Recent Articles
2013 Virginia QSO Party
The Virginia QSO Party is held during the 3rd full weekend in March.
Pre Party Tidbits: Misc emails and thoughts.
VQP Contest Rules: There are no changes in the rules for the 2013 Va QSO Party.
Plaques and Sponsors: We have 25 plaques this year. There are two changes in plaques. First, we have a new plaque this year.. The new plaque is Single Operator Youth for any single operator 18 years or younger during the VA QSO Party (sponsored by the K4AMG Memorial ARC). Eligible contestants should indicate their age in the soapbox section of their electronic Cabrillo file or on the summary sheet if they are submitting a paper log. Second, the SO CW High Power will only be open to Virginia stations, as opposed to any SO station.
2012 Virginia QSO Certificate.
VQP Briefing: (PDF format ~6MB. A presentation suitable for club meetings on the Virginia QSO Party. Includes rules, Party statistics, descriptions of certificates.
Virginia Counties and Independent Cities: 95 counties and 39 independent cities (PDF format).
Cabrillo Files Format: Electronic submissions are requested. Cabrillo file format (v3.0) (or earlier versions) are acceptable.
Paper Log Summary Sheets: (PDF) Used to record header information for paper logs. This form is not required for cabrillo formatted electronic logs. Updated to add place to enter age for YOUTH Award.
Contest Logging Programs. Logging programs designed for the Virginia QSO Party always help. We accept any logs, but logs submitted electronically and compliant with any cabrillo format are preferred. The following logging programs have been used in the past and they have been modified to support the Virginia QSO Party.
- N1MM Logger http://www.n1mm.com.
- Scott & Kimberly, N3FJP & KA3SEQ Amateur Contact Log http://www.n3fjp.com/.
- Ron, K5DJ, WriteLog http://www.writelog.com/.
Worked All Virginia Award: The “Worked All Virginia” award is offered by the Rappahannock Valley Amateur Radio Club.
Presentation Offer and Schedule: SPARC will give a presentation on the Virginia QSO Party to any group in Virginia.
Planning Calendar: The calendar is available for review.
ARPSC Membership Renewal Time
It’s the time when members are asked to pay membership dues to support ARPSC repeaters, web sites, and club activities.
- Individual – $20.00
- Family – $25.00
Click here for more details and to download a membership application form. And … if you are not yet a member, please join!
Thanks and 73s,
W4AVA.org
Vienna Wireless “Winterfest 2013″ a Success
Winterfest 2013 – the annual ham radio flea market for hams in Northern Virginia scored a big success on Sunday, February 24. Organized by the Vienna Wireless Society, a not-for-profit ham radio club located in Northern Virginia, the event was held at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale. While we don’t have an exact number of attendees, we can say the place was crowded.
Photos by David Henderson, KF4VCA.
Proceeds from the event help support the activities of the Vienna Wireless Society. Activities include community service, emergency preparedness, and technical innovation.
Update from the ARPSC Board of Directors
It had been my intention to send out a New Year’s message to our members, but the flow of the river was faster than my ability to paddle. I have fallen behind. However, by chance, I am on time for the Chinese (lunar) New Year. So, eat long noodles for good luck as we begin the year of the snake.
Recently, I stopped for a morning bagel and overheard a couple arguing two tables away. It appeared they were remodeling their kitchen and disagreed on which end of the island the new USB outlet would be placed. She didn’t want “gadgets cluttering her kitchen.” Clearly not a ham’s house and another sign of the high tech world we live in.
If you got interested in ham radio back in the days when radios glowed in the dark and you could diagnose a problem with your eyes or nose you know just how far we’ve come. Back then you could get back on the air by simply changing a tube or replacing a resister or capacitor with your trusty soldering iron. You might even visualize the flow of electrons through the various components. Today’s latest new gear is a marvel, almost beyond comprehension.
Back then only Hams could communicate around the world or portably talk point to point in their town. Today anyone with a smartphone can. But despite the advance in equipment and capability there remains one huge difference – the operator. A person with a phone is hostage to the infrastructure. If it fails he or she is incommunicado. A well-trained and equipped amateur radio operator can still carry on when all else fails. That has not changed in 50 years.
Our club is lucky. We have members from both the post spark-gap era and digital era. They all have wide and varied interests within our hobby yet we share a common interest in public service. We have and maintain a robust and capable repeater system that enjoys a huge footprint in the metro area. We regularly train on the procedures we’d need in an emergency during our radio nets. We maintain our individual “go kits” in order to respond to an official request to deploy. We have everything in place, just in case. As we begin 2013 let’s individually recommit to keep our RACES training and certification current, then to regularly check into the Wednesday evening net, to operate from an Arlington Fire Station the 1st Wednesday of each month and to participate in the drills we are planning for this year. I look forward to our continued communication and camaraderie.
To check out a list of board members, click here.
73 and I’ll see you on the radio.
Gerry Greenwood
N3EVT
QSONet is delivering virtual ionosphere reports for amateur radio
QSONet is a good online resource for timely ionosphere reports for ham operators.
The Cormac Propadex – Current Ionospheric Conditions:
- Propadex is updated four times per hour
- Eight hours of history is shown on the graph.
- When the Propadex is high, it means the F2 maximum useable frequency is higher than average for this time of day.
Learn more at the W4AVA newsletter.
Commerce Department’s Radio Spectrum Wall Chart
Any ham knows that the radio spectrum is crowded. How crowded? Well, nothing drives home the point better than this PDF wall chart from the Department of Commerce. Click here to access the PDF.
