General Level License Class

Members of the club will host an 8 week general level license class. The class is free at the Hoffman Estates Library. Sign ups will be available through the library’s web site.

We will be teaching from the ARRL General Class License Manual 8th Edition also available from Amazon. We recommend that you have the book available for the 8-week duration of the class.

On Saturday, November 3 (one week after the last class session) the club will hold it’s monthly VE testing session at the Schaumburg Community Recreation Center where you can take the exam to upgrade to your general license.

Please contact our education chair if you have questions.

Location

Public Service: Hoffman Estates Independence Day Parade

The club recently assisted with the Hoffman Estates Independence Day Parade. This event is slightly different than most public service deployments. Typically, ham radio volunteers are only expected to be communicators, helping event staff effectively communicate over a large area. While we still used our radios and communications skills, we are also responsible for getting all parade units lined up in the proper order in the staging prior to the parade beginning. We have worked with the village for many years and appreciate that they trust us with this task.

Rob N9MVO served as net control operator for the event and was also our liaison with the village. He reports that the event went very well. He also commented that we were able to assist the police in locating a girl who had been separated from her mother during the event. While the club didn’t necessarily plan for this contingency all of our operators were very professional in their response.

Jim KB9RGU was located at the parade reviewing stand and commented “Excellent job by everyone involved!”

Thanks to Robert  W9RKK for the photos.

Club members meet at the next control station at the conclusion of the parade.
Parade units line up in the staging area
N9MVO (center) briefing club members on the deployment details.
Club member finishing up their deployment by meeting with net control.
W9RKK helping parade participants line up in the staging area.

Field Day Results

The club operated 2A (two transmitters + GOTA, club station) on Field Day. We had approximately 35 participants over the 24 hour period.

Our final score is: 3,204

This consists of:

  • 490 Bonus Points for the ARRL bulletin, emergency power, public location, youth participants and GOTA.
  • 610 CW QSOs
  • 382 Phone QSOs
  • 35 Digital QSOs

We did not get all of the sections, missing a few in Canada, AK, EWA, and PAC. We made contacts on 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters.

We would like to thank everyone who operated, participated, helped in the setup, teardown and planning for the event. We are especially thankful for those who oversaw the tent and food preparation: Robert W9RKK for SSB, Bob W9DXR for CW, Bob W9GEW for GOTA and Bill W9WEM for both dinner and breakfast with help from Frank N9QPD. A special thanks goes out to Ryan W9RAO for climbing the tower at both setup and tear down, and as serving as our impromptu first aid station.

Here is a video shot by drone as we were setting up. Thanks to Peter KD9ICT for bringing the drone.

A few photos of our operation follow.

New SARC banners donated by Bob W9GEW
GOTA and SSB stations
Matt AC9IG operates SSB
Robert W9RKK operates SSB
CW station waiting for the contest to begin
Commemorative Field Day 2018 name badges were produced on site by laser etching. Bob W9GEW brought this equipment to the site.

Reminder: W9DXCC Scholarship Applications Due

SARC is sponsoring two scholarships for W9DXCC this fall. Forms are due August 1, 2017 and should be sent to the club president.

Thanks to a generous donation from a member, the club will be sponsoring two people to attend the W9DXCC convention on September 14 and 15 at the Hyatt Regency in Schaumburg.

The criteria for awarding the scholarship as well as other conditions are in the attached form. The due date is August 1, 2017.

W9DXCC Scholarship Form

Field Day Video

Kevin K9AAB put together the following from photos and videos he collected while visiting our Field Day operation.

Meet the VE Testing Team

Our team of Volunteer Examiners (VEs) dedicates one Saturday morning per month to administering Amateur Radio license exams for all three license levels. They also spend additional time submitting paperwork for all of the new licenses generated from the tests as well as keeping their testing materials up to date with the latest question pools. In 2017 the team granted 68 new or upgraded licenses.

You can find more information on our test dates and times here.

