Items of Interest 

If you have any general interest items or announcements that you would like included here, please send them to  Andy Moseley or Eric Wooster for posting.


Fact of the Day

LCARS Online is Listed on the DXZone.com Website

7.28.10 - The  DXZone.com website is a ham radio resource guide containing thousands of radio related resources. The LCARS website has been formally linked in the Ham Radio/Clubs/North America/USA/Virginia category.  A link has been added to the home page.  Go up and vote for the site and poke around stacks of information in this great virtual library.

LCARS Packet Node is Operational

6.21.10 - The LCARS Packet Node was recently activated and is providing service to the LCARS area. Located approximately 130 feet high on the watert tank in Lawerence, VA, this 2 meter packet node is running at 30 watts of output power. The node identifier is W4LCA-2, and is open for all hams. Packet operations provides an additional communications means for sending written traffic.

The Lake Country Amateur Radio service thanks the town of Lawrenceville for allowing us to access the water tower and place our packet node there.  All hams are encouraged to use the packet node, and other amateur radio repeaters and services in the area to their fullest.

Sammy, K4MJO, has also added a live weather radio capability to his site, and will soon have live streaming audio of the repeater system available. These capabilities provide a rapid means of getting updated information in the LCARS area. More information about these capabilities is available on Sammy's website.

Events Page Updated For Field Day

6.15.10 - The Events Page has been updated with information for Field Day.  As details are confirmed, the page will be updated.  Also, a link to the 2010 Virginia Beach HamFest is located in the events column.  Many are hoping this will again gain the prestige and interest of years past. 

New LCARS 2010 Technician Class Callsigns Listing

6.6.10 - The Training Page now lists the callsigns for the LCARS 2010 Technician Class.  The secure Members Page has been updated with our new club members. A link to the net control schedule has been added to the Home Page.  A new Repeater Operations Page is in development, which will provide detailed information about the repeaters, and some of the control functions available to the users.

 New Technician Graduates Sends His Thanks

5.25.10 - KF4KBS forwarded an e-mail from one of our 2010 Technician graduates.  It has been included on the training page.  This is a great testament to the LCARS trainers and VEs, and their dedication to the class.

LCARS Graduates Twelve New Technicians

5.23.10 - The Technicana Operators Class graduated twelve new operators on Sunday, May 23rd. More information on the training page.

Virginia Hurricane Preparedness Tax Holiday

5.23.10 - Plan to go shopping the last week of May, and save money on items on items you can use. VIrginia's Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday is May 25 - 31. During that week, you can stock up on supplies for your emergency supply kit and to protect your home and business during hurricane and flooding season.  More information may be found at the Virginia Department of Emergency Management: http://www.vdem.state.va.us/ .The current IRLP node status is now shown on the Repeaters page. Thanks to Sammy K4JMO for providing the information and application link. 

IRLP Status Online

4.16.10 - The current IRLP node status is now shown on the Repeaters page. Thanks to Sammy K4JMO for providing the information and application link. 

New Technican Class Question Pool Released

2.3.10 - On 2 Feb 2010, the NCVEC Question Pool Committee released a second version fo the Element 2 Technician Pool, dated Feburary 1, 2010. The QCP released their official public release of the 2010 Technican Pool on January 4, 2010. The new pool that becomes effective for all amateur examinations on July 1, 2010, has 396 questions compared to the existing pool of 391 that expires June 30, 2010. The major change appears to be a lot of new questions in the syllabus sections on electornic theory with a total of 7 diagrams on the new 2010 exams. The Revised Technicain Class Cquestion Pool is vailabe on the Training Page.

Brunswick Times-Gazette LCARS Article

1.6.10 - The Brunswick Times-Gazette published an article titled "Severe weather alert system ready" in its  January 5, 2010 edition.  This article, available online, was a results of our own Sammy Simmons, KD4MJO. A PDF copy of the article is available for downloading.  Many thanks to Sammy and Chad Carter NR4SS for their efforts in promoting LCARS in the local print media. Chad was successful in having a meeting notice published in Nov 2009, which prompted a guest to attend the December meeting.

Secure Member Page

12.7.09 - A secure member page has been added that contains member contact information. It can be accessed from Home Page using the LCARS Member Page Link.  The secure page is accessed by entering the password that has has been mailed to all members with a listed e-mail address.

2010 LCARS Officers

12.5.09 - The Lake Country Amateur Radio Service officers for 2010 were elected at the December 5th general meeting. The new club officers are: President: Leslie Kubasek [KJ4BMQ]; Vice-President: Richard Puryear [KJ4BMS]; and Secretary/Treasurer: Andy Moseley [KF4KBS]. Their term of office begins on 1 January, and the next LCARS meeting is scheduled for Jan 2, 2010.
 

Feedback Form

11.16.09 - A feedback form has been added for reader questions and comments about LCARS meetings, classes and the website itself.