Section Manager Report for October 2023

Hello Western Mass! I must be doing a great job or no one is paying attention or ….? My re-election was another landslide again. Yup, no one else stepped up. So, your stuck with me for another 2 years.

I am a tad late getting this out as we have wrapped up the Big E for another year. I considered it another success as there was some good interest in radio. Over 100 people have signed up interested in taking classes and will go to those who conduct classes to reach out to them. (I will be starting a General class on October 17.) So, now we take a breather, and see what this event will do next year. There were a number of challenges that more helpers could overcome. Time will tell.

October brings cooler weather, fall foliage and Near-Fest. I hope you are praying to the weather gods now considering the weather we had. Most of the weekends were washouts as far as outdoor stuff was concerned. October 13 and 14 are the days.

October is also the month of the annual SET conducted by those in EMCOMM. Chuck WS1L our SEC has been working on one for us. This will be a first in a very long time. Please consider taking a part in it. Details to follow.

I have been working with others revamping NTS called NTS 2.0. We have been updating the ICS 213 and looking at ways to get more activity, awareness injected back in to encourage newer hams to take part in this. This is a national effort and great progress is being made. Tuesday 10/3 was the official launch of the NTS newsletter sent out monthly from the league. If you want to receive it you log in to the leagues website and go to the opt in/out and edit your selection. Not only are we going to provide updates to our project, we are also going to have training tips, traffic related news. This project is supported by the ARRL.

On October 4, 1948 the Hampden County Radio Association became an affiliated club with the ARRL. That makes them 75 years old! I hope you take a moment to send a note (or a piece of traffic) to the club and offer congratulations. They have been a lively active club taking part in many activities and has a membership of over 125 members. Congratulations HCRA!

That all for now. Hope to see you or hear from you. Remember, let me know what’s happening in your neck of the woods.

73
Ray, AA1SE