Seated: Tom Doyle K9MF. Standing (L – R): Bill Davies K9WKD, Dirk Smith W0RI, Bill Riess KW9WR, Steve Karson AC9EM, Ed Lischa AC9SD, John Schofield AC9JS

Club Member Invited to Operate IARU Headquarters Station

One of the special features IARU HF Championship contest is bonus points for contacting the headquarters stations for each of the IARU member societies. The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) itself also counts as one of these stations. While the Union does not maintain their own station, the privilege to operate their NU1AW call sign is awarded to different contest stations each year. WB9Z and K9CT were chosen this year to operate SSB and CW respectively. These stations are expected to work on multiple bands simultaneously to maximize the number of contest participants that can get these bonus points. This requires a team of operators.

Matt AC9IG was asked to be part of the SSB team hosted by Jerry WB9Z and Val NV9L in Crescent City, IL. He answered a few questions for us regarding operating in this contest.

AC9IG operates as NU1AW/9 in the IARU HF Championship contest

How did the station differ from your setup at home?

The station at WB9Z is set up for three radios to operate simultaneously. Each one has an amplifier capable of 1500W as well as a high-end radio that really helps to pull out call signs and exchanges in crowded band conditions. The radios each have access to an array of antennas for all bands. Some of these rotate, others are oriented in different fixed directions to take advantage of the gain they provide to different continents for DX. At home I have a dipole that propagates east-west and a 100W transceiver.

Each radio is also attached to a computer to facilitate logging. This is similar to my home station, however we took advantage of having three logs available to us by networking the computers. This once a station was in any log the contest exchange (in this case an ITU zone) would automatically be looked up by any other station completing a part of the log for you automatically.

With the contest station the goal is to get as many contacts as possible. There are a few features of the station that help this. A high quality set of headphones nearly cuts out all noise from the room so you can focus on the audio from the radio. With three stations operating in the same room this is very helpful. The headphones also have a microphone attached so there is no need to pick up a hand mic leaving your hands free to enter call signs into the computer. To complete keeping your hands on the keyboard, the push to talk switch is actually a foot pedal. It takes a few minutes to get used to this setup.

Compare operating in a contest from your home station to the IARU experience.

At home I typically operate search and pounce. That is I will tune the radio until I find a station then contact that station before moving on to find another station. On a really good day I might be able to get 1-2 contacts per minute, but only for a few minutes at a time.

With the hands free radio arrangement you can easily “run” a frequently make 3-4 contacts per minute for extended periods of time. You begin by finding an open frequency. It also helps to study what stations you hear on the band and select an antenna that is pointed towards those stations that you are hearing. This will change throughout the day. Once you’ve found an open frequency you begin calling CQ. With any luck you’ll have people begin responding to you in a few minutes.

It gets very interesting when your station is “spotted,” or more specifically when your frequency and call sign are posted on the internet. Many operators monitor these web sites and jump right to new stations as they appear. You’ll recognize when this happens because you’ll suddenly have an [audio] wall of call signs being sent your way between each contact. With a little bit of practice you can begin to pick out one call sign from this blob of noise. Frequently you’ll only hear a portion of the call sign, and you’ll find yourself asking something like “the alpha charlie station again” to get the rest of the call sign.

Finally, the call sign we were operating under, “NU1AW/9” and the exchange we sent “IARU” have fairly long phonetics. A recording of “November United One Alpha Wiskey portable Nine” was stored in the radio and could be sent with just a single key press helping to save your voice. I’m able to do this at my home station as well, so this part of the process was fairly seamless for me. The “India Alpha Radio United” zone that were gave as part of our exchange caught many stations off guard as they were expecting a number representing our zone, so an explanation was frequently required.

The Icom 7851 radio had plenty of features available to assist the operator

Is there anything you would have done differently?

I would have taken more time to learn the equipment that I was working with. There are a lot of very advanced features that help to pull a very weak station out of the noise. Some of these I was familiar with, but the buttons or knobs that control them were in different places than the radio at my home station. I might know that I wanted to use a narrower bandwidth to hear a station, but I had to search for this knob the first few times that I needed to use it. Separately, there are plenty of other features that I was completely unfamiliar with so I was unable to make the most of the equipment in front of me.

