The DARC is looking for volunteers to help out at the 2019 Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot! Please don’t forget to sign up—and remember that beginners are welcome.

Remember that your ballot for our West Gulf Division director, our representative on the ARRL’s board, must be received not later than November 15th, 2019. If you’re an ARRL member, please make your choice and send your ballot in.

At our next DARC meeting, Tuesday, November 5th, Steve Lott, KG5VK, our ARRL NTX section manager, will give an update on the progress and programs going on in our section this year. Your public service officer Randy Patterson, KE5JIT, will also speak about Turkey Trot, answer any questions you might have, and sign up volunteers.

The contest calendar this weekend is almost empty…because all the little fish have gotten out of the way for one whale of a contest! The CQ World-Wide DX contest SSB weekend is going on right now. Get on the air and give it a try, and you’ll be glad you did.

Continue reading →

Are you with us up on the hill? Our annual Tech Net on the Hill event is going on today—if you’re hearing this on the air, it’s going on now. We’re at the Flag Pole Hill pavilion, 8100 Doran Cir, Dallas, TX 75201. We’ll have great presentations and first-rate amateur radio fun and fellowship. Show off your projects, take a class, and enjoy the hot dogs (first-come, first-served of course). Experts will be on hand to test your radio or antenna and let you know what’s wrong.

Don’t forget: your ballot for our West Gulf Division director, our representative on the ARRL’s board, should have already arrived in your mailbox. Don’t forget to vote! Ballots must be received not later than November 15th, 2019.

If you have to miss the TNOH event, there are still some operating events you can take part in from home. The 50 MHz through L-band part of the ARRL’s EME contest is going on now. I think EME is probably the most difficult of our amateur modes…but I still hope to try it some day. We’ve also got the New York QSO party,  the Illinois QSO party, one of the “small” Stew Perry Topband Challenge weekends, and the oddly-named Telephone Pioneers QSO party. The most popular DX event this weekend is the Worked All Germany contest…but it’s not the biggest radio event this weekend.

And our next club Lecture and Lab will be next Saturday morning, October 26th at 10:00 AM. Bring $25.00 and your soldering tools to the 3rd-floor community room of the Dallas Medical Center and you can build an Arduino-controlled, solar-powered remote weather station. You DO NOT need to have attended last month’s lab. You do need to bring the laptop of your choice.

Continue reading →

Tech Net on the Hill is coming up next weekend! On Saturday, October 19th, from 2pm to 9pm, we’ll be up on the hill—the Flag Pole Hill pavilion, 8015 Doran Cir, Dallas, TX 75201. We’ll have great presentations and first-rate amateur radio fun and fellowship. Show off your projects, take a class, and enjoy the hot dogs (first-come, first-served of course).

Our DARC EmCom 101 net will continue this coming Monday at 19:00 local on 146.88 MHz with a discussion of the DHS SAFECOM website.

And don’t forget: your ballot for our West Gulf Division director, our representative on the ARRL’s board, should be arriving in your mailbox soon. Don’t forget to vote! Ballots must be received not later than November 15th, 2019.

Continue reading →

Don’t forget: Lifewalk is tomorrow morning! Charge your HTs, pack your snacks and chairs, and set your alarm clocks.

If you’re looking for something to do on the air, there are a few contests and operating events going on: The Italian QRP Club’s Quarterly Marathon is in progress, and the California QSO Party and Straight Key Century Club QSO Party are both available.

Continue reading →