Our April program will be presented by Tim Slay, N4IB, covering the topic of Station Grounding.

Tim will provide some insight on how to protect your station from static or lightning damage, how to properly use grounds, including ground rods and their connectivity, and what not to do.

Join us at 9:30 AM on Saturday April 6th at the Salvation Army Headquarters, 501 Archdale Drive in Charlotte.  Note:  This is a secured facility, so please arrive before 9:30 AM so we can get you in!

The Events Calendar entry for the Club meeting includes a clickable link to a map for directions.

See you there!

Shawn, K4RSG

We had a pretty good turnout at our March 2, 2019 Club meeting.  Bill Turner W4WNT came by and did a presentation on FT8, which was very well received.

FT8 is an amateur radio QSO communication protocol developed by Joe Taylor (K1JT) and Steve Franke (K9AN). FT8 uses 8-FSK modulation, transmission takes less than 15 seconds.

While sometimes criticized as being only a “paper chasing” mode because of its very structured format (no free-form text) and not being a conversational mode (like PSK), it’s great as a weak signal mode (and sometimes low-power).

It’s very good for evaluating propagation, since it’s easy to tell where you are being heard via the PSKreporter web site.

The software (WSJT, WSJT-X) is available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux.

Bill’s presentation is available in both Microsoft Powerpoint and OpenOffice formats.

For the Powerpoint version, click here.

For the OpenOffice version, click here.

For a printable PDF version, click here.

To download the software for your computer, go to https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/

Shawn, K4RSG

Hey Club members!

This is a friendly reminder that the Club mailing list is moving to Groups.io. If you have not accepted the invitation from W4CQ at Groups.io, please do so as soon as possible,

We are moving the list from w4cc.net to Groups.io because sometime later this year, w4cc.net may be shutting down.

Groups.io has no ads (unlike Yahoo), is simple to use, and data from there is not used for marketing purposes (like Google sometimes does). It is safe, and many other user groups have already moved there.

If you have any questions, send an email to k4rsg at w4cq.org.

Thanks, and 73,
Shawn K4RSG

The annual W4CQ Christmas Party was held at the Salvation Army HQ on December 13, 2018.  A great time was had by all! 

The following photos were taken at the party by Angie Lail.

Dues for 2019 need to be paid by January 31. If you’ve already paid your dues, THANKS! If not, please fill out the printable application for membership and send it in right away to get your membership status up to date.

Dues are only $20 per year for an individual, or $30 for an entire family!

Remember, YOU are an integral part of the club and your dues permit us to finance our activities. We have several recurring bills (website, liability insurance, phone, etc.) that are paid for entirely by the club dues. Don’t keep putting it off!

Please mail your dues to Joe Ducar, KJ4QFV, 9519 Edwards Place, Mint Hill, NC 28227. Do not mail anything to 501 Archdale Dr., The Salvation Army HQ!! Send it to Joe!!