Dave KR4U reported that he was contacted by Duke Energy with an update on the RF noise at the station. Duke went to the site with a “corona detecting camera” presumably to detect any arcing on various power components . This corona is the electrical arcing kind, not the drinking kind nor that other one in the news lately. They found 12 leaking insulators! Duke has ordered the parts and will contact Dave again once they are replaced. That will hopefully significantly reduce the noise level at the club station. Many thanks to Dave and team for following up on the noise!
SPARC
We still won’t be able to meet in person for the June meeting, so in an effort to include more people (who may not be able to reach the 2m repeater) we’re going to hold the June meeting via Zoom. If you’re unfamiliar with it, Zoom is a free software that allows for group video chats. You can download the software from http://www.Zoom.us Video isn’t required, but encouraged, you can use your computer’s audio or you can dial in with your phone.
To help get everyone setup and alleviate problems on the day of the meeting we’ll hold a test Zoom session on Wednesday June 3rd after the 2m meter net (approx. 7pm) so you can test your connection/video/audio etc. Below will be two sets of links and phone numbers, one for the test session on June 3rd and one for the June 5th SPARC Monthly meeting at 7:30pm.
Hope to see everyone there!
Topic: SPARC trial run Zoom Meeting
Time: Jun 3, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: SPARC Monthly Meeting, June 5
Time: Jun 5, 2020 07:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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Due to the COVID19 virus and the ban on gatherings we will move the April meeting to a special net to be held on the SPARC repeater at the normal meeting time. The meeting will be on April 3rd at 7:30pm, on the 2m repeater at 147.060 MHz.
We will handle the club business as usual and then open the net for discussion. The vote on the update to the By Laws and the program on Loop Antennas by Rich AA2MF will be postponed until we are all able to meet in person.
Best Regards,
Pat Connelly – AA0O
SPARC President
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Members of SPARC, UPARC and CARS came out to Lake Seminole on Saturday March 14 to enjoy the sunshine as well as operating HF and satellite portable. Patterned after other “in the Park” events put on by our clubs in the past, approximately 15 people came out to enjoy a day in the fresh air. Unlike Field Day, everyone is encouraged to bring their own radios and test their portable setup in the field. It also gives members a chance to see different portable HF setups. Given that many people cannot operate stations at home, operating in a park allows hams to still get on the air. Pat AA0O borough his gear which he uses in many parks around the state to make HF contacts.
Dee W4DCH from UPARC brought his Icom 7300 and wire antenna system.
Tom NY4I operated his satellite station to make 5 QSOs on 3 different satellites. Lisa KC1YL operated as well even making a satellite contact with KP3A in Puerto Rico. All told we had around 15 people come out to play radio in a great day in the park.
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Do you have an interesting story of how or why you got into ham radio? We would love to feature your story on the SPARC website. You may have seen member spotlights in various radio magazines. Why not write a few paragraphs about your ham radio journey and send it to stories@sparc-club.org? You may find it featured on our website. Go ahead and brag a little—it’s ok.
Stories about what you do with ham radio (DXing, contesting, satellites, portable operation, etc) are welcome too. Don’t worry if you are not the best writer in the world. We can take your info and put it together into an article. Fear not, we will make you look good 🙂 A few pictures would be great too.
The more info we can get from members to share on the website the better. We all came into this service/hobby for different reasons and it always makes a good story. Break out that email program and start writing…