It is hard to stay enthusiastic about public service amateur radio in a time when everything we do is cancelled. We all must find ways to overcome this. One thing we can do is training. If you haven’t taken the basic FEMA classes, ICS-100, 700, 800, and 200, get that out of the way, so when the AERO classes are taught again, you’ll be ready. You can also spend time practicing on the air. Make contacts, check into nets, participate in contests. Maybe even learn CW. Take advantage of this quiet time and sharpen your skills, so we can hit the ground running when the pandemic is over. If you have any ideas how we can work together as a club while apart, let me know!
Have you given any consideration to joining us on the Board of Directors? Our election is in September, and we will start taking nominations at the August meeting.
I would again like to thank Gordy Hanson and all the VE’s who have been helping to make our online VE testing possible. At last count, we’re at 77 exams administered online so far. One of our candidates mentioned we were recommended by Josh, from the YouTube channel Ham Radio Crash Course. That explains the sudden surge of applicants we had a couple of weeks ago.
At the end of August, there is a ham radio volunteer opportunity that is safe for physical distancing- the Ojibe Forest Rally. We had a presentation on this a couple months ago, and as of press time this is still ON.
Benton Jackson, K0BHJ
