SVARC club member Warren Corliss KQ4KLA has notified us of the death of a significant contributor to our hobby of amateur radio: Francis (Frank) A Swiech N1DGQ. Warren recalls: “Frank was founder of what is now the New England Repeater Directory. He originally maintained the spreadsheet in the 90s, which I then assisted in getting posted on a website in 1998. Frank will be greatly missed.”
His club, the Nashua ARS, did a member spotlight on him a few years ago that captures many of his amateur radio interests, activities, and contributions: CLICK HERE.
National Volunteer Week continues by highighting the American Radio Relay League, which is the national association for Amateur Radio in the United States. Amateur radio operators use their training, skills, and equipment to provide communications during emergencies. Ham radio operators serve our communities when storms or other disasters damage critical communication infrastructure, including cell towers, and wired and wireless networks. Amateur radio can function completely independently of the internet and phone systems and can be set up anywhere in minutes. Thank you to all the Amateur radio operators who provide critical continuity in our communities during disasters! #NationalVolunteerWeek2024
We are sad to report the death of active SVARC member Roger Steyaert K7RXV, Extra Class License. Roger died in a head-on accident with a semitrailer truck near Cortez, Colorado. We don’t have any details or obituary, but a note has been sent to his family on behalf of the club.
Not many people knew Roger, though he contributed his expertise on many occasions, and we wanted to share a bit about his life. From his LinkedIn profile, we learned he was a magnetic engineer. We believe he had at least one (and we think two) PhD degrees but can’t confirm that.
“Roger is on the Board of the Amateur Radio Relay Group. He had the first Amateur TV station in the state of Oregon and built the TV camera back in 1963.
“Roger was born in Sherwood, graduated from Portland State College, and was, at the time, married with three children. Employed as an Electronics Engineer by Tektronix at that time, Roger at one time had a very exciting job as a Ground Radio Engineer for Alaska Airlines. He designed ground electronic systems and runway lighting for several airports in Alaska. He holds a commercial pilot’s license and flying is still a hobby.
“Other hobbies include photography and Black Powder Shooting. He is a member of the Barlow Trail Long Rifle and the B.C. Black Powder Associations.“
In recent years, Roger was a professional miller at Burwell Morgan and a “Founding Miller” at Lockes Mill. He was a man of faith, calling occasionally on fellow club members with prayer requests.
The Columbia Amateur Radio Association (CARA, K3CUJ) is pleased to announce that the annual CARA Fest is on Sunday, 1 October 2023 at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, Maryland. We are emailing all the local club POCs and editors listed with ARRL to request your help in spreading the word. The key information is pasted below for your convenience, and our flyer is attached if you would like to share it.
CARA is also pleased to provide indoor tables for our fellow clubs to spread awareness of their activities, free of charge. If you have not already been in touch with us to coordinate an information table, you may book a complimentary table on the Tickets page of the CARA Fest website, let me know and I will put you in touch with our coordinator.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Thank you in advance for your support!
It’s a wrap! And it was a great hamfest. Weather was perfect and attendees were clearly in the mood to get out and find some great gear. Besides some new vendors, the Berryville Hamfest featured a new program called TechTalk all morning — short learning sessions for novices and experience hams alike. Topics included: getting your first license, operating QRP, ham and astronomy, lightning and your home, and a dramatic demo of Scott KE4WMF’s VW Rover.
There was a truly impressive showing of SVARC club members who came both days to set up, manage, and clean up. Thank you, each and every one.
John WD4GEK was the first to get his pictures out so you don’t have to wait to get a taste for the great day we had. To check out his album CLICK HERE.
Please call your US Representative in Congress as you read this and ask them to vote YES on House Bill HR4006. This bill serves to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the application of certain private land use restrictions to amateur station antennas, and for other purposes is about to come to the well of the US House of Representative for a vote. This bill would remove private land use restrictions that prohibit, restrict, or impair the ability of Amateur Radio operators from operating and installing reasonable antennas on property that they own or control.
If you live in Virginia House District 6, please call Representative Ben Cline’s office at (202) 225-5431, provide your name, City and Zip code and ask the Congressman to vote Yes for this bill.
Meetings at the clubhouse, and remote via Zoom.app. Members will receive the zoom link by email. If you aren’t a member and want the Zoom link, please use the CONTACT FORM on this website to request it or email request to secretary [at] svarc.us
WANT TO JOIN SVARC?CLICK HERE to get more membership information and CLICK HERE to download the club membership application and use this website’s CONTACT page if you have questions.
We meet on the first and third Thursday of each month at 7:30pm. Gathering begins about 6:30 pm for conversation.
The next Berryville Hamfest will be held on Sunday August 4, 2024 at the Clarke County Fairgrounds in Berryville, VA—always the first Sunday in August. Get on the Hamfest Email list for updates: https://berryvillehamfest.com.
