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[http://www.arrl.org/club-news]


June 19, 2024
Editor: Mike Walters, W8ZY [ mailto:mwalters@arrl.org ]

ARRL Home Page
https://www.arrl.org/

ARRL Club News Archive
http://www.arrl.org/club-news

[https://www.icomamerica.com/lineup/amateur/]


In this Issue:
Field Day is Here
Club Grant Update
How to Get Started in Amateur Radio
Promoting Participation in Your Club Net
Submitting Info for this Newsletter
How to Plan and Apply for an ARRL Hamfest or Convention
Important Links

Field Day is Here

ARRL Field Day 2024 Logo
[http://www.arrl.org/field-day]


Field Day 2024 is upon us, and it is your chance to operate in the largest on-air event of the year. Across North America, clubs and individuals will be calling CQ Field Day. Seasoned hams and brand-new licensees will be on the air looking to make your
contact. Get with your club and join the fun. If your local club is not operating, find another one that is and visit their site. The ARRL Field Day Station Locator has listings of where clubs are setting up to operate. You can find that at www.arrl.org/
field-day-locator [ http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator ] . Many clubs will be using local repeaters for talk-in and to encourage folks to visit their Field Day site.

Consider inviting the local mayor, town council, fire chief, or emergency management officials to come by and get a feel for what amateur radio is all about. If you know someone from the local media, newspaper, TV, or radio station, invite them to come
by too! And don't forget to invite new hams to come to Field Day and operate. This is a wonderful time to get on HF for the first time and see the thrill of pulling a contact out of a pile-up. Field Day is not a contest, but the thrill of the hunt can
still be felt, especially for new operators.

Field Day is an exciting time to get the club together and visit hams that you may not have seen in person for some time. Information on Field Day can be found at www.arrl.org/field-day [ http://www.arrl.org/field-day ] . Get out and "Be Radio Active."

Club Grant Update

ARRL Foundation
[https://www.arrl.org/the-arrl-foundation]


The ARRL Foundation is pleased to announce the return of the Club Grant Program for 2024. This is an opportunity for clubs to apply for grants up to $25,000 to fund projects in their community. Emphasis is given to clubs with projects that are of a
transformational nature â-" a club that has a plan to improve the community through education, recruitment, training, and promotion of amateur radio. The application period is now open and will close on July 26 at 4 PM Eastern time. This program is not
restricted to ARRL Affiliated Clubs or 501.c.3 clubs; we urge all clubs across the country to apply. Those who are awarded grants will be required to share updates and participate in social media and reporting with ARRL. Information about the Club Grant
Program can be found at www.arrl.org/club-grant-program [ http://www.arrl.org/club-grant-program ] . Now is the time to gather your club members and start thinking about how you could use this grant to make your community a better place throu
gh amateur radio.

[https://www.geochron.com/hamclub/]


Field Day Benefits for New Hams

Forsyth Amateur Radio Club
[http://www.w4nc.com]


On June 24, 2023, I woke up to an email from the FCC that included my new callsign. Armed with a copy of my license, I ventured out to the Forsyth Amateur Radio Club (FARC) Field Day site where I was warmly met by then-club President Steve Patterson,
WA3RTC. After a few minutes, I was introduced to Bruce, AD4ET, and Marcia Thompson, NC4MT, who were running the Get On The Air station. Two minutes later, I was talking to someone in Massachusetts repeating what Bruce was telling me to say. Did I
understand what I was saying? No way. After Marcia filled out my First Contact certificate, I checked the literature table for more information and grabbed a brochure for the club.

At the time, they had nothing to offer about the GOTA station. They had a few handouts about the club and others with a lot of confusing words. This was the inspiration for including business cards with a QR code. FARC members could also hand them to
anyone interested in learning how to get their amateur radio license. Marcia, NC4MT, collected the learning links; Kevin, KQ4JGG, designed the business cards and QR code, and Ken Kayser, K2KXK, designed the Get Started in Amateur Radio web page on the
FARC website. This is how www.w4nc.com/getstarted [ http://www.w4nc.com/getstarted ] was born! Included on the web page is every method of learning style from visual, auditory, reading, and even kinesthetic if they take a class in person.

The business-sized cards to hand out were created with the club's name and a QR code that someone could scan to get to the website. The webpage is designed for people seeking their Technician license so the content is limited to keep it simple and jargon
free.

Interested people can visit www.w4nc.com/getstarted [ http://www.w4nc.com/getstarted ] to learn how to join the exciting world of amateur radio!

