Club Activities
Several of our regular
club activities are outlined below. Many of these activities got their
start because one or more members decided they wanted to try something
new. If there is any particular activity you are interested in, the club
is certainly willing to add new topics to our agenda. Feel free to bring
your ideas to the club, and you will probably find others who share your
interest.
Public Service
Public service means
volunteering your time, and your skills to the community, to benefit the
general public. By law, amateur radio cannot be used to provide communications
for business purposes or for hire, but aside from that, by volunteering
to help out, we can make an event run more smoothly, more safely, and also
generate a lot of good will in the process. It also turns out to be a lot
of fun!
We regularly help run the Schaumburg Triathlon, the March of Dimes Walk, the MS Walk, the Hoffman Estates 4th of July parade, and several smaller events. To event sponsors who must control sites that cover a large geographic area, having a group of people volunteer to link them with all their remote sites is imperative. Knowing where people are, what supplies are needed, who needs transportation, help, or just relief help can make the difference between a seemingly flawless event and a catastrophe. Even those groups who do not understand the value of our help, often tell us that they don't know how they would have run the event any other way. It takes more than technology (in the form of radios, cell phones, etc) to run communications for a large event. It also takes some of the skills that hams have already learned, to participate in a controlled network, and avoid confusion.
To volunteer to help work a public service event, please fill out our Public Service Volunteer Form.
For more information, you can contact the Public Service Chairperson in the Committee section.
Emergency Communications
SARC is heavily involved in Emergency Communications. Amateur Radio has
a long history of assistance during times of crisis. The unique skills
and equipment possessed by hams can easily supplement or replace the
emergency communications channels of public safety organizations
during, or after catastrophes such as floods, tornados, earthquakes,
wild fires and even terrorist attacks such as occurred on Sept. 11, 2001.
SARC's emergency communication efforts are not meant to replace any
ARES
(Amateur Radio Emergency Service),
RACES
(Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service), or
SKYWARN
(National Weather Service severe storm spotting) functions.
Rather it is meant to work in concert with any such groups, and dual
membership and training are encouraged.
The Village of Schaumburg has included SARC as part of its Emergency Management Agency plans. SARC maintains a calling tree for group members who choose to volunteer and respond to provide emergency communications when requested. With this in mind, SARC is involved in various activities to train and enhance our members abilities in emergency communications, not only in voice communications, but also in packet , APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System), and ATV (Amateur television). These training activities include: Simulated Emergency Tests (drills); classroom training such as SKYWARN; CPR training; and emergency communications skills, just to name a few.
Click for a list of planned emergency comm frequencies. This is the starting point for communications response, although other frequencies may be used as necessary. Volunteers should have these already setup in their radios, in the proper order, so there is less chance to make an error in radio use during a stressful situation.
N9MYC has also created a Skywarn Frequencies Map that you can view or print out, listing communication frequencies for Skywarn severe weather spotters, as well as NOAA weather radio frequencies to monitor for alerts.
The SARC EmComm group is now sponsoring the NW Suburban / Schaumburg Area SKYWARN Net on the SARC repeater. This net will be activated as needed during severe weather events. You can download a copy of the SKYWARN Net Procedures Manual (1.26 MB) if you don't have one already.
To be a volunteer for the Emergency Communications group, fill out our Volunteer Information Form. and e-mail it back to us.
For more information, or to volunteer for help, contact the SARC Emergency Communications Chairperson listed in the Committee section.
Construction Project
Every winter, we gather
on 2 Saturday mornings per month to build (or repair existing) amateur
radio related equipment. We usually begin around 8AM, and spend a few hours
working on, or asking questions and getting help about, our projects. (In
between shooting the breeze, and drinking too much coffee.) Most times
the project is one of general interest to quite a few members, and PC boards
can be ordered, and parts assembled into kits to make the job easier. No
matter what your skill level, you can learn a LOT by working on
a project at these informal gatherings. Hard to find parts, tools, and
helpful advice can usually be found here as well. We're always open to
suggestions for new projects to be put into kit form, so bring your ideas
to the next club meeting.
(By the way, the formal definition of "winter" as used above, is the span of about 6 months when the weather is too cold for Bill Smead to hit the golf course.) For more info, contact our Technical Assistance Chairman listed in the club committee section.
Club Fox Hunts
Finding a hidden transmitter
is known as "fox hunting". In order to maintain the skills necessary for
finding radio interference, both unintentional and malicious, we
sponsor fox hunts as a competitive sport, which also turns out to be a
lot of fun. You can use whatever equipment you can build or buy, and people
show up with anything from simple attachments to their hand held radios,
to rotatable beam antennas on their car roof, to doppler direction finding
systems. Once you've tried fox hunting, you realize that it takes more
than just equipment. Those with the most practiced skills can easily beat
those with the most expensive equipment. Usually, whoever comes in 1st
place at a fox hunt gets to be the "fox" at the next club hunt.
