‰ NOW 40 WPM ‰ TEXT IS FROM JANUARY 2014 QST PAGE 84‰ OPERATIONS. TROY OR ONE OF THE LICENSED STUDENTS WOULD TAKE OVER THE NET AND CONDUCT CHECK INS, TRAFFIC HANDLING, AND GAIN EXPERIENCE THAT IS GOOD FOR THE GROUP. IT ALSO ALLOWS STUDENTS AND LOCAL AMATEURS WHO HAVE THEIR TECHNICIAN LICENSES OR LACK HF EQUIPMENT TO MAKE A CONTACT WITH THE SCHOOL STATION. TYPICALLY W9GRS HAS ANYWHERE FROM SIX TO 12 STATIONS THAT CHECK INTO THE NET AND MAKE SUBSEQUENT CONTACTS. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT W9GRS AND THE GLENN RAYMOND SCHOOL SCIENCE CLUB, C THEY HAPPEN TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE AND SWITCH TO VHF. THEY USE THIS TO TAKE CALLS FROM PEOPLE IN THE AREA, WHICH PROMOTES THE SCHOOL CLUB AS WELL AS SCHOOL CLUB ROUNDUP, IN AN EFFORT TO ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO PARTICIPATE. THEY ALSO USE THIS RADIO TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE INDIANA UNIVERSITY ARC WHEN NEEDED, BECAUSE THEY ARE ONLY 3 MILES AWAY. THE TWO STATIONS OFTEN CAUSE INTERFERENCE TO EACH OTHER IF THEY USE THE SAME BAND AT THE SAME TIME. THIS WAY, THEY CAN COORDINATE WITH EACH OTHER. THIS YEAR, THEY OPERATED LATER INTO THE EVENING. THE LOCAL ARES NET WAS AT 730 PM, WHILE THE LOCAL SIMPLEX NET WAS AT 800 PM. AFTER THEIR ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE ARES NET, THEY SWITCHED TO SIMPLEX AND TOOK CALLS FROM AREA HAMS UP UNTIL THE START OF THE 800 SIMPLEX NET. NOT ONLY DID THIS ENCOURAGE MORE PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE IN SCR, BUT IT ALSO PIQUED INTEREST IN THE SIMPLEX NET THAT FOLLOWED. TAKING CALLS WITHIN A FEW MINUTES OF THE ANNOUNCEMENT GREATLY INCREASED PARTICIPATION FROM PREVIOUS YEARS. WHILE THE NUMBER OF CONTACTS WAS NOT HUGE, IT SERVED ITS PURPOSE TO GENERATE INTEREST IN THE SCHOOL CLUB AND THE ROUNDUP. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON BLOOMINGTON HIGH SCHOOL SOUTH WORKING THE SCHOOL CLUB ROUNDUP ON VHF WITH THE HELP OF THE VHF BANDS, STUDENTS ENGAGE THEIR COMMUNITIES DURING THIS HF OPERATING EVENT. ANDY MILLUZZI, KK4LWR, TROY SIMPSON, W9KVR, NEIL RAPP, WB9VPG FOR ANY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB AT A SCHOOL OR UNIVERSITY, THE ARRL SCHOOL CLUB ROUNDUP SCR HAS BECOME ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR. SCR, WHICH IS HELD TWICE A YEAR, MAKES THESE CLUBS THE CENTER OF ATTENTION FOR MANY HAMS AROUND THE WORLD. DURING THIS CONTEST, YOU CAN HEAR STUDENTS FROM ELEMENTARY TO UNIVERSITY WORKING A PILEUP ON JUST ABOUT EVERY HF BAND. HOWEVER, WHILE THERE MIGHT BE PILEUPS AND LOTS OF DX ON THE HF BANDS, THE VHF BANDS PROVIDE A WAY FOR SCHOOLS TO BE ACTIVE IN THEIR LOCAL COMMUNITIES. WHILE REPEATER AND NATIONAL CALLING FREQUENCIES ARE NOT ALLOWED IN THE CONTEST, SIMPLEX VHF COMMUNICATION AND VOLUNTEERING IN LOCAL CLUBS HAS BECOME AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF SCR FOR A GROWING NUMBER OF CLUBS. LOCALLY PROMOTING THEIR CLUB AND THE CONTEST AT BLOOMINGTON HIGH SCHOOL SOUTH AMATEUR RADIO CLUB, K9SOU, IN BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA, THEY MAKE IT A POINT TO ANNOUNCE THEIR OPERATING TIMES AND FREQUENCY RANGES ON THE LOCAL ARES NET THE WEEK BEFORE AND THE WEEK OF SCR. DURING THE ENTIRE WEEK OF THE EVENT THEY LEAVE A VHF RADIO ON A SIMPLEX FREQUENCY THAT IS COMMONLY USED IN THE AREA. WHEN THEY GET A CALL ON VHF, THEY END THE HF CONTACT IF ‰ END OF 40 WPM TEXT ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