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CARS Dinner Meeting at the Moose Lodge
 CARS will have a Dinner Meeting on the 8th of September, but you must act NOW to get in on the fun! The deadline for reserving your plate is Tuesday, September 2nd! So give CARS President Paul K4PRB a call at 757-484-6047 if you wish to attend. It is important that the Moose Lodge knows how many will attend to ensure everybody gets a full plate!
The cost for the meal is $13 per person (cash only) and is open to all that wish to attend (but Paul needs to know you are coming). Portsmouth Moose Lodge #898 is the same venue for the CARS Springfest. Please click here for a map.
VBARC Presentation Changes
 Carl Clements W4CAC (our Virginia Section Manager), originally scheduled to speak at the VBARC October Meeting, has graciously yielded his time to Al Corderman WB1EFN. Carl will be at the September VBARC Meeting this Thursday at Saint Andrew's United Methodist Church, 7:30 PM. This significantly impacts the amount of time Carl will have to prepare for the meeting, so the floor will be his and will include a Q & A session.
If you would like to have an answer available to your question at the meeting, please get your query to Carl as soon as possible to give him some time to research it. So far I had only received one question, and that was from Gordon KU4EC, which has been passed along to Carl.
W4CAC picture courtesy of ARRL VA
More New Hams from the QRM Room!
 A simple phone call during VBARC's last Board of Directors Meeting precipitated the licensing of two new amateurs in Hampton Roads! Asa KH2N called VBARC's Training & Licensing Manager, Jim AG4XT in regard to finding an amateur exam for his son Brandon. Unfortunately, Brandon was leaving for college prior to the Hamfest. Always ready to help, Jim agreed to set up an exam session for Brandon before he headed off to VMI.
 Jim had a couple of VEs volunteer to assist in short order for a small test session, just for Brandon. VBARC's President Don AI4ME and I agreed to be the second and third VE for the test.
Jim set the exam date for Tuesday, August 26th. Since the CARS QRM Room would be occupied with the ongoing General/Extra classes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, it only seemed logical to set up the session in one of the back studios during that time frame.
 A day or two after the VBARC BOD Meeting, Don's son Darrin arrived from upstate New York for a visit. Darrin indicated that he had previously studied for the Technician exam and was ready to give it his best shot!
Fortunately, George WA4GDB was more than happy to volunteer to VE in Don's place - to facilitate Darrin's test (as you may not serve as a VE for relatives). Both young men made good with the effort to attain their first "ticket"!
 All the while nearly a dozen were outside the small testing room, studying for their General and/or Extra exams, in preparation for a test seat at Hamfest! Bill WF4R, covered exam subelements G4, G5, E4 & E5. I was very impressed with Bill's presentation of electronic theory and principles. As some of you may already know, I am an avionics technician by trade (though it seems I do much more paper shuffling these days). There are still quite a few more classes remaining before Hamfest. Remember, you do not have to attend any of these classes to take the exam, there is no charge and you may attend any or all that you like. VBARC's calendar outlines the specifics for each class.
The QRM Room has seen a good bit of testing activity over the last few weeks! Thanks again to our friends at CARS! Congratulations to our two newest Hams! Though you have many paths ahead of you and amateur radio may take a back seat when life gets hectic, you will always find Hams willing to give you a lift back to the hobby if you stray too far! I'll get your new calls out in the next edition of HRHams!
As usual, I snapped a bunch of pictures that you can find here!
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Technician Class (2)
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Darrin A. Michalek
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Brandon A. Page
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As an update from the last mailing, the folks that tested at the CARS QRM Room on August 13th have received their calls and are highlighted below in red! So, if you see (or hear) any of these new (and not so new) Hams around town, give them your congratulations on a job well done!
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General Class (2)
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Erik M. Beebe
KJ4FMH
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"Skip" Harry Sharp II
KJ4GDG
(formerly W5EDP)
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Technician Class (2)
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Clayton Carriker
KJ4GDE
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John J. Heimerl
KJ4GDF
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August Minutes from the USS Wisconsin Club
Minutes for meeting held August 9, 2008 at Gus and George's Restaurant.
There were 12 members or guests present.
Sal opened the meeting at 1:16 pm.
 He mentioned that he is still in the throes of repairing his condo after a water heater burst. Sal reported that Ron had told him that all but 4 of the QSL cards had been taken care of. He will report on the Museum Ships on the Air event when he returns next month. I mentioned the two meter rig that had been donated to the club by Lynda Poole. Her father, who owned it passed away recently. His name was Dean Heniger and his call was N5KKU. Vic told us about the upcoming QCWA convention. Plans are moving ahead very well. All the hotel rooms contracted for have been reserved. He mentioned that several clubs have bought space in the convention brochure and asked if we would like to do this. A quick vote was taken and the members did this. Terry wrote the check then and presented it to Vic.
 Vern reminded us of the Ham Radio cruise he is organizing for October 13th through the 19th. It leaves from Nauticus and returns there. Icom is furnishing 2 new rigs and Tarheel is furnishing the antennas. He has been on the ship and checked for noise and said that it seemed quiet. There are still tickets available. Sal mentioned that while the Museum Ships event was in progress, there was a cruise ship docked nearby causing a huge amount of electrical noise and when it left the noise abated. The question was asked, “Why are ships so noisy?” Vern told a horror story about one ship that he was on with a 20db noise level. Vern has checked out all bands. 17 meters was a little noisy. One problem might be the fluorescent lights around the decks. They are on day and night. Vern got an Email from someone wanting to make the trip because he wanted to see the radio room on the ship. Vern let him know that the ships are very secretive about their radio systems.
