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I received word tonight that the class schedule has been approved by the Elks Lodge House Committee, so here is the official announcement regarding the next Technician Class. If you know anyone who wants their Technician License, spread the word.

The Lodge is located on West Airport between Murphy Road and Beltway 8.

LICENSING CLASS

Start/End Dates: February 22, 2012 to April 4, 2012
Times: Wednesday Evenings 6:30 to 8:30
# of Sessions: 7
Class level: Technician
Morse code offered: No
Pre-register required: Yes
Fee: $25
Pre-study required: Yes
Class Type: Traditional
Exam offered: Yes
Sponsoring Club/Organization: Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
Instructor: WD5DAY
Contact: Philip Hudson WD5DAY
Phone: 281-438-4554
Email: phudson@swbell.net
Location: Houston Elks Lodge #151
10150 West Airport
Stafford TX 77477
Additional Information: Class fee includes a copy of the ARRL Technician License Manual. The fee is waived if you already have a copy of the current manual. Minors must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Exam is offered at a nearby school on the April 10th.

Philip Hudson

WD5DAY

Hi all,

This is a reminder of the general Hamfest meeting that takes place this Thursday, Jan. 12, at Rick Hiller’s office at 7PM.

Each of you know what role you have volunteered for. We need your information regarding status.
IF YOU CANNOT MAKE IT, PLEASE GIVE YOUR INFORMATION TO RICK OR ME SO WE CAN HAVE A COMPLETE UPDATE.

This is not a recruiting session so don’t be concerned about attending and being railroaded into more volunteer work. Of course, anything you volunteer for won’t be refused.

Directions to meeting site:
11111 Richmond Ave. (SW corner of Richmond and Wilcrest).
West side of building (power line easement side)
Enter the single door located half way down the building side at the Handicapped Parking spaces
Arrive, at the earliest, 6:50PM, as Rick will not be in the office until then
Rick’s cell – 832-474-3713 if you arrive after the meeting starts It will begin at 7PM.

We are 7 1/2 weeks out.

Let’s look forward to another successful Greater Houston Hamfest.

Tnx es 73
de John

                           Results of the December 13th

                    BVARC Amateur License Examination Session

                            by: John Moore, KK5NU

B-VARC sponsored and administered the ARRL’s Amateur Radio Examination session that was held on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at HCC’s Scarcella Science & Technology Building here in Stafford.

MEMBERS OF THE VE TEAM:

Dennis Dietrich, W5DDD

Larry Jacobson, K5LJ

John Moore, KK5NU

George Ontko, KM5VP

One examination elements was administered during the evening to one applicant. One new Technician license was attained; with the total number of elements passed being 1. The overall “pass rate” for the evening was 100%.

Congratulations to the following who attained a license and/or passed an exam:

     Forrest L. Carpenter   – {KF5NWO} – Technician

Many thanks to all the Team Members and Assistants who volunteer their valuable time and effort each month. All of us at B-VARC again thank everyone at HCC Scarcella Science & Technology Building for making these excellent classroom facilities available to us for our exams each month.

                               ….. 73 ….

During the calendar year 2011 the Brazos Valley (BVARC) Volunteer Examination Team held eleven (11) “Second Yuesday” monthly sessions and was joined by the Houston ECHO/K3FL Volunteer Examination Team at the March Greater Houston Hamfest license examination session for the purpose of obtaining and/or upgrading an Amateur Radio Operators license.

In these monthly sessions a total of 54 applicants were given the opportunity to take a total of 63 examination elements, successfully passing 44 of them.

As a result of the teams efforts, there were 24 new Technician Class licenses attained, 4 new and 10 upgrades to General Class, and 8 upgrades to Amateur Extra Class for an overall total of 46.

John Moore, KK5NU
VE Liaison for the
BVARC VE Examination Team

To all new CW operators as well as experienced CW operators:

I know that many of you were apprehensive about participating in the BVARC-N5XZ Challenge 2 weekends ago. Your reasons are valid. For example, I find that for those major contests, some send so fast that I have to listen to some sending CQ many times to get their call sign. I might get 1 additional letter with each of their transmissions. Almost all that participated however say that their CW proficiency went up dramatically by participating. Here are some ways to participate, have a much better success rate, feel more comfortable and most importantly, have fun.

