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March a Busy Hamfest
Month
March is shaping up to be a very
busy month for amateur radio in Hampton Roads. The
Mecklenburg Amateur
Radio Society (MARS) will host their annual Hamfest at a new
location in Charlotte, North Carolina. The two day event,
scheduled for Saturday, March 14th and Sunday, March 15th will also
feature the
ARRL Roanoke Division Convention. Hampton Road's own
Chesapeake Amateur
Radio Service (CARS) will hold their annual
Springfest on Sunday,
March 22nd. For all of the details please visit their websites.
The Shamrock Marathon
is Upon Us!
  Each
year VBARC provides
communications for numerous local events. By far, the largest
event we coordinate is the
Shamrock
Marathon. The VBARC Community Services Manager, Al WA4TCJ
has been very busy over the last few months, coordinating all of
the amateur volunteer effort that goes into this large event.
This year's Shamrock Marathon will be held on Saturday, March 21st
and Sunday, March 22nd. Al has scheduled a pre-race meeting
for Thursday the 19th.
Many of the Hams that
have been helping with the Shamrock Marathon have been doing it
for nearly 30 years! Come out and be part of the fun and put
your amateur skills to good use! If you would like to volunteer
to help, please
contact Al.
WVEC Facilitates
Local Amateurs to Help with DTV Switch
John Dolive, Director
of Technology at WVEC-TV
and local amateur (W4BAY) has petitioned Hampton Roads Hams to volunteer
the manning of the stations DTV telephone hotline.
 For
many of us, that have been struggling with exactly how we could
fulfill the
FCC's request to the amateur community to assist the general
public with the switchover, John's offer is a godsend!
If you would like to
volunteer some time to this exceptional endeavor (or for more info)
please contact VBARC's President,
Steve Batton
W4XQ. A commitment of a few hours of telephone time will
go a long way toward helping our community and highlighting the
great things Hams can do to help in a pinch! Even though the
House of Representatives recently delayed the switch until June,
Steve is still collecting volunteer information for the effort to
educate the public.
K4AMG
Fundraiser
By Richard Siff WA4BUE
 The
K4AMG Club has fallen a little short of our Frost Fest Fund Raiser
Goal. Funds raised are for Students at
Chesapeake Center for Science and Technology WFOS radio class,
helping them get on 2 meters as they pass their amateur radio tests.
For our fundraiser, radio stuff has been donated
by John Smith W4HDW, Bonnie Poindexter KA4TAW (estate), Avanalle
Siff K4AMG (estate), Barry W3AFH and myself.
The following items are still available for sale:
| ITEMS |
QTY |
PRICE |
| Simple VOM Meters |
15 |
$ 3.00 |
| Scientific Calculators |
6 |
$ 1.00 |
| 1/4" Drive Ratchet Sets |
15 |
$ 3.00 |
| IC 730 Transceiver (Working) |
1 |
$ 230.00 |
| Heathkit Marauder Transmitter (Not Tested) |
1 |
$ 100.00 |
| Rail Road Morse Code Pounder Set |
1 |
$ 75.00 |
| MFJ Auto Keyer |
1 |
$ 30.00 |
| Ten Tec Paddle |
1 |
$ 30.00 |
The K4AMG Club is lending a TM 271A and MFJ Power
Supply with antenna and coax to one of the students that aced the
Tech Test. We also have a FT 600 and antenna tuner to lend
to the first student to pass the General Class and put up an antenna
in his/her yard. We still need a 25 amp power supply for this
student.
There is also a "Make a Wish" student that the
club would like to buy a 2 meter radio for. The radios we
help the students obtain must have tones to access the Chesapeake
repeaters. For the students to receive our assistance they
and their parents will sign an agreement to do a minimal amount
of amateur radio activities for the year and some public service
communications.
Currently the class has a possibility of 15 new
amateur radio teens, and we have 6 teens from the last class. The
Icom IC-V8 Sport seems to be the most affordable radio available.
The original goal was to raise enough money to
subsidize 30 percent of the cost of the 2 meter radios, and to provide
free a radio to our "Make a Wish" student and our student that aced
the first test.
 Anyone
wishing to purchase one of our items or to donate something to sell
towards our project should contact me at 757-485-3762.
Please forward this information to your members
and friends.
Thank you.
73 & God Bless
Rich WA4BUE
February VBARC Membership Meeting
The February VBARC Meeting was called to order by President Steve,
W4XQ at 7:30 PM. A total of 41 members and guests were in
attendance for Steve's first meeting at the helm of VBARC.
 Steve
appointed Zach Butler, KJ4EZJ (one of our prolific young Hams who
garnered his General class from last years classes and test sessions)
as VBARC Photographer. Previously images of VBARC events and
meetings were collected haphazardly by whoever showed up with a
camera. Zach's task will be to get the photos when he can
and organize who will if he can not.
 The
2009 Virginia
Beach Hamfest dates have been nailed down and were announced
to the membership as the 12th and 13th of September. Charlie
W1WTG was in attendance to announce the event's ticket giveaway
to one lucky Ham!
