From the President,
March is here and that means the return of SARC in the Park. This is an outstanding opportunity for anybody that wants to get on the air and make a contact, that does not go through a repeater. This is Ham radio….old school! If you have never operated an amateur radio, now is your chance! The group will be out there, roughly every other weekend, depending on weather. Don’t just stand around and watch, ask somebody if you can operate, they will gladly help you make contacts and talk to somebody over the horizon.
There is a very common issue that has afflicted most hams in the very beginning. This malady is called “Mic Fright”. It’s the fear a new ham has of actually picking up the microphone and saying something wrong or sounding stupid, and it is very normal. A good Elmer will never let you sound stupid, and we have lots of good Elmers in the Schaumburg Amateur Radio Club.
Field Day 2019 is coming. We look forward to this day as it is an opportunity to work on the radio for 24 straight hours. Similar to the SARC in the Park events, Field Day uses all emergency power to make as many contacts as possible. I highly recommend putting your name on the sign-up sheet that can be found our website, WWW.N9RJV.ORG [In mid April – Ed.]. Just showing up thinking a radio station will be open usually ends in disappointment. Typically, there are not a lot of operators in the overnight hours. For example, I walked around the Field day site at around 2 AM, last year. There was nobody on any of the radios, so I sat down on the Sideband Tent, fired it up and started calling CQ. After about 5 minutes I was working pile-ups on the 20-meter band. I Made about 40 or 50 contacts before heading in for a nap. I remember I had to leave three stations still calling when I turned the radio off. The sideband radio station was not turned on again until after sunrise and breakfast was served. There is no reason for not getting on the radio.
Hope to see you out there.
Geoff Stevens
KA9QGH