Amateur Radio From Loudoun County VA

The next LARG Club meeting will be on June 15, 2002, in the Conference-Training Room at the Leesburg Police Station on Plaza Street at 8:30 a.m. The facility is located on Plaza Street between East Market Street and Edwards Ferry Road. Talk-In is on 147.480 MHz. You can join other LARG members for breakfast (~7:30) before the meeting at the International House of Pancakes located in the Shopping Center with Walmart, just off of Rt. 15, north of Leesburg.

May Club Meeting News - In addition to Field Day plans, we also discussed the upcoming LARG balloon launch scheduled for July 20. WB3AKD brought us up to date on our launch plans. After the meeting, Dave, KG4KZZ, coordinated a VHF coverage test from a potential repeater site at Paul's, W6PS, QTH. LARGers spread out over western (and parts of eastern) Loudoun County to see how well they could communicate back to the site. A smaller group journeyed to our 2002 Field Day site to check over plans and to site all the station locations and antenna possibilities.

June Club Meeting Plans - Field Day, Field Day, Field Day!! The major topic of discussion at the June meeting will be finalizing our plans for the 2002 ARRL Field Day, the weekend of June 22/23. We will be setting up at a beautiful site on Bob, KF4VBM's farm, Fox Glen. We plan to have five HF and one VHF/UHF station operating this year, so we need lots of operators to keep all the stations manned for 24 hours. We will have a sign-up sheet for operating times at the club meeting, but you don't have to wait until then to pick your time slots. Go to the LARG web site and look at the fine pages that Norm, AI2C, has put up there. Contact John, W4AU, this year's FD Chairman, to reserve the time slots that you prefer. Also, remember there are lots of jobs for everyone starting the Friday afternoon before FD when we will begin putting up antennas.

Club News - The results of the Virginia QSO Party were announced at the Manasses Hamfest on June 2. Although LARG finished second in the club category this year behind a super effort by the Central Virginia Contest Club, three LARGers distinguished themselves by winning plaques. Norm, AI2C, was first place in the single operator category, Carol, KF4TJJ, was number one in the VHF mobile category, and Gary, NC4S, not only won the CW only category, but also set a new state record in winning! Congratulation to the fine efforts by everyone this year; we deserve to be proud of our fine performances.

Also, congratulations to Mary, KF4UUY, Buddy, KG4MGC, Chester, WA9LAZ, and Denny, KF4TJI, all of whom passed their Amateur Extra license exam at the Manasses Hamfest. Way to go guys and gal! Also, Bill, K8SYH, deserves a big hand for doing such an excellent job with the training sessions he has lead.

A Farewell - One of the original members of LARG and a long-time resident of Loudoun County, Temp Titus, W4HZV, will be hopping into his RV (ham shack on wheels) the week of June 10 and heading out west. Temp no longer has a permanent home in the county, but he leaves behind many friends who have known him over the years. We will miss him at Field Day this year, especially his supervisory skills when putting up antennas... Temp and Karen will be back this way from time to time, and we look forward to keeping in touch via amateur radio. Happy Trails, Temp!

Calendar of Events: