DELARA NEWS is the monthly publication of the Delaware Amateur Radio Association, Delaware OH. February, 2019 VOL 38 Number 2

Welcome

This is the official newsletter of a great ham radio club! Our DELARA family appreciates what you’re doing with the hobby! Why not take a few minutes and write out what interests you in our hobby! We have room for your article always! Send it to Stan [at] standi.com by the end of the month.

Kicking off the year with a

party!

A bout of winter weather kept some safely

at home

Honestly, it wasn’t pretty. The weather turned cold, and the snow was falling. All the ingredients to go along with the DELARA Holiday Party in the middle of January. Unfortunately, all the ingredients to make driving and walking hazardous kept many DELARA members safely home, and we couldn’t blame them! But despite the hardships, our intrepid chef Tim, NS8B, took on the challenge and managed to lay out a great dinner fare of - what else? - ham. Our members who did brave the weather added their tasty contributions so that we all had full bellies before it was time to go home. To those (exhibiting a large amount of common sense) who didn’t make it, we did our part to make up for you! It was a great time of family and fellowship!

The Prez’s Shack

The Prez’s Shack By the time this reaches the masses, the groundhog will have popped out of his warm lair to give us his weather prediction and the Super Bowl will be over. When will the snow melt? Were there any more officiating blunders or wardrobe malfunctions? The crystal ball here at the AA8TA shack is cloudy on those questions. What is the ARRL and why do we need it? Of course, they are our national radio club and they provide a long list of services and learning opportunities for hams. They also represent us before the FCC and can let certain groups know that we exist and we do not appreciate our frequencies being take away from us or having our bands rendered useless by spurious noise. In some countries, national radio clubs are a vital link to getting an amateur radio license and, although the ARRL provides licensing education and testing, ARRL membership is not a requirement to get a license. What has been interesting is some shakeups that have happened within the League within the last year or so. There was much controversy over some decisions made by the board of directors and chief executive stepped down. Shortly after naming a new CEO, a few directors were replaced after voting in their divisions. It looks like things are going to be different in League headquarters. One of the interesting things that the new CEO wants to do is to start a program to assist newly licensed hams as they get on the air and take advantage of the privileges they have. There seems to be a thinking that new hams are given their CSCEs, a pat on the back and told to have fun and all the while they do not know what to do next. One of the reasons that we offer membership in DELARA to those who pass one of our sponsored exam sessions is so that they can hang out with us and get to know some people and ask questions as they go about figuring out what to do. This can and should be a gradual process of talking, seeing and asking as a person starts their ham radio journey. Thinking back to my reentry into ham radio, I do not think a one-time class on what to do next would have helped as much as just hanging around and listening and asking more experienced operators why this might work and that might not. We do get several new hams who visit us from time to time. I encourage you to say hi to them and ask them what they are up to. If they ask you a question that you cannot answer, point them to the front of the room and we will try to find the expert who can help them. Also, do not be afraid to ask questions; it’s all a learning opportunity. Please join us for our next meeting on Wednesday, February 20, 7:30 p.m. at the Delaware Red Cross, 380 Hills-Miller Road. Bring your questions or answers or both. 73, Joe, AA8TA

LEARN CW!

Dale Bauer, W8KTQ, has staged a solid class for many in DELARA who want to learn the original digital mode- CW. Over a dozen showed up for the first class, and interest is high! This report shows the class is already a success: Roy, W8REH, came to his first CW class last night (the 2nd one we've held) and after an hour or so, he must have gotten enthused because he got on 80 CW this morning and made a contact with the Straight Key Century Club operating the Straight Key CW Special Event Station, K3Y. I asked Roy how long it had been since he had been on CW; he replied: 1967!!! CONGRATULATIONS ROY! Terrific to see you're back in the saddle!!! Dale-W8KTQ