Many hams turned out for the first operating event at the GNARC communications center.
Winter field day contacts were made to over 30 states and 36 sections. 20m and 40m were the bands we used. Much food was consumed, and a good time was had by all. Several new members visited the facility for the first time, and got to see it in action. Other hams brought kids to show them a little about the hobby.
Thanks to Sam NV1P for getting this going! See a few pictures below.
Every Wednesday night (EXCEPT MEETING NIGHTS) at 8PM Eastern GNARC has a general rag chew net. Usually a “topic of the week” and then open discussion. Join on in!
W1NLK 146.475 PL 100 +1Meg Offset
Hosted by Sam, NV1P. Have suggestions for topics or comments?
For those who haven’t heard, The Society for the Preservation of Amateur
Radio (SPAR <http://www.spar-hams.org/
winter field day every year. It’s a wonderful opportunity to operate in one
of the more relaxed contests, as the bands are far less crowded (there were
55 logs submitted last year), and there can be some back and forth
conversation besides just a signal report. Most of the time you first have
to explain why you’re calling CQ field day 6 months early, but it leads to
some interesting comments.
This year GNARC will be running a field day site at the comm center, and
everyone is invited. Just like the summer field day this won’t be all about
radio. Did I mention we have a commercial kitchen? Bring your friends and
family for a day (and night) of radio fun and non-radio food. You’ll get a
chance to operate great equipment into a great antenna on HF, and enjoy the
benefits of a “Winter picnic” without having to freeze.
We’ll be running from noon on Sat, Jan 24 to noon on the 25th, though it’ll
be appreciated if a few show up a little early for setup.
73,
Sam
2014 has been a great year for GNARC. We had a fantastic summer picnic at Paul’s (WB2JVB) house, Field Day had great food and great DX, and most recently we had the holiday party.
But, while these events are fun, we do them every year. Starting in January 2014 we changed our meeting place to the brand new emergency operations center at the Norwalk Fire Headquarters, which was a huge step up from Stop and Shop or Shop Rite. We finally had a room where there was a place to project presentations, and have the seating for people to see it! Not only that, but we weren’t freezing while doing it! We were finally able to hold meetings without having to hear “cleanup, Aisle 3”. As if that wasn’t enough, after many years of being a wandering club, in September we acquired a new place to call home. The new Emergency Communications Center at 100 Fairfield Ave. is the permanent official home of the Greater Norwalk Amateur Radio Club.
Prior to this, the only physical place where the club existed full time was a P.O. box and a storage trailer, and neither one of those places is very inviting for a prospective ham. We only had a tiny 2 hour window each month with which to introduce someone to our club, after which all we could do was point them to a website. Even then, all they were able to experience was a business meeting and a presentation where (with a few exceptions) a radio was never even keyed up. I recall one meeting where I had invited a friend, whose impression of it was “Where are the radios? You’re a radio club, right?” Which leads me to another point; through the hard work and dedication of a group of members, we now have a station that can be used to show prospective and new hams what our hobby is all about.
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Tim W1GIG and Betty KC1PUP were honored at the annual GNARC holiday party. Both were awarded lifetime memberships in GNARC.
Over the years Tim has devoted significant time and resources to GNARC. His current role as a full time adviser to the board is indispensable. In the past he was the liaison between GNARC and the local emergency services. As the estate manager, he coordinates all donations to the club, and he then spearheads the annual trip to the Antique Wireless convention in Rochester, NY. At the convention, Tim and other GNARC members sell a large portion of these donations, providing significant funding for the club. His background in engineering has allowed him to design the trailer mounted tower we use every year for field day, and more recently he engineered the installation of the tower at the comm center. For these reasons and more we have presented him with a life membership. Betty KC1PUP has always supported the club’s activities, including public service events and is also awarded a lifetime membership.
At this year’s holiday party, Charles and Erika were among those recognized for supporting the club above and beyond the call of duty. Charles revamped the club web site, partnered with Curt W1FSM to greatly upgrade our repeater systems, and initiated a liaison with Norwalk’s Emergency Management Group. GNARC now sits in on the monthly EMD meetings, which is a great partnership.
But the major milestone in 2014 was the establishment of a GNARC communications center. With Chris WO1T, Charles was able to secure a permanent space for the club in one of the FD buildings. He managed virtually all of the project, including the installation of the tower (which first had to be removed from the old Red Cross building!), beam and all sorts of other equipment. We would not have the center without his work. Charles led the clean up, painting and outfitting of the space, and organized the many many GNARC volunteers who helped.
In recognition, Charles received a beautiful painting of his boat, crafted by our artist in residence, Dan N1ZZ.
Erika KC1BLS has given up much of her time to work on the center as well. From cleaning, painting, organizing to installing the beam, she pitched in wherever needed! And she puts up with Charles spending so much time with us. For this, she was awarded dinner for two at Paloma restaurant.
Some photos from the recent GNARC 2014 holiday party.
