Clubs

This weekend the Newport County (RI) Radio Club gathered to begin a new annual tradition celebrating Silent Keys. The inaugural Pete Lawson Outdoor Adventure (PLOA) was a huge success on a beautiful New England fall day at Fort Getty, Jamestown, RI.

The event included a catered picnic lunch, Islands on the Air (IOTA) activation, 4-station Fox Hunt, and CW Key Kit build station. It was funded in part by the sale of Pete’s radio gear and friend donations. This meaningful fun event included recognizing Pete Lawson, W1LAB, with a commemorative brick at the ARRL headquarters and gifting Pete’s widow with a decorative copy of that ARRL tribute marker. A highlight after lunch was seeing all ages gather to build the CW Key kits designed by Willy Maclean, W1LY. Sharing the love of radio across the generations.

From ARRL News:

08/31/2022 – The new ARRL Foundation Club Grant Program, funded by a generous grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC), has awarded $270,000 to radio clubs that participated in the first round of applications.

The Club Grant Program, introduced earlier this year, includes $500,000 to be awarded to radio clubs with projects that will have the most impact on amateur radio, the community, and the future of radio technology. The grants will fund transformative projects that encourage the growth of active amateur radio operators and training opportunities, education programs for student groups and schools, and club revitalization. A second round of applications to award the program’s remaining funding will open on September 7, 2022.

Twenty-four clubs were notified on Monday, August 29, that they are receiving grants. The ARRL Foundation received 128 applications in the first round, with requests totaling $1.74 million. The selection committee noted that it was difficult work deciding from many high-quality grant proposals considering the finite available funds. Radio clubs that did not receive grants in the first round may revise and resubmit applications in the second round.

An informational webinar will serve as an orientation to the program, providing information on how to apply. The webinar will take place on September 7 at 7 PM Eastern Time. Please register in advance to attend. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar:

Webinar: ARRL Club Grant Program | Round Two Kickoff
When: September 7, 2022 at 7 PM Eastern Time
Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PezTqPKCTzuwy58FWWgJ3A

The ARRL Foundation, established in 1973 by ARRL  The National Association for Amateur Radio®, administers the Club Grant Program. ARRL has long recognized that it is in the best interests of amateur radio to encourage and support amateur radio clubs. Clubs historically have recruited, licensed, and trained new radio amateurs and have provided the community setting for them to continue their education and training.

The new Club Grant Program will help clubs more easily provide and expand their important services. More information about the program can be found on the ARRL Foundation website at www.arrl.org/club-grant-program.

From https://ema.arrl.org:

Now that you know what it isn’t, come to the next Billerica (MA) ARS meeting and hear what it is from HamXposition Program Chair Phil Temples, K9HI.

Phil will highlight some of the exciting talks and presentations lined up on the three-day program, as well as discussing some of the less-known activities that will occur at the Convention on August 26-28, 2022 at the Best Western Royal Plaza & Trade Center in Marlborough.

(By the way, it’s okay to forget and call it “Boxboro.” Phil does it occasionally, too!)

Phil Temples is ARRL Vice Director for the New England Division and a former Eastern MA Section Manager. A ham for over fifty years, he’s a Life Member of the ARRL and QCWA.

[For Zoom conference details, email Bruce Anderson, W1LUS, at w1lus -at- hotmail -dot- com.]

Vic Farmer, NE1Y, writes on the Providence Radio Association Facebook page on July 25 2022:

Between trees growing into the tower guy wires and vines tangling the guys … there was a lot of cleaning up to do at W1OP.

The main attraction this morning at W1OP was to clear out the tree that broke one tip of the longest element on the Log Periodic Dipole Array. All the surrounding land was pretty well cleared when the clubhouse was built in the 1950s, but now it is a forest and jungle with vines. The workers were very careful to make sure the tree did not fall on the clubhouse. Fortunately, [David “Tess” Tessitore,] K1DT, found the broken tip and it will be reattached.