Welcome to the Frederick Amateur Radio Club!

Thanks to ALL who came out for FFest ’24 – it was a great day!  And we’ll see you in March of ’25.  Cheers!

Be sure to join us for FREDFEST, the original indoor hamfest, on Saturday March 16th from 8am until noon.  We have items from a HUGE estate to be offered – high quality gear.  See https://frederickarc.org/fredfest for the specifics.

March 14th (Pi day!) ADDITION:  K3ERM Estate Inventory for FredFest ’24

Come one, come all to the January 2024 Frederick Amateur Radio Club on Monday January 15th at 7PM.  We meet in the social hall of the Independent Hose Company, located at 310 Baughmans Lane in Frederick.  This month, we’ll have a presentation by Tony KC3MBE on Measuring your Transmitter and Receiver Performance Using a Tiny SA RF generator.  Meetings are open to anyone interested in amateur radio – all are welcome.

While it’s best to join in person, sometime that’s not possible.  Next best is to join via Zoom using this link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86031809702?pwd=bkFCM0pYL0g1RndpZVNjd01rN2FYQT09

We hope to see you there!

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Please join us for Winter Field Day (WFD) 2024 on January 27th and/or 28th at the K3MMM family farm outside of Emmitsburg.  This is the same venue as last year, but with lessons learned (including improved wood stove placement for more equitable heating).  While we’ll have some ready to go stations, feel free to bring your own gear including radios and antennas.   The goal of WFD is Emergency Communications (EMCOMM) practice/training.

Couple of things:

• You DO NOT need to bring any equipment as we’ll have a few stations ready to go.  You MAY bring your own gear to try – we have plenty of space.
• We expect to operate with neither commercial nor generator power.  Instead, we’ll be using batteries and solar only.  Granted, we may have a generator on hand, just in case.  We’ll have some spare batteries available with Anderson PowerPole connections.
• You do NOT need any particular level of amateur license (or to be licensed at all), as we can act as control operators while you operate.  This is a very friendly opportunity to give it a try, with your only investment being a road-trip to Emmitsburg!
• Winter Field Day runs from 2pm Saturday January 27th until 2pm Sunday January 28th. We’ll be on site from mid-morning Saturday until Sunday afternoon.
• Official farm address is 17247 Annandale Rd, Emmitsburg. I’ll put the FARC banner at the end of the driveway – but your GPS will get you to the right spot.
• Because it’s winter, and the weather is not certain, we’ll either set up in the back field equipment shed, which boasts nearby tall trees and wide open spaces, warmed by a wood stove. Or in the top of the barn, which while unheated, features a roof and walls. If weather is really uncooperative, we can always end up in the farmhouse living room.
• We expect to operate on most amateur bands, using phone, CW & permissible digital modes. 
• If you can’t join us, please try and work us!
• Be SURE to check back periodically for updates as the date draws closer.  It’s winter and the weather plays a role in some final and last-minute decisions.
• Find official Winter Field Day documentation here:  https://winterfieldday.org/

We hope to see you there!

Farm site plan for parking and operating locations:

The Frederick Amateur Radio Club holiday party will be held on Monday December 18th at 6pm at the Independent Hose Company social hall (where club meetings are held – 310 Baughmans Lane Frederick). PLEASE plan to join us for the festivities, and bring your significant-other. This will be a pot-luck event, so please plan to bring something to share. To that end, my bride suggested that it might not be good to have everyone bring desserts (although I don’t see the problem)

As always, let me know if there are questions – you can also send me a note at my callsign @arrl.net

Cheers & 73!
Mike K3MMM