CQ CQ CQ, this is KN4VDW calling CQ.
Another month has come and gone, and we are getting closer and closer to Christmas. But before we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, we still have Thanksgiving ahead of us.
November is our annual meeting at which we elect our Board for the upcoming year. There have been some changes again.
Marty Falk (KI4IQZ) and Richard Trowel (WD4FCJ) have opted not to run again. We want to thank both of them for what they have done for the Club and the HAM Community. Marty and Richard have been a great support at the beginning of the year when the club was forced to remove a rogue board member. I have to say that both of them have been very instrumental, and without them, the club would not be where we are today. So thank you very much for all you have done. Palmetto ARC will forever be in your debt.
Instead of Marty and Richard, we now have David Pomerantz (KO4DKN) and Bill Mercer (KE8TPU) and Mike Wolf (KD4OVP). So, with no further due, here is the Board for 2024:
Charlie Artner (KN4VDW) — President / Secondary PIO
David Pomerantz (KO4DKN) — Vice President / Primary PIO
Mike Wolf (KD4OVP) — Secretary
Howard Alexander (KM4TMW) — Treasurer
Bill Mercer (KE8TPU) — Director at Large
Mike Sam (KF4ZW) — Repeater Trustee
Welcome to the new board members, and let’s hope that 2024 will be just as good as 2023, if not even better.
October was quiet for the PARC Hoppers because we had to redirect every resource to the JOTA 2023 event. Unfortunately, I was out of town, but the club has some competent members. Mike Sam (KF4ZW) took over and did a fantastic job with JOTA 2023. Almost 100 scouts showed up, and Mike Had three HF stations set up.
Howard Alexander (KM4TMW) and David Pomerantz (KO4DKN) assisted Mike with the Scouts. I want to thank all three of you for the fantastic job you did. I hope I will be here to join you all for the fun next year.
Another thing to celebrate is that the Palmetto ARC will start testing again. We are going to begin on January 13, 2024. The details for our first test session can be found by clicking here. We can thank David Pomerantz (KO4DKN) for this—his tireless efforts to get us back on the map paid off. I am confident that David will do an excellent job as a VE Liaison, and I look forward to the many Test Sessions we will have together.
The Test Sessions will be held at the Community Church of Davie. For more details, click here.
Not much has changed regarding the status of our repeaters. To learn more about our and other repeaters in Broward County, click here.
Our 2m repeater (147.375 MHz PL 91.5) has a coverage of close to 30 miles. The 70cm repeater is online, but the coverage is poor—less than 20 miles.
Another thing worth mentioning is that the condo association where our repeaters are located has changed its rules. Unfortunately, these changes have a critical impact on the maintenance of our repeaters, at least for the next two years. The only time we can go up to our repeaters and do some work has been reduced to Mo-Fr 09:00 AM-04:00 PM. That is a general rule change to prevent contractors and service companies from making too much noise during the weekday evenings and the weekends.
Thank God for Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR) who said that if we had an emergency or needed anything done, he would be able to go up there on Friday, since he does not work on Fridays. Mike Same (KF4ZW), our Repeater Trustee, is still working on a better solution, but for now, we just have to deal with the situation to the best of our abilities.
We have two events coming up. The first one is on November 18, 2023. The second one is on December 2, 2023.
November 18, 2023: This is probably our last field day for 2023. We might have one more in December, but that depends on how busy everybody is with Christmas preparations. We are meeting at the Tradewindspark in Coconut Creek again. For more details, click here.
December 2, 2023: This is the Palmetto ARC Christmas Party. Please, if you have not done so, RSVP so we can get a head count. Click here to RSVP and get more details.
I hope everybody had a great November so far and I am looking forward to seeing you all at one or both of the upcoming events.
73 de KN4VWD
One thought on “President’s Message – November 2023”
Good activity! Would love to present at a meeting. I have one I’m developing on “How to work with your HOA for amateur radio.”