Field Day 2017 is over. And it’s a good thing, looking at these two trying to set up and operate a 6-meter station.

The Decatur Amateur Radio Club now has a page on Facebook. Some Field Day photos have already been posted. Stop by and “like” our page! Just search for the club name or for W4ATD.

Thanks to all who helped out with the Field Day effort! The scores are being tallied (it won’t take long – they’re rather low this year) and things are put away until next year.

You are planning on next year, right? June 23rd and 24th, 2018. Be there!

FIELD DAY 2017 IS HERE!

The Decatur Amateur Radio Club will participate in its 64th consecutive Field Day contest on Saturday and Sunday, June 24th and 25th. We have once again reserved the picnic shelter behind the main stage at Point Mallard Park in Decatur. We will be monitoring the 147.00 repeater so we can answer questions or give directions.

We will begin the setup between 8:00 and 9:00 on Saturday morning and begin radio operations at 1:00. For the following 24 hours we will attempt to contact as many stations as possible using up to 4 radio stations. Then on Sunday afternoon we will take everything apart and celebrate a fun outing.

Come out and help us, visit with us, or even use one of the radios for a short while. We’d love the company!

See you at Field Day!!

The June meeting of the Decatur Amateur Radio Club will be held at Libby’s Catfish and Diner at 6:00 on Tuesday evening, June 6th, at 6:00. Libby’s is located on Highway 67 in Priceville to the east of I-65.  Just follow Highway 67 until you get to the top of Priceville Mountain.  Libby’s is on the right.

During and/or after our meal we will be discussing our plans for the club’s 64th Field Day exercise on June 24th and 25th.

The July meeting will likely be cancelled, since the first Tuesday of July is the 4th, and most of us will have other things planned for the holiday.

The August meeting will be held at the Morgan County Courthouse as regularly scheduled.

Come greet, eat, and meet with us on Tuesday! And make your plans for Field Day later this month!

The Decatur Daily reported today (04 May 2017) about a mock drill (actually a “practice” mock drill) at the Morgan County EMA in the courthouse. They posted a photo essay here.

Of course they had to show ham radio as part of it.  There are 2 photos in the set of club treasurer Lester Christophe W5GSU. One of those even made the printed newspaper!

There are other practice and graded drills in the next week and month. Be listening on the repeaters and assist if you can!

Oh, here are the photos of W5GSU for your “enjoyment”.

The March meeting of the Decatur Amateur Radio Club will be held at Libby’s Catfish and Diner at 6:00 on Tuesday evening, March 7th, at 6:00. Libby’s is located on Highway 67 in Priceville on the east of I-65.  Just follow Highway 67 until you get to the top of Priceville Mountain.  Libby’s is on the right.

The April meeting will be held at the Morgan County Courthouse as regularly scheduled.

Come greet, eat, and meet with us on Tuesday!

As is our custom, the Decatur Amateur Radio Club will have its Christmas Dinner as the December meeting.

This year, we have reserved space at Olive Garden in Decatur on Tuesday, December 6th, at 6:00.

Please join us and our families for a time of enjoying good food, fellowship, memories of a great year of ham radio activities, and especially thoughts of the Christmas season.

Hope to see you there!

At November’s business meeting the club reelected the current 2016 officers for 2017.  They continue serving at the January club meeting.

The officers for 2017 are:

President – Craig McClure KJ4LAA

Vice-President – Mike Lowery K4RML  (ex- KM4JCD)

Secretary – Richard Matthews KB4CAY

Treasurer – Lester Christophe W5GSU

2016 was a good year for our club, and 2017 should continue the trend!

The October meeting of the Decatur Amateur Radio Club is going to be a bit different. Just like last year’s October meeting

Instead of the regular meeting at the Morgan County Courthouse, we will meet at the home of the former club president and current treasurer, Lester Christophe W5GSU.  If you did not receive the notification e-mail with his address and directions, please contact the club secretary (secretary <at> darc-w4atd.org or kb4cay <at> gmail.com) and we’ll get it to you.  Or call out on the 147.00 repeater and someone can help direct you to the meeting.

The meeting time is changing as well.  Since Lester needs his beauty sleep, and he’s having a birthday in a few days (again! – he’s making an annual habit of this!), we will meet at his home at 6:00 instead of 7:30. One more VERY IMPORTANT thing:  come ready to eat!  Lester’s wife Rosine is a fantastic cook, and we will be treated to some extremely tasty dishes from her kitchen.

And spouses are invited also.  Rosine would probably appreciate some company while we talk sports and radios and whatever else we guys talk about.  Oh, yes.  Club business.  That too.

So, please DO NOT go the the courthouse on Tuesday, October 4th.  Do not arrive at 7:30 (or earlier, as we usually ask).  If you do, you can sit in the dark parking lot and think about the food and fun you just missed by not coming to the proper place at the proper time.

The proper place:  W5GSU’s home in Decatur.

The proper time:  6:00pm on Tuesday, October 4th.

See you there on Tuesday evening!!

Richard Matthews  KB4CAY
Secretary, DARC

The score and documentation for the 2016 Field Day operation have been posted to the ARRL for scoring.  We actually scored a little better this year than last year.

Here’s the breakdown:

Number of participants:  31

CW contacts:            166
Digital contacts:        88 (all by GOTA)
Phone contacts:        335 (includes 12 GOTA SSB contacts)

QSO points – CW:       166 x 2 =        332
QSO points – Digital:   88 X 2 =        176
QSO points – Phone:   335 x 1 =        335

Total QSO points = 843

Power multiplier:      150 watts or less = QSO x 2

Claimed QSO score =                     1,686

Bonus points:

200 points – 100% Emergency power
100 points – Alternate (solar) power – 5 contacts
100 points – Set-up in Public Place
100 points – Information Table
100 points – Site Visit by Invited Elected Official
80 points – GOTA bonus
50 points – Online entry form submission

Total bonus points =                        730

Total submitted score:       2,416 points
(66 points MORE than last year)

Here are a few interesting observations:

• We had 40 more CW contacts this year than in 2015 (THANK YOU Byron, N4AX!!!).
• We had 40 fewer phone contacts on the main stations than last year.
• We had 88 digital contacts on the GOTA station this year (2 points each).
• We only had 12 phone contacts on the GOTA station this year. Last year was 145 total GOTA contacts, all phone (1 point each).
• We get 80 bonus points because 4 operators of the GOTA station each got 20 or more contacts.
• We do not get any media publicity points this year. The Decatur Daily and the cable company were not contacted.
• We were not visited by an invited agency official.
• We were visited by an invited city council member but no other invited city or county officials.
• We get 100 bonus points for making more than 5 contacts with solar power.

All in all it was a great outing, and I think everyone involved had a great time.

Now, wait till next year!!!