Welcome to the Frederick Amateur Radio Club!

A few pictures from Fred Fest 2026!

Hi all,

Quick reminder that the March 2026 meeting of the Frederick Amateur Radio Club is on Monday March 16^th at 7PM. The social hour begins at 6PM. In addition to the regular business meeting, Christy K3CI and Steve K3STE will present Getting Started in CW

As since it’s the talk of the town, here are a few items about FredFest on Saturday March 21^st:

• At 6:30 tomorrow (Monday) before the club meeting, I’d like to convene those that plan to assist with FredFest on Saturday. Note that if you can’t make it to this get-together, don’t let that dissuade you from volunteering on Friday afternoon or Saturday
• FredFest setup is Friday at 5PM. If life is good, we can have the space totally ready to go when we leave on Friday.
• I plan to be at FredFest at 5:30 am (aka zero dark thirty) – any volunteers can arrive before/after. If Friday setup is a success, we can allow vendors early access for setup.
• I have an ongoing list of FredFest tasks and notes that I’ll share with interested volunteers. Send me a note if you’d like access to the shared Google doc.
• We have a GREAT NUMBER of items that were donated to the club – lots of small items. I’ll need a few volunteers who aren’t shy about assigning a price to an item to manage this process. There will certainly need to be some separation of wheat from chaff, with chaff being free to good home.

As always, meetings of the Frederick Amateur Radio Club are open to all members of the local community – no need to be a club member or licensed ham. We meet in the social hall of the Independent Hose (fire) Company, located at 310 Baughmans Lane in Frederick. Parking and entrance to social hall are in the rear of the building.

While it’s best to meet in person, second best is via Zoom using this link:  FARC Zoom 2026.
Please put your name and/or call sign in your Zoom profile.

Check our Upcoming Activities post on the club website: https://frederickarc.org/upcoming-club-activities/

Please let me know if there are questions – use my call sign @arrl,net

73!
Mike K3MMM

Please join us on Monday February 16^th for our regular meeting of the Frederick Amateur Radio Club. After a short business meeting, Matt Halsey KC3OIV will relate the story of WW2 Volunteer Radio Interceptors. While the meeting begins at 7pm, the social hour begins at 6 – join us early if you can. We meet in the Social Hall of the Independent Hose (Fire) Company, located at 310 Baughmans Lane in Frederick. Parking and hall entrance are in the rear of the building. We invite ANYONE from the local community who even has an inkling of interest in radio communications.

As always, joining in person is best. Second best is via Zoom – use this link: FARC Zoom 2026  If joining via Zoom, PLEASE put your name and/or call sign in your profile so that we can determine if you’re a bot or not.

A couple of reminders:

• It’s February and if you haven’t renewed your membership in the club by paying the annual $15 club dues, now is the time. By paying dues, you are a fully active member of the club. This year is particularly important, as we hope to update the club bylaws to better match the reality of 2026. According to our bylaws, changes require a majority of active members. Dues can be paid in cash at any meeting, via check at a meeting or to PO Box 1260 Frederick MD 21702, via Zelle (free and native to many financial institutions) – use email address: treasurer@frederickarc.org.
• FredFest 26 is scheduled for Saturday March 21^st – the first day of spring! Now is the time to think about spring cleaning. At FredFest, we’ll have a few “club” tables for folks that have just a few items. ALSO, if you’d like to see the new venue, at 5pm on Monday, join us at the AMVETS Farm, located at 9602 Baltimore Road Frederick 21704. This less than a minute from exit 59 of Interstate 70 (Linganore Ijamsville).
• You can get a quick view of upcoming club activities here: https://frederickarc.org/upcoming-club-activities/

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

73!
Mike K3MMM

The second annual “Ham-at-the-HAM (Hagerstown Aviation Museum)” event will be on Saturday, March 14th from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM (set-up at 9:00 AM).  This event is sponsored by the Antietam Radio Association. The theme of this year’s event is Emergency Communications specifically Go-Kits. If you have a personal Go-Kit you would like to demonstrate, please contact coordinator Joe WA1ZZQ using his call sign @arrl.net.  Ham-at-the-HAM is a relatively simple event and no special planning is needed.  We expect to be in the same location in the white dome hangar as last year and the museum will provide tables and commercial power.

Last year’s Ham-at-the-HAM was one of the museum’s most successful weekend events of the year and I hope we can have another terrific turn-out!  Please let me know if you’d like to volunteer to help and/or bring your personal Go-Kit to the event. I hope to see you there!

If you haven’t been to the Hagerstown Aviation Museum, it is truly a gem, showcasing local aviation history. Even if you can’t join us for this event, it’s worth a visit.  Their site is here:  Hagerstown Aviation Museum