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President's LetterJonathan Pearce, WB2MNFJanuary 2023 |
January 2023
Happy New Year, and welcome to 2023, a year that hopefully will have no global pandemics, no massive natural events that tear down our towers - just great opportunities to explore various aspects of the hobby that we all love. As this year's president I'm excited to help plan new ways that our Club can assist its members by creating outstanding educational events, many new activities, and additional resources to allow Club members to explore new aspects of this great hobby.
Thanks to Past President Tony Starr, K3TS
None of this would have been possible, however, without the leadership that our previous president, Tony Starr K3TS, provided over the last two years. Tony had to deal with two situations never previously faced by a Club president - restoring the Club to normal operations after a global pandemic and dealing with the aftermath of a massive tornado that tore down two of our towers. Tony handled both of those situations masterfully - he continued the ZOOM meeting format of monthly Club meetings until it was safe for in person meetings, which occurred without the much-feared “super spreader” events. Current in-person meeting attendance is now back to normal, with the addition of more than a dozen regular ZOOM participants.
When the towers came down, Tony moved immediately, recognizing the opportunity to purchase the new tower, organizing the work party to pick it up, and pulling it to the Clubhouse using a trailer and his own truck. Tony was also frequently involved in the refurbishing of the tower and its final implementation. Without Tony's guidance during these periods the Club might be in a very different position at this point. I'm personally grateful for his leadership and hope I can provide as much value to the Club as he did. Tony isn’t going anywhere - he’ll be filling several critical committee positions and is always a significant presence at Club functions.
Club Leadership
I'm also grateful to have an outstanding group of Club leaders this year. Ron Block NR2B, assumes the position of Vice President, with Karl Frank W2KBF and Al Arrison KB2AYU continuing in their positions as Recording Secretary and Treasurer respectively. Frank Romeo N3PUU moves into the officer group as Corresponding Secretary. On the board, former Club president Jim Wright N2GXJ moves from the trustees to the board and is joined by new board member Chris Prioli AD2CS. Chuck Colabrese WA2TML, Jim Clark KA2OSV, Jeff Garth WB2ZBN, and Bill Price NJ2S continue with their board positions. John O'Connell K2QA joins the trustees, along with the existing trustees Mark Gottlieb KK2L, Bob Fields KC6AOH, and Chuck Lanard KD2EIB.
I’ll be introducing each member of this group at the January meeting, so if possible please attend in person so the Club leaders have the opportunity to meet as many Club members as possible.
Content, Activities, and Resources
This group of leaders will be focusing on three primary areas to enhance the value of the Club to its members : Content, Activities, and Resources.
While we hope to enhance the value of the Club to all members, a primary emphasis will be on newly licensed hams, providing content, resources, and activities that guide them in their quest to obtain the fullest possible experience from Amateur Radio. The success of the licensing classes conducted by Chris Prioli AD2CS has resulted in a large number of newly licensed members, so our unique resources at the Clubhouse will be targeted to allowing new Technician Class licensees to experiment with a brand-new VHF station as well as the satellite station, and new General Class licensees to use the outstanding HF station recently enhanced with a Flex radio. Many of our general meeting and Tech Saturday events will be structured to provide additional content for this group of members.
The DigiNet that meets using ZOOM on alternate Monday nights and has had a significant number of participants has been re-branded as the TechNet for 2023. This will allow it to expand to cover other technical areas of interest with participants from a broader geographic area or who need to participate from their home locations. Check the GCARC TechNet page on the w2mmd.org website for the current topics, dates and ZOOM information.
In addition to the new activities, our ever-popular Field Day and hamfest functions will continue, and hopefully will expand. With several possible openings among operators of Field Day stations, we hope that newer General Class licensees will step forward to operate critical stations and become a permanent part of what's one of the preeminent events in Amateur Radio. We're also discussing a number of new additions to the hamfest, including a portable satellite station, enhanced emergency communications functionality, additional seminars and several other new activities.
Club members make the real difference
Club leaders can plan all we want but the real keys to success are in the hands of the members. Come to meetings in person whenever possible. Meet other members and the Club leaders and let them know what you'd like to see. Tech Saturday Forum events are always popular, but there's usually someone at the Clubhouse every Saturday morning so feel free to stop by, see what's going on, talk to some other people and perhaps operate one of the Club stations. Check into our VHF and 10 meter nets if possible, and check out the ZOOM TechNet for various technical topics. Club meetings and other sessions are now being recorded and uploaded to our YouTube Channel, so check that out if you've missed something.
Most importantly - COMMUNICATE - let us know what you'd want to see the Club provide and come out and be part of it.
73 de Jon WB2MNF
President, GCARC
Happy New Year, and welcome to 2023, a year that hopefully will have no global pandemics, no massive natural events that tear down our towers - just great opportunities to explore various aspects of the hobby that we all love. As this year's president I'm excited to help plan new ways that our Club can assist its members by creating outstanding educational events, many new activities, and additional resources to allow Club members to explore new aspects of this great hobby.
