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MDC Section News February 2026
* MDC SECTION OPEN POSITIONS
* MDC SECTION-WIDE ECHOLINK NET
* SECTION MANAGERS NOTES
* DIVISION NEWS
* UPCOMING HAMFESTS & CONVENTIONS
* EXAMS, ACTIVITIES, OPPORTUNITIES & SPECIAL EVENTS
* STAFF REPORTS
*************************
MDC SECTION OPEN POSITIONS
The following positions are available on the MDC Section Staff:
Emergency coordinator in the following Counties:
Baltimore /Kent/ Queen Anne/ Somerset/ Worcester
Technical Specialists for the Maryland Hospital Program
Local Government Liaisons
Public Information Coordinator
For more information, please send an email to me at ab3wg@arrl.org
MDC SECTION-WIDE ECHOLINK NET
This month’s MDC Section wide EchoLink net will be held on Friday
February 20, 2026 at 8:00 PM ET on the EchoLink WASH_DC Node 6154. The
MDC Section EchoLink net is always held on the third Friday evening of
every month at 8:00 PM eastern local time. EchoLink Link Repeaters for
Net If you would like to join in on RF the following repeaters are
linked.
– KA2JAI-R Millersville 146.805- PL107.2
– WB3GXW-R, 147.225(+), PL156.7 Hz, Calverton, MD
– W3FDK-R, 146.73(-), PL141.3 Hz, Frederick, MD
– K3CAL-R, 146.985(-), PL156.7, Sunderland, MD
– WA3DZD-R Maryland FM Association
– K3ORB – 443.450(+) PL151.4 Ocean Pines MD.
Repeater owners are encouraged to join our MDC Section EchoLink Net
group and link your repeater – TU! Everyone is encouraged to join in and
give any updates on what is happening in your part of the ARRL
Maryland-DC Section. You may download the free software from:
http://echolink.org/register_data.jsp or your App Store online. Thanks
to John Creel WB3GXW for making the WASH_DC EchoLink server and his
WB3GXW-R repeater available for the EchoLink nets.
*****************************
SECTION MANAGER’S NOTES
SUBSCRIBE TO OUR GROUPS.IO EMAIL DISTRIBUTION SERVER using the link on
our website or – Main+subscribe@mdc.groups.io
Bob Famiglio K3RF is no longer the director of the Atlantic Division.
Our new director is Marty Newingham AG3I. I had an opportunity to speak
with Marty via phone a few weeks ago, and I am excited to welcome him as
our new Director. We thank Bob for his dedication and service to the
Atlantic division and wish him well, he will be missed. A search for a
new vice director is on-going. In related division news, the Section
Manager of the Eastern Pennsylvania section Bob Wilson W3BIG has
resigned.
I hope everyone survived the snow and ice, and it looks like we will
finally have more normal temps for a while. Thanks to everyone who
attended our January Staff meeting, several important topics were
discussed. Our next Staff Meeting will likely be in April.
The hamfest calendar is filling up rapidly, see below for details.
Tu es 73,
Chris Van Winkle AB3WG
Maryland / DC Section Manager, ARRL
240-755-4257
AB3WG@ARRL.ORG
DIVISION NEWS
Please visit the Atlantic Division website https://atldiv.org/
UPCOMING HAMFESTS & CONVENTIONS
03/21/2026 – FredFest 2026
Location: Frederick, MD
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Frederick Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://frederickarc.org/Fredfest26
04/26/2026 – Odenton Spring Hamfest
Location: Odenton, MD
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Maryland Mobileers Amateur Radio Club
Website:
https://sites.google.com/view/marylandmobileers/hamfest?authuser=0
05/02/2026 – The Great Hagerstown Hamfest
Location: Maugansville, MD
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Antietam Radio Association
Website: https://antietamradio.org/
05/24/2026 – Maryland F.M. Association Hamfest
Location: West Friendship, MD
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Maryland F.M. Association, Inc.
