Just got back from our semi-annual Radiator Grille. Terrific turnout this year and it was great to see everyone having a good time. We also got to welcome several new faces who will be joining our ranks – always a good thing to see. Huge kudos to three folks who were mainly responsible for the success of this event: Jeff W4AEQ for pulling everything together, John N1QFH for seemingly being everywhere at once, getting the shack clean and ready and making multiple go-fer trips to keep us supplied with food, drink and ice. Last but certainly not least a huge thank-you to John KE4IDW, our superb chef, for preparing and serving all the goodies. Thank you also to everyone else who jumped in to help with one thing or another. That generous spirit is one of our club’s greatest assets.

As I mentioned last month, we have received a great deal of donated equipment. In the past few weeks, several members got together to go over it all and take a first pass at sorting through it all. We’ve made great strides in determining what to keep, what to share with members or sell, and what goes to the junk heap.

You will be hearing more shortly about the equipment that’s avail-able. Of course, mem-bers will get first dibs and at a very favorable price.

Our next major event, on the weekend of May 5th and 6th, is our Tech-nician license crash course. Please be sure and let your prospec-tive ham friends know about this free training, which will culminate in an opportunity to take the test on Sunday af-ternoon. We’re always looking for instructors to share the load, so if you’re available and in-terested please contact me.

Speaking of testing, our quarterly VE session will take place on Thursday evening, May 10, at 7pm in the com-munity center at Patch Reef

Park. Please con-tact Jerry Zaza W4BFL for further information.

Well, that’s about it for this month. Happy Spring and we hope to see you again soon!

73  de KO4XL Bruce

Ah, springtime in Florida! Kinda looks a lot like summer, fall and winter in Florida, doesn’t it? But of course we still do spring cleaning, and there certainly seems to be some of that going on. Thanks in part to that spring cleaning, we have been blessed with a considerable amount of donated equipment lately, and we are certainly grateful for the generosity of the members responsible for it. Over the next few weeks, we will be sorting through and inventorying these newfound treasures. Some of the new stuff will eventually be put to use to provide additional capabilities (amateur satellite, for example) at our station. The rest will be turned into funds to further ensure the future financial stability of our club.

You might not be aware that when our club sells off extra equipment, it has always been our practice to offer it first to our members at a substantial discount from the price we would expect to get through Ham Trader, ebay, etc. While this has historically been done by word of mouth, our new website makes it possible for all members to see what’s currently available. So keep signing in – while hunting for the web fox, you just might find a piece of gear that you just can’t live without!

We have a couple of major activities coming up in the next month. On Saturday, April 28th (rain date Sunday the 29th), we will hold our spring Radiator Grille. These bi-annual open house events are a great time to show off our station and our hobby to our significant other, our kids and grandkids, as well as any friends or co-workers who might be interested in getting involved in our hobby. So save the date, and we hope to see you there.

Also coming up, on the weekend of May 5th and 6th, is our next Technician license crash course. Please be sure and let your prospective ham friends know about this free training, which will culminate in an opportunity to take the test on Sunday afternoon. We’re always looking for instructors to share the load, so if you’re available and interested please contact me. Speaking of testing, our quarterly VE session will take place on Thursday evening, May 10, at 7pm in the community center at Patch Reef Park. Please contact Jerry Zaza W4BFL for further information.

Well, that’s about it for this month. On behalf of our board may I wish you a happy spring/Easter/Passover and we hope to see you soon!

73 de KO4XL
Bruce

Fellow BRARA Members:

You may have heard about recent problems at ARRL, either from CQ Magazine, other hams, or friends.  Indeed, in the last year or so a major set of changes has been underway in how ARRL governance is organized, and it is not good for the general membership of the League.  The current ARRL management has become increasingly secret in its actions, behaving very much unlike the member-based service organization we have all known ARRL to be over the last century.  Many clubs have written letters to ARRL Directors, Vice-Directors and officers, as have many hundreds of individuals.  If there is any doubt about the extent of the problem, just go to www.myarrlvoice.org and read some of the various club letters.  From there you can also send a personal message to all Directors, which I would strongly encourage.  For our part, today I have sent the letter shown below to ARRL on behalf of the Directors, officers and members of BRARA.  Our goal is to help ARRL avoid becoming a closed organization to its membership.  73, Bruce KO4XL

Click here to view ARRL Letter

Whew! We’ve all made it through December’s madness and a New Year is upon us. With the New Year comes new opportunities and responsibilities. In my case, as your new club president, this means stepping up my game and learning how to fill the big shoes left by my predecessor. I hope that you will bear with me and the other new officers and board members as we do our best to help BRARA to thrive and grow over the next three years.

We all owe a huge thank you to two people who have been instrumental to our success: Gerry KG4FUR and Art WA8VSJ. Both of these gentlemen stepped up and stepped in when their predecessors were unable to complete their respective terms. This speaks volumes to their character and their dedication to service. Under their leadership we have grown both in size and in our stature in the Amateur community. Your new board is dedicated to continuing along the successful trail that they have blazed.

As a group, we have much to be proud and thankful for. Not only has our membership grown, but the level of member participation in our club’s events and activities far exceeds what is typical for most organizations. Nowhere was this more evident than in the acquisition and construction of our new station facility in West Delray Park. Literally dozens of our members pitched in with their knowledge, skills, funds and lots of sweat to create a station that is the envy of our Amateur community.

As an ARRL Special Service Club, we should take pride in the fact that four of our members have been appointed to positions in the Southern Florida Section. Thanks to the dedication of these and many other active club members, we continue to serve our community by providing license training and testing, participating as communicators in local events, and engaging with our local schools and youth organizations to stimulate young people’s interest in Amateur Radio.

I think the recurring theme in all of this is the fantastic collection of wisdom and abilities represented by you – our members, along with your enthusiasm and dedication to working together to accomplish our goals. To me, this is the most important legacy of our past, and something that Jeff W4AEQ, John N1QFH, Patrick KE4OBV, George WA2VNV, Jerry W4BFL, Jeff K4BH and I all hope to support and sustain as we move forward into the future.

I wish all of you the happiest and healthiest of New Years, and look forward to working with all of you in the coming months.

73,
Bruce KO4XL

“Da Prez Sez”:

This is my last article as the BRARA Prez and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you for making this Club what we have become.

I especially want to acknowledge Art, WA8VSJ for stepping up to the plate and being the best VP one could ask for. As my Senior mentor, confidant and advisor, we wouldn’t be where we are today without Art. He was more a Co-Prez with most Technical issues falling in his lap and most Admin in mine.

The rest of the active Board: Jerry W4BFL, Patrick KE4OBV, Bruce KO4XL and Jeff W4AEQ; could be counted on to pitch in using their expertise to make a go out of any situation that presented itself.

The addition of John N1QFH, Jeff K4BH and George WA2VNV will insure that we continue forward. I am confidant that we will.

‘Nuf’ said.

As we look forward to the Holidays and the balance of this year, we have a couple of items to take care of:

• Our Next Meeting is Tuesday 5 December at the West Boca Library.
• Our Holiday Party is Thursday, 21 December at the Boca Linda Club House. See the flyer on page 10 and be sure to sign-up (On-Line or see John N1QFH). Jerry and Milagros are planning to outdo last year.

The New Board takes over 1 January 2018 and I am sure that there will be more exciting events coming.

One final thought, “Winter is Coming”. Better yet, Winter Field Day will soon be upon us-27/28 January 2018

73 KG4FUR