Welcome to the Frederick Amateur Radio Club!

One of the goals in our club five year plan is to restart our Volunteer Examiner (VE) team.  If you’d like to participate in any capacity, please fill out this form: FARC VE Roster.  No VE experience is required, however you must have a General, Extra or Advanced license.

Questions? Send an email to my call sign @arrl.net

Thanks and 73!
Mike K3MMM

On SUNDAY August 2^nd, the Frederick Amateur Radio Club will be supporting the Shed Enduro mountain cycling event. A few fun facts:

• Approximately 240 cyclists will complete up to eight electronically-timed downhill courses.

• The event is staged in the greater Frederick Watershed, from Thorpewood and south, mostly along the eastern-facing side of the ridge

• There are four rider “levels” or course options – expert, pro, sport and sprint.

• Cyclists begin at Thorpewood at 7:30am. Upon reaching Gate #1, cyclists will be released down the hill in 30-second intervals

• After Gate #1 downhill race, the course diverges, as riders head to different gates, depending on their level.

• Radio operators will staff and marshal starting gates and higher-risk course locations.

• The first spots will open at 6:30am and the event will complete in the mid to late afternoon.

• The course start gates have rolling opening times. For example, staffing at Gate 1 begins at 7am and Gate 8 staff needs to be in place just before noon.

• We’ll be working with Austere Medical Professionals, an all-volunteer medic team, who will be on-hand to assist with any injuries.

• While most of the terrain is handheld-friendly, there are a few spots that might require an enhanced antenna. We will likely deploy at least one cross-band radio to support one very un-repeater-friendly spot.

• Please don’t allow lack of equipment to prevent you from volunteering – we have loaner radios for all occasions!

• Some, but not all of the operating locations have nearby parking. The event folks will provide All Terrain Vehicle (ATV)-based transportation to any of the radio operator locations – however this might require earlier arrival, as the transport folks will be very busy all over the course. This event will likely require at least some amount of walking.

So, if this sounds like something you’d like to help with, please click here to fill out a quick form: Shed Enduro 2026 Volunteer Form

As always, if there are questions, please send me a note using my call sign @arrl.net

73!
Mike

Please join us on Saturday October 10th from 8 until noon for the Antietam Radio Association’s TailgateFest.  A huge new wrinkle this year: this event is FREE for both visitors and vendors!  That’s right, no charge either side – purely to promote the ham community.  The event is held at:

Maugansville Church
17904 Binkley Ave
Maugansville, MD 21767

You can find the flyer here: TailgateFest 26

Please join us on Sunday October 4^th for the CARA Fest, sponsored by the Columbia Amateur Radio Association. The event is at the Howard County Fairgrounds, located at 2210 Fairgrounds Road in West Friendship, MD. Doors open to vendors at 6am and to the public at 7am. Admission is $10/person and kids under 16 are free. Indoor tables are $20 and outdoor tailgate spaces are $10 (both plus admission)

You can find the flyer with all of the details here: CARAFest Flyer