What did you learn from contesting in this way?

While having a great radio, amplifier and plenty of antenna choices helps, the skill of the operator to be able to hear call signs in the noise or to pick one call sign out of 10 is a huge part of contesting.

From this I can offer the advice for those of us operating at home… Listen, then call. If you can hear him there’s a very good chance he can hear you, and there’s a very good chance he has some or all of the equipment described above which will help him to hear your call sign quickly and easily. Once you understand this you really have no reason not to try and call any station that you hear. I’ll be doing this myself for the next contest that I operate from home.

Overall, how did the contest go?

Combined the CW and SSB teams totaled 18 operators and made contacts with just under 7400 stations in a 24 hour period. Being one of the headquarters stations, however, means that we were not actually competing in the contest.

What was your favorite part of this opportunity?

The chance to work with other contest operators was amazing. I was able to learn plenty of tips and tricks for working pileups. And it was a lot of fun to share ham radio storied with these guys when we weren’t on the air.

President’s Report July 2018

Our public service events for the season have concluded but there are still other opportunities for you to help out. Two of the largest ham radio events take place over the next few months. On Sunday, September 16 the North Shore Radio Club supports the North Shore Century 100 mile bike ride. And on Sunday, October 7 over 100 hams volunteer to support communications at the Chicago Marathon. Both of these events are still looking for volunteers. I’ve worked both of them for the past few years and have thoroughly enjoyed both. Please let me know if you’re interested and I can get you more information.

August is a fairly slow month for the club. Take advantage of this time and check things out at your home station. Make sure everything is in working order. Get any work done you need to on outdoor antennas. And note any equipment in the shack that isn’t working as well as it should. In September we start up our construction project and that is a great place to work on anything you find in your shack that isn’t “just right.”

And don’t forget that we’re teaching a general level license class starting in October. Sign up by following the previous link. If you’d like to help teach the class please contact our education chairman.

Schaumburg Amateur Radio Club Board of Directors Meeting July 11, 2018

Frank Giampa N9QPD Chairman opened the meeting at 7:03 PM. This meeting occurred one week later than typically scheduled due to the July 4 holiday falling on a Wednesday.

Attendees

Leo Ribordy N9NBH Cliff Sowka K9QD Peter Maziuk N9POL
Matt Walsh AC9IG Frank Giampa N9QPD Ken Kryzywicki KD9HIJ
Dirk Smith W0RI Chris Brewer AC9GN Russ Schmidt KC9NUV

Treasurer’s report

Chris Brewer AC9GN reports: beginning balance $4,449.80. Income was $577.21. Expense was $50.35 for Data Line. Ending balance $4,976.66. Paid membership (July ’18-‘19 cycle) is 49. So moved.

President’s Report

Matt AC9IG reports he was pleased with our successful Field Day event.
DXCC Scholarships: Currently have one applicant requesting the grant. SARC is sponsoring two scholarships for W9DXCC this fall. Forms are due August 1, 2017 and should be sent to the club president.
Thanks to a generous donation from a member, the club will be sponsoring two people to attend the W9DXCC convention on September 14 and 15 at the Hyatt Regency in Schaumburg.
The criteria for awarding the scholarship as well as other conditions are in the attached form. The due date is August 1, 2017.

Membership Chair

Bob Benwitz N9JAX provided this report:

The following new or perspective club members were contacted via phone and/or email during the month of June.

Bill Morton W9LJW 6/4 (follow up to previous inquiry)

Mike Griffiths KD9KMV 6/20 (Mike also came out to Field Day, helped in the SSB tent and got to meet a lot of our members.

SARC Repeaters

We are seeking leadership to fill the current Chief Engineer vacancy.

Secretary’s Report

Cliff Sowka K9QD: Approval of Meeting Minutes as published in the RHG.

EMCOMM

Vacant Chair: club has begun the search for replacement.

Publicity

Dennis Calvey KD9HIK not present.

Construction Project (CP)

No Activity scheduled until fall. Currently five members [Rob N9MVO, Russ KC9NUV, Leo N9NBH, Bill KD9JQM, Dave KD9JKG] already on the short list of potential supporters.