Even if you have no equipment or skills, the regular hunters welcome anyone to ride along and see how it's done. (And having an extra map reader or sign watcher always helps, too.) So whether you are a veteran hunter, or a complete beginner, you might want to show up at one of our hunts, and participate in whatever capacity you feel up to. Remember, since you're only listening when you track a radio source, not transmitting, you don't even need to be licensed to participate. Friends, family members, or just scanner enthusiasts can participate without a handicap. Several members bring their families along for weekend hunts, just to get everyone involved. If you haven't tried fox hunting yet, you have definitely missed out on a fun time.
To find out the details of the next
upcoming fox hunt, you can come to our meeting, listen in on our weekly
information nets (see our repeater section), or send e-mail to our
Fox Hunt Coordinator. listed in the club committee section.
(You can also take a look at the complete fox
hunt rules and area boundaries to see more details.)
Field Day
Field Day is a radio
contest that lasts for 24 hours, and is held on the 4th full weekend in
June every year. It is sponsored by the ARRL
and is meant to test the emergency preparedness skills of hams, as
well as increase the public exposure of ham radio in general. You are allowed
a limited amount of time to set up your station, which must be set up away
from your regularly installed radio gear, and it should be powered by something
other than the commercial power grid. Generators, batteries, and solar
cells are popular, but many other unique methods are used also.
Everyone is invited to attend the SARC field day site, which is set up at the Schaumburg water tank, just off the intersection of Golf (rt. 58) and Plum Grove roads. Even if you do not have a license, but would just like to see what ham radio is all about, this is a good place to come and spend a while, grab some food off the barbecue, and talk to other hams who would be glad to show you first hand what making contacts is all about. If you would like more information, directions, or would like to help out at our next field day contest, (especially if you can man the barbecue!), contact Special Events / Field Day Chairman listed in the club committee section..
Ham Radio Licensing Classes
SARC regularly runs
classes to help you pass your first exam to become an FCC licensed ham radio operator, and
also help you get started with your first practical radio station, and entry into the hobby.
If you're not sure where to start, or what to do to get on the air and become a ham, let us help
you.
We also run upgrade classes to help already licensed hams step up to a higher class of license, and
the greater privileges that come with it. These
classes are taught on a volunteer basis by instructors within the club. We utilize
classroom space from the Park District or other buildings that may require a nominal
fee for the use of their facility, but since our instructors
volunteer their time and services, the class cost is usually kept to a minimum. For dates on our upcoming
classes, you can contact the Education Chairman listed in the
Committee
section directly, or you can always contact our information address at:
info@N9RJV.org,
V.E. Testing
SARC sponsors VE (Volunteer
Examiner) testing sessions, where you can take your test
to become a ham, or upgrade you current ham radio license to a higher class.
Testing sessions are held the first Saturday of every month, from 9AM until noon, at the Schaumburg Community Recreation Center, Bode and Springinsguth roads, in the senior lounge. The senior lounge is located just inside the doors closest to Bode road.
No prior registration is required,
walk-ins are welcome. You must have:
The fee for taking a VE exam is $14.00.
An identical fee will be assessed to any applicant who fails an
exam and wants to retest again at the same session. The only condition
to retest is that the exact same exam (identical set of questions)
cannot be given to the applicant.
According to the FCC, the testing fee allows an examinee one attempt to pass or fail each of the four examination elements. In addition, the order in which the examination elements are taken is not restricted; they may be taken out of sequence.
For further information on testing, dates, fees, or requirements, contact:
Larry Carr NO9A
1308 Cumberland Circle East
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
847-593-8658
E-mail:
NO9A@arrl.net
Club Meetings
The club meets on the
3rd Thursday of every month, at the Schaumburg Community Recreation Center
(SCRC), which is at the corner of Bode and Springinsguth roads. (See map
below if you are not familiar with those streets.) The exception is August,
when we hold a family picnic in lieu of the meeting. Meetings begin at
7PM, and usually last until about 9 or 9:30. We usually have a guest speaker
for the second half of each meeting, giving a presentation on some topic
of interest to the club. After the meeting, quite a few of us can be found
at a local Pizza restaurant, continuing the conversation a little longer.
Everyone is welcome to attend meetings, you do not have to be a member
to come in and join us for the evening. If you are interested in what's
going on with the club, stop in and say hello.
Map to the SCRC
Here's a Map
to the SCRC. For those of you on a GPS, it's at 42° 02.195'N -
88° 07.113'W (WGS84).
