Local volunteer group to hold monthly meeting

For The Transcript

January 08, 2009 01:09 am

— The South Canadian Amateur Radio Society (SCARS) has scheduled its monthly meeting 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Norman Fire Training Center, 2207 W. Goddard Ave.
The public is welcome to attend, organizers said. This month's topics will include a discussion concerning the Oklahoma City Marathon. Several members of SCARS support the marathon by providing assistance with radio communications for the marathon's operation.
A discussion of the process on using QSL cards to confirm contacts also will be on the agenda. In amateur radio communication QSL is one of the Q codes used in radio communication. A Q code message can stand for a statement or a question. In this case, QSL means either "do you confirm receipt of my transmission" or "I confirm receipt of your transmission." A QSL card is a written confirmation.
SCARS is a volunteer community group that works with the City of Norman Citizens CORPS Council through the Office of Emergency Management. SCARS members respond during severe weather, providing storm-spotting services for the city.
Another service provided is amateur radio license testing. The testing night has been changed to the first Thursday of each month for 2009. According to Jim Copeland, head of the volunteer examiner team, in 1988 SCARS conducted 13 examination sessions for 66 candidates with 29 passing various levels of testing.
For more information, call David Grizzle at 292-9780 or go to the SCARS Web site at www.w5nor.org.