Website: http://marylandfm.org
06/21/2026 – Baltimore Amateur Radio Club Father’s Day Hamfest/Expo
Location: Upperco, MD
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Baltimore Amateur Radio Club BARC
Website: http://w3ft.com/hamfest-drone-rc-plane-robotics-demo/
10/04/2026 – CARA Fest 2026
Location: West Friendship, MD
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Columbia Amateur Radio Association (CARA)
Website: http://www.carafest.org
EXAMS ACTIVITIES OPPORTUNITIES & SPECIAL EVENTS
Please send me your upcoming ARC events, suggestions and comments. You
may view upcoming Hamfests here:
http://www.arrl.org/hamfests-and-conventions-calendar
The ARISS radio contact with astronaut Chris Williams is scheduled for
February 20 at 9:56 am EST, and you’re invited to watch the live stream
at the FIRST XRP Robot Governors Cup event in Washington, DC.
Watch the ARISS radio contact live stream – https://live.ariss.org/
Petition to get VARA QSOs added to the Logbook of the World
https://chng.it/jNkLyfkBrF
FCC AMATEUR RADIO EXAMS:
VEC website or Laurel VEC for details.
https://larc-vec.org/home.php
Laurel VEC License Exam Search: https://larc-vec.org
NET CONTROL AND ALTERNATE OPERATORS NEEDED:
Baltimore Traffic Net – Contact Baltimore Traffic Net Manager, Don N3FQC
N3FQC@ARRL.net. Join the net to learn Traffic Handling and Traffic Net
procedures.
MDC Section Nets:
Baltimore Traffic Net – 146.670 tone 107.2 Daily 18:30 more information
at https://www.baltimoretraffic.net/
Maryland Emergency Phone Net – 3820 / 1920 & 7243 kHz LSB Daily 1800L
Maryland Delaware DC – MDD meets daily at 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM local
time on 3.557 MHz. CW
Maryland Slow Net – MSN meets daily at 7:30 PM Eastern Time on 3563 KHZ.
CW
HF Hospital Net – The HF Hospital Net is held on the third Tuesday of
every month. Start time is 1900L on 3820kHz
SECTION YOUTH COORDINATORS REPORT – W3EAB
There are two School Club Roundups during each school year in October
and February. Each 5-day event runs Monday through Friday from 1300 UTC
Monday through 2359 UTC Friday. A station may operate no more than 6
hours in a 24-hour period, and a maximum of 24 hours of the 107 hour
event.
AFFILIATED CLUB COORDINATORS REPORT – K2EJ
I am still looking for volunteers to activate W1AW/3 Maryland from 5/6 –
5/12, and from 11/11 – 11/17 for ARRL America250 Worked All States. If
you are interested or have any questions, please contact me directly.
I also encourage all affiliated clubs to put your club call sign on the
air and be LoTW registered because stations hunting for America250 WAS
will be looking for the specialty Endorsement by contacting ARRL
affiliated club stations in all fifty states.
////////
WINTERFEST, at Oakton High School, Vienna VA. The 50th WINTERFEST
hamfest is on Sunday, March 15th. WINTERFEST includes 110+ indoor
tables for vendors, and extensive outdoor tailgating vendor space, and
hosts. VE testing and the Virginia Section Convention. You may purchase
raffle tickets and admission ticket(s) at:
https://ticketstripe.com/events/4304107921520517# You do not need to
be present to win a Raffle Prize.
WINTERFEST broadly reaches across the National Capital Region, spanning
both the ARRL VA and MDC Sections. Over 500 attendees regularly attend,
and we warmly welcome Hams from the MDC section to join us at the event.
More details at: https://viennawireless.net/wp/winterfest-key-info/
The Year of the Club
The ARRL is planning to promote the affiliated clubs in 2026. The
anchor for their promotion will be the MARCONI Program, as highlighted
at https://www.arrl.org/Marconi-program. POTA activations and Fox
Hunting, along with 5 other activity programs, are central to the
program. Another initiative in the ARRL plan is profiling
high-performance clubs, and special recognition of clubs with 70-90% of
their members also ARRL members. Finally, expect the League to roll out
a yearlong operating event in honor of the US semiquincentennial
celebration.
