News
Congratulations to Harold McMullen KE5WCQ for upgrading to general, to Bryan Loper KG5VDK and 16-year-old Jake Stegall KG5VDL for passing their technician! Special thanks to all the VEs who volunteered with the test sessions.
Danny Richard KG5ESG was appointed the new ARES Emergency Coordinator for Cass and Morris County on June 21. Danny got to work on implementing a county emergency communications plan for the counties. Jim Collom N5YU donated a dedicated ARES repeater that provides wide coverage for both counties.
November marks the final formal club meeting each year for the RACC. The 2017 officers were elected, and the 2016 RACC Christmas Party plans were finalized to be held at the Champions Bible Church on Saturday, December 17, 2016 at 6:30pm.
An unusual band opening on 2 meters allowed for FM contacts to be made on simplex and repeaters further than two hundred miles away late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning (16-17 November 2016).
The ARRL sent a mass email soliciting member support and action to encourage elected representatives to vote in favor of the Amateur Radio Parity Act. The league has made it easy by pre-loading a form on a website where members can type in their information, and an email is sent to the appropriate representatives.
You can help, too! Go to: https://arrl.rallycongress.net/ctas/urge-us-senate-to-pass-amateur-radio-parity-act
I went to the link and followed the instructions with a small twist...
Two VE Sessions Net Six New Hams
VE Testing resumed after RACC club meetings in May 2016 resulting in six new technicians and one upgrade to general.
L to R: Jeff Brown KA5IVU, Jim Collom N5YU, Lori James KG5NVQ, Pete Wright KG5NVM, Ralf Vopel KF5WGB,
Steve Rogers AF5JR, Joe Harrison Jr. KG5NVO, Larry Pollard KG5NVN, Frank Reger KG5NVP, and Roger Fouse KB5ROD
"Big Joe" Joe Harrison Jr. was a former licensee who had let his license lapse some time ago. With the resurrection of amateur radio in this area, it's no wonder he would show renewed interest in the hobby.
Lori James had no way out of getting into the hobby! She attended the 2015 RACC Christmas party and won a Baofeng HT door prize. Her husband, Paul James, was just elected as the RACC club vice president at this very meeting. Her step-son, Caleb, was one of the students in the BLAST after-school program studying ham radio. She's a textbook example of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"
Larry Pollard's wife, Sabrina, is a new club member and a general class licensee. After joining the club, we immediately started strongly "encouraging" her to join in on club activities, and extended the invitation to Larry.
Frank Reger was brought to the club by Billy Bowers KG5MLK. Until today's meeting, Billy was the last licensee to test with the club back in March. Frank is a retired Louisiana State Trooper who had worked with Mark Robertson K5JMR, also a retired Louisiana State Trooper. Mark had no idea Frank was testing until I snapped his picture and sent it to him with the caption, "Guess who's testing with us. He says he knows you."
Pete Wright is the Operations Manager for the Northeast Texas Municipal Water District, and has assisted Jim N5YU and the Freedom Link Group with providing a tower location for better coverage in the Lake O' The Pines area. In working with the Freedom Link Group, Pete showed sparked interest in amateur radio.
Congratulations to these new hams, and welcome to the hobby!
Congratulations to Jeff Bickham KG5LFQ for his upgrade to General Class! He's not pictured because he had to leave immediately after testing.
Thanks goes out to the VE Team: Jeff Brown KA5IVU, Jim Collom N5YU, Roger Fouse KB5ROD, Steve Rogers AF5JR, and Ralf Vopel KF5WGB.
What do you do when someone shows up wanting to test, but missed the test session... when you can rustle up three VEs with plenty of time? Have another session!
L to R: Ralf Vopel KF5WGB, Steve Rogers AF5JR, Russell Jarosinski KG5NUQ, and Jeff Brown KA5IVU
Russell showed up after the first test session and said he would like to test. The testing materials were already packed up, and we weren't sure if there were enough VEs left to hold the test session, but we managed to rustle up three VEs who had not left and were not otherwise actively engaged with work the Fly-In at the airport. We found a nice quiet office to administer the test, and a new ham radio operator emerged! Congratulations goes out to Russell Jarosinski for passing his technician exam!
A special thanks goes out to Steve Rogers AF5JR. This was the first VE Test session Jerry A. Goodson W5BFF not only participated as a VE, but the first test session Jerry conducted as the VE Team Liaison. Steve was well seasoned in VE Testing and walked Jerry through how the whole process works. Additionally, Steve gave Jerry several pointers on how to organize the test materials to streamline a lot of the paperwork process.