Greetings! November is here, and “Daylight Savings Time” (what a joke!) is over. As is Halloween.

Hopefully you have managed to “borrow” a few bites of treats from the kid’s stash to make up for the trouble and make the extra hour of sleep on Sunday morning feel much better. The bathroom scales, however, wish to discuss something.

Sweet things, spooky costumes, and fiddling with clocks are past with the beginning of the new month. The first Tuesday of November is now here, and so is the regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the Decatur Amateur Radio Club. The meeting will be held on November 3rd at 6:30pm in the Wilson Room at the new Decatur Recreation Center, located at 270 Beltline Road SW, Decatur, AL 35603. It’s the new facility at Wilson Morgan Park off of the Beltline. The current access drive is off of Sandlin Road across from the small strip mall beside the ballfields. If Google Maps won’t help you find it, give a call on the 147.00 repeater to get directions. Find a good parking place and enter the main door. Vehicles with callsign license tags or multiple antennas sprouting from the top and sides are a good clue that you’re in the right place. And please come early so you can find out where we are. The room will be available beginning at 6:00.

Now, as mentioned in an earlier message that was sent on September 18th, you MUST be registered for a FREE General Membership to the center. The RecDesk web portal is located at this link:

https://decaturparks.recdesk.com/Community/Home

Instructions and guidelines are included in the earlier email. I can resend it if you can’t locate your copy. The process is fairly simple.

If you cannot register beforehand, you can sign up at the desk when you arrive. It’s usually quicker online.

We will be electing officers for the coming year at this meeting. Come ready to have input in the new year. Volunteer for something!

The club meeting will still not be streamed on Microsoft Teams. Hopefully we’ll make new arrangements for an online meeting in our new place once their WiFi issues are resolved.

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. November 7th and December 5th are our next scheduled testing dates. 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, November 3rd, 2026, at the Decatur Recreation Center in Decatur at 6:30! Be there (have you registered yet??), and be on time!