Greetings all! January has quickly come and gone with a flurry of club activities to report on. The CARA Advanced Class has started with approximately 8 participants, but we have an eager bunch of volunteers teaching the course this year. By all accounts it should be fun for all, and even some are garnering teaching experience.

Peter LaGrandeur organized an “Order of Good Cheer Festive Dinner” for club members to give us a chance to get together in a more social setting with fellow club members, their spouses and even a child. The 4 year old kept me busy, and I apologize if I didn’t get a chance to say hello during this fun event. It was much appreciated by all, and a show of hands recommends we do this again with increased frequency!

A group of Club Members activated the communications trailer and made a presence for Winter Field Day. It was a successful event with a few visitors, and even some newly minted radio operators who had a chance to get on the air during the event. Congratulations to all on your efforts, and I look forward to Winter Field Day continuing to be an annual event.

We wrapped up January with our general meeting, which was focused on welcoming new hams. Some equipment was brought in for a “show and tell” to highlight multiple aspects of the hobby. Experienced members also shared stories ranging from quick tips to life stories on how they got into ham radio with the hope to impart some knowledge to our guests and new hams. I hope the evening was enjoyed by all.

Looking forward to February we have a very interesting topic for our upcoming general meeting. Peter Barry VA6PJB will be presenting on the topic of APRS Messaging. APRS is a popular topic amongst club members, however very few realize that APRS not only provides you position location services, but it also has a very robust text messaging application. Come and learn about APRS messaging. It promises to be a great presentation.

With the CARA Spring Flea Market on the books for April 18th (mark your calendars), we will be going through our storage lockers to identify any equipment that needs a new home. Throughout the month of February we will be preparing equipment for review at the general meeting and in Key Klix before issuing the equipment for a flea market table. As equipment seems to pile up quickly, this will be no small task. Volunteers will surely be needed, and a call for help may be coming soon.

73 de VE6NR

Stephane Raimbault

CARA President