Club Picnic
SARC holds an annual
club picnic in lieu of the monthly meeting during the month of August.
This years picnic will be held at Volkening Lake, which is located at
900 W. Schaumburg Road. This is right next to the Schaumburg Police
station.
Club Newsletter
The club publishes
a monthly newsletter, the Radio Hill Gazette. If you have questions about,
or would like to contribute to the RHG, contact our Publications
Chairman listed in the club committee section. If you are a prospective
member and would like to receive some complimentary copies of our newsletter,
please fill out our SARC Information
Request Form, or you can read an
electronic copy of the RHG.
This monthly newsletter is
meant to keep club members up to date not only on what SARC is doing, but
about important issues to ham radio in general. You will also find upcoming
dates listing activities you may want to participate in.
We also encourage exchanging copies of newsletters, so if your radio club publishes a newsletter, put our club mailing address on your distribution list, and e-mail us to let us know you want to be on our exchange list. This helps all of us keep up to date on what other clubs are doing.
All SARC members are encouraged to join the list so they can get timely updates on club activities as well as general discussion, but you don't have to be a club member to join the mailing list. The list is open to anyone interested in SARC. The normal volume of e-mail sent is low, and your e-mail address will never be sold or given out by us for any reason.
TO SUBSCRIBE: send an e-mail to mail-list@n9rjv.org asking to be added to the mailing list, so we know your correct e-mail address. We'll send you back a web link shortly, that you use to confirm your e-mail address and your request to join the list, and you're done. You can remove yourself from the list at any time without needing to contact us, but we're here if you have any questions about it or need some help.
| CLUB OFFICERS | |
|---|---|
| President | John Bettasso, AJ9ON |
| Vice President | Phil Sawicki, N9IQ |
| Secretary | Bob McIntyre, AF9U |
| Treasurer | Cliff Sowka, K9QD |
| Board Chairman | Mark Deelsnyder, KB9VHA |
| Board of Directors | Bill Smead, K9IIM |
| Board of Directors | Cliff Sowka, K9QD |
| Board of Directors | Jim Kempe, KC9LWO |
| Board of Directors | Bruce Widenhoefer, KB9JEJ |
| CLUB COMMITTEES | |
|---|---|
| Program | Annie Mitchell, KC9CUN |
| Social Activities | Kim Bettasso |
| Membership | David Dietrich, KC9EHQ |
| Education | Harry Taylor, K9HDT |
| Public Service | Dave Downing, N9DAV |
| Emergency Communications | - OPEN - |
| Special Events / Field Day | Geoff Stevens, KA9QGH |
| Publications | Mark Deelsnyder, KB9VHA |
| Publicity & PR | Mark Deelsnyder, KB9VHA |
| Net | Rob Glowacki, N9MVO |
| Technical Assistance | Bill Smead, K9IIM |
| Fund Raising | - OPEN - |
| Fox Hunt Coordinator | Bruce Widenhoefer, KB9JEJ |
| Repeater | Bill Smead, K9IIM |
Club Membership
If you would just like
more information about the club, please fill out our
Online club information request form
or you can contact our
Membership Chairman
listed in the committee section with additional questions.
If you want to join the club now, you can use our Online membership application.
Payment of membership dues can be by either mailing a check, or you can
now pay online immediately via
PayPal ,
including using credit or debit cards if you like.
To pay dues online via PayPal, make payments to
"sarc_ebay@comcast.net"
or use one of the following payment buttons.
Note that Reduced fees apply only to full time students, active duty military, or over age 65.
| - CURRENT MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS ONLY - | ||
|---|---|---|
| Use | Normal Rate | Reduced Rate |
| Current Member Annual Renewals ONLY |
$25.00 | $20.00 |
NEW members - fees are based on the month you join, and are pro-rated so your membership always renews during June. Use the following table for the month you join to find the correct fee, and you can use the corresponding PayPal button to pay online, or mail your check to the club address below.
| - NEW MEMBERSHIP PRICE BY MONTH - | ||
|---|---|---|
| Current Month | Normal Rate | Reduced Rate |
| January | $15.00 | $12.50 |
| February | $12.50 | $10.42 |
| March | $10.00 | $8.33 |
| April | $7.50 | $6.25 |
| May | $5.00 | $4.17 |
| June | $2.50 | $2.08 |
| July | $30.00 | $25.00 |
| August | $27.50 | $22.92 |
| September | $25.00 | $20.83 |
| October | $22.50 | $18.75 |
| November | $20.00 | $16.67 |
| December | $17.50 | $14.58 |
If you prefer to mail a check for dues, send them to:
Schaumburg Amateur Radio Club
P.O. Box 68251
Schaumburg, IL 60168-0251