Social

Robert Kocourek W9RKK not present but provided following update: “I’ve secured a reservation for the SARC dinner at Lou Malnati’s. It will be Saturday September 8th at 5pm. We have a two hour time block from 5-7pm. [$50 reservation deposit submitted].

Because of our requirement to have separate checks, Lou Malnati’s wants to have our orders a week in advance. This is to keep us in that 2 hour time block in case of late arrivals. Normally for a large group such as ours (approx 25 people) they prefer we take a group package with a limited menu (pizza and soft drinks).

September is a long way off so I’ll reminder you in August and take your orders then”.

Lou Malnati’s Schaumburg
1 South Roselle Road (Roselle Rd & Schaumburg Rd)
Schaumburg, IL 60193

Education

Leo N9NBH reported plans for a winter General Class with the Library District are in place. September 8th through the end of October at the Hoffman Estates facility, same as last fall’s Technician class.

VE Testing

Dirk W0RI reports 9 students all passing: 3 Extra.

RHG

Mike K9KQX not present.

Public Service

Rob N9MVO not present but provided a report to SARC-ALL earlier:

Upcoming Schaumburg Triathlon is an important Park District Event we have strongly supported over the years.

When: Sun, July 29, 5:30am – 10:30am

Where: Wethersfield Road and Roselle Rd Schaumburg.

On Sunday July 29, 2018, The Schaumburg Park District will be running the Triathlon/Duathlon. The first participants start at 6:30 AM. For radio support, we will meet at Roselle Road and Weathersfield Way at 5:30 AM for a briefing and assignments. In previous years, the Triathlon has finished by about 11:00 AM.

The Triathlon consists of a swim in the pool at Meineke Recreation Center, followed by miles and miles of bike riding through Schaumburg, followed by a run on the streets east of Meineke. The Duathlon starts with a run on the streets east of Meineke, followed by miles and miles of bike riding on the same course, and then back to run on the same course as before, which is also the running course used by the Triathlon participants.

Our purpose is to support the participants to call for assistance in the event of an injury or equipment failure. We will have radio operators stationed along the routes, where we can watch for participants who are in need of help. We do not have to run or walk far, or even swim or bike. You can park your car near the intersection to which you are assigned, set up a folding chair and watch. Sunscreen, a green safety vest, and water are useful, as well. The Club has some vests you can use if you don’t have your own..

We operate on Simplex for the running course, as it is far east (of Roselle Road) and often it is hard to hit the repeater from there with an HT. On the bicycle course, west of Roselle Road, it is usually easy to access the repeater. For supporting the Triathlon, a handy talky running 5 W, to a rubber ducky antenna is usually sufficient. You rarely need to move, so a portable antenna with a support for higher altitude can help but usually is not necessary. The frequencies we will use are:

EmComm 1, (the repeater) 145.230 MHz, -600 KHz offset, 107.2 HZ CTCSS
EmComm 4, 147.420 MHz Simplex
EmComm 5, 146.490 MHz Simplex

This is the MOST IMPORTANT Public Service Event for us, as it supports the Schaumburg Park District, which provides us with our rooms for meetings, VE testing, and Construction Project meetings, and the parking lot access for SARC In The Park.

We need at least 15 operators to properly support the Triathlon/Duathlon. Please let me know that you can come out and help. If you haven’t come out to a Public Service Event, we can pair you with another ham if enough members sign up.

The task is easy: Sit and watch participants run or ride by in the event. Call in to Net Control when the first and last participant goes by your location. Call to net control if a participant near your location has a problem and needs help.

Bring a chair and water bottle. A brimmed hat may be good if it’s sunny.

We can use everyone who can support the event.

Thanks and 73 de N9MVO,

Rob Glowacki
Public Service Chair
Schaumburg Amateur Radio Club

Programs

Cliff Sowka K9QD: No program is scheduled for July’s meeting but Fox Hunt demonstration is a suggested topic. Need member familiar with Fox Hunting to prepare simple demonstration for the group; Peter N9POL is checking membership for qualified presenter.

