Oh-Oh! Here we go again! Another silly season is upon us. Those of you who complained about the heat can now switch over to the cold side of it.
Oct 4 was our WMA ARES SET. Chuck WS1L posted an After-Action Report and I will post it on this site. This highlights the fact that we can communicate in an actual event, but this also identified some areas that need a lot of improvement from. Particularly in digital ICS 213 messaging. Also suggested that an Areden mesh network should be developed and utilized to bridge those gaps that the terrain can hinder our performance. Overall, I am encouraged that participation in this activity was better than last year, but we have a lot of work ahead of us. Getting current ARES members to be active more and to get others to join ARES especially where there are dry spots of coverage. The more we improve on this increases our capabilities that will be appealing to our served agencies. Huge thanks to Chuck for the efforts in this activity.
As most of you know, the league launched the letter writing for the Emergency Preparedness Bill. Efforts are still ongoing and still need your help in sending your letter in and talking it up to ALL hams. Clubs also need to send the prepared letter as well. Don’t procrastinate on this one. The current shutdown should not be a reason for doing it later. I visited a number of clubs to visit and promote this as well.
It’s nice to see club’s engaging in activities to create activity among the members. The Montachusett Club had a POTA event in Townsend which a number of members participated. The Hampden club has an Auction on Nov. 7 and they are having a Foxhunt build session to make attenuators and antennas. Last month I reported the CMARA club is having an ARISS event in March. There has been a lot of emphasis on club development and hopefully it leads to renewed interest in increase in participation and membership.
The League has announced in July that 2026 will be The Year of the Club. Two contests have been announced. First one is the newsletter contest. https://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-year-of-the-club-newsletter-contest-call-for-submissions The other is the Website contest. https://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-year-of-the-club-website-contest-call-for-submissions A new website for YOTC is online at https://www.arrl.org/year-of-the-club. It has also been announced that the W1AW-x state events is coming back. It will be the 100th anniversary of the affiliated clubs for the league. More details coming for this one.
Lots of stuff going on! I hope all clubs take advantage of the upcoming activities to get more members and get noticed. And especially to get on the air, mentor new hams, have fellowship with others and to have FUN!
I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving. Stuff your face and then stuff the airwaves. (After the turkey induced nap! 😊)
73, de Ray AA1SE