Welcome to the Frederick Amateur Radio Club!

Winter Field Day 2025 is in the books, and was well received.  We had about thirty people stop by over the weekend, and just about everyone made a field day contact.  While Mother Nature reminded us that it is winter, we remained warm enough to function.  And, as always, there were some lessons learned, such as: the combination of LED lighting, switching power supplies, and solar chargers adds significantly to the noise floor on some frequencies – so much that a successful Winlink connection required that I had to go even more portable from our portable location – a couple hundred feet made a world of difference on 2 meters.  We won’t have final score for a few days, but it really isn’t about the numbers, rather it’s about putting together a remote operation in adverse conditions. We don’t need a score to know that we had success.

Anyway, thanks to all of the folks who contributed to the effort, particularly to neighbor Dave who helped split wood, hang lights and tarps, as well as brand new ham Paul KD3AMT who had NO idea what he was getting himself into, and came over early and joined the preparations. And to the folks who brought their gear, food, snacks, drinks and great fellowship.  It was a great weekend!

A few photos:

Hello everyone,

Please join us for the January 2025 meeting of the Frederick Amateur Radio Club, on Monday January 20^th at 7pm. We meet in the social hall of the Independent Hose Company located at 310 Baughmans Lane in Frederick. Parking and entrance are in rear of the building. We invite ANYONE with even an inkling of interest in amateur radio to join us. Every month, many of us arrive around 6pm to set up the meeting space and chat. Anyone is welcome to join in the pre-meeting social hour.

Per our bylaws, (found here: FARC Bylaws) we elect officers each January. If you would be willing to serve in any role, please send a note to Justin AB3E using his call sign @arrl.net or maybe join us at the pre-meeting social hour. We are particularly looking for someone to relieve Bryant N3NON of his several-year stint as both secretary and treasurer. While Bryant is willing to remain as club treasurer, he would like to pass the secretary torch to another member. Not to diminish Bryant’s secretarial prowess, but this isn’t a life-altering task, and it would be great if someone would step up.

Mark KC3EOJ will present the best way to communicate an event injury to a 911 center, particularly via a net control station. Mark had emailed you the form that he’ll be using, but you can find a copy here: FARC 911 Form. Please bring a copy of the form, a writing instrument, AND a handheld radio if you have one, as we’ll be doing a simulated event.

Here are the tentative (tentative!) events for this calendar year. Some dates are not yet nailed down, but please keep them on your radar:

January 25 & 26: Winter Field Day All of the details are here: FARC Winter Field Day

February 8: Amateur radio at the Hagerstown Aviation Museum (aka HAM), in conjunction with the Antietam club. See details here: Ham at HAM

February 15: FARC Two Meter QSO Challenge. We did this a couple of years ago, and it was a lot of fun. Here’s a link to what we did last time, and this version will be extremely similar: FARC 2M

March 22: FredFest 2025! Check here for details as they’re developed: 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. Likely very similar to years past, with ~10 rest stops and 12 SAG vehicles, plus net control. This is a great event that benefits kids in Frederick County.

June 26 & 27: 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

Also, a gentle reminder that January is time for club dues, which remain $15. Easiest is to send funds via Zelle, which is native via the web or smartphone interface for many financial institutions. See post about Zelle here: FARC Zelle. You’d send to: treasurer@frederickarc.org. Of course, sending a check via USPS to PO Box 1260 Frederick MD 21702 or cash/check at a meeting also works.

Meetings are always best in person, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen.  Next best is to join via Zoom using this link: FARC 2025 Zoom
If you join via Zoom, PLEASE either include your call sign or name in your Zoom profile.  This will help identify you as a human and not a bot. Thanks!

We hope to see you on Monday!
Mike K3MMM

FredFest 2025 is BACK!
Saturday, March 22th, 2025
8:00 am to 12 noon

Shake off those winter blues and join us for the first local Amateur Radio indoor tailgate hamfest of spring.

