W4AP - Montgomery Amateur Radio Club

MARC 2012 Holiday Party and Awards Banquet

MARC members, family and friends,
Please join me and the 2012 MARC officers and trustees for the 2012 MARC holiday party and awards banquet. This year's event will be held on Monday, December 17 at 6:30 in the evening at the Golden Corral restaurant in Montgomery. We have reserved the private dining room for our event. As always, friends and family are welcome. Everyone will pay for their own meals as they enter the restaurant. Door prizes will be given out and after dinner we will present the annual awards for 2012. I hope to see everyone next Monday evening.
73,
Scott Poole, W4SPA Montgomery Amateur Radio Club, President

MARC 2012 Field Day - Schedule of Events

Friday, June 22
set up begins at 5:00PM - this is a change from previous years.
Due to the extremely hot temperatures and some of the station equipment arriving later in the afternoon, we will begin setting up around 5:00PM this year.
Lew will be on-site Friday afternoon serving supper.

Saturday, June 23
Morning - last minute radio equipment details will be addressed
Operating begins at 1:00PM
Lew will be serving sandwiches for lunch and chili, hamburgers and hots dogs for supper
Jacob's ladder educational presentation at noon on Saturday under the pavilion
GOTA station for unlicensed and Technicians will be operating under the pavilion
CW station will be operating from Randy's RV
Phone station will be in the MARC emergency comm trailer
Operating will continue throughout the night

Sunday, June 24
operating continues and ends at 1:00PM
tear-down and clean up will begin at 1:00PM
we always need help Sunday afternoon and everyone is tired and ready to go home. Please consider coming out Sunday afternoon to help with tear-down

Weather forecast:
Fri - Mostly Sunny, Night - Mostly Clear, Hi-93 Lo-67, Chance of precipitation: near 0%
Sat - Partly Cloudy, Night - Mostly Clear, Hi-95 Lo-70, Chance of precipitation: near 0%
Sun - Partly Cloudy, Night - Mostly Clear, Hi-95 Lo-72, Chance of precipitation: 10%
It will be VERY HOT and sunny - please dress appropriately, drink plently of water and take frequent breaks when working outdoors.

Your Field Day Staff

April 2012 MARC Meeting

MARC members,

At the April MARC meeting, we will continue our disaster preparedness theme with a guest speaker. Mike Stodenmier, director of the Montgomery City/County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) will be speaking about his office's role and how we, as amateur radio operators fit into EMA disaster response plans. Mike will also discuss his plans for integrating amateur radio into upcoming city events and EMA drills. This will be your chance to talk with Mike one-on-one and to ask questions about emergency management's plans for dealing with various disaster scenarios.

Also, Ken and I will be sporting the latest in MARC apparel. We have been working with AKD on a new Field Day T-Shirt design as well as a MARC polo shirt and we'll have both available for you to see and purchase at the April meeting. We will be kicking off the Field Day fund raiser by offering Field Day T-shirts for sale.
This will be a great meeting so please make plans to come out and join us Monday night.
April 2012 MARC Meeting
Monday, April 16, 2012 - 7:00PM
Central AL Red Cross Chapter
5015 Woods Crossing Drive (just off Carmichael Rd)
dinner at Schlotzsky's @ 6:00

February MARC Meeting

MARC members & friends,

The next MARC meeting will be held on Monday, February 20, 2012 at 7:00 PM. The meeting will be held in classroom A of the Central Alabama Red Cross, 5015 Woods Crossing Drive.

After a brief business meeting, we will listen to several disaster preparedness themed presentations. Mike Watkins, WX4AL, the ARRL AL district 4 emergency coordinator, will make a presentation about the Amateur Radio Emergency Service and its role in central Alabama. El Erby, the Montgomery county emergency coordinator will tell us about the local ARES situation and Otto Arnoscht, the central Alabama Skywarn, Alabama Emergency Net Golf (AENG) net manager will make a presentation about the Skywarn program and it assists the National Weather Service when severe weather happens.

