WA8AHZ

QCWA Ch 91 Members & Friends of Ch 91.... Hopefully we’ll see you at our Saturday, Dec 9th holiday party at 1130 at PJ Skidoos* in Fairfax. We’ll have some cheer, and a grand time socializing. There is no technical program planned for the meeting. In January, we’ll return to our traditional 3rd Saturday of the month meeting, and the program will discuss the ability of the aging power grid, the largest manmade machine in the world to absorb more and more renewable energy generation projects. Our meeting will be at Glory Days, in Fairfax at 1130 (Microcenter Shopping Center). For your info, at our November meeting the membership in attendance forming a quorum for voting purposes reaffirmed the current leadership team for Calendar Year 2024. We also voted to send a $100 donation to the QCWA Scholarship Fund on behalf of former Ch 91 President, Ray Johnson, K5RJ (SK). Further, the Club Secretary made a motion to send a $100 donation to the Northern Virginia FM Association, for the use of their 146.790 MHz repeater to support our Sunday morning QCWA Ch 91 net. BTW, all are welcome to join our net on Sundays. Hope to see you on December 9th. Mike, WA8AHZ QCWA, Ch 91 President *The address for PJ Skidoos is: 9908 Fairfax Blvd Fairfax, VA 22030

QCWA, Ch 91 & Friends of Ch 91: Hope to see you at our November meeting, Saturday, 18 Nov @ 1130 at Glory Days in Fairfax (MircoCenter shopping Center off Nutley Rd. This month you are in for a treat. Tom, AI4UZ is going to dazzle us w/ new magic tricks hot from this year’s Magic Trick Convention. Looking for one volunteer willing to be sawed in half. Note at the November meeting we will have election of officers. If you would like to be considered for an officer position, let me know. While you are updating your calendar, don’t forget to block Saturday, Dec 9th (@ 1130) for our annual Christmas party at PJ Skidoos, in Fairfax. PJ Skidoos is at 9908 Fairfax Blvd. Mike, WA8AHZ

Justin, let's take this off line to the larger group of Ham Volunteers. Expect an email to you/several others on this request. Mike, WA8AHZ RACE NET CONTROL Lead

ALL: Thanks to all you all* who checked their radios today during the RADIO CHECK DAY. We did capture a couple non-MCM Ham Volunteers, who were somewhat confused w/ our use of tactical frequency. Some for the After Action Report. One issue to resolve: the W3DCA repeater was apparently offline today, and KILO is the primary repeater for RACE NET C. Of course, if we lose any of the nnine repeaters on Race day, we'll assign one of the spare repeaters (NOVEMBER, OSCAR) in its place. We also validated both spare repeaters, and the repeaters used for the MEDNET are operational. 73, Mike, WA8AHZ Don, KM4DC Darwin, K4HAX Net Control Operators, RADIO CHECK DAY *Total checkins: 29 Hams

Today's Radio Check Day will run from 1200-1400, and the purpose is for MCM Amateur Radio Operators (AROs) to test their race day radios for operational capability. It is accomplished on the Federal holiday to allow AROs to locate near their assigned locations, and scope out routes in the daylight. Given we don't have our assignments yet, we're expecting AROs will attempt to test their radios from home, or possibility from one of the (taller) roof top parking decks in/around the area. Other spots to locate are on the National Mall, Potomac Park in DC, or one of the many parks in Arlington. Please stay away from using your radios on the Pentagon Reservation, or in Arlington National Cemetery We will NOT be using tactical call signs; just our given FCC assigned call signs. This is a simple test. Net Control will be operating using our given call signs, and identify as net control for purposes of radio discipline. We will use "directed net" procedures. We will start calling at 1200 on one of repeaters: -- ECHO, HOTEL and KILO. We'll wrap up at 1400 and expect to be off the air by 1530 at the latest. Try any (or all) of these primary repeaters to test your radio. The Race Net Operators will be directing groups of you to move to the secondary repeaters (for further testing), so if you don't hear anything on the primary channel wait a few minutes, and we'll be back on the Primary channel to take the next group of AROs to the secondary channels. It is very unlikely you'll be able to hit all 11 repeaters from any one location. Just find a primary channel and we'll meet up with you. We will use standard net procedures, and remember, when identifying yourself, identify the station you're calling first, followed by your call ("you, this is me") If you are out and about, play it safe. Law Enforcement will be advised of our activity, but expect them, and others to be curious about what a bunch of guys (and gals) are doing talking on walkie-talkies on the street corners. Recruit a new wave of Hams if you have the chance. Qs: text at 703 870-1730 Mike, WA8AHZ Radio Test Day Coordinator