If you are an experienced CW operator, you too should participate because these are laid-back, fun and you can help others learn CW.

There are several other CW beginner opportunities besides the one that Rick sent yesterday – INCLUDING ANOTHER THIS WEEKEND!

The Straight Key Century Club (membership not required) has 2 events each month which allow someone who is just starting out in CW to make QSOs under non-intimidating conditions. The Weekend Sprintathon takes place each month for 24 hours on the 2nd Sunday, at 0000 Z. That is 6PM CST Saturday to 6PM Sunday. THAT IS THIS WEEKEND. These operators are very tuned to new CW operator concerns and usually call CQ at a reasonable rate and will slow down even more when you say “Pse QRS.” I hate to use the word “contest” because it carries a certain stigma but this is a very laid-back event. Again, beginning operator concerns are paramount in other operators’ minds. So take a few hours this weekend and join in, make a few “Qs” and get your feet wet in a “contest.” Note that all 3 events described in this e-mail have recommended frequencies to operate near; For those bands with technician CW privileges, all are in those frequency ranges. These events are not as popular as Field Day and if you roam the bands randomly, you will never find them. The only limitation for SKCC is that you must use a mechanical key (straight key or mechanical bug) with no keyer, etc. No computer readers or generators or electronic keyers are allowed. For learning puropses,THIS IS GOOD. Those of you that took CW lessons from Ross and me know that we encourage you to learn on a straight key and then progress to an iambic key with keyer or use a computer assist later as you progress. First things first however. Go to www.skccgroup.com for info on this. If you don’t have a SKCC number, that is OK. Just send “NONE” at the appropriate time. They have been very good in the past of issuing numbers, often in a matter of hours, so if you apply today, you might get it in time, but it isn’t needed. There are no membership dues.

The other SKCC monthly event takes place on the 4th Wednesday (0000 Z) for 2 hours. That is 6PM Tuesday CST. That one is 2 weeks off. The rules are similar to the above.

Another similar event is the FISTS Sprint (membership not required). This takes place quarterly and goes for only 4 Hours and has the same intent as the above. In this one, however, there are no restrictions on the use of electronic keyers or computers. If you don’t have a FISTS number, just send your power output (Example – 100) at the appropriate time. Go to their website, www.fists.org, for more details. The next Sprint takes place in February. Their membership is $15 per year and will take a week or two to get the number, so do this now if you want to join, however it isn’t necessary.

Let us not forget the ARRL Rookie Roundup, also this weekend, that Rick mentioned. There is some overlap between this event and the SKCC Weekend Sprintathon, however as the SKCC event is 24 hours long and the ARRL event is 6 hours, you can sample both without a problem

If you want more information on this, you can contact me, John, K5IZO, by e-mail or at the phone number in the BVARC roster (see BVARC web page).

Give these a whirl!

Remember, there will be another BVARC-N5XZ Challenge in Spring so get some exposure now.

We’ll see you at the meeting tonight.

Tnx es 73
de John, K5IZO

To all BVARC Members:

BVARC’s year, 2011, is coming to a close rather quickly. The Banquet is on schedule for January 20th (buy your tickets on the BVARC web site). At the banquet we hand out the awards to those of members who heard the call and provided the club, it’s members, and the Houston Ham Community with tremendous support and service.

BVARC is chartered to present 3 awards every year. They don’t have to be given, if no one has done the “above and beyond”…..but, that is for you, the membership, to determine.

Full detail of the 3 awards can be read on the BVARC Web site www.bvarc.org under the BVARC Awards Info (lower left side bar). The Order of the Key, ¬ and The Dr. Bill Award are all described there.

After reading the descriptions, if you feel that you know a member who emulates that description, please notify one of the BVARC Board of Directors. All nominations should be into the BOD by mid-December.

I will send out other announcements and get on the nets to spread the word also.

