Opportunities for Fun and Experience
Happy New Year Everyone! We hope you all received some nice radio gear over the holidays. January is here and we have a couple exciting activities coming up!
First on the list is GARS annual Tech Fest. If you have never been to Tech Fest, you owe it to yourself to go. This is listed as a Hamfest by the ARRL, but it is so much more. At Tech Fest, you will be exposed to the activities of many Atlanta area amateur radio clubs. You can find out what other opportunities are available with them in the area. There are some specialty clubs that will be represented, as well. The Southeast DX Club will introduce you to the fun and exciting hobby of contacting distant stations. There has been a QRP club that has been represented for several years. They will show you how to contact other hams using low power, many times less than one watt! There will likely be other interesting clubs, as well.
Gwinnett ARES will be there, as well. From them you will learn how we hams help out the community in times of emergency. If you do not belong to ARES, you can sign up there. Membership is free, and you have an opportunity to give back.
Admission is free. Many free prizes are given away. Did I mention a free lunch? There will be a raffle for the grand prize, which is always a nice radio. Tickets are $5.00 for one or $20.00 for five, and help defray the costs involved in this marvelous event. Interesting exhibits. Free admission. Free prizes. Free lunch, and a chance to win the grand prize, who could ask for more!
Oh, yes, where and when is it being held? It will be on January 14th at the Gwinnett Medical Resource Center, 665 Duluth Highway (GA-120), in Lawrenceville from 9 am until 2 pm. Please plan on coming and staying the whole day. For more information, look up http://www.techfest.info/.
Next up is the Winter Field Day. This takes place January 28th and 29th. It is a 24-hour activity that starts at 1400 (2 p.m.) on the 28th. We will be setting up the radios and antennas starting at 9:30 at the EAA Hangar at the Lawrenceville Airport. This is the same place where GARS holds its monthly meeting. We are outdoors in the June Field Day, but at this event, we will be inside and (hopefully) warm and toasty. We will be setting up 4 HF stations – 2 PHONE, 1 CW and 1 digital.
This event is not an ARRL sponsored event, but it is very popular, and a lot of fun. Everyone who comes will be able to get on the air. If you have a technician class license, you can still operate. Control operators (general and extra class licensees) will abound.
That makes two fun Saturdays in January. Come one, come all!
De KJ4CMY, David