Amateur Radio From Loudoun County VA

NEW LOCATION...NEW LOCATION -- There is a new location for this month's meeting. The May 18, 2002, LARG meeting will be at 8:30 at the Ponderosa Steakhouse, 962 Edwards Ferry Rd. N.E., Leesburg. The restaurant is in the Walmart shopping center near Burger King and IHOP, and opens at 8:00 a.m. for breakfast and serves a $5.99 breakfast bar. So come at 8:00, get some breakfast, and finish your cup of coffee during the meeting.

April Club Meeting News - After a short report from John, W4AU, on our Virginia QSO Party participation, and from Tom, WB3AKD, for the Balloon Committee, we enjoyed an interesting talk by John Kanode, N4MM, on a variety of subjects ranging from the overall health of amateur radio in the U.S. to DX'ing. John's presentation was well received and we are grateful for him taking the time to come and speak at our meeting. After the club meeting, Tom, WB3AKD, organized a very successful fox hunt for practice in locating our balloon instrument package. Many of our members pursued the rather elusive "fox", which was eventually first found by Joyce, KG4SHO. Be sure to read the very entertaining story by the "Ghost Riders" on the LARG web site.

May Club Meeting Plans - The major topic of discussion at the May meeting will be our participation in the 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.

After the meeting, we will conduct an informal coverage test in western Loudoun for a possible site for a club repeater. More information on this operation will be given out at the meeting.

Club News - Be sure to make plans to attend the Manassas Hamfest on June 2. Not only is this one of the best hamfests in the region, but also SPARC will be handing out the awards for this year's Virginia QSO Party. Come and cheer for your fellow LARGer's and see if we were able to capture first place in the club entry again this year. See the short article below for a description of how one of our club members, Temp, W4HZV, has optimized a screwdriver antenna for mobile operations. Charlie, K4LJH, is looking for some used SCUBA equipment so he can operate from his basement QTH; contact him directly...Many club members enjoyed the hospitality of Tom, NA4MA, and Angi, KG4AVR, who hosted a cook-out at their beautiful home on May 4; thanks for the party! Mark, N3GMW, and Bill, KG4OHE, both passed their Amateur Extra exams and now hold the highest class of amateur radio license; congratulations, guys!

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