December 2017 Business Meeting

December is here and this month's business meeting (December 5, 2017) will be held at Golden Corral located at 1492 W. O. Ezell Boulevard in Spartanburg.  Our annual Christmas Party will begin at 6:00 pm and members and guests are invited to attend.  Club members please check in with Lisa, N4BOO when you arrive so the club can pay for your meal and all non-members will pay as they enter the restaurant.  Santa has sent his gifts for our drawing so don't miss out on the time of fun and fellowship.

Spartanburg County's Community Emergency Preparedness Day 2017

On September 30th, 2017, SPARC will participate in Spartanburg County's Community Emergency Preparedness Day which will be held in conjunction with the Harvest Day Festival in Inman, SC.  We will begin set up between 7:30 and 7:45 am.  The event will start at 9 am and end at 5 pm.  All club members are invited to participate. The trailer will be set up for radio operation and tours.  Come and stay all day or come out for an hour or two; all help will be appreciated.  This is a great way to get some DX time in and practice using the club radios.  The Harvest Day festival has run for many years and has great community support so there will be many opportunities to "sell" ham radio to those in attendance. 

We will be located close to 43 North Main Street.  The business located at this address is Carolina Vision Associates.  Parking will be available across the railroad track and street at Inman First Baptist Church.  Hope to see you there!

Summer Supper

Please make plans to join us on July 22, 2017, for our annual summer supper. We will gather at the Grapevine Restaurant at 6:30 pm. This is dutch treat and is a great chance to get together for fun and fellowship. All are invited to attend so we hope you will join us! The Grapevine is located at 1926 Boiling Springs Road (Highway 9).

Don't miss the fun!

Field Day Log and IC-746PRO Videos

                                                    

Field Day 2017 is June 24th & 25th. In preparation for this fun event we wanted to send out some videos that will allow you to familiarize yourself with the logging program and radio we use for the contest.  Our goal this year is to exceed the points earned last year and these videos will prepare you to log and work the radio efficiently before the contest begins.  Enjoy and get those vocal cords and fingers in shape because Field Day will be here before we know it!

N3FJP Field Day Log - A Quick Start video from N3FJP shows how to use the logging software and highlights some of its new features.

IC746PRO Videos - These videos will give you an overview of how to operate the radio that will be used on our voice station.

Assaults on Marion and Mt. Mitchell Meeting

A meeting to finalize the details for the Assaults on Marion and Mt. Mitchell will be held this Tuesday night, May 9, 2017, at 7:00 pm.  We still have a couple of water stops that need radio operators so if you can help with the Assaults on Monday, May 15, 2017, please join us on Tuesday night.  Mike hopes to have the t-shirts for distribution also.  The meeting will be held in conjunction with the regularly scheduled rag chew at the Herald Journal building in Spartanburg.

A big thank you to all those who are working this great community event!

MARCH OF DIMES WALK

The March of Dimes Walk will be held this Saturday, April 29, 2017. The walk will begin at 9:00 am at Duncan Park, 81 West Park Drive, Spartanburg, SC 29306. Spartanburg Amateur Radio Club will once again be supporting this event by providing radio communications during the walk. We need to man the following positions: 2 water stations, 2 vans, 2 people at net control, 1 operator at the stage and 1 operator near the fire truck to help start the race. If you would like to help the club support this event please respond to lisacdav@gmail.com with your name, preferred position, and your t-shirt size. Please note that the organizer has not mentioned t-shirts this year so they may not be available; I am checking on the availability this week.

If you plan to volunteer for this event please meet at the District 7 Operations Center parking lot located at the corner of Union and Virginia Street by 7:45 am.  Vans will pick up their radio operators in the parking lot and other operators will disperse from there.

As always, thanks for your help!

Lisa Davis, N4BOO

President, Spartanburg Amateur Radio Club  

HAROLD KINLEY WA4GIB SK

Harold Kinley, WA4GIB, a friend and elmer to all passed away March 25, 2017, after a period of declining health. Harold  was a life member of SPARC and will be missed by all.  Below is a link to his obituary. Please keep Harold's family in your thoughts and prayers as they go through this difficult time.

Obituary

SPARC Business Meeting, March 7, 2017

We are pleased to announce that on Tuesday, March 7^th, Mr. Marc Tarpley-N4UFP, will be our guest speaker.  Marc is the South Carolina ARRL Section Manager and will speak to us about the benefits of ARRL membership, "Auxcomm", and the future of the Amateur Radio Parity Act.

As always, at the end of his presentation, the floor will be wide open for questions about any amateur radio related topic. 

Mr. Bill Pressley, KK4FE SK

We are very sad to report that Mr. Bill Pressley, KK4FE passed away Monday, February 13, 2017. He was a life member of SPARC and will be missed by all.  Many may remember he would say KK4EE Kilo Kilo 4 FRIED EGGS when identifying himself on the air.  73  KK4FE DE K4II

Obituary For Bill Pressley

ARES MEETING

On January 31, 2017, Pokey Burnett, KK4UCE will hold an ARES meeting at the Spartanburg Herald Journal building located at 189 W. Main Street in Spartanburg.  This will be an update on ARES in Spartanburg County and will begin at 7:00 pm.  The rag chew will also be held at 7:00 pm at the Spartanburg Herald Journal Building.  We hope you will plan to attend!
 
The first testing session of the new year will be held on February 14, 2017.  If you plan to test please arrive by 6:30 to complete your paperwork in preparation to test.  If you need more information about testing with the Spartanburg Amateur Radio Club please go to www.k4ii.com for all the details.