QCWA Ch 91 members & Friends of Ch 91: We’ll not have a monthly meeting on the 3rd Saturday in August – instead operate the NAQP-SSB event on Sat, Aug 19th, starting at 2pm, and have fun! We will meet in person next on Saturday, Sept 15th. It will be our annual fall picnic. Pse mark your calendar to join us in September. Also, if the spirit moves you, consider joining our on-air net every Sunday morning at 9am on the NVFMA Fairfax 2m repeater – 146.790 MHz, PL tone 77.0 Hz. Consider joining us on a Sunday! Mike, WA8AHZ

Thanks Jim for setting up the tread for Net Control .... Currently, net control assignments are TDB. That said, there is a small group of Ham Volunteers (who have worked at the Net Control Station before) working on the frequency plan (discussions reserved for different thread), and the revision of the NCS guide. The Net Control Station will operate from the Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH) again this year. This site gives the NCS good comms to all 11 repeaters used for the MCM. There will be again 3 Race nets (A, B & C), as in years past. Also, FY/SA: the 1x1 call N4M has been once again approved for the period 25 Oct through 1 Nov 2023 for use by the Marine Corps Marathon. Mike, WA8AHZ

Hopefully you have your calendar marked for our July meeting on Saturday, July 15th. The meeting will be held at 1130 at Glory Days Fairfax, in the PanAM shopping center. Our presentation is by John, K4XC. He will discuss Electrical Communications of Oahu from the 19th century Kingdom to 1922. He’ll discuss the landline telegraph to submarine cables and interisland, coastal, and trans-pacific radio stations, including commercial and US Navy radio operations. The three forms of radio transmitter used during this period, spark gap, arc converter, and Alexanderson Alternator will be described. The effects of WWI on radio communications of the US will be described, with emphasis on events in Hawaii. See on the 15th. Mike, WA8AHZ

Topic: Next generation recruitment of Ham trends and insights. Join Alexandria Amateur Radio Club’s Joe Izaquirre, KO4QQX as he discusses his Club’s efforts finding the 21st century solution for recruiting new Hams to join their Club. The meeting will be held at Glory Days in Fairfax at 1130, on Saturday, May 20th. Glory Days is in the Pan Am shopping center at 3059 Nutley St, Fairfax, VA 22031

Ch 91 Mbrs & Friends of Ch 91: Hopefully you’ll join us on Saturday, Apr 15th, at 1130 at Glory Days in Fairfax. Our presentation on the early history of radio in the Hawaiian Islands needs to move to the right, as John, K4XC won’t be available this month. Instead, we’re going to have a discussion about the history of Amateur Radio, circa 1923-ish. We’ll use Chris, W2PA excellent timeline as our guide. See: http://w2pa.net/HRH/ See you all in a couple weeks. Mike, WA8AHZ

QSL Card Checking, and information about the 4 Area incoming QSL Bureau are available at WINTERFEST 2023 at Oakton HS on Sunday, March 19th. For DXCC or WAS Card Checking follow the instructions found at: https://p1k.arrl.org/onlinedxcc/ or use the paper form found at: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/DXCC/Application%20forms/DXCC_Application_Form_Nov_2022.pdf If you plan to bring QSL cards to check, fill out the record sheet found at: http://www.arrl.org/files/file/DXCC/DXCC%20Record%20Sheet%202013a.pdf prior to arriving at the Hamfest. The outdoor tailgating area opens at 7:00 am and the indoor market fair opens at 8:00 am. The Hamfest closes at 2:00 pm. Purchase your admission/raffle tickets here: https://ticketstripe.com/VWS-WinterFest-2023 You do not need to be present to win the raffle. More info at https://viennawireless.net/wp/events/winterfest/

QCWA, Chapter 91 & Friends of Ch 91: We’ll have no Chapter meeting in March, instead enjoy the Virginia QSO Party (Mar 18-19), or the VWS WINTERFEST (Mar 19). Also, the Virginia activation of W1AW/4 on Mar 15-21st and there is still room to sign up to operate an hour or two. See: http://bit.ly/3iYqWCS In April, we’ll have John, K4XC join us and he’ll talk about early history of radio operations in Hawaii. The meeting will be at Glory Days (Fairfax) on Apr 15th. Mike, WA8AHZ

Please plan to join us for our 2nd face to face meeting of the year on Saturday, Feb 18th starting at 1130. Our venue will be Glory Days in Fairfax, near the MicroCenter. Our topic is Digital Mobile Radio, and some other internet-based methods for getting on the air (GOTA). The focus is on operating procedures. We’ll have a number of DMR experts help us GOTA, and we’ll spend our time exploring different talk groups. See you on the 18th. Mike, WA8AHZ

