Greetings! It’s finally June! The May monsoons should have passed now, the “official” tornado season has ended (stay alert anyway!), and temperatures are rising rapidly.
Something else of importance is approaching rapidly:
FIELD DAY 2025!
Field Day is coming in four short weeks (June 28th and 29th), and we need to start planning and preparing now for our 72nd consecutive event. Come to this meeting prepared to donate your ideas, your time, any equipment you may be able to provide, and let’s make this event memorable.
The June meeting of the Decatur Amateur Radio Club is the quarterly “eating meeting” on Tuesday evening, June 3rd, at 6:00pm at Libby’s Catfish and Diner on Priceville Mountain off of Highway 67. If you haven’t been there yet, just leave Decatur on Highway 67 (the Beltline) and travel east past the I-65 interchange. Keep motoring through Priceville, and drive up the mountain. When you reach the big white cross on top of Priceville Mountain, Libby’s is just ahead on the right.
If you’d rather meet in the usual location in the basement of the Morgan County Courthouse in Decatur, feel free to go there. Please arrive early at the lower entrance off of Lee Street and hope that you can convince someone to let you into the empty auditorium. And while you’re there, have some nice conversations with the young uniformed men arriving in the black and white SUV’s with the bright flashing lights!
This meeting will NOT be streamed on Microsoft Teams for obvious reasons.
We’ll be finalizing our plans and the equipment we’ll need for the event. If you can volunteer to help out, especially on the radio or by helping enter to contacts in the log, you will find plenty of opportunities. There may be other activities happening at the park, and we’re expecting curious visitors to stop by. We’ll need those who can explain the different station setups and help the young people make their first contacts on the radio.
Field Day this year will be held at Morgan County North Park in Priceville. The park is conveniently located at the intersection of Upper River Road and Bethel Road. It’s very easy to get there from Highway 67. Look it up on Google Maps if you need directions, or call someone on the 147.00 repeater and we’ll help you find the park. And be sure you come and bring whatever supplies that we discuss on Tuesday! Most importantly, BE THERE!
The Decatur club offers license testing every month on the first Saturday of the month. The testing sessions are held in the Decatur Public Library on 6th Avenue NE (Highway 31) at 1:00. Please bring ID (especially your FRN, which is required on the license application) and your $15 fee. And, most importantly, PLEASE send an email to DecaturHamTest@w4atd.org so we can have the testing materials prepared and available for you. June 7th and August 2nd are our next scheduled testing dates (the library is closed on July 5th, so there will be no testing in July). 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.
Remember that the roster of current club members is now 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, June 3rd, 2024, at Libby’s Catfish and Diner in Priceville at 6:00! Don’t be late!
And remember to keep FIELD DAY on your schedule for June 28th and 29th. See you there!