By Kevin Long, KQ4JGG, and Marcia Thompson, NC4MT

Promoting Participation in your Club Net

Looking for ways to promote and maintain regular participation in your club activities is paramount to the success of any ham group. This is of special importance if your club is in a small geographical area. That was our case at the Bayman Radio Club,
located in Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico, where we have strived to maintain an active presence performing diverse activities during the past decade.

One such activity is our weekly 70 cm UHF simplex net on 441.000 MHz. We did not want a net where net control only calls for check-ins and speaks all the time. So, we listened to good advice and criticism from our fellow hams. To maintain the interest of
the reporting stations we evolved our net structure, protocol, and traffic. On each check-in turn, net control asks for any relevant traffic or information to be shared by the participants. When someone new shows up, net control acknowledges its presence
to the other simplex operators. At the end of the roster call, a turn is given to each one to briefly contact the new station and exchange signal and modulation reports. Another important change in our net protocols was the addition of a short technical
capsule related to 70-cm band operations and activities. The information needed is gathered in advance from various sources, like ham web pages, newsletters, books, presentations, and articles, especially those offered by ARRL. At the
end, net control expresses its thanks to all the hams that participated.

Additionally, we provide the call signs of the amateur radio operators who accompany us weekly on one of our social media groups to recognize their support. Through this social media group, we provid more information on the subjects discussed at the
technical capsule with the appropriate references, including the authors' names, call signs, web addresses, and links to the books, presentations, photos, or news articles.

Also, a digital certificate of last year's net participation was prepared. Besides the time needed to design it, fill in the information, and send it as a PDF file through email or social media, there are no direct costs associated with it. To gather the
necessary information, a simple database spreadsheet was prepared from the weekly net roster. This includes the names, call signs, and number of weekly participants during the past calendar year for each amateur operator that checked in. It was decided
that having two or more participants was enough to issue a certificate. This was because the net started in late April 2023 having only 35 weekly editions throughout the year. Therefore, a total of 33 digital certificates were produced and sent at the
beginning of 2024.

All of these efforts paid off with the receipt of positive feedback from our fellow hams. A more stable participation has been noted during this year. Also, new hams can test their equipment, ask for advice, and be introduced to their neighbors on the
radio.

By Jimmy Drowne, KP3BR

Submitting Info for this Newsletter

ARRL Club News is for radio clubs to show how they are working in the community and the hobby to advance amateur radio. If your club completes a project, supports an event, does an EmComm activation, or activates a park, we want to hear about it. You can
submit your newsletter article to us at clubs@arrl.org [ mailto:clubs@arrl.org ] . We like to get them as text or Word files instead of PDFs. If you have pictures, please submit them with caption information, as well as the name and call sign of the
photographer. We want to highlight the good work being done by the clubs and show others in the community. Think of this as a chance to show off your club and your programs.

How to Plan and Apply for an ARRL Hamfest or Convention

If your amateur radio club is planning to host a convention, hamfest, tailgate, or swapfest, please consider applying for it to be an ARRL-sanctioned event. To learn what it means to be an ARRL-sanctioned event, and to get some ideas on how to prepare
for and conduct a hamfest or convention, visit www.arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events [ http://www.arrl.org/arrl-sanctioned-events ] .

To have your event sanctioned, complete the online application at www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application [ http://www.arrl.org/hamfest-convention-application ] .

The ARRL Hamfests and Conventions Calendar can be found online at www.arrl.org/hamfests [ http://www.arrl.org/hamfests ] . In addition, the Convention and Hamfest Calendar that runs in QST each month also presents information about upcoming events.

Important Links

ARRL Home: www.arrl.org [ http://www.arrl.org/ ]

Find an ARRL Affiliated Club: www.arrl.org/clubs [ http://www.arrl.org/clubs ]

Find your ARRL Section: www.arrl.org/sections [ http://www.arrl.org/sections ]

Find a license class in your area: www.arrl.org/class [ http://www.arrl.org/class ]

Find a license exam in your area: www.arrl.org/exam [ http://www.arrl.org/exam ]

Find a hamfest or convention: www.arrl.org/hamfests [ http://www.arrl.org/hamfests ]

Email ARRL Clubs: clubs@arrl.org [ mailto:clubs@arrl.org ]

ARRL Club News is published every month (12 times each year). ARRL members may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by editing their Member Data Page at www.arrl.org/opt-in-out [ http://www.arrl.org/opt-in-out ] . Archived issues can be found at www.arrl.
org/club-news [ http://www.arrl.org/club-news ]

Copyright Â(c) 2024 American Radio Relay League, Incorporated. Use and distribution of this publication, or any portion thereof, is permitted for non-commercial or educational purposes, with attribution. All other purposes require written permission.

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