Sept. 14th, 2021, 6pm at Dave Wood’s house (IN PERSON – bring a mask):
David Wood is hosting a BBQ/Picnic outside. Please bring a mask and wear it as the Delta variant is out there. Obviously take it off to eat. Bring a garden or folding chair to sit on 6 feet apart outside. We will also have tables to have a swap fest. Bring your used Ham Gear to sell and donate some $$ to BARC. This will still be a highlight of the year so come and have fun. Visit Dave’s ham shack and see how a “shack” should be done! Details will be emailed before the meeting. Please send me an email if you are coming and how many in the party, thank you.
LOCATION NOTE: Now that BARC members have reached very close to heard immunity and the Governor has lifted sanctions, we can meet in person. We have the Oakwood School Music room in the Activities & Gym building (look for the tower in back). It has an overhead projector, sound system and a very large white board. Paul Fletcher is working on getting us the ECU meeting place we had before Covid lockdown but that has not happened yet. A notice will be send before the meeting if this changes.
The Year in Meetings:
| Date | Status | Name | Title | Location |
| July 13th | Confirmed | (K1KK stepped in) | Antenna Math! | Oakwood |
| August 10th | Confirmed | David Sourdis | Antennas etc | Oakwood/Zoom |
| September 14th | Confirmed | Dave Wood House | PICNIC & Swapfest | Dave’s House |
| October 12th | Confirmed | Robert Young | Tar Heel Ant. | Oakwood |
| November 9th | Confirmed | Officer Elections & | VOA by Macon Dail | Oakwood |
| December 9th | Confirmed | Christmas Party | Pot Luck | ? |
Be there or be square! Thank you to Byron K4BMH for being the program chair and arranging the programs for the year. EmComm page link here.
Member meeting: the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00PM, in person & Zoom
Brightleaf Emergency Communication Workgroup: third Tuesday of each month at 7:00PM on Zoom.
BARC board meeting: the last Tuesday of each month at 7:00PM on Zoom.
Due to Covid-19, most in person meetings have been moved to Zoom virtual meeting with exceptions (see table above). This has had a positive effect as we are able to invite speakers that could otherwise not come to the meeting in person but can visit virtually. Invites with the Zoom Meeting Number and Password will be emailed to all members the day before the meeting. Our Vice President is in charge of setting up the meeting. We have to thank Lou Demko for the fine job he did in 2020. Some of the past meetings were recorded and are on Vimeo here. We look forward to Byron Highland to coordinate the 2021 meetings.
Looking forward to in-person meetings and have successfully tried a combination meeting where we meet at a conference room but have Zoom running and projected it onto the screen as well so that the speaker and members that cannot be in the room, can join and participate remotely. We will all be present in the meeting one way or another! (ain’t technology grand!) While Delta variant is loose, bring and wear a mask at all times to protect yourself and others. Oakwood requires it in order to have the meeting held there.
Past Meeting videos:
August 10th, 2021, Live & Zoom. David Sourdis talked about the math related to antennas and feed lines. How to measure SWR of stubs and other connections. Rather good explanation from a RF Engineer! Demonstration on how to use a VNA to get the right length of coax.
May 11th, 2021, on Zoom. Gary Faust N4PIR presented his POTA (Parks On The Air) experience running QRP (Low power of 5 watts) going out to a park and activating the station. Where he is spotted brings “hunters” that look for activated parks on the air creating a “pileup” of radio amateurs calling trying to make a contact there. It is a challenge to set up a minimalist station and get it to work well on portable low power equipment and on battery power.
April 13th, 2021, 7:00pm on Zoom. Presentation by Elixander Valladares W7HU AKA Alex. He will be our April Guest. Alex will discuss growing up in Cuba and involving himself in the hobby from his teens. He decided that he wanted to explore the opportunities that were available in the USA, but for this, he had to sneak out of Cuba on a homemade raft. Eventually, on his second attempt he did make his way successfully to the US, although not without quite a few stops along the way. Being a member of the ham radio world provided a certain amount of protection on his journey and helped him to get settled in the US.
March 9th, 2021, Presentation by Will Jourdain AA4WJ of ICOM America on the new technology that is being developed at Icom on the new IC705. Great Q&A discussion for 45 minutes at the end of the presentation about the capabilities of the radio and D-Star etc. WARNING: you will want one of these radios after seeing this video!
February 12, 2021: Tom Brown (N4TAB) talked about “EmComm in NC”. Tom is very active for years in EmComm. He is currently NC RACES Officer, NC ARES SEC, NC AUXCOMM Coordinator, NC COML as his positions. Links for the FEMA National Incident Management System (NIMS): (Free ICS courses we need 100, 200, 700, 800 to qualify to work in any emergency.)
January 12, 2021: Matt McMahon talking about the Down East Repeaters and DMR.
November 2020: Elecraft meeting with co-founder Eric Swartz talking about the technology in the new K4 radio.
September 2020 Meeting: Marv Hoffman talk on ARRL and the future of Amateur Radio.
Unknown Signal: Please identify this signal in the comments below.
April 2020 Meeting: Brian Harrison’s discussion of the final flight of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan.
May 2020 Meeting: Brian Harrison’s presentation of the FCC’s Radio Intelligence Division in WWII.
Vimeo link to BARC Ham Radio Meetings and Videos here.