Event location: Independent Hose Company Social Hall
310 Baughmans Lane
Frederick, MD  21702

(free parking and entrance in the rear of the building – click here for directions)

• • • • • • General Admission is $7.00, with kids under 18 free.
          • Tables are $15 for first table, and $10 for each additional, and includes admission for one person
          • Seller setup begins at 06:45 am, doors open to the public at 8:00 am
          • New this year: we are accepting table reservations – email K3MMM@arrl.net to reserve yours
          • Raffle prizes every 30 minutes – must be present to win
          • Improved parking arrangements
          • Talk in on 146.73 (negative offset PL 141.3)

Find a .pdf of the FredFest flyer here:  FredFest 25

Please join us for Winter Field Day (WFD) 2025 on January 25th and/or 26th at the K3MMM family farm outside of Emmitsburg.  This is the same venue as last year, but with lessons learned.  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:

• Feel free to bring your own gear to try – we have plenty of space.  Or you can visit and use one of our radios.
• We expect to operate using only batteries and solar power.  Granted, we may have a generator on hand, just in case.  We’ll have some spare batteries available with Anderson PowerPole connections, and can adapt to virtually any radio.
• 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 HF radio a try, with your only investment being a road-trip to Emmitsburg!
• Winter Field Day runs from 11am Saturday January 25th until 4:59pm Sunday January 26th. We’ll be on site from early-morning Saturday until Sunday afternoon, although there’s a good chance that we’ll pause in the wee hours, as we’re not as young as we once were.
• 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. Our operating spot is: ///soak.disappeared.safety
• 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 significant role in some decisions. Please check back here periodically for updates.
• Find official Winter Field Day documentation here:  https://winterfieldday.org/

We hope to see you there!

Farm site plan for parking and operating locations:

UPDATES:

10January25:

• We are extremely pet-friendly. Bring your horse, hound, heron, or hare, or anything in between. So long as it coexists with others, it’s fine and welcome.
• Good news is that the long-term forecast indicates that mud will NOT be a problem this year.  If that forecast holds out, we’ll easily be able to drive into the field.  I’m thinking that we’ll add a tarp-based fourth side to the equipment shed this year to retain a bit of heat. And add a diesel heater from my home garage.
• Since we’re not super-competitive, I’m thinking that we’ll operate as 4Oscar – up to four simultaneous radios, operating outdoors.  So, our exchange will be K3ERM 4 Oscar Mike Delta Charlie (MDC ARRL section).
• I’m hoping to have a semi-dedicated peer-to-peer Winlink station configured. During the first several hours, it’ll be on 145.09 for local-ish contacts.  After dark, we’ll move it to HF.
• If you have even a hint of mic fright, this type of event is the PERFECT solution, as the exchange is basic and predictable.
• If you have a headset, consider bringing it along, as it can be much easier to hear with background noise.

12January25

• There are a couple of rule changes this year, with the most significant being the hours of operation: We can now start Saturday at 11:00 local time and go until Sunday at 16:59 local (although I doubt we’ll go that late).  Even though we’re allowed to set up Friday, we’ll likely just set up on Saturday morning.
• There are several new “multiplier” objectives, many of which we should be able to accomplish.
• I’ve plowed a big parking area in the field so that the ground gets nice and solid.
• We expect to use “alternative power”, which means batteries and solar.  While all radios, digital data mode computers, and heat needs to be from alternative power, lighting and logging computers are exempt, and can be from commercial power.
• We’ll use 146.58 for talk-in.  It may seem that you’re way off course as you go back the driveway – but just turn left as you pass the barn, and follow the obvious tracks.

24January25

• The thermometer says that parking in the field won’t be a problem.
• Neighbor Dave brought over his splitter last weekend, so we have about a half cord of wood that is split and ready to go.
• The big side of the shed is tarped in to retain some bit of heat.
• We’re ready for a great weekend!