Amateur Radio From Loudoun County VA

NOTE: No LARG Meeting in December!! Our next regular meeting will be on January 19, 2002. Be sure and sign up for the 4th Annual LARG Holiday Dinner at Johnson's House of Beef on December 7. See below and the LARG website for details.

November Club Meeting Notes - The club appointed John, W4AU, Paul, N4PD, and Charlie, K4LJH, as the nominating committee for our 2002 officers. If you would like to serve as a club officer, please contact one of them. They will present a slate of officers for the club to vote into office at the January meeting. Carol, KF4TJJ, announced the arrangements for the 4th Annual LARG Holiday Dinner, which will be held on December 7 at Johnson's House of Beef on the corner of Catoctin Circle and Market Street in Leesburg. Meet for cocktails at 7:00 and dinner will start at 7:30. Contact Carol if you want to attend.

January Club Meeting Plans - Election of officers for 2002. Appoint a chairman for 2002 Field Day activities. Pay dues!

Fun Contest Weekend Coming Up - Be sure to put December 15/16 on your calendar for the ARRL 10-meter contest. This contest has very flexible categories; you can operate CW only, SSB only, or mixed CW and SSB. It starts at 0000Z (that's 7:00 p.m. on Friday 12/14, local) on 12/15 and ends at 0000Z on the 12/17 (which is 7:00 p.m. on 12/16, local. You can operate only 36 of the total of 48 hours. The exchange is signal report and state for U.S. stations; DX stations will send signal report and a sequential serial number. In this contest everybody counts for 2 points for SSB QSO and 4 points for a CW QSO. See the full rules in the November QST or on the ARRL website. Of course, this contest has a club category, and LARG did quite well last year, so we want to better that score!

Balloon Committee Report - The LARG Balloon Committee had a short meeting on 11/28 at the Purcellville library. Basically, we put together a schedule of events that the club and/or club members will be involved in during 2002 so that we can schedule a balloon launch with the minimum amount of conflict. The attached sheet shows a draft of that schedule (thanks to Norm, AI2C). Examination of this schedule shows that April is a good choice for a spring launch and September looks good for the fall.

LARG Club News - Founding member, Charlie, K4LJH, has been in the hospital with a collapsed lung. They have successfully repaired the problem, but now he faces a longish convalescence period. We're sure that he will enjoy phone calls and visits, so don't be shy! We need to get him on the air for the 10-meter contest.

Leesburg First Night - Although it's off to a late start, the town of Leesburg has decided to go forward with their First Night New Year's Eve celebrations again this year. As in the past, they have asked LARG to furnish communications between their headquarters and the various venues around the town. If you haven't helped out with this enterprise before, you'll find that it's lots of fun. All you need to bring is your 2-meter HT and some warm clothing. First Night typically goes from about 5:00 to midnight, but you can work any part of that period if you can't be there for the entire event. If you are interested, please contact Mark, N3GMW.

Draft Calendar Of Activities For 2002

January
19 - LARG Club meeting
19-20 - ARRL VHF contest
26-27 - CQ 160 meter CW contest

February
16 - LARG Club meeting
16-17 - ARRL DX CW contest
23-24 - CQ 160 meter SSB contest

March (big goings on this month...)
2-3 - ARRL DX SSB contest
16 - LARG Club meeting
16-17 - Virginia QSO Party!!
30-31 - CQ WPX SSB contest

April
20 - LARG Club meeting

May
17-19 - Dayton Hamvention
18 - LARG Club meeting
25-26 - CQ WPX CW contest

June
8-9 ARRL VHF Party
15 - LARG CLUB meeting
21-23 - ARRL Field Day!!

July
13-14 - IARU contest
20 - LARG Club Meeting

August 10-11 - MD/DC QSO Party
17 - LARG Club meeting
25 - Reston Century bike ride

September
21 - LARG Club meeting

October
12-13 - Pennsylvania QSO Party
19 - LARG Club meeting
26-27 - CQ WW SSB contest

November
2-3 - ARRL Sweepstakes CW contest
16 - LARG Club meeting
16-17 - ARRL Sweepstakes SSB contest
23-24 - CQ WW CW contest

December
13 - 5th Annual LARG Christmas Dinner
14-15 - ARRL 160 meter contest
21-22 - ARRL 10 meter contest
31 - Leesburg First Night

Calendar of Events:

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