Reminder: New Meeting Location!!
Fellowship Hall of the First United Methodist Church
603 State Street, Schenectady
Directions to First United Methodist Church:
Parking lot address is 610 (Google shows it as 650) Chapel Street Schenectady NY 12305.
Chapel St is a One Way street from Nott Terrace to Lafayette Street. If this lot is full, park across the street. Enter the building through double doors, take an immediate right, go through another set of double doors, turn right then left and the Fellowship Hall is on your right (follow signs).
From the East (Colonie, State St Rt 5):
Turn Right onto Nott Terrace then take your first Left onto Chapel Street. Parking lot is on Left.
From the West (Scotia, Glenville, Eire Blvd):
*THERE IS NO LEFT TURN FROM STATE STREET TO NOTT TERRACE*
Take State St (Rt 5) to Lafayette St and turn right then immediately turn Left to continue up State St. At Veeder Ave (Traffic Light) turn Left. Cross over State St (Rt 5) then take the first Left onto Chapel St. Parking lot is on Left.
From the South (I-890 Exit 5, Broadway, Rotterdam):
Take Broadway North to Millard St and turn Right, First Traffic Light. Millard St becomes Veeder Ave at Hamilton St (Schenectady FD on Left). Continue over Veeder take first left after State St onto Chapel St. Parking is on left.
From the North (Union Collage, Niskayuna, Union St):
From Union St, take Nott Terrace South and turn Right onto Chapel St. Parking lot is on Left.
Cancellations: If Niskayuna High School cancels evening classes and activities the SARA meeting will also be cancelled. Check www.niskyschools.org for school closing information.
Our regular meeting location (First Reformed Church, Schenectady) will be undergoing a year-long renovation and will not be available to us until later this year—possibly by September.
“VHF Contesting”
Speaker: Dick Frey, WA2AAU
Abstract: VHF Contesting – What is it? What and when are the contests? Why do it? What is interesting about it? How do I participate? What technology is appropriate? How is scoring done? What are the key categories of participation? What about fixed stations, portable stations, mobile stations, “Rover Stations”? How far can I talk anyway? This talk will touch on anything and everything about VHF contesting, and will include lots of photos of the W2SZ Mount Greylock VHF contest operations, as well as what’s new in VHF, UHF (and up) contesting.
Dick Frey was born in 1946 and grew up in the Catskill Mountains of NYS. He became a ham in high school. His first QSOs were with a borrowed DX-20 transmitter, and a Hallicrafters S-38E receiver. He built his own transmitter with a 6DQ6 in the output stage and a 6AG7 as a crystal oscillator. He modified a Zenith multi-band short wave radio to work as a receiver on the ham bands by adding a BFO and a QMultiplier.
At RPI, Dick became interested in VHF. He worked some VHF contests from W2SZ in Troy, and did his first portable effort in 1969 from Slide Mountain in the Catskills with DISASTEROUS results. Walk, Hike, Rain, RAIN, WALK, HIKE, HIKE,… Tired! Moved to Mt. Greylock in the Fall of 1969… been there ever since.
Dick worked for RCA near Boston, and for Motorola 2-way in Illinois. After earning a Masters degree from RPI, he worked for GE Global Research, retiring after 33 years. Dick continues to lead the W2SZ RPI radio club VHF contest efforts since the start in 1969, always on Mt. Greylock. My personal interest is primarily in the bands above 2 GHz. One of his most notable memories is an opening on 1296 MHz between Mt. Greylock and Northern Florida that lasted for 2 days straight. Another was a contact on 2304 MHz from Mt. Greylock to central Michigan where the Michigan op had his equipment and “looper” antenna on a picnic table in the back yard!!!