Nets

Steve AC9EM will now be hosting the Thursday Night Nets.

Ebay Sales

no report.

Field day

Field Day (as captured above from website).
Field Day: July 7, 2018
The club operated 2A (two transmitters + GOTA, club station) on Field Day. We had approximately 35 participants over the 24 hour period. Our final score is: 3,204 This consists of: 490 Bonus Points for the ARRL bulletin, emergency power, public location, youth participants and GOTA. 610 CW QSOs 382 Phone QSOs 35 Digital QSOs. The club operated 2A (two transmitters + GOTA, club station) on Field Day. We had approximately 35 participants over the 24 hour period.
Our final score: 3,204
This consists of:
490 Bonus Points for ARRL bulletin, emerg pwr, public location, youth participants/GOTA.
610 CW QSOs
382 Phone QSOs
35 Digital QSOs
We did not get all of the sections, missing a few in Canada, AK, EWA, and PAC. We made contacts on 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters.
We would like to thank everyone who operated, participated, helped in the setup, teardown and planning for the event. We are especially thankful for those who oversaw the tent and food preparation: Robert W9RKK for SSB, Bob W9DXR for CW, Bob W9GEW for GOTA and Bill W9WEM for both dinner and breakfast with help from Frank N9QPD. A special thanks goes out to Ryan W9RAO for climbing the tower at both setup and tear down, and as serving as our impromptu first aid station.

Old Business

None.

New Business

Bob Zuttermeister W9GEW is being reimbursed expenses for laser engraving materials he crafted for club attendees.

We need a Repeater Chair to replace the software/hardware engineering talent that has been lost.

Dirk W0RI By-Law Committee progress: Dirk W0RI proposed Article 9 building upon Code of Conduct. Board has proposal from Committee members Frank N9QPD, Peter N9POL, Leo N9NBH, and Dirk W0RI to be discussed further during the August Board meeting.

Registered Agent: Annual governmental reporting duty his assigned to Secretary’s role: Cliff K9QD will take-up the tasks previously performed by legal expert Paula Uscian K9IR.

Adjourn 8:06 PM

Adjourn

8:06 PM

Submitted: July 12, 2018. Cliff Sowka K9QD Secretary.

Schaumburg Amateur Radio Club Business Meeting July 19, 2018

Frank Giampa N9QPD Chairman opened the meeting at 7:00 PM.

Attendees

Dennis C Calvey KD9HIK Cliff Sowka K9QD Robert Kocourek W9RKK
Don Smith K9UD Frank Giampa N9QPD Ken Kryzywicki KD9HIJ
Bob McIntyre W9DXR Chris Brewer AC9GN Larry Burke K9ELT
John Douglas  KD9KSH Jon Mucker N8XVE Bill McGovern W9WEM
Ed Lishka AC9SD John Shofield AC9JS Dan Van Der Woude KC9ZCC
Bob Benwitz N9JAX Terry Jarnholm KD9LEV Mike Clodfelter AC9CG

Rebecca Hopkins KA9EFE Brought Fabulous Coffee Cake for us tonight.

Treasurer’s report

Chris Brewer AC9GN reports: beginning balance $4, 449.80.  Income was $577.21.  Expense was $50.35.  Ending balance $4,976.66.  Paid membership is currently 50.

President’s Report

Matt AC9IG not present but provided the following:

 

Question of the night:  If you could build and install one antenna for one band, what would it be and why? Cost is not

an issue.

 

There are only two weeks left to submit your application for a W9DXCC scholarship. The event

takes place in Schaumburg on September 14-15 (Friday and Saturday) and brings in top

contesters and DXers from the area to talk about different ham radio topics. I have attended the event for the last few years and am always thoroughly impressed with the content of the

presentations. Applications are due by August 1 and can be found on the web site. The winner

will be announced at the August meeting.

