President’s Message – July 2019

President’s Message
July 2019

I almost have everything put away from Field Day, portable antenna and mast, radio, table chairs and tents. A great time was had by all who participated in the event. Weather was perfect, band conditions could have been a little better but everyone who came out had a great time and made contacts. Had some “new” hams show up and we were able to have a couple of them make their first HF contacts. Thank you to Bill, K3FMQ for calling all the new members and explaining to them what Field Day is and inviting them to join us. Thanks to Doc, WA3GAD and his crew for putting it together. And a special thank you to Kathy, KC3FBY and Marianne, KA2VJO for keeping us all well fed. I am already looking forward to next year.

The summer months give us the opportunity to do something that I really like, operating from the backyard. There is something very relaxing about outdoor operating (one of the reasons I love Field Day). I will pull out my field day radio and plug it in to my vertical antenna. When I installed it, I included a weatherproof box that houses a coax connection point to be able to do this. Then I just have fun operating. Sometimes I’ll leave the laptop in the shack and use a paper log just to keep it simple. Just spinning the dial and making contacts. If you have the chance, give it a try. Maybe we can start a new trend, BOTA (backyards on the air)!

I hope everyone is enjoying the Club Repeater Challenge. It runs through the beginning of the meeting on July 11th. Rules can be found on the club website, K3DN.org, on the right side under the “news” section. The club member who turns in a log at the meeting on the 11th with the highest point total will be declared the winner and will receive a $ 50.00 DX Engineering Gift Certificate.

And don’t forget, if I didn’t mention it enough in the last paragraph, the Club Meeting will not be held on the first Thursday of the month this time around. Due to the Forth of July Holiday the meeting has been moved to the following week on the second Thursday of the month, the 11th. We will see you all then and enjoy the holiday, maybe get outside and try to activate your own BOTA!

73, George, KC3ESH
KC3ESH@yahoo.com