The Blue Ridge Echo . .

Echo

.. Echo. .

Official Transmitter of the Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Club - W4YK -

Volume 24, Number 12 December 2011

The Prez Sez I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We are a very blessed club to have the facilities that we have and the equipment that we have, but more importantly, we are blessed to have great club members. I appreciate each and every one of you. I appreciate how you step up and help out whenever needed. I know most of you help out in a lot of different ways in our community and I think that is what makes you such a great group. I will see you at the Christmas dinner on December 3rd.
73s, Danny NA4X

Our Next Meeting: December 6, 2011 6:30 pm @ Blue Ridge Pizza Company in Etowah

MEETING MINUTES OF November 1st, 2011 The meeting of the Blue Ridge Amateur Radio
Club (BRARC-W4YK) came to order at 7:00 PM with the Pledge of Allegiance and was chaired by Danny Rector NA4X (President). There were 23 people attending of which 2-3 were visitors. TREASURER'S REPORT The club has a balance of $1,797.22. OCTOBER'S MINUTES The minutes from the previous meeting were approved as they appeared in the Echo. MEMBERSHIP DUES Deadline for the 2012 year Membership dues is January 1, 2012. The membership fee remains $20. Please remember to renew your memberships with Charlie Chester charliebarb@bellsouth.net at the next meeting or

January 1, 2012. Thanks! PUBLIC EVENTS There are two events in which we need volunteers. Signup sheets were passed for the following: * Fletcher Christmas Parade on December 10, 2011 from 7:30 AM - 11:30 AM. * Hendersonville Christmas Parade on December 3, 2011 from (time TBD). We still need more volunteers with handy talkies to cover each parade. Please contact Danny Rector rectordl@bellsouth.net. CLUB ELECTIONS: Elections for new club officers were held; here are the results: President = Rusty Jones, K4SAA Vice President = Jonathan Williams, KF4NVX, jsw007@bellsouth.net Secretary = Doug Davis, KJ4WWN, v6dakota@yahoo.com Treasure = Charlie Chester, W8INI, charliebarb@bellsouth.net CONTEST NEWS: The biggest ARRL contest was held last weekend and the Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Club took a Clean Sweep with 80! Congratulations! This time we used two radios simultaneously to rack-up more points! Seven or eight members participated and all had fun! Michael Parente, AI4GR reported that our Field Day activity took FIRST PLACE in our division! GENERAL NEWS Club shirts are on sale. They will have your name, call sign and club name embroidered on it. Contact Danny to order a shirt. rectordl@bellsouth.net EQUIPMENT FOR SALE Be sure and check the December Echo for the latest available used radio equipment. PRESENTATION Rusty Jones, K4SAA, gave a video presentation on DX etiquette. It was enjoyed by all. 50/50 The drawing was won by Doug Davis. CHRISTMAS PARTY The December meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 6, 2011 in Etowah, NC at the Blue Ridge Pizza restaurant located on Rte 64 next to the Texaco gas station. Meeting will start at 6:30 PM. Dutch treat. See you there! Bring a friend. The meeting adjourned at 7:50 PM Respectfully submitted by Doug Davis, KJ4WWN. 73s

Team BRARC Enters DX Contest Although we have entered many domestic contests, CQWW would be our first international competition. It involves amateurs across the globe in a grueling 48-hr event that attracts some of the largest contest stations out there the biggest of the big guns. Of course, we had but 100W instead of their 1500W, and no 200 masts for each band. But we had 7 experienced club members and the great facilities and antennas at the clubs shack.
We competed as class Multi-2, which permits 2 rigs, and as many operators as we could find. To feed the two rigs we erected a temporary dipole at about 45 feet, which worked well for one of the rigs on 15m and 40m. The other rig used the quad and the OCF wire. We lacked the operators to keep both rigs on the air for the full 48 hours. More operators would have greatly helped our score. We made 512 contacts, giving us a score of 390,567 points. More than half the contacts were on 15m and 20m. The temporary dipole worked well. Many DXCC entities were reached, so we will submit our log to LOTW. Team BRARC was: Michael, AI4GR Rusty, K4SAA Sid, W4IOE Jonathan, KF4NVX Bob, KD4OKT

Tom, K4TEL Andrew, KJ4ZLP

A Field Day 1st There was another huge nationwide turnout for this years Field Day. Over 2600 entries
were recorded, and the many participants who dont send in scores are not even in this count. So we had plenty of company, and propagation was good, too. BRARC competed in entry category 3A (Three HF transmitters on emergency power). We scored 5752 points. There were 349 teams across the country in this 3A category, and we were 39 from the top. But propagation differs from place to place, and a meaningful comparison is with other teams in NC. Including all entry categories regardless of the number of transmitters, we were 5th of the 73 NC entries. Last year we were 9th. Now about that 1st. Yep, BRARC took FIRST PLACE in our 3A category. We have been steadily climbing the ladder; last year we were 3rd. Keeping an eye on our neighbors, W4MOE in Buncombe County competed in Category 5A. Including all entry categories, they were 7th in NC with a score of 4708.

