It’s time to eat and talk about radio again!
The June 2018 meeting of the Decatur Amateur Radio Club will be held at Libby’s Catfish and Diner at 6:00 on Tuesday evening, March 6th, 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.
We will be planning and organizing for the club’s 65th consecutive Field Day, which is scheduled for June 23rd and 24th at Point Mallard Park in Decatur.
The July meeting may be canceled because of the date (July 3rd). Details will be posted later. The August meeting will be held at the Morgan County Courthouse as regularly scheduled.
Come greet, eat, and meet with us on Tuesday!
The March 2018 meeting of the Decatur Amateur Radio Club will be held at Libby’s Catfish and Diner at 6:00 on Tuesday evening, March 6th, 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.
Those who have paid their dues and are full members for 2018 are asked to attend to vote on an amendment to the club’s By-laws.
The April meeting will be held at the Morgan County Courthouse as regularly scheduled.
Come greet, eat, and meet with us on Tuesday!
Greetings and Merry Christmas with all of the trimmings!
December has finally come upon us, and as is our custom, we will forego the normal business meeting and assemble for our annual Christmas dinner at 6:00 on Tuesday, December 5th. We will meet atop Priceville Mountain at Libby’s Catfish and Diner on Highway 67. It’s easy to find if you’ve never been there. Just take Highway 67 out of Decatur, go to the top of the highest hill after it turns into a 2-lane road, and Libby’s will be on the right. Keep your eyes (and nose!) open and you won’t miss it.
See you then!
The 60th Boy Scout Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) will be held October 20-23, 2017.
The Decatur Amateur Radio Club will have stations set up at Veteran’s Park in Priceville just off of Highway 67.
Lots of thanks to Mike Findlay KD4TGC for his efforts to set up and coordinate all of this.
Come out and help some young folks get interested in ham radio!
The Decatur Amateur Radio Club has some GREAT NEWS!
We are now able to offer license testing. We are approaching this a bit differently, however.
Instead of a fixed schedule for testing, we are offering testing by appointment. Now we can serve you at YOUR schedule and not force you into ours.
If you’re interested in scheduling a test for a license or an upgrade, please e-mail darcvehamtest@gmail.com and Steve – KD2JSW will get back to you and set things up.
And get on the air!
The scores have been compiled and submitted for the DARC 64th Field Day activity.
Well, at least we had fun!
This was NOT a good year. There were some good things that happened, but the number of contacts we made was NOT one of them.
Here’s the breakdown of the scoring:
- CW contacts: 0
- Digital contacts: 0
- Phone contacts: 396 (includes 89 GOTA SSB contacts)
Notice that ugly number “0” next to the digital and CW contacts. We had NONE this year. Each of those types count 2 points each, so all of the contacts we made were only a single point each.
We multiply the number of contacts by 2 because of the transmitter power that we used, so that makes our total QSO score to be 792.
On the bright side, we were able to gather 1,010 bonus points. But to have more bonus points that contact points is NOT the way Field Day is supposed to work!
The total submitted score for this year is 1,802. That’s 614 points LESS than last year’s score.
A couple of additional notes:
- We had NO CW or digital contacts AT ALL this year. NONE.
- We had 40 fewer phone contacts on the main stations than last year.
- We had 89 phone contacts on the GOTA station this year.
- We get 60 bonus points because 1 operator of the GOTA station got 60+ contacts.
- We got 100 media publicity points this year. The Decatur Daily had a calendar announcement and sent photographers.
- We were visited by an agency official: Eddie Hicks, EMA Director. 100 points.
- We were visited by a government official: Decatur mayor Tab Bowling. 100 points.
- We get a 100 point social media bonus. We now have a CLUB Facebook page.
- Bob WA4ZZW copied the W1AW Field Day message via PSK31. That gives us an additional 100 points.
So now we wait for the official posting of scores.
And we start preparing for next year: Field Day 2018 is June 23rd and 24th!
Please note that the regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the club will NOT happen on the 1st Tuesday of July.
Since the 1st Tuesday is the 4th of July, most of us would rather spend time with family, food, and fireworks. So the normal meeting has been cancelled.
If you’d like to attend one if our meetings, please come to the Morgan County Courthouse on Tuesday, August 1st.
And enjoy the holiday!
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!