Sal closed the meeting at 1:30 PM.
Submitted by your friendly secretary,
Jack R. Main, W4YCZ
Autumn VBARC Line-up
  As we begin to roll into Fall, VBARC has managed to field quite a line-up for the presentations scheduled over the next few months. This months meeting will feature our Virginia Section Manager as our speaker. A great opportunity to get your concerns and questions to the League.
Carl W4CAC was originally scheduled for the October Meeting but graciously deferred to Al Corderman WB1FNE, who will be in town for the QCWA International Convention, to facilitate obtaining his highly regarded presentation. Al will be giving the club a lesson on how to build and employ a portable solar power supply that is capable of powering a 100W rig, laptop and a lamp!
If all that isn't enough, John Heimerl KJ4GDF will give us a bird's eye view of the incredible architectural challenges that went into erecting the antenna tower in Driver. As Chief Enterprise Officer at WHRO, John was intimately involved in the monumental project and is extremely eloquent in its presentation. Truly a tale that only Hams can thoroughly appreciate!
Online CW Learning/Practice Site
 Jeff KA1DBE passed along a really awesome website to help anyone learn Morse code. As long as you have a some speakers, you can copy code. At LCWO you can learn Morse telegraphy (CW) online in your browser. You don't need to install a program on your computer, and you always have your personal settings available, from any computer on the globe with an internet connection. You can also easily track your progress by means of different statistical functions.
Sign up for a free account (or use username "test", password "test" to play around) and start learning or improving your CW today!
LCWO image courtesy of LCWO
Global Cooling
 Lew passed this along a few weeks ago, but it scared me so I didn't want to look at it again... I am not scared of cold weather, just the lack of good conditions for propagation that it predicts:
The following is a link to an article that appeared on QRZ.COM on 8/17/2008. We have all been waiting for the start of sunspot cycle 24 and some articles say that we are now in the first year or so of cycle 24. However, the article indicates that we may still be in the end of cycle 23 and that when cycle 24 does start it will be relatively weak.
It’s a very interesting article which I’m sure that Al Gore will completely ignore.
Lew
W4BLO
Stop Eyeballing my Spectrum!
 There was an interesting article in the Washington Post in reference to Sharing Unused Airwaves. I have included a link to the article.
I was lucky enough to be involved in a Rag Chew Net with the Voice of America Ham Club on the Washington Mall and they directed me to the article. While it doesn’t come out and say it in the article, they were talking about how some of the HAM bands are being readily looked at by some of these companies. They were talking about how Hams need to make sure we keep our stake in the band well looked after.
I thought it was interesting and worth passing along.
Chris
KJ4EZG
Repeater Installation Complete
 Saturday, August 9th brought with it the operational return of the 146.970- W4KXV repeater. The popular Hampton Roads Public Service net has been relocated back to this machine. I was returning from a trip to Southern Maryland today with my son Billy KJ4FRK and we were delighted to hear the 97 ID while we were somewhere just south of Williamsburg!
 The 97 (as it is known locally) has long been one of the most reliable repeaters in the area. Several weeks ago during one of our heavy thunderstorms this year, it was taken off the air by a lightening strike. Some of our local repeater experts sprang into action and acquired the necessary equipment to get the repeater back up.
It has often been assumed that this is a VBARC repeater, but in reality this repeater (and several others) are maintained by VBEARS. Though most (if not all) of the members of VBEARS are also long time VBARC members, the entities are separate and not affiliated. If you are interested in VBEARS, or would like to make a donation to help with the upkeep of these well utilized and maintained repeaters, please email Linda KI4LO.
  The repeater location is secure and getting access and a time when all required parties were not otherwise committed was the single factor that delayed the installation and testing of the new repeater equipment. After speaking with Ed KN4KL, he indicated that though there are still a few minor adjustments required, both the 97 and the 444.950+ are now fully operational for amateur use.
If you happen to see (or hear) Wally W4KXV, Ed KN4KL, Butch KE4AZL or Sim K4SIM out and about, give them a kind word or two for the fine work they achieved on Saturday! The fruits of their labors are of benefit to all local and transient amateurs in Hampton Roads! Congratulations on a job well done!
 Despite the best laid plans (and efforts) of mice and men (and Hams) the 97 is currently on the fritz, and our VBEARS gents need to get back out to the repeater site to effect repair to the newly installed 146.970- W4KXV repeater. Once again, getting access to the site is no easy task. I'll just comment that there is some politics involved and leave it at that. Be patient while our techs from VBEARS find the time and access to get the 97 back online. Until that happens, the Hampton Roads Public Service Net has been relocated to the 146.895- W4KXV machine once again.
Fox Hunt Rules Now Available
 The rules for the 2008 VBARC Fox Hunt are now available for download in Adobe PDF format. The Fox Hunt will be held on the 27th of September (one week after Hamfest). Registration will be required for the event and you may register via email or at the Hamfest, as well as the at the September VBARC Meeting.
Guidelines on registration and everything else concerning the event are in the rules, so please spend a few minutes and mull them over if you plan to compete.
The trails at First Landing State Park are sometimes steep and hilly, and there are many miles of them. If you get winded taking out the garbage, this may not be the Fox Hunting event you are looking for. Most US events are conducted primarily using motor vehicles. This event will be more European in flavor. With the price of gas as it is, you may see more American's switching over to these "hiking & biking" style Fox Hunts!
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