Team BRARC (VHF Branch) Takes 2nd Place Four of us competed as Limited Multi-OP in
the 2011 June VHF QSO Party. We operated from the Blue Ridge Parkway for a few hours. Two operators used 2m (SSB and FM) and 70cm; the other two were on 6m and 1.25m. We scored 1820 points with 59 QSOs and 26 grid squares. This score put us in 16th place of the 24 entries in NC. Many of the higher scorers used high power; we did not. In our Limited Multi-Op category we came in 2nd. Operating for Team BRARC (VHF Branch) were: Michael, AI4GR Kathleen, AJ4FV Bob, W4RYF Andrew, KJ4ZLP

2011 November Sweepstakes The annual November Sweepstakes contest is one of the most popular of ARRL events. And, of course, BRARC was an ardent competitor.
The contest took place over 30 hours during the weekend of 19-20 November 2011. We worked from the shack using the clubs call, W4YK. A challenging aspect of the Sweepstakes is the long and complex exchange. For us it was: serial # - M- W4YK 96 - NC. A computer at ARRL checks each log to be sure we got it right, else a penalty ensues. So we wont know our final standing until the computer checks all the logs, a few months from now. In the meantime, we submitted a claimed score of 39,600 points from our 263 QSOs. We managed to reach 75 of the 80 possible sections in the USA and Canada. Unfortunately, we couldnt reach our neighbors in South Carolina or Georgia. Most of the contacts were on 80m using the dipole; next came 20m on the Quad. Propagation on 10m stayed open long enough to support 26 contacts to 9 sections. Operators for the club were: Michael, AI4GR Danny, NA4X Ron, KF4HAT Andrew, KJ4ZLP Rusty, K4SAA

WCARS VE Test Session On Saturday, November 12th, the VE team held its quarterly testing session
at the Mountain Home Fire Dept. Three candidates took exams on that day. There were two successful upgrades (one to General and one to Amateur Extra) and one new ham passed the Technician exam. Congratulations to all on your success. The administering VEs were: Michael, AI4GR Eric, W4ENC Kathleen, AJ4FV Dan, K2DRM Dick, W4RSS

Mark Your Calendar

2-4 December 3 December 10 December 10-11 December 18 December 7-8 January 21-23 January 18-19 February ARRL 160-meter Contest Hendersonville Parade Fletcher Parade ARRL 10-meter Contest Rookie Roundup CW RTTY Roundup January VHF Sweepstakes International DX Contest CW

Please notify the editor if dates change, or as new events arise.

ITEMS FOR SALE

AZDEN 2m FM Transceiver, model PCS7000H w/original manual and Pyramid Phase III 13.8v 10amp Power Supply. $200.00 OBO. Contact Wayne Secrist at 828-890-0385.

If you have items for sale, or need something, notify the editor.

DUES FOR 2012 ARE DUE

PTT
K2DRM is clear.

Congratulations to the new club officers. I hope 2011 has been a good year for everyone and look forward to an exciting year in 2012. I hope to see everyone at the Christmas dinner on Dec. 6.

Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Club Points of Contact

President: Danny Rector, NA4X - 828-698-3231 rectordl@bellsouth.net Vice President: Jonathan Williams, KF4NVX - 828-429-1007 jsw007@bellsouth.net Secretary: Sid Hendricks, W4IOE - 828-684-8130