Tom WS9B reminded the membership that the
Shamrock
Marathon is right around the corner and will commence on the
21st and 22nd of March.
 The
pre-race meeting will is scheduled for Thursday, March 19th, 6:30
PM at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. The 8K will be
Saturday Morning at 8 AM and on Sunday the ½ Marathon starts at
7 AM and the full Marathon will begin at 8 AM. To volunteer
or get more information, please contact our Community Services Coordinator,
Al WA4TCJ. Al still needs about 15 more operators, so
please let him know if you can help. It is a lot of fun and
all you need is some time and an HT.
 John
Dolive W4BAY put out a message to all area clubs asking for help
with phone banks to help with the DTV conversion. Even though
the U.S. House of Representatives has stepped in and delayed the
conversion until June, names are still being taken for the effort.
You will not be asked to go into anyone's home to hook up antennas
or converter boxes, only to talk people through the process over
the phone.
Vice President John, WB4AXY is looking for ideas for presentation
at the meetings. If you have anything you would like to see as a
program please
email or talk to him at a meeting. The March Meeting's
presentation will be delivered by our own Ed Martin, W8NLZ.
He will give a presentation on equipment and antenna's for portable
field use. This should be very interesting, so please come
out and enjoy the program.
Bob K4NTO, VBARC's Treasurer, gave us his report and stated that
we currently hold $3921.00 in the bank. Bob went over the
budget details for 2009, which was immediately thereafter placed
before the membership for a vote and accepted.
 Steve
W4XQ finished up the meeting with a PowerPoint presentation outlining
and delivering proposed changes to the By-Laws. These changes
have passed the rigorous process of making it through the Board
of Directors and will be placed before the membership for a vote
at the March Meeting. The proposed changes are also available
here.
Ron W8RJL took some great shots of the meeting for our new Photographer
(who was busy at a
VBCERT class)! See them all
here!
Franklin Amateur Radio Club Barbeque Picnic
Dick Harrell W4RBH passed along a note to
HRHams to remind
the community to mark their calendars for the upcoming Franklin
Amateur Radio Club Picnic in June. The date has been nailed
down and Dick passed along
this flyer.
 If
you have never had the opportunity to get out to the Bronco Club
for this great event, then you are truly missing some of the finest
amateur fellowship in Hampton Roads! I was out of town last
year and missed it, but I attended in 2007 and had a blast!
Not to mention those fellows really know how to lay out a pig and
the area is just absolutely beautiful!
We'll remind you again at the end of May, but mark
your calendars now for Sunday the 14th of June! The FARC Hamfest/Picnic
& Pig Pick'n! Call it what you like, it is a great time to
be had by the whole family! For more information, please contact
Chris Hanslits W4VX.
VBARC/CARS Classes & Testing
for 2009
 Jim
AG4XT (VBARC's Testing & Training Coordinator) and Paul K4PRB
(CARS President)
have put together a wonderful slate of Classes & Testing opportunities
for the remainder of the year.
 All
of the classes will be hosted at the superlative facility that our
good friends at CARS maintain (The
QRM Room). These classes and test dates do not preclude
others from being tossed in as the need arises, but give us all
a good snapshot of what is planned. If you plan on attending
one or more of the classes please
toss Jim an email, that he may get a good idea of how many to
expect for each class.
As always, you are not required to
attend the classes to take the exam and you may attend any or all
of the class dates. VBARC and CARS never charge a fee for
our efforts in setting up/administering classes, but there is always
a $15 fee for administration of the actual test itself. These
fees go directly to
ARRL to help defray
their administrative costs.
Level: Technician Classes
Location:
CARS QRM Room
Dates: March 7, 10, 11, 12, 17 & 19
Test Date: March 22 (same date as Shamrock Marathon) |
Level: Tech/General Combined Classes
Location:
CARS QRM Room
Dates: June 2, 4, 9, 11, 17, 19, 23 & 25
Test Date: June 27 |
Level: General/Extra Combined Classes
Location:
CARS QRM Room
Dates: August 11, 13, 18, 20, 25, 27, September 1, 3, 8
& 20
Test Date: September 12 & 13 (testing available both days
at Virginia Beach Hamfest) |
HRHams Calendar
Microwave Enthusiasts
Beware!
 Thanks
to Ed (W8NLZ) and Jane Martin for passing this little gem along
from the shores of Lake Smith! This is an awesome video that
I won't spoil by giving you too much information, just have a
look-see and a chuckle...
Mother nature loves
to remind us that she is still in charge...
FCC Digital TV Reception
Maps
Quint K4CQW was kind
enough to pass on an interesting FCC link for generating a map of
DTV reception for your local area.
Click here to have a look at the DTV Reception Maps for your
location!
From the Editor:
As many of you may know, I am currently at Fort Dix, NJ in
training for an assignment overseas. I often email
pictures and commentary to those who have asked (and a few that
didn't). If you would like some unclassified pictures and
commentary on the the life of a Sailor in green, just shoot me
an email at chief@ficke.org
73,
John
WT4M
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