Greetings! May has arrived. At least. the calendar says so. My thermometer thinks it’s still early April. And those April showers took a very long time to arrive. It does look like the May flowers are appearing on schedule, so we can be thankful for that.

It’s the first Tuesday of the new month, which occurs on May 5th this year. Cinco de Mayo! Americans celebrate a minor Mexican holiday from 1862!  ¡Olé!

Now, tacos, burritos, nachos, sombreros and other celebratory items are NOT supplied at 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. Please don’t bring the Mexican stuff.

We have moved out of the Morgan County Courthouse for a little while longer because the renovations are almost (but not totally) complete. It may not be available to us for club meetings for a few more months. So we are continuing these other arrangements for a meeting location.

We have an important matter to discuss regarding the 147.00 repeater. We’d like as much input from the club as possible, so please come and hear what is going on. We also need to be discussing further plans for the upcoming Field Day event on June 27th and 28th. We definitely need to have things well-planned for our 73rd event.

The club meeting will probably NOT be streamed on Microsoft Teams. We’re still trying to make arrangements for an online meeting.

Another thing: it’s WAY past time to pay your dues for 2026 and beyond. Dues are $20.00 per year, and additional family members are $5.00 each. See a club officer at the meeting or mail it to DARC, PO Box 9, Decatur, AL 35602-0009.

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. June 6th 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.

Please note that the July 4th scheduled testing session will NOT be held for obvious reasons. If this presents a problem with your schedule or with the plans of someone you know, please email DecaturHamTest@w4atd.org and we may be able to make arrangements for the following weekend.

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, May 5th, 2026, at the AQUADOME in Decatur at 6:30! Be there, and be on time! ¡Adiós!