If you have any questions, please contact me directly. rhiller@sdicgm.com

73…Rick – W5RH
President 2010-2011
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
NCS — Under 15 CW Net – Tuesday 7PM 3.550
Co-chairman 2012 Greater Houston Hamfest

BVARC December GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
7:30 PM, Thursday, December 8, 2011
234 Matlage Way, Imperial Park Recreation Center, Sugar Land, Texas

Homebrew & Favorite Equipment Night

The December meeting is your chance to bring out the projects that you designed, built, or modified in 2011 to share with everyone. Following last year’s theme, non-builders can bring their favorite piece of ham gear or accessory to demonstrate (or just talk about). Ham Radio equipment and accessories are the main focus, but you can bring any other electronic or mechanical gizmo you use in the shack to display.

If you have any questions about the BVARC Homebrew night please contact our VP – Kirk – KK2Z at kk2z@arrl.net

NOTE: The January meeting will be the BVARC 2011 Annual Awards Banquet on Friday January 20th, 2012 from 6:00 PM until 9:30 PM at the Arabia Shrine Center (10510 Harwin Drive). To buy a ticket: www.bvarc.org Home page right side column, second
item (click). In addition to the awards presentations and great food, our guest speaker – Andy MacAllister, W5ACM – will speak on “Half a Century of Radio – From Crystal Sets to Moon Bounce”

November Meeting Report

The 2011 Chili Master – Jerry Muller KF5EYC – coordinated a great meal for BVARC at our annual Chili Supper. The meeting consisted of the annual elections and the Chili Supper.

Those elected for 2011 are:
President – Kirk Kendrick, KK2Z
Recording Secretary – Pete Sauermilch, KD5QPX
Director at Large (2 year) – David Barber, K5NDB

All other officers and directors remain the same.

The CQWW CW Challenge
Come join us for a fun time on CW and help compete with N5XZ, the CW champ, during the CQWW (CQ World Wide) contest on November 26th and 27th 2011.
BVARC is sponsoring a fun challenge between its members and our special member Allen Brier – N5XZ, our CW guru. (In case you have not seen Allen send CW, he is so good that he is known to have sent CW in his sleep. We’re not sure that he responded to in his sleep, but we have little doubt)
Allen has agreed to spot us 500 QSOs. So, we are going to need as many members as possible to pool our total QSOs to have any chance of beating him. Every single QSO you get on CW during that weekend will count towards the total.
You can operate as much or as little time as you wish. All we ask is that you try and get at least one QSO to contribute to this fun event. You can keep your score on a paper log or an electronic log. If you do not have an electronic logging program, N3FJP logging program called CQWW can be downloaded for $6 and it is similar in operation to our Field Day electronic log. At the end of the contest, please send your log to Rick, W5RH, who will total up the QSOs and compute the total score.
TIME: 0000 GMT Saturday Nov. 26 thru 2400 GMT Sunday — ( Local: 6PM Friday the 25th thru to 6PM Sunday)
A brief description of how to operate the contest is in the PDF file on the BVARC web site. Full info and rules for CQWW is available at: http://cqww.com/rules.php
So, get out your key, dust it off and join us for some CW fun and DX’ing. There will be lots of rare foreign stations on the bands and 10, 12 and 15 meters bands are wide open during daylight hours.
GL ES 73, Nizar, K0NM, Rick W5RH, Allen N5XZ
ps….questions to Rick – rhiller@sdicgm.com

To all who made the Annual BVARC Chili Supper a success – Thank You! Jerry, KF5EYC, did a tremendous job as Chili Meister. We had 13 pots of hot, good eats and lots of ancillary items for flavoring it all up just a bit, including desert. Thanks to all of the cooks.

With the elections last night the BVARC BOD landscape changes a bit (in January) Kirk Kendrik – KK2Z will be President, Pete Sauermilch–KD5QPX will remain Recording Secretary and Dave Barber—K5NDB will take the 2 Year At-Large position. Congratulations to all of these fine folks and thanks for stepping up and volunteering.

Let’s now look forward to next month’s (December “Homebrew and Favorite Equipment Night”. See you there!

73…Rick —
W5RH
President 2010-2011
Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club
NCS — Under 15 CW Net – Tuesday 7PM 3.550
Co-chairman 2012 Greater Houston Hamfest

www.bvarc.org