The Loudoun Amateur Radio Group, P.O. Box 1004, Purcellville, VA 20134

Contacts:

President	Ray Houff (K4AJA)	(540)338-7297
Vice-Pres.	Dennis Boehler (KF4TJI)	(703)777-9427
Secretary	Carol Boehler (KF4TJJ)	(703)777-9427
Treasurer	Tom Garasic (NA4MA)	(703)753-0568
Editor	John Unger (W4AU)	(540)338-4620
Training	Your Name and Call Here…

The next LARG Club meeting will be on February 19, 2000 in the Hamilton - Thompson Lodge in Purcellville, VA at 8:30a.m. The Lodge is a yellow, wooden church building on the left (south) side of the street as you head west on Business Rt. 7 (Main Street) in Purcellville. It is located approximately halfway between the flashing yellow light in the center of town and the 7-11 Store at the western edge of town. The building has a sign in front and on the steeple is a large, blue, square and compass emblem. On-street parking is available on both sides of Main Street. Talk-In is on 147.480 MHz Simplex. This meeting place is sponsored by Paul, K4MSG. Some LARG members will be having an early breakfast at Fran’s Place starting about 7:30. NOTE: Coffee and donuts will be provided at the meeting!

January Meeting News

Check the top of this Newsletter and see your newly elected LARG Officers for 2000; they will lead us into the new year!

February LARG Meeting Plans

Our big event for the February meeting is a Fox Hunt, which will take place promptly after the business part of the meeting is over. So bring your DF equipment and join in the pursuit of the elusive 2-meter "Fox", and practice for locating our next high-altitude balloon instrument package. John, W4AU, will also attempt to get us all motivated for the upcoming Virginia QSO Party on March 18 and 19, which is only 1 month away! This year is the 25th anniversary of the VAQP, and it would be a perfect time for LARG to win the Virginia Club category. We’ve come very close the last two years, and we are ready to win the big one this year! BONUS: Attached is a log sheet for the VA QSO Party that you can use as a master to make copies and get on the air!!! Last year we had 23 LARG members in this contest; this year our goal is to have 30 members participating. CQ FD: We will appoint a site selection committee for our other big annual radio event, Field Day, which is scheduled for the weekend of June 24-25 and is not all that far off.

Club News

DUES: To date we have collected dues from 29 members for 2000; now is the time to renew your membership, if you haven’t already paid. Remember, it’s the best $12.00 value in western Loudoun! The Balloon Committee reports that payload construction delays and time conflicts have pushed the next launch date into May.

The LARG Tiger Cub (Cub Scout) ham radio demonstration event on February 2, which was organized by Norm, AI2C, and Dale, KD4LSL, was a huge success. The club set up 3 stations during the Tiger Cub meeting at Hamilton Elementary School. Using the club call sign, K4LRG, Bill, K8SYH, manned the 80 meter SSB station; John, W4AU, the 10 meter SSB station; and Dennis, KF4TJI, and Carol, KF4TJJ, operated the 2 meter FM rig. Charlie, K4LJH, Paul, N4PD, and Ray, K4AJA, provided contacts for the portable stations, and a total of 29 QSOs were logged by the Scouts. All of the Scouts had a good time, and we might have found a few future ham radio operators!

The 2 meter "FOX" contest is now in its second month with John, W4AU, as the "FOX" or the station everyone else is supposed to work on 2 meter FM simplex. It seems like the number of possible frequencies, combined with the time slots, has combined to make it difficult to contact the FOX when he is operating. Therefore, for the rest of February, you will find W4AU between 146.415 and 146.595 only and in the evening between 7 and 9 p.m. local time. We hope that these changes will increase the number of QSO’s during February.
 
 

Calendar of Events:
Every Sunday 8:00 p.m.	Club Radio Net -147.480 MHz simplex
Every Third Saturday 8:30 a.m.	Club Meeting –2/19/2000 – Purcellville Lodge
Weekday Mornings and Evenings	Commuter Net -147.480MHz Simplex