Hello everyone,
Please join us for the January 2025 meeting of the Frederick Amateur Radio Club, on Monday January 20th 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
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