Ashe County Amateur Radio Club, Inc.

We have a test session scheduled for Saturday, June 22nd at 10AM. It will be held at the club’s Field Day site which is Westwood Elementary on US 221 just south of West Jefferson.

If you wish to take the Technician, General or Extra class exam, you need to preregister by contacting Jess Parks – AK4NC either by email at ak4nc@skybest.com or phone at 336-877-6213.

Test fee is $14.00 which will allow you to take all three tests if desired. You will be given credit for all elements passed. If you fail a test and wish to retake it, another $14.00 fee is charged.  Please bring $14.00 in cash, we cannot make change or accept checks.

If you currently have an amateur license, you will need to bring a copy of the license with you (do not bring the original) and a copy of your drivers license or other photo ID.  You will also need to complete form NCVE605, Click here for a copy.

No morse code is required on any exam. Any questions contact Jess Parks   AK4NC

Our newest club member is on board – KF4MAE, David Marsh. Welcome David!

The April meeting will be held at the courthouse immediately following the SKYWARN class.

The club will be back at Westwood elementary school for ARRL Field Day 2013! A great location for several reasons…thanks to W4MLN and the school administration for allowing us to be be there again this year.

We have a new club member: Marc Scott, KK4OII. Welcome, Scott!

Some club members were able to attend a feature presentation last night, which was documentary on the HK0NA dxpedition last year. Crabs! Cliffs! Contacts!

There will be a FREE Skywarn Spotter class at 6:30 pm, Thursday, April 11 in the small courtroom at the Ashe County Courthouse (150 Government Circle).

Steve Adams, KK4IDH, becomes the new Ashe County ARES Emergency Coordinator, effective on February 1st. He takes over from Bob Clark, N4RHC.

(or if you’re more inclined, Happy Holidays)

I enjoyed the meeting / get-together last night and I hope everyone else did as well. Some nice gifts were exchanged, stolen, and stolen again… If you weren’t able to attend, try to make plans for next year!

Congratulations to our new club officers for 2013-2014:

Vice-President: Charles Lewis
Treasurer: Bob Clark

I’d like to thank all the officers for everything they do for the club, as well as the various committee volunteers that keep things perking.

ARES members are making great progress in getting equipment placed in the county EOC. The last hurdle will be the antenna installation this spring.

Remember the test session on the 19th if you or someone you know needs to get their first license, or upgrade.

73

NE4W

This will be a test session for all license classes, Technician, General and Extra class.  Exams will be a Westwood Elementary School on Highway 221 about 3 miles south of West Jefferson, NC.

We are planning on December 19th as the actual exam date, in case of bad weather the session will be rescheduled ASAP.

If you wish to take the Technician, General or Extra class exam, you need to preregister by contacting Jess Parks – AK4NC either by email at ak4nc@skybest.com or phone at 336-877-0438.

Test fee is $14.00 which will allow you to take all three tests if desired. You will be given credit for all elements passed. If you fail a test and wish to retake it, another $14.00 fee is charged.  Please bring $14.00 in cash, we cannot make change or accept checks.

If you currently have an amateur license, you will need to bring a copy of the license with you (do not bring the original) and a copy of your drivers license or other photo ID.  You will also need to complete form NCVE605, Click here for a copy.

No morse code is required on any exam.

Any questions contact Jess Parks   AK4NC

Where has the year gone? It’s almost time for our annual Christmas get-together which will be held at Smoky Mountain BBQ in West Jefferson on Thursday, December 13th 2012 at 6PM. Like last year, we’ll have a “dirty Santa” gift exchange which should be a lot of fun. Bring along a gift (no more than $10) and a sweet for dessert. We will also elect a vice-president and treasurer at the meeting.

Our ARES members participated in a simulated exercise this weekend involving a message exchange using Winlink 2000 and WINMOR. This technology allows the transmission and reception of e-mail using radio signals. Ashe county emergency coordinator Bob Clark, N4RHC, spearheaded our involvement and we ended up with 14 stations passing traffic. Tom Brown, the ARES section EC, said “…your team performed admirably. Please pass-on our thanks!!”

The club has also decided to expand our emergency readiness by installing a VHF packet-to-Winlink 2000 gateway on Phoenix mountain in the spring of 2013. The exact configuration of the network is still in the planning stage.

Some of our antennas and towers suffered damage recently from ice and high winds. The environment on Phoenix mountain (4,600 ft) and the surrounding peaks can be very severe in the winter months. This year the intensity seems to have arrived early.

It was revealed at the November club meeting that one of our members is recovering from a serious ailment. On behalf of the ACARC I’d like to wish him a speedy recovery!

Lastly, there are a couple of club members who will soon be ready for an exam session.  If anyone else is ready to upgrade or maybe even get your first ham radio license, now is the time to speak up. You can get in touch with our exam manager by clicking on the “VE Testing” link on the navigation bar.

73 from NE4W

Thanks to WK4P and all the other volunteers who helped make the 2012 Brutal a success! The race was covered in this newspaper article.

Blue Ridge Brutal bicycle race on Vimeo.

Thanks to Shane KD4SM we had a good presentation on HRD 5 last evening at the club meeting. It’d be a good idea to download a copy of HRD (free) now before the commercial version ($60 or more) comes out.

The Blue Ridge Brutal bicycle race is rapidly approaching and as Adam WK4P reminded us last night, we still need a couple of positions filled. This is our club’s major public service event every year so we need to step up and make certain that we have enough personnel in place on August 18th. Contact Adam by email and get signed up. Working the Brutal is a  lot of fun!