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Calgary Amateur Radio Association

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2021 November Executive Committee Message

16 Nov 2021 5:58 PM | Peter LaGrandeur (Administrator)

(November message from Joel Weder VE6EI, Vice President CARA)

All of a sudden, here we are in the middle of November. How the heck did that happen?

At least the weather's not too bad at the moment for antenna projects. Are you planning anything? Though as I write this there were terrible HF conditions due to a big solar flare. But at least the aurora was amazing! Or so I hear - I slept through it, again!

There is a lot going on with various club special interest groups recently. The Repeater team got up to VE6RYC on Nose Hill to finish the roof project. Thanks to VE6CID, VA6PJB and VE6WXQ for getting that messy project dealt with before winter. And they're starting to look at a project to link to VE6AQA, the Kananaskis voice repeater. That will come in very handy as winter closes in and Hwy 40 becomes more treacherous. And any time of year really, as there's so much recreational activity through that area.

The Station team has been busy cleaning up and organizing the Sports Car Club yard. Lots of hardware for upcoming projects or leftovers had accumulated. The team, including VE6TC, VE6CCL, VE6WMS and others, made a concerted effort to separate items that could be sold or disposed of from items that were to be kept for near-term projects. This was very timely, as the CSCC has recently completed a landscaping project to improve drainage in the area. Work done will help ensure the club station remains dry when there's heavy rain. Thank you CSCC!

We received word recently that CARA will be assigned a casino time slot in the spring of 2022. The funds received from casinos help us to fund many projects, large and small. As our Casino Coordinator Martin VE6VH (thanks Martin!) has recently stepped down, we are looking for someone to take on the role. And when the time comes, we hope we can count on some of you to offer your time to work a shift.

We had an enjoyable monthly general meeting, this time held on VE6RYC. Attendees were asked about what could be done to improve CARA. We received some very well thought-out ideas. Thank you to those who participated. For those who didn't attend, just so you know, General meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 7 pm, with the exception of our Zoom Christmas Party, which will be held on Tuesday, December 21st at 7 pm. Meetings have been held on Zoom, or occasionally on VE6RYC, though we do hope to start holding them in person sometime early in the New Year. You can always find the details by going to the club website (caraham.org) and checking the Upcoming Calendar Events section.

One of the topics brought up at the general meeting on VE6RYC was "How do we get more youth interested in ham radio?" Suggestions included doing presentations and demonstrations for the Scouts, Guides, Air Cadets and also the SAIT & university engineering students. Some of this has taken place over the years, but efforts could certainly be stepped up.  Anyone interested in taking on this task? It really ought to be up to ALL of us to promote our wonderful hobby/service, whenever we see the opportunity.

73 for now, until we see (or hear) each other next time...

Joel Weder, VE6EI

Vice President, CARA



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