September is upon us and the GCARC 33rd Annual Hamfest is right around the corner! This year the members of the Gloucester County Amateur Radio Club are celebrating the club's 50th Anniversary. We have added special events and activities to our Hamfest in celebration of this event. Join us on Sunday September 20th for a day filled with fun, food, friends and fantastic bargains!
See the Hamfest section of our website for more information.
Field Day 2009
Written by Vinnie Sallustio
Sunday, 05 July 2009 21:39
I joined the GCARC back around September of last year. I did so because my ham activity in radio had been reduced to operating in dribs and drabs, mostly in cold weather months. I originally got my ticket in March of 2005 and my first rig about 4 months later. At that time, my wife was newly pregnant with our first child. So it was “now or never” as far as purchasing a rig and getting on the air. I originally started on 10-17M, until November of 2005, when I got a 5 band Hustler 5BTV to get me on the rest of the bands.
The DX Engineering DXE-UT-8213 Coaxial Cable Stripping Tool uses heavy duty blades to cut and prepare RG-8 size coax for the installation of connectors. The tool utilizes a two step process that first trims and exposes the center conductor then trims the outer sheath to the correct length for PL-259 and N Type connectors. There are no adjustments required, simply take the tool out of the bag and insert the cable into the end marked "1st cut". Twist until the tool stops cutting then reverse the tool and insert the cable into the other opening. Twist until the tool stops cutting and you are done!
But, the GCARC is on TV! Recently, the ARRL released a Public Service Announcement in the form of a 30-second commercial. It promotes the “We Do That With Radio” campaign with a call to action at the end directing viewers to their web site, www.wedothatradio.org. Looking at it, I liked the overall production value and noted that is was created in a format known as “letterbox”, which displays as black horizontal bands on the upper and lower part of a conventional 4:3 aspect ratio screen, the same format that cable providers like Comcast use. In those blank spaces, you can insert some titles that personalize the piece, without interfering with the core message and visuals. I sent an email to the League to see if it would be OK for us to use and, hearing nothing to the contrary, proposed the Club set aside some funds to air it if I customized it with information about ham radio and contact information for us. Alternately, I also mentioned that any interested members could “pony up” some funds in the way of $35, $50, $70 or more to help fund the idea. It was genuinely heartwarming how many members offered to donate toward the campaign at our last meeting. In fact, it all happened so fast, I lost track of who was donating what. Thankfully, Al and Ken keep good notes. I’ll have a “Thank You” list in next month’s issue. We voted to allocate $350, which at the special rates that Comcast Spotlight is offering, allows us to air 100 times. (And you thought TV advertising was expensive…) The spot is currently running 2 to 3 times a day on SciFi and Spike and will continue to air through May 17th.
If you would like to donate to the cause, please contact Ken, N2CQ. Hopefully, we will see some increased interest in ham radio and our Club, plus garner some welldeserved PR and Goodwill in the county. Stay tuned!
The W2MMD Web Project
Written by Administrator
Friday, 13 February 2009 00:00
Welcome to W2MMD.COM, home to the new Gloucester County Amateur Radio Club web site. Among the initiatives discussed by the GCARC board when they met in October 2008 was the need to reconfigure the GCARC web presence to facilitate communications and networking among our members, to provide fellow Hams with a resource to stay abreast of GCARC news and activities and to advance the general interest and welfare of Amateur Radio. This renovation is underway and will be continuing through the beginning of 2009.
