Beautiful Saturday morning and afternoon in South Alabama October 26 at the Wiregrass ARC tailgate at the city square in Headland.

Darrell, K9MUG; Bob, KA4PKB; and Cheryl, AA4YL travelled down for the event and then visited Jim, KC4HW at his home in Slocomb. Jim has a great station and antenna system.

Great to meet other Alabama Contest Group members Ed/KJ4LTA, Glen/K5WP, James/KE4GWW and Don/K1DC. . Great day overall.

Darrell, K9MUG; Cheryl, AA4YL and Bob, KA4PKB

Bob, KA4PKB won first prize!

Wiregrass tailgate

Beautiful fall day in Headland

 A VERY HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY TO ALL!

LET US NOT FORGET THE REAL MEANING OF THIS DAY.

The 147.30 repeater has returned to the airwaves. Tone 123, the repeater is located on the water tower in Loachapoka, AL.

There is still some antenna work to do, but the repeater is operational now.

Many thanks to club members Frank, N4TKT and Ted, W4DUF for all of the hard work and contributions to this effort. We could not have done it without you.

AA4YL is in process of edting the current club by laws and constitution. They are leftover from the previous incarnation of the club and very out of date.

SIMPLIFY!  KA4PKB is assisting me with proofreading and suggestions. Will present to the club members for their suggetions and approval when complete. I have been wanting to do this for a long time. Glad it is finally happening.

Great time at the BirmingHAMFEST this past weekend.  Great fellowship and conversation. Lunch afterward at the Golden Rule BBQ in Irondale.

HODARS members; Bob, KA4PKB; Don, KA4NDY and Cheryl, AA4YL were there. Also John, KI4KUT, Richard, WB4BYQ; Henry, K4HAL; Jerry, N4JF;

Richard, WB4BYQ; Cheryl, AA4YL and Bob, KA4PKB

Golden Rule BBQ after hamfest

Don, KA4NDY; Bob, KA4PKB; Henry’s wife; Henry, K4HAL; Cheryl, AA4YL

Henry’s sister is there, but not in view.

Please visit the new HODARS Facebook page and “like” us.

https://www.facebook.com/w4hod

Heart of Dixie ARS – W4HOD is planning an ARRL VE test session on February 12th, 2013.

Location is the Dogwood Room at the Health Resource Center, located at 2027 Pepperell Parkway, across from EAMC in Opelika.

Session begins at 6 PM.

All three test levels will be offered.

Test Fee is $15.00, check or cash. (checks preferred)

We look forward to seeing you on February 12th. Please pass the word to anyone you know who might want to test.

For more info, please contact Cheryl, AA4YL at ch******@***il.com or 334-703-9781

Beginning in 2013, HODARS will begin meeting QUARTERLY, on the second Tuesday at 7 PM. If additional meetings are necessary, we can schedule them as needed. We meet at the Health Resource Center at 2027 Pepperell Parkway, across from the East Alabama Medical Center. We will plan for special programs at each meeting.

2013 meeting dates:

January 8

April 9

July 9

October 8

Heart of Dixie ARS – W4HOD is planning a test session on February 12th, 2013.

Location is the Dogwood Room at the Health Resource Center, located at 2027 Pepperell Parkway, across from EAMC in Opelika.

Session begins at 6 PM.

All three test levels will be offered.

Test Fee is $15.00, check or cash. (checks preferred)

We look forward to seeing you on February 12th. Please pass the word to anyone you know who might want to test.

For more info, please contact Cheryl, AA4YL at ch******@***il.com

The October meeting will be Wednesday, October 10 at the Health Resource Center on Pepperell Parkway across from East Alabama Medical Center. Meeting room is Magnolia, which is straight back when entering. Meeting begins at 7 PM.

Darrell, K9MUG is presenting the program. He will be discussing the V Beam antenna. Darrell had one up at Field Day for 6 meters. When cut for the bands, it works great on 10 and 15 meters.

Supper will be at Ming Garden on Opelika Road down from Big Lots and Office Max.

The 2012 CQ WW RTTY contest has come and gone. Several members of HODARS participated, using the club call-W4HOD.

Darrell, K9MUG; John, KI4KUT; Bob, KA4PKB and Cheryl, AA4YL gathered at the club radio room and operated in the Multi Single High Power category.  We used the new (well, new to us) A3S tribander and HF-Auto tuner. Both worked well.

Bands were in great shape. Was great to have 10 meters booming in again.

Grilled hamburgers, potato salad, cole slaw, ice tea and key lime pie was enjoyed.

The DRCG Long Distance Contest (RTTY) is June 9-10, 2012. Three different segments over the weekend. Darrell, K9MUG, Bob, KA4PKB and Cheryl, AA4YL will be participating.

Looking forward to seeing other club members too.

More info here.

Alabama QSO Party (AQP) was Saturday, June 2. HODARS participated in our new radio room at the QTH of one of our club members.

The room is still in process of being completed, but in good enough shape to begin operating.

HODARS operated in the Multi-Multi category. Multi operators and multi categories with one transceiver.

Darrell, K9MUG and Dick, K4IQJ took turns operating CW which was the major part of our score. Bob, KA4PKB and Cheryl, AA4YL made a few SSB contacts.

We were visited by club members, Tom, KE4KWE, his wife Reta, Stew, K4JOP and his wife Aina, KD4SCH and John, KI4KUT.

Photos later.

Call: W4HOD

Operator(s): K9MUG K4IQJ KA4PKB AA4YL

Station: W4HOD

Class: M/SMixed HP

QTH: AL

Operating Time (hrs): 10

Summary:

Band CW Qs Ph Qs

——————–

160:

80: 3

40: 115

20: 173        7

15: 14

10:

——————–

Total: 305 7 CW Mults = 50 Ph Mults = 7 Total Score = 35,169

Club: Alabama Contest Group

Comments:

First contest in the new club radio room. Thanks to K9MUG and K4IQJ for running the CW station. As usual they did a fantastic job. Only a few SSB contacts. 20 and 40 meters were in great shape.

Thanks for the contacts and thanks to the hard work of the ACG for sponsoring the AQP.

February meeting was fun. We enjoyed a Taco/Burrito/Nacho buffet, with coconut layer cake for dessert.

After supper, we watched Bob, KA4PKB; Mike, KI4TWB, and Ken, W4KDS start construction on a Tenna Dipper Deluxe, a small antenna analyzer. Bob manned the soldering iron, while Mike and Ken performed inspection duties.

http://www.qrpkits.com/deluxetennadipper.html

The three of them were not able to finish during this meeting, but made it about two thirds through. They will finish up during the March meeting.

Present during the meeting, Stu, K4JOP; Mike, KI4TWB; Bob, KA4PKB; John, KI4KUT; Tom, KE4KWE; Reta; Gene, KI4EEY; Cheryl, AA4YL; and Ken, W4KDS.

John Glenn: “From our founding days, Americans have been motivated by curiosity about the new and the unknown. That curiosity…coupled with an education system that let all our citizens benefit and contribute, were the twin engines of progress.” Photograph of our +Fragile Oasistaken by +NASA astronaut John Glenn February 20, 1962, as he piloted the Friendship 7 spacecraft on the first manned orbital mission of the United States.