Steven Fook
K2EJ
steven@k2ej.com
chibasan3@aol.com
Ex: N2PIF, AC3AZ
ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator for Maryland-DC Section
ARRL ARES Emergency Coordinator for Harford County, MD
CWOps #3180, SKCC #19815, LICW #977, FISTS #20162, Ten-Ten #62165
224.220 MHz Repeater/PL 110.9, Allstar 51537, EchoLink 167177
Coming soon: 449.375 MHz Repeater/PL 107.2, Allstar 51587
Section Emergency Coordinator’s Report – KG4WWH
Please keep spreading the word about the Groups.io, I would encourage
the use of emcomm-all for overall announcements regarding upcoming
training and events (the MoCo show and tell, the PG monthly radio tests
Etc.).
I would also encourage the creation of a file in the emcomm-all section
where we can all place documents. One of the things I have found over
the years is that everyone wants to know: what do you use for a bag?
What do you carry for deployment? what is your go to weather site….
and so many more, but there is never a good repository that folks can
refer to and make their own decisions, based on what those that have
come before them have already tried. A perfect example, I am a member of
a K-9 SAR team here in MD. My first question to the team was what
backpacks do you like and why? The reason I ask this of operational
folks is because they have tested it for their operational use. I have
seen a couple that have pockets on the waist strap that would be perfect
for dog treats or a tennis ball (or 2). And that is just one of MANY
examples of questions that either I have asked, or I have been asked.
The more we can document now, the more prepared we can help our future
ARES members be prepared.
REMEMBER: You do NOT need to be a league member to join or
participate in the groups.io. This is available for ALL within the MDC
Section.
ECs, please remember to submit your FORM 2 (located here:
https://www.arrl.org/public-service-field-services-forms). Please have
it submitted by the 10th of the month for the previous month so I can go
in and submit the FORM 4 before Chris publishes the monthly newsletter.
If you are unable to access this form, please email so we can figure out
why.
Thanks and be safe!
73,
Adam Karsin
KG4WWH
ARRL MDC SEC
kg4wwh.sec@gmail.com
kg4wwh@arrl.net
Hams over IP: 100084
MDC ARES Conference Bridge on HoIP: 10060
240-469-9316 – Cell
COUNTY EMERGENCY COORDINATOR REPORTS:
HOWARD:
Activity Details:
In January, Howard County ARES-RACES organized four routine weekly nets,
four informal Digital practice nets, a full day workshop that included
reviewing Anderson PowerPole crimping techniques and making roll-up
J-pole antennas, supported the MDC Quarterly Hospital Drill and a MD
Emergency Management Communication Exercise. The group activated to run
a Winter Storm Support Net during the weekend of JAN 24-25.
Administrative and Other Comments:
Weekly Nets – Sunday 8:00 PM on the CARA 147.135 repeater
Digital Practice Nets – follow our Weekly Sunday evening net
Monthly training drills – typically on the 4th Saturday of the month
NOTE: The Person-Hours for the Winter Storm Support Net is estimated
given the number of folks who would check-in/out at different
times/intervals. Eight individuals served as net control for periods of
1 or 2 hours at multiple times. Nine other members provided substantive
support at different times, and several non-affiliated individuals
checked in to provide information or ask questions.
FREDERICK:
Activity Details:
Winter Field day 2026 was quite the challenge this year. Usually we
operate as a 4-Oscar but with temperatures in the single digits and wind
chill well below zero we elected to move into the shelter of a nearby
farm house. With adequate heat, we setup in separate rooms as a 4-India
and spread antennas outside in four directions. Power was a combination
of solar and house mains providing reliable ethernet connections to 4
computers. This simulated an ad-hoc shelter perfectly with everyone
agreeing a potential true disaster turned into the best winter field day
ever! January also saw ARES exercises with D-Star picture transmissions,
VarAC capability exploration, Fldigi-Flmsg picture/data transmission,
and 6-meter/2-meter/70-cm linked repeater communications.
Administrative and Other Comments:
Winter Field day 2026 was quite the challenge this year. Usually we
operate as a 4-Oscar but with temperatures in the single digits and wind
chill well below zero we elected to move into the shelter of a nearby
farm house. With adequate heat, we setup in separate rooms as a 4-India
and spread antennas outside in four directions. Power was a combination
of solar and house mains providing reliable ethernet connections to 4
computers. This simulated an ad-hoc shelter perfectly with everyone
agreeing a potential true disaster turned into the best winter field day
ever! January also saw ARES exercises with D-Star picture transmissions,
VarAC capability exploration, Fldigi-Flmsg picture/data transmission,
and 6-meter/2-meter/70-cm linked repeater communications.