 

I would like to thank everyone who helped out or operated on Field Day. The return to the water tower site streamlined the process and some new tent captains helped us bring some new ideas to the event. I’d specifically like to thank:

  • W9RKK Robert for coordinating the SSB tent and bringing a great radio
  • W9GEW Bob for a great looking setup with digital modes at the GOTA tent and for etching Field Day commemorative name tags on site.
  • W9DXR Bob for putting together a fully automated CW station.
  • W9WEM Bill for coordinating generators and for handling all of the details for food.
  • N9QPD Frank for preparing breakfast.

Our final score was 3,204 with 610 CW contacts and 382 SSB. The number of contacts was up

significantly from 2017 and slightly from 2016. Our score was down about 600 points from 2016

due mainly to less bonus points.

2018 2017 2016
Score 3204 2890 3834
Total QSOs 1027 607 925

We received a letter of thanks from Ray WA9BLP’s wife Mille thanking us for all of the work we

put into his tower and shack, and that he is excited to be on the air again. The letter can be

seen on our web site. Dirk W0RI provided some additional comments.

Membership Chair

Bob Benwitz N9JAX previously provided this report:

The following new or perspective club members were contacted via phone and/or email during the month of June.

Bill Morton W9LJW 6/4 (follow up to previous inquiry)

Mike Griffiths KD9KMV 6/20 (Mike also came out to Field Day, helped in the SSB tent and got to meet a lot of our members.

SARC Repeaters

We are seeking leadership to fill the current Chief Engineer vacancy. Don’t forget, we are logging all transmissions through the repeater. If you hear interference please use the link at the bottom of our web site to note the date and time it occurred.

Secretary’s Report

Cliff Sowka K9QD: Approval of Meeting Minutes as published on the website

EMCOMM

Vacant Chair: club has begun the search for replacement. Bob Langsfeld WB9TZC previously held this role and reports last week’s event with the village:

On July 17, 0830-1200 HRS, an EOC Functional Exercise was held at the Schaumburg EOC. 4 SARC members (Bob WB9TZC, John K9WIC, Mark Scriven WQ9M, and Cliff Sowka K9QD) of the Schaumburg EmComm Team participated in the exercise as Operational Communications operators.  This event was conducted to ascertain one of the core capabilities for handling complete communications failure being augmented with Amateur Radio.

Bob informed Bill Clark Schaumburg EMCOMM Coordinator requests for SARC’s staffing:

On July 17, 0830-1200 HRS, an EOC Functional Exercise will be held at the Schaumburg EOC. I request that 3-4 members of the Certified SARC EMCOMM Team participate in the exercise as Operational Communications is one of the core capabilities being evaluated.

Publicity

Dennis Calvey KD9HIK requesting flyer updates ideas from the membership before we go to print with another document for VE students.

Construction Project (CP)

No Activity scheduled until fall. Currently five members [Rob N9MVO, Russ KC9NUV, Leo N9NBH, Bill KD9JQM, Dave KD9JKG] already on the short list of potential supporters.  There have been several SK donations placed into the cabinets that can be sorted for internal offer or for Hamfest/eBay sale in the fall.

Social

Robert Kocourek W9RKK provided following update: Reservation for the SARC dinner at Lou Malnati’s. It will be Saturday September 8th at 5pm. We have a two hour time block from 5-7pm. [$50 reservation deposit submitted].

Because of our requirement to have separate checks, Lou Malnati’s wants to have our orders a week in advance. This is to keep us in that 2 hour time block in case of late arrivals. Normally for a large group such as ours (approx 25 people) they prefer we take a group package with a limited menu (pizza and soft drinks).

I’ll provide a reminder in August and take your orders then.

Lou Malnati’s Schaumburg
1 South Roselle Road (Roselle Rd & Schaumburg Rd)
Schaumburg, IL 60193

Education

Leo N9NBH reported plans for a winter General Class with the Library District are in place. September 8th through the end of October at the Hoffman Estates facility, same as last fall’s Technician class.

VE Testing

John Schofield AC9JS reports 9 students with all passing: 3 of which qualified Extra.

RHG

Matt AC9IG has been publishing Committee activities on his newly-designed SARC website for everyone’s use.

Public Service

Rob N9MVO provided this report:

Upcoming Schaumburg Triathlon is an important Park District Event we have strongly supported over the years.