I hope you will take a couple hours from your busy schedule to join me next Monday evening for what's sure to be an entertaining and informative meeting.

As always, many of us stop by Schlotzsky's around 5:30 - 6:00 for dinner and fellowship before the meeting.

73,
Scott Poole, W4SPA
President, Montgomery Amateur Radio Club

MARC meeting - Monday, Jan 16, 2012 7:00PM

Reminder, The next MARC meeting will be Monday evening, Jan 16 @ 7:00 PM. MARC meetings are held at the Central AL Red Cross building which is located at 5015 Woods Crossing Drive, just off Carmichael Rd.

Monday evening we will introduce the 2012 officers and trustees and discuss the upcoming MARC events for 2012. I will also be giving the 2012 budget presentation.

Also, remember 2012 club dues are due now. There are several ways to pay your dues, click the membership application link and you can print an application to fill out and mail to us or bring it with you to the next meeting. Or, you can pay via Paypal by going to Paypal.com and sending the appropriate payment amount to President@w4ap.org.

IMPORTANT: In order to keep the membership roster as current as possible, please fill out all applicable information of the membership application. Please note that disclosure of telephone numbers is optional and the publish check boxes next to each number let us know if it's OK to list your telephone number(s) on a printed membership roster.

I am very much looking forward to the upcoming year and I'm certain it's going to be a great year for MARC and its members!

73,

Scott Poole, W4SPA
President, Montgomery Amateur Radio Club

MARC Annual Holiday Party and Awards Banquet

MARC President Ken Kohnke along with the MARC officers and Trustees would like to cordially invite to you attend the annual awards banquet and holiday party on Monday, December 19th at 6:30 PM. The party will be held at Golden Corral restaurant. Please make plans to arrive by 7:00 PM to enjoy dinner with us. After dinner, the annual awards will be presented as well as door prizes. Of course, family and friends are always welcome!

MARC 2012 Officers Elected

The 2012 MARC Officers and Trustee were elected at the regular club meeting on Monday, November 19th.

The 2012 Offciers are:

President - Scott, W4SPA
Vice President - Ken, KJ4CJP
Secretary - Rick, AJ4ZZ
Treasurer - Jim, AK4FP
Publicity Officer - Bruce, KI4OZW
Trustee - Phil, K4PO

MARC Election for 2012 Officers

2012 MARC Officer's election will be hled at the regular meeting on Monday, November 21 at 7:00 PM. Meetings are held at the Central Alabama Red Cross building, 5015 Woods Crossing Drive, just off Carmichael Rd.

National Emergency Alert System (EAS) Test Scheduled

A nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 9th, at 1pm CST by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security�s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The test will be broadcast over radio, television stations, and cable and last approximately three minutes.
The EAS is a system designed to transmit emergency alerts and warnings to the public at national, state, and local levels. Although testing is conducted weekly in our area, this will be the first time the EAS has ever been tested simultaneously nationwide. The purpose of this test is to assess the reliability and effectiveness of the system as a way to alert the public during nationwide emergencies.
The public will hear a message indicating that �This is a test.� There is no action required while this test goes on, however it may interrupt your regularly scheduled programs on television and radio. The test should not last more than three minutes.

Sun to remain quiet for years, scientists say

WASHINGTON � Scientists are predicting that the sun is heading into an unusual and extended super quiet mode. Around 2020, sunspots may disappear for years, maybe decades.

But scientists say it is nothing to worry about. The effects from a calmer sun are mostly good. There'd be fewer disruptions of satellites and power systems. And it might mean a little less increase in global warming.

It's happened before, but not for a couple centuries.

Scientists at a solar physics conference in New Mexico unveiled their prediction based on sunspot activity, magnetic field strength and a disappearing solar jet stream.

The prediction is specifically aimed at the solar cycle starting in 2020, but experts say the sun has already been unusually quiet for about four years.