PRINCE GEORGES:
Activity Details:
4 weekly (Tuesdays) VHF training nets in January 2026
ARES Hospital Drill with 22 radio operator participants – 1/13/2026
ARES Hospital Drill After Action Review (AAR) Meeting/Monthly Meeting –
1/19/2026
High Frequency Hospital Net (HFHN) – 1/20/2026
***
Report from MDCWINLINK-1 (N3XL): Well done to all those who checked in
to the January 2026 MDC Section Digital Check-in exercise! This month
there were 30 successful check-ins with the following breakdown: 2
Telnet, 3 Packet, 14 Vara FM, 4 Vara HF, 1 Ardop, 0 VARA HF Radio-Only,
and 6 VarAC HF/FM. The following Maryland counties were represented:
ANNE ARUNDEL, BALTIMORE, CALVERT, CARROLL, CHARLES. FREDERICK,
MONTGOMERY, and PRINCE GEORGE’S. We also had check-ins from AL, CT, DE,
FL, MS, OH, PA, NC, VA , and Ontario Canada,
In the January MDC Digital EMCOMM Challenge participants submitted
ICS-213 and/or Radiogram formatted Health & Welfare messages to Target
Stations for relay. Winlink (Task 1), VarAC (Task 2), and Fldigi/Flmsg
(Task3) programs were used. Winlink and VarAC participants gained
familiarity with RRI Gold texts and Fldigi/Flmsg users gained
familiarity with ARL numbered Radiograms. Fldigi messaging was
incorporated for interoperability with ARES groups that use the ARRL
Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System (NBEMS).
Participants successfully completing Challenge tasks were as follows:
Task 1, Winlink Messaging: KB3SPH, KC3QLX, KD2QAR, KF8BKU, KG4K, N3RQV,
N3XL, N4TYS, NS3X.
Task 2, VarAC Messaging: KB3EOF, KB3SPH, KC3QLX, KD2QAR, KF8BKU, N3XL,
N4TYS, NS3X.
Task 3, Fldigi Messaging: KB3SPH, KC3QLX. KF8BKU, KG4K, N3XL, NS3X.
HOME RUNS (completing all 3 tasks): KB3SPH, KC3QLX, KF8BHU, N3XL, NS3X
Target Stations performing message relays: AC3EW, KD2QAR, KB3SPH,
KD2QAR, KG4K, KN3U, N3HU, N3HU-3, N3HU-9, and N3WOF.
The map of Challenge participants can be viewed at the following link:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1ARctG6B2jtKGipf9jkgDzOVtDiXlBkk&usp=sharing
Administrative and Other Comments:
PRGE ARES Internet Forum: https://groups.google.com/g/pgares
PRGE ARES Groups.io: https://mdc.groups.io/g/PG
Nets: Regularly scheduled weekly training VHF nets on the K3ERA
Repeater,
145.23MHz pl 110.9 on Tuesdays at 1930 ET (Echolink node N3XL-R).
If you would like to be a member of PRGE ARES, send an email request to
kb3sph@arrl.net to receive a membership application.
The monthly HF Hospital Net is held on the 3rd Tuesday of the month on
3820 kHz at 1900 ET.
Meetings: Monthly meeting held the 3rd Monday of the month at the Fire
Services Building, 6820
Webster St, Landover Hills, MD at 1900 or on Zoom, WX dependent.
CALVERT:
Activity Details:
The notable event in January was the snow and sleet storm that hit the
area at the end of the month. We provided real-time Skywarn reports on
weather and snow/ice accumulation to the National Weather Service as
well as to Calvert Emergency Management. In all, 23 operators
participated in the Skywarn net over two days. The latter was
accomplished using the County’s WebEOC system that integrates
communications and situational awareness during applicable events.
Several Calvert AUXCOMM members have been granted login access to the
system so we can “virtually” be at the EOC when physical presence is not
needed or impossible. During our January meeting we outlined several
activities we’d like to pursue in 2026, including NVIS Day in April,
regular digital mode practice sessions and possibly a cooperative fox
hunt with hunters using APRS for sharing location and bearings to the
fox.