When: Sun, July 29, 5:30am – 10:30am

Where: Wethersfield Road and Roselle Rd Schaumburg.

On Sunday July 29, 2018, The Schaumburg Park District will be running the Triathlon/Duathlon. The first participants start at 6:30 AM. For radio support, we will meet at Roselle Road and Weathersfield Way at 5:30 AM for a briefing and assignments. In previous years, the Triathlon has finished by about 11:00 AM.

The Triathlon consists of a swim in the pool at Meineke Recreation Center, followed by miles and miles of bike riding through Schaumburg, followed by a run on the streets east of Meineke. The Duathlon starts with a run on the streets east of Meineke, followed by miles and miles of bike riding on the same course, and then back to run on the same course as before, which is also the running course used by the Triathlon participants.

Our purpose is to support the participants to call for assistance in the event of an injury or equipment failure. We will have radio operators stationed along the routes, where we can watch for participants who are in need of help. We do not have to run or walk far, or even swim or bike. You can park your car near the intersection to which you are assigned, set up a folding chair and watch. Sunscreen, a green safety vest, and water are useful, as well. The Club has some vests you can use if you don’t have your own..

We operate on Simplex for the running course, as it is far east (of Roselle Road) and often it is hard to hit the repeater from there with an HT. On the bicycle course, west of Roselle Road, it is usually easy to access the repeater. For supporting the Triathlon, a handy talky running 5 W, to a rubber ducky antenna is usually sufficient. You rarely need to move, so a portable antenna with a support for higher altitude can help but usually is not necessary. The frequencies we will use are:

EmComm 1, (the repeater) 145.230 MHz, -600 KHz offset, 107.2 HZ CTCSS
EmComm 4, 147.420 MHz Simplex
EmComm 5, 146.490 MHz Simplex

This is the MOST IMPORTANT Public Service Event for us, as it supports the Schaumburg Park District, which provides us with our rooms for meetings, VE testing, and Construction Project meetings, and the parking lot access for SARC In The Park.

We need at least 15 operators to properly support the Triathlon/Duathlon. Please let me know that you can come out and help. If you haven’t come out to a Public Service Event, we can pair you with another ham if enough members sign up.

The task is easy: Sit and watch participants run or ride by in the event. Call in to Net Control when the first and last participant goes by your location. Call to net control if a participant near your location has a problem and needs help.

Bring a chair and water bottle. A brimmed hat may be good if it’s sunny.

We can use everyone who can support the event.

Thanks and 73 de N9MVO,

Rob Glowacki
Public Service Chair
Schaumburg Amateur Radio Club

Programs

Cliff Sowka K9QD: Rob N9MVO presented basic DC Supply design tonight.  No program is scheduled for August’s meeting.  Requesting SARC member with presentation idea else we’re going to view a legacy Twilight Zone episode. Please Come forward with a subject for our meeting; else I plan to download a YouTube video from Twilight Zone (suggested we view the classic “It’s a Cook Book”) as filler if invitation for presenter fails.

Nets

Steve AC9EM will now be hosting the Thursday Night Nets.

Ebay Sales

No report.

Old Business

None.

New Business

We need a Repeater Chair to replace the software/hardware engineering talent that has been lost.

Registered Agent: Annual governmental reporting duty his assigned to Secretary’s role: Cliff K9QD will take-up the tasks previously performed by legal expert Paula Uscian K9IR.

Adjourn 8:06 PM

Adjourn

8:06 PM

Submitted: July 20, 2018. Cliff Sowka K9QD Secretary.

Reminder: W9DXCC Scholarship Applications Due

SARC is sponsoring two scholarships for W9DXCC this fall. Forms are due August 7, 2019 and should be sent to the club through the contact us page by adding an attachment.

The club will be sponsoring two people to attend the W9DXCC convention on September 13 and 14 at the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles. The winners will be announced at the club’s general business meeting on August 15, 2019.

The criteria for awarding the scholarship as well as other conditions are in the attached form. The due date is August 7, 2019.

W9DXCC Scholarship Application