Presidents Message January 2019
Dang, 2019, who’d a thunk? I hope everyone had a good holiday season. I did. I spent Christmas with my family, my niece, her 2 wonderful boys, and my sister. New Year’s Eve was spent quietly at home with some friends. Yeah, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.
Was Santa good to you? Any new toys for the shack? Yeah, me neither. At least I did not get a lump of coal. Although, as cold as this winter has started off, coal might be a good thing.
At our last club meeting, the speaker was on the MESH Network. How, using old Wi-Fi routers, you can operate a microwave linked system that can handle data, voice even images. It has started to gather some traction here in the valley and in The RATS club. The PAPA system is also looking into setting up a system linked to Snow Peak that will work off of Edom Hill. Several of us have used old Wi-Fi dishes and had them reprogrammed by Hugh KW5X to work on the Ham bands. The MESH network will blanket the valley with an uninterrupted communications system. The RATS board has decided that this is a worthwhile project and is willing to help get the ball rolling. There are routers and antennas available if you are interested. Contact anyone on The RATS board if you are interested.
Our January meeting will be more wiz-bang modern stuff. They are going to drag me into the 21st century kicking and screaming. I’ll admit. I don’t know beans about the new digital voice modes. January 15th will be a talk about modes like DMR and Fusion etc. More down the newsletter.
January also has the start of the Technician classes. It’s still not too late to sign up. Just go to Desertrats.us and go to the Sign Up tab. You can pay for everything including the book right there.
February 15-16 is the Yuma Hamfest. You should not miss this. It’s not that long of a drive, especially if you have someone to share the expenses with. Or you can get a room there. There is the usual barn of Ham Radio vendors, another barn with speakers and a huge swap area. For more info go to: http://www.yumahamfest.org/
March 23 the Desert RATS picnic and BBQ. This is a no brainer, open to all current members of the Desert RATS and their immediate family. The BBQ is supplied by Grills Gone Wild, the folks that did the BBQ at the last Hamfest. We will also have events during the day and we will be giving away at least 3 radios and a bunch of other stuff. All on The Desert RATS. All it cost you is your admission to the park. There is RV camping and Gordon West has promised to be there as well. What a day !
That’s about all. See you at the next RATS meeting at the new location at the Elks Club in Cathedral City. Across from the Trader Joe’s. Scroll down for more info. Maps are on the clubs web site at Desertrats.us.
73
Glenn WB6RLC
