Greetings!
We have some exciting news to share with Amateur Radio operators in Perry County. It was about a year that a few of us thought about starting a club for our county. We considered putting up a repeater and it sparked a good debate on the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. Since the CPRA’s Newport repeater was hardly used and provided adequate coverage for the county, we asked to use it for a weekly Tuesday night net. They happily and graciously allowed us to use it. Eventually, it spawned breakfast meetings at the Ranch House and meet-ups at the park.
The time has come to make this club official so we can move on to better things. I’m announcing we’re officially launching the Perry County Amateur Radio Club. The club will have a Constitution and By-Laws which have formally been drafted. With your help, we will elect a Board of Directors and formally adopt our founding documents.
These steps will lay the groundwork for us to have a club call sign. Having a club call sign will allow us to participate in contests and host our own events where Technician Class operators can operate HF bands using the club call sign. If you hold a Technician Class license and wondered what it would be like operating HF bands other than 10 meters, this would be your chance. More to come on that later.
We envision the club operating Field Day and having weekend get-togethers, club meetings, demonstrations and hopefully we’ll expand the club to have VE Testing. We’re also exploring donations and fund-raisers where we can purchase equipment such as High Frequency (HF) transceivers and eventually, erect a repeater if there is interest. But first things first.
We need your help and it’s not membership dues that we’re looking for; it’s your enthusiasm, ideas, and participation that’s most important. For our first meeting, we’re scheduling a Zoom meeting for Thursday, November 18, 2021, at 7:30 PM. We ask that you make every effort to get the word out and attend. Click Here to Register for the Zoom Meeting.
Here’s what’s on the agenda:
- Review why it’s important to take these next steps
- Everyone who attends becomes an official member of the club
- Everyone who attends this meeting will have the power to vote for the office positions
- Seek nominations for the office of President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer (Please volunteer for one of these open positions!)
- Hear your ideas of what you want from this club
73 de Chris, N3MLB
Looking forward to that first Zoom meeting and taking the first official steps in getting a local club started. It sounds like a great opportunity to enhance our individual Amateur Radio experiences and skills.