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Financial Report: November 2011 - Lil Clark Balance as of 10/30/11 Plus: Deposits Less: Expenses Balance as of 11/26/11 $ 1797.22 0.00 0.00 $ 1797.22

w4ioe@bellsouth.net
Treasurer: Lil Clark, KG4GFP - 828-877-5223

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

peregrine13@citcom.net
Members-At-Large: Craig Miller, KE4DFV 828-884-5773 ke4dfv@arrl.net Rusty Jones, K4SAA - 828-674-9350

k4saa@arrl.net
Antennas: Walt Wernsing, KO4JN - 828-891-9956 walter134@mchsi.com Echo Editor: Dan Maxwell, K2DRM - 828-243-1347

danmaxwell@dan-maxwell.com
Webmaster: Dick Smith, W4RSS - 828-687-9531

w4rss@att.net
ARRL Emergency Coordinator: Bob Felt, W4RYF

Purpose: The purpose of the club is to further the exchange of information and cooperation between members, to promote radio knowledge, fraternalism and individual operating efficiency, and to promote and conduct programs and activities as to advance the general interest and welfare of amateur radio in the community. Elmers: We have many Elmers. An Elmer is a knowledgeable amateur radio operator who is willing to help new hams and students with questions or procedures and help them to understand more about the hobby. Volunteer Examinations: Every 3 months, our volunteer examiners provide an opportunity to get your amateur license or to upgrade your status. NEXT SESSION: February 11, 2012 Contact Sid, W4IOE, for details. Classes: We occasionally have classes so you can learn how to get your own amateur radio Technician class license.

828-696-4103 w4ryf@arrl.net
VE Testing: Sid Hendricks, See above Membership: - Lil Clark, See above Public Relations: Dick Smith, See above Trustee: Steve Smith, KC5F - 828-697-6388

kc5f@arrl.net
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Club Information
Address: Blue Ridge Amateur Radio Club
PO Box 831, Horse Shoe NC 28742

Website: http://www.radioclub.org/ Dues: Our dues cover the period from January through December. Dues for additional related members in the same household as a Full or Associate member are one-half the applicable rate. Dues for full-time students of an accredited school are one-half the regular rate as long as student status is maintained. New members joining between July and December pay one-half the applicable rate for membership through the end of the year. This years dues are $20.00 per person; $10.00 per additional family member. Please send your renewals to: Lil Clark, 15 Autumn Glen Ct., Brevard, NC 28712 Meetings: We meet at the Stoney Mountain Activity Center at 7:00 pm on the first Tuesday of each month.

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A message from the editor....... Articles and submissions for the Echo should be sent by the 15th of each month. If you have something to add to our newsletter, send it to: Dan, K2DRM. Call me at: 828-243-1347 or E-mail me at: danmaxwell@dan-maxwell.com

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Nets and On-The-Air Activities

Net BRARC Net Henderson County ARES Net High Country Swap & Rag Chew Red Cross Communicators Mount Mitchell 6m Net QCWA Chapter 76 Buncombe ARES Net Good Morning Net WCARS Info. Net 6600 Net Blue Ridge Traffic (SC) Mount Pisgah 220 Net Mount Mitchell 220 Net NC ARES Area 15 Roll Call Net Tarheel Emergency Net NC Morning Net SATERN Net NC Evening Net Carolinas Slow Net Carolinas Net (Late) Carolinas Net (Early)

Freq / PL 146.640 MHz/ 91.5 146.640 MHz / 91.5 442.225 MHz/107.2 146.640 MHz/91.5 53.630 MHz/100 3.625 MHz (SSB) 146.910 MHz/ 91.5 146.760 MHz 146.910 MHz/ 91.5 145.190 MHz 146.610 MHz 224.260 MHz 224.540 MHz 146.640 MHz/ 91.5 3.923 MHz (SSB) 3.926 MHz (SSB) 14.265 MHz 3.923 MHz (SSB) 3.571 MHz (CW 5-8 wpm) 3.573 MHz (CW 15-18 wpm) 3.573 MHz (CW 20-22 wpm)

Day Sunday Wednesday Monday Sunday Friday Saturday Wednesday M-W-F Monday Saturday Daily Sunday Monday Thursday Daily Daily Daily Daily Daily Daily Daily

Time 8:00 PM 8:30 PM 9:00 PM 9:00 PM 9:00 PM 8:45 AM 9:00 PM 9:00 AM 9:00 PM 9:00 PM 9:00 PM 9:00 PM 8:00 PM 8:00 PM 7:30 PM 7:45 AM 10:00 AM 6:30 PM 8:00 PM 10:00 PM 7:00 PM

If this information has changed, please contact Dan at danmaxwell@dan-maxwell.com.

Club Meeting Tuesday December 6, 6:30 pm Blue Ridge Pizza Company, Etowah Subsequent club meeting January 3, 7:00 pm Stoney Mountain Activity Center Henderson County ARES Training Fourth Monday of Month in the County Building 100 King Street, Hendersonville, 7pm

Find us on the web at < http://www.radioclub.org >