Administrative and Other Comments:
Our repeaters are 146.985 – ,PL 156.7 in Sunderland, MD and 444.950 +
,PL156.7 in Lusby MD. These repeaters are linked, providing excellent
coverage throughout the county and into adjacent counties. The W3PQS 6M
repeater, 53.170 out, 52.170 in, PL 100 has its transmitter antenna on
the roof of the Calvert Health Medical Center in Prince Frederick with a
receive sites at N3AE, N3PPH and W3PQS. This repeater also supports
ARES/RACES in Calvert County. Our monthly meetings are held at 7pm on
the third Thursday of the month at the Calvert Public Safety Building,
315 Stafford Road Prince Frederick, MD 20678, coordinates N 38.536531, W
076.613805. Our web site is https://auxcomm.k3cal.org/
MONTGOMERY:
Activity Details:
We staffed the ham stations at 3 county hospitals and the EOC for the
January hospital drill. We set up two portable HF stations on the
grounds of the county’s Public Safety HQ building for Winter Field Day.
We operated in the 2-Oscar category. Details of the event at
https://mcacs.net/news.
Administrative and Other Comments:
Montgomery County ARES meets each Tuesday at 8 PM, usually on the
Montgomery ARC repeater, 146.955- (156.7). On the first Tuesday of the
month, MC ARES and ACS members meet via Zoom in lieu of the net. Please
visit our shared website, https://mcacs.net, for more information about
our activities.
S
CECIL:
Activity Details:
Sunday evening Nets. Also training and rehearsal for an upcoming nuclear
incident exercise.
Administrative and Other Comments:
Weekly Nets are held on every Sunday evening at 8:00 pm Eastern time
normally on the N3RCN 145.470 repeater (- offset, PL 94.8). Shoulr that
frequency become unavailable due to a repeater issue, we will switch to
145.470 simplex with no PL and, with relays as necessary, continue the
net.
Meetings are held at the Charlestown, MD Fire Hall every other month on
the third Wednesday starting in January at 7:00 pm. The next meeting is
scheduled for March 18, 2026.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA:
Activity Details:
Members of W3HAC/ARES DC braved 20°F weather to activate Rock Creek
Park for Winter Field day. They operated for about an hour and made 50
QSOs. W3HAC VE Team runs in-person exam sessions bimonthly in DC.
Pre-registration is required at https://hamstudy.org/sessions/W3HAC/all
At the January session, we administered exams for two individuals. Both
earned their Technician license.
Administrative and Other Comments:
Nets are weekly on Mondays at 2000L on the 449.975(-5)MHz PL107.2Hz
N3ERA DC repeater.
W3HAC club meetings are hybrid on the 1st Wednesday of the month at
1930L. Reach out for location details and Zoom link.
For more information about ARES visit aresdc.org or reach out to
K4LIZ@arrl.net.
HARFORD:
Activity Details:
Hospital work: no updates.
Winlink project update: The computer serving as the Winlink server is
complete. We are coordinating a day and time to deploy.
A Meshtastic node is currently operational at the EOC building.
All repeaters are currently operational.
The Peach Bottom Nuclear Power Plant fallout exercise dress rehearsal
was held at the Harford County EOC on January 13th. Steven Fook and
Carlton Wolfe attended and participated in the exercise. The actual FEMA
evaluated drill is scheduled to take place on April 26th and 27th. We
currently have 6 volunteers to participate.
The next scheduled meeting will be held on March 5th.
Administrative and Other Comments:
Nets are held every second Tuesday at 7 pm on the 146.775 repeater PL
146.2. Meetings are held every first Thursday of the month at 7 pm at
the Harford County Department of Emergency Services building at 2220 Ady
Road, Room 105, Forest Hill, MD 21050.
The Harford County ARES/RACES website is
https://harfordcountymd-ares-races.org/ and contains all the latest
information about the group. Several ARES/RACES members meet with the
local club NEMARC every first Friday at 8:30 am for breakfast at Bob
Evans in Bel Air, MD, across MD-24 from the Festival at Bel Air.
