| Activities Coming Up | Niquette SP Activation | Meeting Minutes |
To be honest, as it is getting colder out, we doesn't have much happening in the next few months. There are a few things we are looking at, but we need everyone's ideas.
RANV HOLIDAY PARTY
Obviously, we will not be able to meet as a group. But, is there
interest to have a party on Zoom? If we are on line, we can have it any
time - even in the evening, since no one will be traveling. Snow and
darkness is not an issue. Interested in a Friday or Saturday night?
That would be possible since we will not have other parties or
engagements happening. Where will the food come from? The simple
answer: any place you like. We all have the option of rolling our own,
or ordering out. Debbie and I have been ordering out from various
restaurants and eating outside all summer and fall. This would be a
great opportunity to try something different from a different
restaurant. But how would we do this on line? We could start the
meeting as a large group and then break out into "breakout rooms" where
we all can have smaller discussions. We can move from room to room,
much like one would move from conversation to conversation at a live
party. The only issue is that someone (i.e. the meeting host) would
have to serve as moderator and actually move folks in between rooms. At
some pre-determined time, we would start eating, either as a large
meeting group or in breakout rooms. And, of course, we can do shack
mini-tours, share screens, show pictures and or videos.
The questions which need to be asked and answered:
This discussion will be brought over to the RANV Reflector for group discussion. And the good part - RANV members and our friends from all over the country can join in without any travel issues. Please consider if you want to do this and join the discussion.
Depending on how this discussion goes, we may use the same format for the Winter Breakfast in January.
HAM-CON
Currently, while things are quiet in Vermont, the virus is still out
there and anyone who is careless around someone infected runs the risk
of becoming infected themselves. Europe is facing a severe outbreak
right now, so it is still real. It doesn't look like this thing will be
going away in a few months. Unless some miracle comes along soon, it is
highly likely that HAM-CON cannot be a live event. Plans are starting
to come together to make HAM-CON into a virtual event. But our plan is
to not just be any virtual event, but to be the best one out there.
This next month, I am looking for people with vision to put together
this show on-line. In December, we will start planning the operation in
earnest. This will be challenging, to say the least, but we have the
potential to build a show larger than our live shows in the past. Is
this something you are interested in? Please do join with us in the
planning part.
MEETINGS
We have been having the monthly meetings and Steering Wheel meetings
each month, in addition to smaller gathering on the nights when we
doesn't have formal meetings. Sadly, the interest and turn-out has been
dwindling. Why? Many of us do not work and have limited interaction
with others. One would think that there would still be plenty of
interest in meetings. There certainly isn't a plethora of people on the
air either. If you are busy doing a lot of different things, this is
understandable. However, what I hear is that people, in general, have
little to do and are bored and frustrated. If that is so, join in on
the meetings and on the air. For your well-being, the key thing to do
in these times is to engage with others instead of going it alone. And
the key thing to keep amateur radio healthy is to BE ACTIVE. Make no
mistake - we are under assault. Our 9 cm band (3456 MHz) will likely be
stripped from us, and the FCC is planning for $50 license fees. We do
not help our own cause by sitting back and doing nothing. The active
club members wrack their brains out each month coming up with cool
programs. But if these meetings get a paltry response of 10 people (out
of a club membership of 100), folks will simply not want to work hard to
put this shows on.
Unlike other clubs, we do have activities coming up. They are
different, but they are activities nonetheless. If they are not your
cup of tea, speak up and tell someone what we should be doing instead.
Get involved!
We activated at Niquette Bay State Park K-3136, Sunday at 11AM.
Conditions were challenging due to interference from an unknown source.
This problem had been present at prior activations at Niquette Bay.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiuE5Yoi7A4
https://www.facebook.com/100000434910746/videos/3659871224037339
The monthly RANV meeting was held September 8th at 7 PM. The meeting was held via Zoom. We had 3 speakers present a range of topics followed by discussion.