Thanks to Past President Tony Starr, K3TS
None of this would have been possible, however, without the leadership that our previous president, Tony Starr K3TS, provided over the last two years. Tony had to deal with two situations never previously faced by a Club president - restoring the Club to normal operations after a global pandemic and dealing with the aftermath of a massive tornado that tore down two of our towers. Tony handled both of those situations masterfully - he continued the ZOOM meeting format of monthly Club meetings until it was safe for in person meetings, which occurred without the much-feared “super spreader” events. Current in-person meeting attendance is now back to normal, with the addition of more than a dozen regular ZOOM participants.
When the towers came down, Tony moved immediately, recognizing the opportunity to purchase the new tower, organizing the work party to pick it up, and pulling it to the Clubhouse using a trailer and his own truck. Tony was also frequently involved in the refurbishing of the tower and its final implementation. Without Tony's guidance during these periods the Club might be in a very different position at this point. I'm personally grateful for his leadership and hope I can provide as much value to the Club as he did. Tony isn’t going anywhere - he’ll be filling several critical committee positions and is always a significant presence at Club functions.
Club Leadership
I'm also grateful to have an outstanding group of Club leaders this year. Ron Block NR2B, assumes the position of Vice President, with Karl Frank W2KBF and Al Arrison KB2AYU continuing in their positions as Recording Secretary and Treasurer respectively. Frank Romeo N3PUU moves into the officer group as Corresponding Secretary. On the board, former Club president Jim Wright N2GXJ moves from the trustees to the board and is joined by new board member Chris Prioli AD2CS. Chuck Colabrese WA2TML, Jim Clark KA2OSV, Jeff Garth WB2ZBN, and Bill Price NJ2S continue with their board positions. John O'Connell K2QA joins the trustees, along with the existing trustees Mark Gottlieb KK2L, Bob Fields KC6AOH, and Chuck Lanard KD2EIB.
I’ll be introducing each member of this group at the January meeting, so if possible please attend in person so the Club leaders have the opportunity to meet as many Club members as possible.
Content, Activities, and Resources
This group of leaders will be focusing on three primary areas to enhance the value of the Club to its members : Content, Activities, and Resources.
- Content will include creating outstanding presentations at the monthly membership meetings, as well as useful collaborative Tech Saturday events and the alternate-Monday Technical Zoom Nets.
- Activities will include additional Clubhouse participation in contests using the HF and soon-to-be-operational VHF stations, additional informal events on alternate Saturdays, and whatever additional activities the board can create.
- Resources will include the addition of brand-new grant-funded VHF equipment, and ultimately the installation of a new VHF tower. We're also hopeful to make additional enhancements to the HF station if sufficient funding can be obtained.
While we hope to enhance the value of the Club to all members, a primary emphasis will be on newly licensed hams, providing content, resources, and activities that guide them in their quest to obtain the fullest possible experience from Amateur Radio. The success of the licensing classes conducted by Chris Prioli AD2CS has resulted in a large number of newly licensed members, so our unique resources at the Clubhouse will be targeted to allowing new Technician Class licensees to experiment with a brand-new VHF station as well as the satellite station, and new General Class licensees to use the outstanding HF station recently enhanced with a Flex radio. Many of our general meeting and Tech Saturday events will be structured to provide additional content for this group of members.
The DigiNet that meets using ZOOM on alternate Monday nights and has had a significant number of participants has been re-branded as the TechNet for 2023. This will allow it to expand to cover other technical areas of interest with participants from a broader geographic area or who need to participate from their home locations. Check the GCARC TechNet page on the w2mmd.org website for the current topics, dates and ZOOM information.
In addition to the new activities, our ever-popular Field Day and hamfest functions will continue, and hopefully will expand. With several possible openings among operators of Field Day stations, we hope that newer General Class licensees will step forward to operate critical stations and become a permanent part of what's one of the preeminent events in Amateur Radio. We're also discussing a number of new additions to the hamfest, including a portable satellite station, enhanced emergency communications functionality, additional seminars and several other new activities.
Club members make the real difference
Club leaders can plan all we want but the real keys to success are in the hands of the members. Come to meetings in person whenever possible. Meet other members and the Club leaders and let them know what you'd like to see. Tech Saturday Forum events are always popular, but there's usually someone at the Clubhouse every Saturday morning so feel free to stop by, see what's going on, talk to some other people and perhaps operate one of the Club stations. Check into our VHF and 10 meter nets if possible, and check out the ZOOM TechNet for various technical topics. Club meetings and other sessions are now being recorded and uploaded to our YouTube Channel, so check that out if you've missed something.
Most importantly - COMMUNICATE - let us know what you'd want to see the Club provide and come out and be part of it.
73 de Jon WB2MNF
President, GCARC
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Monday, January 9, 2023
Happy Birthday, Ben - January 17, 1706
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Sunday, January 22, 2023
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Full Wolf Moon - January 2023
January’s full Wolf Moon reaches peak illumination on Friday, January 6, at 6:09 P.M. EST. At a full Moon, the Moon is located on the opposite side of the Earth to the Sun so the face of the Moon facing towards the Earth will be completely illuminated by the Sun’s rays. Look for the Moon to rise from the northeastern horizon around sunset that evening.
Old Farmer’s Almanac - www.almanac.com