Welcome to November! Hopefully by now everyone has changed their clocks back 1 hour. I sure enjoyed the extra hour of sleep Sunday. Weather is trending cooler, thankfully. The heat wave we had last week was amazing. It was 80 degrees outside at my house at 11pm!
Ham radio wise, we had a few contests last month – CA QSO Party early in October and CQ World Wide SSB late in the month. I hope everyone got a chance to participate in at least one of them, if not both. You’ve heard me say it before, it’s a great way for folks with ‘mic fright’ to make contact with folks without needing to think of what to say. The exchange is short, formal, and you don’t even need to worry about uploading your logs if you don’t want to. You also don’t need to call out CQ – just cruise up and down the bands and answer others calling out. If you have yet to participate in a contest, make that one of your New Year’s Resolutions for 2026.
Club wise, we held our first ‘Practical Hands-On’ sessions in October, on the subject of FT8. We had 15 folks attending and afterwards a few of us set up radios in the picnic area so folks could see FT8 in operation. One member went home that night, and using what he learned, set up his radio for FT8 and then stayed up all night making contacts! Success! Since the month of December is a break from most of our activities, our next ‘Practical Hands-On’ session will be held in February and every other month after that. Subjects are still to be determined, so let us know what you’re interested in learning about!
Club membership renewals!
If you haven’t already renewed your membership, here’s a reminder to do so. Our membership renewal month is October every year, and of course it’s now November. You may renew using the Donate button on our website, paying our treasurer John W6JPG at our next club meeting, or mailing a check to our PO box (see our website for the address). If you’ve been thinking of becoming a member, now is a great time! I hope that you feel we bring value to your ham radio life and that you’ll become a member of our club.
November is Election Month!
Every November our club holds elections for all club officer positions. Yes – all. To date we have received 1 entry, but we have many vacancies that need to be filled.
Vacancies:
- President
- Vice President
- Secretary
- Board member.
Please consider running for an office position, or contact someone that you feel would be good for a position and ask them to enter. Now is your chance to help keep this club moving forward and to make a difference in our ham community. If you or someone else would like to run for an office position, send your notice to info@vcarc.club. Note that only members with a ham callsign and of good standing (dues paid) can hold office.
November Meeting – Satellite Comms, Election and Home Brew Night!
November 14th is our next club meeting and Phil WA6BUZ will be giving us a talk on satellite communication. After the break, we will hold our election for officers, and during the counting process YOU will get to show off what you’ve been working on! Bring in your stuff and give a quick 5 minutes talk about it while we count the votes. I know quite a few of you have been working on some neat things – now is your chance to show it off!
November VE Session and Portable Operations/Help Session
November 22nd is our next VE session at 8:30am. Looking to upgrade or get your license? Come up and take your test! Email us at licensing@vcarc.club so we know you’re coming.
Later the same day, from 11am – 2pm, is our next Portable Operations / Help Session. Come out to the picnic area with your rig, an antenna, and play radio! Do you have ham questions? Need equipment tested or programmed? Bring it and yourself and we’ll help you out.
That’s it for now! Thanks for listening and thanks for supporting our club!
Dave AI6VX
