AARC History 1983

The New Board
The Installation Dinner for the 1983 Club officers was held at the Foxchase Tavern in Edgewater on January 6th. They were: President-Gary Vest/WA3KCY (now NW5E), Vice-President-Ed Helvey/WA2FMT, Secretary-Billy Maddox/KA6JJK and Treasurer-Howard Miller/KA3ERP. Billy Maddox/KA6JJK took over as editor of the Ham Arundel News. His change in the format to its present booklet form was widely heralded as a decided improvement.  He also instigated bulk mailing of the newsletter, since over 200 copies were sent out each month.

Milestones
The year 1983 brought several milestone decisions:- The AARC made a formal agreement with the county for a repeater site atop Arundel Center North in Glen Burnie. 

  • At the urging of Bill Townsend/KC3AV (now NC3Z) the Club voted in February to provide support for the ARRL sponsored Maryland Slow Net.  With Bill at the helm the MSN grew surprisingly fast and was soon recognized as a capable teacher of message handling and net procedures. 
  • AARC was designated by ARRL as a Special Services Club
  • A new 3-element 40-meter beam improved the Club's hamshack capabilities. In June a new Sinclair Duplexer was installed on the repeater.
  • Air conditioning was installed in the clubhouse
  • A Club auction in April of '83 was a huge success due to the efforts of new Club member Steve Brown and Howard Miller/KA3ERP, who served as auctioneer.

New Members & The Blizzard of '83'
The Club received several new members from a Novice Course conducted under the leadership of Training Chairman Jerry/N3BDW.Club members were busy all year with public service projects.  For 60 continuous hours during the "Maryland Blizzard of '83" (Feb. 11-13), the AARC repeater/W3VPR and the repeater of the Maryland Mobileers/WA3PJQ were used by the Anne Arundel ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) to provide communications. Thirty amateurs made over 650 radio transmissions, logging a total of 334 man-hours.

Other Activities
Other communication endeavors included: the Roedown Races in April, the Ride-a-Bike for Retarded Children in May, and in August the Annapolis 10-mile Run and the boat parade for "Tricentennial Day" at London Town Publik House, a registered national historical site on the South River. Then there was the Bluegrass Festival in September and Chesapeake Appreciation Days in October. During CA Days Club members manned a special events station, as well as sending messages for the public.  AARC, operating 4A-Battery during Field Day Exercises, came in second in the nation. Joe Evans/K3KJZ was once again featured in the press and on TV, this from handling messages to and from Grenada. 

KO3P
In October Club members were saddened by the untimely death of Dick Navilon. All shared his pride in his rapid advancement through the     amateur classes. In 2 1/2 years he moved from Novice/KA3HVY to Tech and Advanced/N3CKP to Extra/KO3P.