****************************
SECTION TRAFFIC MANAGERS REPORT – W3YVQ
MDC NETS 2601:
MEPN/C2, MARYLAND EMERGENCY PHONE NET; 3820 KHz/LSB
Pre-net: 2130Z, Net: 2200Z, DY, EL: WB3GXW-L (*WASH_DC* alt.)
Liaisons: 3RN2/WVA/DTN/DTS/WL2K/BTN/MDD/EL
MEPN 2601 W3YVQ QND/31 QNI/412 QTC/41 MINS/736
BTN/C4, BALTIMORE TRAFFIC NET; 146.67/R/107.2/FM, 1830L, DY
EL: N3FQC-R (alt1: 6.805/R/107.2, EL: KA2JAI-R); (alt2: 6.67S.)
Liaisons: MEPN/MDD/DTS/WL2K (EL: WB3GXW-L as needed.)
BTN 2601 N3FQC QND/31 QNI/389 QTC/59 MINS/638
MDD/C4, MARYLAND/DC/DELAWARE NET, 3557 KHz/CW
1900L-2200L-DY; (EL: WB3GXW-L as needed.)
Liaisons: 3RN4/DTN/MEPN/BTN/MSN/DTS/WL2K
MDD 2601 AA3SB QND/36 NO REPORT
MSN, MARYLAND SLOW NET, 3563 KHz/CW, 1930L-DY, TRAINING
Liaisons: MDD, CW; (EL: WB3GXW-L as needed.)
MSN 2601 N3AEA QND/26 QNI/42 QTC/9 MINS/286
PSHR 2601: W3YVQ 135, NI2W 115, WB3FTQ 70, WG3K 48,
KN3HXP 47, W3STN 40, KD2QAR 39;
TFC 2601: W3YVQ 56, NI2W 54, WB3FTQ 35, KN3HXP 18,
WG3K 8, W3STN 4, KD2QAR 2
==========
HF PROPAGATION JANUARY 2026
MEPN NVIS propagation (2130Z to about 2220Z) has
been fair to good now that we are experiencing
increasing sun angles as we move toward the equinox
on MAR 20. Solar Cycle 25 produced 7 M-class X-ray
flares and 1 X-class X-ray flare during the month. There
were some good DX band openings up through ten and
six meters. Signals on early MDD/4 and 3RN/4 were
improved most evenings with 40M NVIS still possible;
poorer on the late sessions since the MUF has been
approaching 80M at 0230Z and 0300z after solstice on
DEC 21.
ECHOLINK
MEPN representatives check for Echolink check-ins
starting at net call daily via the WB3GXW-L link node (or
*WASH_DC* conference-server backup). The conference-
server is available for MEPN, MDD, BTN, MSN, and 3RN
stations during periods of propagation failures. Sincere
thanks to John, WB3GXW, and John, WA3MNN, for
continuing to provide and maintain the WB3GXW-L
conference-server we use daily.
DIGITAL MODES
ICS forms, formatted by officials, are used during
NIMS/ICS activations but the message form itself is
unsuitable for use on radio networks since it has no
accountability/tracking header information. Email-
formatted text content from such forms may be
exported to text files and sent via Winlink or sent via
the RRI/DTN pasted between the breaks of a Hybrid
Radiogram. Winlink and RRI/DTN reps regularly
attend the MEPN, BTN, and MDD nets. Join up with
our NTS and ARES(r) nets and learn how to use the
digital modes on their national networks and locally
before an emergency happens, and develop
compatibility with deployed ARESMAT teams.
MANNING
We continue to be in need of county liaisons on MEPN,
BTN, and MDD to accept incoming Radiogram messages
for the public and new Hams. Such contacts and first
impressions, particularly coming from a local operator,
can have a profound impact on a new Ham that lasts all
his/her years in Amateur Radio. Consider joining us in this
effort – perhaps as a club activity or an ARES(r) training
opportunity. Should our traffic handlers send these
messages to the local EC by default for delivery and
servicing? Please contact me ASAP if your ARES(r)
stations in each jurisdiction are willing to work with us in
the NTS to deliver and service these messages.
MEPN is looking for additional NCS stations and daily
liaisons to MDD. MDD is in need of additional CW
operators for daily NCSs and liaisons to the higher nets.
Newcomers are welcome – we will train you on the job.
The daily Maryland Slow Net (MSN, 3563, 1930L daily)
can help you learn net and message skills on CW.
