President’s Message April 2020
This is a very difficult President’s message. The world has stopped turning due to the SARS CoV 2 pandemic. All in-person activities have been cancelled.
The Technician Licensing Class is continuing online using Google Meet. Administering the VE exam safely, honestly, and legally will be a challenge. The AERO 100 class is on hold, because the whole point of the exercise is getting hands-on training with your own radios. We will use Google Meet for our Tuesday club meeting as well.
It was a painful decision to postpone Midwinter Madness, but it soon became clear it was the right one. “Social Distancing” is just not possible at MWM, it’s just not what we do there. We have a potential date for rescheduling, Aug 8th, and the Civic Center has gracefully agreed to hold the date without a deposit for now. But that’s not looking very likely at this point. Even if businesses are starting to open, Social Distancing will still be the norm for a long time. Another hitch is that the Antique Car Run is on the same date. The car run might be possible, with changes.
There is one silver lining I can report. The Chester Bird Post 523 of The American Legion is forming a “TALARC” post, “The American Legion Amateur Radio Club”. They want our help setting up their radio room, training, and operating the radios. In return they offer a meeting space and use of the radio room. If it works out, this will be a fantastic partnership. The cloud on this silver lining is that the post is closed due to the Governor’s Executive Order, so preparations are on hold.
Field Day is going to be a lot different this year. We are unlikely to be able to set up at Gleason Field as a club station. We should all plan on operating a station from home and participating that way. We can each operate E1, “Home Station on emergency power”, or at least D1, “Home Station”. More details as we get closer.
Stay safe, and stay well, we’ll get through this.
Benton Jackson, K0BHJ
