Welcome to the Frederick Amateur Radio Club!

Please join our neighboring club at the Great Hagerstown Hamfest, scheduled for Saturday, May 3rd from 7am until 12:30.  The event is held at the Maugansville Bible Church located at 17904 Binkley Av in Maugansville, MD, which is just west of Interstate 81 at the Maugans Avenue exit.  The Frederick club will have a table at this event – stop by and say hello!

Find all of the details on the Antietam Club website here: The Great Hagerstown Hamfest 2025 Details :: Antietam Radio Association

Please join us at 7:00pm on Monday March 17^th for the March meeting of the Frederick Amateur Radio Club. We meet in the social room of the Independent Hose Company, located at 310 Baughmans Lane in Frederick. Parking and entrance are in rear of the building. ALL members of the local community are invited to join us.

The topic of discussion this month is antenna analyzers. During the meeting, several members will show how to analyze antenna properties using traditional and “new tech” (aka Nano VNA) equipment. If you have an analyzer, and need some help understanding how it works, bring it along.

Also, new this month from 6:20 to 6:55 we’ll have our first “Elmer Time”. Since many of us arrive around 6:00 to set up the room and chat, this is an opportune time for folks to get one-on-one assistance with any radio issue – so bring your questions and relevant equipment (if possible). Of course, if you want to just join in the chat, please do. Elmer Time will be a regular feature of future meetings.

*** Our normal Zoom session will NOT be available for the March meeting. ***

Upcoming Events:

• Saturday March 22^nd : FredFest25 – the great amateur radio yard sale from 8am until noon. See details here: FredFest25
• Saturday April 19^th: Red Cross Regional Radio Drill at 9am. Details soon.
• Sunday April 27^th: Pedal for the Promise Lymphoma research ride from 8am until 1pm. We’ll need radio operators for three rest stops, three support vehicles, plus net control.
• Saturday May 3^rd: Great Hagerstown Hamfest. Please support our neighbors, details here: GHHamfest
• Saturday May 10^th: local hidden transmitter foxhunt. Details closer to the event.
• Saturday June 7^th: Tour de Frederick from early until ~7pm. We’ll provide communication support for ten rest stops and a dozen support vehicles, plus net control.
• Saturday & Sunday June 28 & 29: Field Day! This is the biggest weekend in all of amateur radio. Details as the event draws closer.
• July: club Parks on the Air activation. Details as date draws closer.
• Saturday October 4^th: Half Hike Across Maryland. We’ll provide radio support for hikers as they travel the Appalachian Trail from the Mason-Dixon line to Washington Monument Park near Boonsboro. Details as the event draws closer.

By popular demand, the club Facebook page has been revitalized. So, if you’re a Facebook fan, please join the group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/902554613191219  and join the conversation.

Hello everyone,

At any given Frederick Amateur Radio Club (FARC) meeting, we have centuries of combined radio experience in the room. For the February FARC meeting, our goal is to put that experience into action. We invite both club and greater community members to bring their questions or struggles, and we’ll try our best to help. It can be anything from understanding the various available radio services (Amateur, CB, MURS, FRS, GMRS) or programming a repeater to APRS to making digital data work with your computer, or choosing an antenna. Feel free to bring your radio for help. In order to make this easier, I’ll bring a couple of power supplies and antennas, minimizing what you may need to bring. If possible, bring along your radio manual.

We’ll meet at 7pm on Monday February 17th in the Social Hall of the Independent Hose Company, located at 310 Baughmans Lane in Frederick. Parking and entrance in rear of the building. Many of us arrive around 6pm to chat as we set up – feel free to join early. As always, joining in person is best, but not always possible. Second best is to join via Zoom using this link: FARC Zoom 2025 Please put your name or call sign into your Zoom profile, so we know that you’re not a bot.

Upcoming Events:

March 22: FredFest 2025! All of the details are here: FredFest 2025

April 27: Pedal for Lymphoma. This is a new cycling event that we’re supporting, but smaller in scale as compared to others that we’ve done. This event begins and ends at the Comus Inn, and the 50, 25 & 15 mile courses route through western Montgomery and southeastern Frederick Counties. We’ll need to staff three rest stops, three SAG vehicles and Net Control.

May: Combo Portable Two Meter Challenge + ARES drill.

June 7: Tour de Frederick. We’ll need to staff ~10 rest stops and 12 SAG vehicles, plus net control. This is a great event that benefits kids in Frederick County.

June 28 & 29: Field Day.

July: POTA Activation

August: Foxhunt

September 27 or October 4: Half HAM (half Hike Across Maryland). We support the Mountain Club of Maryland as folks hike the Appalachian Trail from PenMar Park in Cascade to Washington Monument near Boonsboro.

December 15: Club holiday party

Let me know if there are questions – my email is my call sign @arrl.net

73!
Mike K3MMM