Special thanks go out to the BTN Net Manager, N3FQC,
and the operators on the BTN for providing assigned
liaisons to MEPN daily as well as help with the
afternoon 3RN/2 net liaison to MEPN.
– – – – – – – – – –
Thanks to all the Section s traffic-net NCS operators,
RRI/DTN and WL2K stations, liaisons, and traffic
handlers for the continuing effort to keep the nets
running and the traffic moving.
73, W3YVQ, MDC ASM, STM
w3yvq atsign arrl dot net
SKYWARN REPORT – AI0K
It’s been a cold winter and, according to that famous prognosticator
Punxsutawney Phil, we still have another four weeks of winter. But it
will come to an end, and with it, another severe weather season will
start. At least some of us will experience severe thunderstorms with
the possibility of high winds, hail and flooding rains. And although
not as common as in the Midwest, even tornadoes may develop.
To help you learn what they need to help protect the public, the NWS
has
multiple classes available. All are open to everyone and are free (but
registration is highly recommended). They are offered in conjunction
with County Emergency Management Services, but you do not have to live
in the offering county to attend. Basics and Floods classes have no
prerequisite while Tropical, Severe and Winter classes require Basics
as
a prerequisite.
As of this writing, the following classes are available:
2/24 7-9 PM Basics Stafford VA
3/4 6-8 PM Basics Lovingston VA
3/18 6-8 PM Basics Charles Town WV
5/6 6-8 PM Flood Alexandria VA
Other classes are being added all of the time. For more information on
these and other classes and to register see
https://www.weather.gov/washington/skywarn
All of our nets are also looking for more net control stations.
Volunteering to be an NCS does not commit you to be available at any
specific time, but you should help out when you are available. If you
are interested, please contact the SKYWARN coordinator for your area.
Coordinators and SKYWARN subnet information can be found on our website
at https://www.wx4lwx.org.
We also need a new SKYWARN Subnet Coordinator for Cecil and Harford
Counties and Anne Arundel and northern Prince George’s Counties. This
position has more responsibility but has the support of other
coordinators. The job is not onerous, especially if you recruit net
control stations to help you. Anyone interested please contact me at
ai0k@ai0k.net.
Until next month, 73
Jerry, AI0K
SKYWARN Amateur Radio Coordinator
National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington
ReplyForw
TMARC REPORT:
January 2026
Applications in Process:
KQ4TNV – Received application to modify 441.4125+ from a narrow-band
to a wide-band pair in Stafford, Va. Sent notice to neighboring
coordination
group for frequency change to a wide-band pair. Sent Construction
Coordination for 441.7000+ at Stafford, Va. Applicant then decided to
stay
put on 441.4125+ DMR and cancel the 441.7000+ coordination.
N3LHD – Received on air confirmation of 442.4625+ at Aquasco, Md. Sent
Final Coordination.
KD8AZC – Received on air confirmation of 53.2100- at Moorefield, W.Va.
Sent Final Coordination.
WV8FK – Received on air confirmation of 53.7500- at Berkeley Springs,
W.Va. Sent Final Coordination.
W3TBG — Received on air confirmation of 444.9000+ at Seaford, Del. Sent
Final Coordination.
Repeater Inquiries sent to:
53.5700- AE3J Wilmington, Del.
443.6625+ N3TUK Hyattsville, Md.
Inquiries are sent to sponsors for various reasons: Suspected to be off
the air, clarification of technical parameters (CTCSS, Mode, ERP,
Lat/Long, Antenna AGL, etc.)
Systems are listed here even if a response was received from the sponsor
or not.
Coordinations Cancelled:
441.7000+ KQ4TNV Stafford, Va.
UHF Links (6) NERA Washington / Md. / Va.
UHF Link (1) WA3KOK Washington, D.C.
Cancelled coordinations can be a result from sponsor relinquishing pair,
repeaters being off the air for extended period of time (where ample
time is given to sponsor to get a system operational), death of sponsor,
system never constructed, etc.
——————————————————————–
ARRL Maryland-DC Section
Section Manager: MR Christopher D Van Winkle, AB3WG
ab3wg@arrl.org
MDC SECTION WEB SITE 