Greetings! This year is 50% over already! And what an eventful year it’s been already. I’m absolutely ready for a do-over, if only “mulligans” were allowed in real life.
And here’s the first Tuesday of the new month, July 7th, and it’s time again for the regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the Decatur Amateur Radio Club. The meeting will be held at 6:30pm in Meeting Room A at the Aquadome facility in southwest Decatur. The address is 1202 5th Avenue SW, Decatur, AL 35601. It’s at the corner of 5th Avenue SW and 8th Street SW. It shows up on Google Maps, so most of us can navigate our way there. If not, someone should be available on the 147.00 repeater to offer directions. Park in the front parking lot and enter the main door on the 5th Avenue side. Look for other vehicles with callsign license tags or multiple antennas sprouting from the top and sides. And please come early so you can find where we’re hiding. And the air conditioning should be working, which is a BIG plus!
The renovations of the Morgan County Courthouse are almost (but not totally) complete. It should be available to us for club meetings before too much longer. Until it is, we will continue these other arrangements for a meeting location.
We will report on the installation of the new antenna at the 147.00 repeater and discuss other matters about the club’s repeaters. We’ll also report on the Field Day event that was held on June 27th and 28th. We had a great effort for our 73rd event!
The club meeting will still probably NOT be streamed on Microsoft Teams. We’re still trying to make arrangements for an online meeting.
Please continue to spread the word to fellow hams or those who are wanting to take a test for a new or upgraded license that the Decatur club is still giving license tests every month on the first Saturday of each month. The testing sessions will be held in the Decatur Public Library on 6th Avenue NE (Highway 31) at 1:00. Please bring your ID (especially your FRN, which is required on the license application) and the $5.00 administration fee. Most importantly, PLEASE send an email to DecaturHamTest@w4atd.org so we can have the testing materials prepared and available for you. August 1st is our next scheduled testing date. PLEASE NOTE: WE ALWAYS NEED VOLUNTEER EXAMINERS TO HELP WITH THE TESTING PROGRAM! If you want to help in some way (an Extra class license is normally required), please let us know! And if you send an email and do not get a timely response, please let the secretary know.
Check out the roster of current club members online at www.HamClubOnline.com. Set up your free account and if you have paid your dues (and the Secretary has updated the database) you should see that you’re associated with the DARC. If there’s an issue, let us know.
See you on Tuesday evening, July 7th, 2026, at the AQUADOME in Decatur at 6:30! Be there, be cool, and be on time!