Operators needed to use the W1AW/4 Callsign during VA VOTA Week, March 15 - 21 You can also operate as W1AW/4 during the VA QSO Party, March 18-19 Attention VA club members: Our Virginia section has been selected by ARRL to operate the W1AW/4 callsign during the Virginia week of the Volunteers on the Air (VOTA) program and our VA QSO Party. VOTA is a year-long event to honor all the volunteers of Amateur Radio from ARRL staff to VEs and QSL Bureau card sorters. Hams contacting a W1AW/4 station or volunteer can earn points towards certificates and ranking at the end of the year. The Virginia VOTA week is being hosted by the Sterling Park ARC. You can operate Phone, CW and Digital modes on all bands except WARC bands. W1AW/4 operators must use a computer logging program that can export an ADIF file such as N1MM+ or similar and upload the file using an upload utility provided by ARRL. Questions? Contact Evan, KM4SK at sterlingparkradio@gmail.com. For complete information about VOTA operating and FAQs, go to vota.arrl.org Sign up now to operate W1AW/4 during VAQP and VOTA using the link below. The link takes you to the online Google Sheet Sign-up form. Operate for an hour or as many as you wish. Thanks! Evan Mann, KM4SK Sterling Park ARC When W1AW/4 runs from Wed., March 15th to Tues., March 21st (including the VA QSO Party March 18-19) Time W1AW/4 VOTA event begins 0000 UTC March 15, 2023 and ends 2359 UTC March 21. 2023 Use the following link to sign up: http://bit.ly/3iYqWCS

As we approach another Thanksgiving, I note the following SK... Vic Clark, W4KFC, was President of the ARRL, and honorary member of the Vienna Wireless Society. He died the morning after Thanksgiving, 1983, after having just returned home from traveling on behalf of the ARRL. At the time, Chapter 91 was known as the Northern Virginia Chapter of QCWA. After Vic's untimely death, the chapter applied for, and received, the name memorializing Vic. Keep Vic and his extended family in your prayers this Thanksgiving Mike, WA8AHZ

Pse join the Chapter on the 3rd Sat of November for a business meeting. The meeting will start at 1130, and the Zoom link is: Agenda includes: Treasurer Report Motion to grant funds to NVFMA for use of the Fairfax Repeater On the Need to send in periodic (monthly) Chapter reports to HQs Nomination of, and then election of officers for CY23 Discussion regarding level of participation on Sunday morning nets and monthly meetings Additionally, we’ll discuss plans for a Holiday (non-Zoom) celebration. 73, Mike, WA8AHZ President, QCWA Ch 91

Hard to believe October is here, and it’s time to mark ours calendar for the monthly QCWA meeting on Saturday, Oct 15th starting at 11:30. The meeting will be via Zoom. Our guest this month is Richard Dillman of the Martine Radio Historical Society, and he’ll talk about their mission, and organization dedicated to repairing, restoring and operating the historical “shore to ship” radio station KPH, located on the Point Reyes National Seashore as a way to honor the men and women who for 100 years made the profession of radiotelegrapher one of honor and skill. The Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/968580533?pwd=QUJPWHh2ZWpOcW9TNVdyUjdFMWw2QT09 Mike WA8AHZ

QCWA, Ch 91 members: Please block your calendar for the 3rd Saturday in September (Sep 17th) for our Fall picnic starting at 1130 at Doug’s QTH. NO ZOOM !!!! If you need a ride to the picnic, let me know at WA8AHZ@arrl.net Please plan to share a side-dish for about 3-4 people (max) ... that would be helpful. During the picnic, we’ll have a short discussion and tour of a whole house emergency generator system, and our friends from Vance Electric, in Springfield will provide information about their whole house generator system installation and maintenance service. VANCELECTRIC (generatorsnorthernvirginia.com) Doug’s address is: 3630 Camelot Dr. Annandale, VA 22003 Also, mark your calendar for our meeting on Saturday, October 15th, which will be via ZOOM. We’ll be joined by the folks from the Maritime Radio Historical Society in Point Reyes Station, CA. Hope to have a full house for this exciting discussion on coast maritime radio operations spanning the entire 20th century. https://www.radiomarine.org

Please mark your calendar to join us on Saturday, Aug 20th @ 1130 via Zoom to learn more about the Network Engineers Repeater Association (NERA) system of VHF & UHF repeaters in the DMV area – a little bit of history, and how NERA provides an outstanding public service to the community. We will be joined by Art Feller, W4ART for the presentation. The Link to the Zoom Mtg is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/968580533?pwd=QUJPWHh2ZWpOcW9TNVdyUjdFMWw2QT09