stations - April 2023

Attached in PDF are the special event stations for April.

We use the ARRL listings as a base, but because people may chase stations by topic, we sort them by topic and date.

Good hunting.

 

Amateur Radio Included in FEMA Guide for National Emergency Preparedness

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has released a final version (March 2023) of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Functional Guidance. The guidance, which provides a framework for communications resources within incident management, officially includes support from amateur radio operators.

Calvert on the Air

CALVERT ON THE AIR

Amateur Radio History link on W3VPR

We have linked to a history of amateur radio which is at available here. The articles are from w2pa.net (direct link).

Daylight Saving Time

As a note, Daylight Saving Time begins soon. Next week's Open Shack will be DST.

Upcoming Hamfests

03/25/2023 - Fredfest
Location: Frederick, MD
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Frederick Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://frederickarc.org

04/23/2023 - Maryland Mobileers Spring Hamfest
Location: Odenton, MD
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Maryland Mobileers Amateur Radio Club
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/marylandmobileers/hamfest?authuser=0

Teddy's World is Coming

Beginning with the March newsletter, we're experimenting with a new humor feature: Teddy's World.

It's an exposition of the life of the club's mascot, Teddy.  All photos are courtesy of Greg Witmyer, KC3SEG, and are from his and Teddy's POTA excursions, or most of them are.

The biggest problem we've found with this is translating Teddy's comments and observations to English.  Unfortunately, the editor is not a Doctor Doolittle and sometimes the woofs get confusing.

Enjoy.

March Special Event Stations

Attached to this post are the special event stations from ARRL. We sort these by type, then date, allowing those looking for specific activities to focus in them.

Good hunting. 

Maryland-DC QSO Party Award Presented

MDC Award Presentation

Eric Berman, W3EAB, 2022 President of the AARC presents the winners of the Maryland-DC QSO Party Participation Award, the Potomac Valley Radio Club, Northwest Chapter with the winner's plaque.  This presentation took place at their February 21st, 2023 meeting at Chef Lin's restaurant in Frederick, Maryland.  Their winning effort required 4 operators from 3 locations. 

Amateur Radio Celebrating The Universe

Two amateur radio events are scheduled in mid-February to celebrate an astronomer who mapped the universe and an astronomer who discovered a planet.

Feb 11-12 at AARC

February 11 - Amateur License Testing by the Laurel VE team. Registration starts between 12:00 and 12:15 PM. Testing at 1:00.

February 12 - Open Shack, noon to 4 pm.

Open Shack - February 5, 2023

There will be an Open Shack on Sunday, February 5, 2023 between 12:00 and 4:00 pm.

Open Shack offers the members the opportunity to use the club's radios where they may not have the ability to operate from their home QTH due to HOA covenants or difficulties setting up antennas.

Special Event Stations - February 2023

Attached are the special event stations for February. The AARC re-sorts the ARRL listing by type to facilitate those searching for particular types of contacts.

Good hunting.  

Website issues

We are experiencing a problem with the website regarding some membership transactions. 

You must be logged in for annual renewals. New or restored memberships (not currently having a login), please contact the membership secretary directly at ms@w3vpr.org.

Appointment of new MDC Section Manager

It gives me great pleasure to announce that our ARRL Maryland/DC Section has a new manager, Chris Van Winkle AB3WG.  You will recognize Chris as an assistant Section Manager for MD/DC for some time.  Marty Pittinger, KB3MXM, our recent SM has been elevated to Vice Director of the Atlantic Division.  You likely heard about this from my friend Tom Abernethy, W3TOM, our recently retired Atlantic division director.  Tom and I both knew that Marty was right for Atlantic and that he would be a tough act to follow as an SM.  But Chris is up to that job, we are sure.

ARRL VHF Contest at the clubhouse

Ike and Abie, AB1F will be operating the ARRL VHF contest from the Club house from 2 to 4 PM on Saturday 1/21 and Sunday 1/22 afternoons.  They will be on  6, 2, 222, 440 and 1296 bands on SSB and CW using Ike's secondary call of K3ZQ.  Anyone who is interested should stop by and participate.

Ike is also planning to be at the Club house, as needed, to help members with their HF radios.  Just contact him at w3ike@yahoo.com to set up a time to meet.

US Service Academies and Amateur Radio

The Service Academies Radio Group (SARG) was recently formed for alumni and amateur radio operators who are interested in the five U.S military academies.

William Curry, W5CQ, founder and net control operator for the SARG Net, said two months ago there was a new interest in forming a group and net. He noticed that only one military academy, West Point, W2KGY, was still operating a club station. At one time, every military academy had an operating club station.

Orlando HamCation

Who's ready for the SECOND LARGEST annual gathering of radio amateurs in the world??

OrlandoHamCation kicks off officially in a month, February 10-12, at the Central Florida Fairgrounds and Expo Park in Orlando, Florida.
Purchase your ticket now: https://tinyurl.com/4v5r5bph

We'd love to hear your HamCation stories of the past and if you plan on attending this year's convention!

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