AARC History 1987

Installation Dinner Moves to Ford Hall
The 1987 Installation Dinner was held January 9th in Ford Hall on the DFRC grounds. The Board of Directors decided to have a catered meal in a less formal atmosphere: New officers: Pres. Abe Parys/N3CZX, Vice-pres. Tony Young/WA3YLO, Secretary Doris Parys/KA3MQW, Treasurer Bill Cooke/K3CN and Directors John Currey/N3EOB, Jerry Herman/N3BDW and Dave Perka/KA3PRB. 

Dick Jessup Honored
At the April 2nd Club meeting Dick Jessup/N3FN was honored for his many years of dedicated service to AARC. He was presented with a desk pen set inscribed with his call. Dick ably chaired many committees and he served as president in 1978 and in 1982. He served as Club Trustee for a number of years. That stewardship was formally transferred to Buck Watson/KC3Y following the presentation.

Net Moves Due to Novice Enhancement
Novice Enhancement brought one quick change in AARC schedules. The frequency for the Club's Tuesday Evening 10-meter net was changed from 28.710 to 28.410 so that novices and techs could participate. 

Packet Radio
In answer to the growing interest in "packet radio", Rick Hambly/WB2TNL wrote a series of explanatory articles for The Ham Arundel News. Dick Campbell/N3FKV became interested in satellite chasing and wrote a series of articles about that for the newsletter. 

Unused Big Tower Sold
The big tower sections were sold for $1500 and when the buyer came to pick them up, he cleaned up from the grounds all the odds and ends associated with the tower. 

Various Improvements
Work parties were formed to complete work on the kitchen and bathroom and to paint the outside wall of the PA System storage room. The generator obtained with the big tower was finally put on line. It replaced the bank of batteries which served to power the repeater in case of electrical failure. 

Special Event Station for US Constitution Ratification Bicentennial
Through the efforts of Tony/WA3YLO, AARC participated in the Bicentennial of the Ratification of the U.S. Constitution during the summer of 1987. A program was designed to air "special event" stations in each of the original 13 states as well as in Washington and Philadelphia. Special QSL cards were designed for use by each state, and special call signs were used. AARC operated two stations as W3VPR/200 on November 7th and 8th. The Club's TR-7 operated on the higher bands, including the novice/tech section of ten meters. The reach of the tribander antenna was great.  Patty/N3EOC worked Hawaii and Alaska, back to back.  The second station, a Yaesu 757GX located in the main room of the clubhouse worked about 25 states and provinces. Jerry/N3BDW and Jim/N3DTD strung an all-band dipole for it. A total of about 650 contacts were made. The special QSL cards were mailed in response to SASE requests, which came from as near as a mile away to as far away as New Zealand.

Novice Class
The 1987 Novice Class, coordinated by Tony/WA3YLO and Jerry/N3BDW (and with the help of Hollis/KC3X) trained about 30 new hams, many of whom became active club members. Field Day Coordinator was Fred Plitt/W3DCN. AARC came in 8th under 2-A Battery with 688 QSOs and a total of 6,105 points. There was no communal kitchen for Field Day; the station operators provided their own food and drink, picnic style. The first Club Family Picnic was held on July 16th. It was such a huge success that it became an annual event.

Public Service Events
Public service events for 1987 included the Marlborough Hunt Club Races in April; Walk-for-Heart in Annapolis, Ride-a-Bike for the Retarded and the Bay Bridge Run and the Bay Bridge Walk in May; the YMCA Triathlon in Edgewater in June, the Annapolis 10-mile Run in August, the Bluegrass Festival in September and in October the Lee Airport Open House and Chesapeake Appreciation Days. For the first time at CA Days packet radio was used to deliver the messages from the public to various points in the U.S. and Canada. A total of 162 messages were handled.

Scout Troops Hosted
Dick/N3FKV, John/KA3RSN and Dave/KA3PRB hosted members of Scout Troops 454 and 771 at the clubhouse to take part in the Scout's "Jamboree on the Air". They made 56 contacts, including 10 foreign.