New Location! North Fire Station
By the Hospital and Next to Colton’s
5pm ish if you want to eat (Pizza)
6pm for the regular meeting
David Norris the ARRL Division Manager is tentatively scheduled
For our program

Once again, we are grateful to the city of Morrilton for the use of the North Fire Station. We began setting up around 10 am on Saturday. By 1:30 pm we had 4 stations and 4 antennas operational. 2 of the stations belonged to Chris Gimbert. We appreciate his set up and expertise. The other 2 stations were from the Conway County go box. We were able to add a long cat 4 cable to the head of the IC7100 radio so that station was well separated from the 7300 station.. We had a total of 18 people participate in our endeavor. It was good to see J. M. Rowe, the state ARRL emergency coordinator. We had a total of 136 QSOs. Our contacts were from a total of 32 states, 3 countries, 75 grids, 106 counties, and 43 ARRL sections.

by Steve Beavers
I have held off on making this post until I spoke with his family this morning. Yesterday, a little after noon, Conway County lost an icon. James (Mr. Jim) Taylor passed away at Conway Regional Hospital. He proudly served his country during the Vietnam War. He brought the skills he learned back to his home in Conway County and used them to benefit everyone he met. He served proudly with the Conway County Fire Department for many years and would do anything to help them until the day he passed. He was an integral part of Conway County Office of Emergency Management for more years than I can count. He served as our communications officer up until a few months ago when he finally admitted that he needed to slow down a little bit (He didn’t really slow down much). He was always ready to help any time anyone needed it. He made sure to monitor storms, and make sure everyone was ok. He was the driving force behind the Arkansas Diamonds Radio Group, where he served as a board member. He always tried to keep the group moving in the right direction and grow. He was the catalyst behind many of the big projects that the Arkansas Diamonds is rolling out. Mr. Jim, serve his country and his community well. He also served his friends. Mr. Jim never met a stranger. After a few minutes, he was your friend. And there was a good chance that he would hand you a study guide and try to recruit you into amateur radio. I was fortunate enough to not only work with Jim, but also be friends. He helped me through a few tough places lately. He was always there to give good advice. It may not have been advice I wanted, but it was the advice I needed. He would come to my office and say “Boss, I’m headed to lunch and bingo”, “Boss, it’s commissary day, do you need anything” or “Boss, I’m headed to Tucker Mountain, call if you need anything”. I know he always meant it. As he was headed to the hospital, he made sure that I knew he would not be at work the next day. I know, he didn’t want us to worry about him if he wasn’t at the office. I know I am one of many who has been touched by Jim’s love. The last text that I got from Jim, simply read “Love too all”. He truly meant it. Mr. Jim was a one-of-a-kind person; a person we should all strive to be. He will be missed by many. AF5EI, we’ll take it from here.

Christmas has come and gone and so has the Winter Solstice.  Looking forward to 2024 we have two events in January.  The first event will be our first club meeting of 2024 on January 11th at the Downtown Church of Christ, Morrilton.  Roger (KF5SDE) is in charge of the Menu.  He will give us a hint soonly.  We will also elect new officer at the January meeting.  I will also be collecting 2024 dues.  If you have a question about your dues status, drop me a note.  The meeting will start at 6pm.  If you wanna eat show up about 5pm or a little before for fellowship.  Please bring a non-perishable food item for the food pantry. 

The second event for January will be the Winter Field Day, starting 1300 hours January 27th and continuing until 1300 hours January 28th.  We have reserved the North Fire Station for this event.  Set up will start about 10am on the 27th.  We will throw some wires up in the trees and maybe set up some poles.  We always have great fellowship and fun at Field Days.  Bring your own equipment, we will help you set it up.  We will use the club call sign, KE5FSY.  I will have the magic box if someone wants to test.  If you have questions about equipment, we will have experts there to answer your questions.

Another major event of 2024 will be the eclipse in April.  We are making preparations as we go along.  We will need radio operators.  More on that later.

Stewart (KD5LBE) (oldmayor@sbcglobal.net) is looking for articles for the January issue of the club newsletter.  If you have something for the newsletter, send it to him.  It don’t have to be related to HAM radio, it can be a human interest story. Things you did or something that happened to you in 2023 or an item you have for sale or something you are looking for.

Well, folks, I think that is enough for now.

Please have a Happy and SAFE New Year.

Jim    AF5EI 

Steve Beavers, KF5DIF director of the Conway County Office of Emergency Management gave an excellent update on plans for the eclipse. He also talked about our role for communications and what is available to us from training to equipment. Officers for the 2024 were also elected. David Eichenberger W5WUP president, Jim Taylor AF5EI treasurer. The club will donate $50.00 to the food pantry. Roger Alabach KF5SDE talked about the Winterfest in Hoxie will be held on February 17th, the River Valley Hamfest on March 2nd at the Dardanelle community center, Winter Field Day. Jan 27th, Jim Taylor AF5EI, has reserved the North Fire Station in Morrilton more information in the club newsletter.

Well folks, it’s been awhile since I did a Club Notes.  My plate has been pretty full the last few weeks, but here I am.

Our next quarterly meeting will be October 12th, next Thursday, at the Downtown Church of Christ, 100 West Church Street, Morrilton.  Steve Beavers, KF5DIF, OEM Director, will be our speaker.  He will discuss our participation in the 2024 eclipse.  As of my last conversation with Roger, KF5SDE, our club President, it looks like Subway Sandwiches are on the menu, that might change, but not likely. Roger has taken over responsibility for the menu to help me clean my plate, which is much appreciated.  Roger can be reached at kf5sde@gmail.com. We do need a headcount, not just for food, but if you plan to attend.  If you are someone with a special needs diet, please let him, or me, know.  We will do our best to accommodate you.  This is your Club Notes, if you have something to post, let me know.  Club dues for 2024 can be paid at the meeting.  Your support is greatly appreciated.  Hope to see you there.

The K5BOC Memorial HAMfest is October 14th at the Petit Jean Lutheran Camp on Petit Jean Mountain.  The grand prize is Yaesu 991A.  More information is available at http://www.arrl.net or at http://www.k5boc.net.  This is a family friendly event and is mostly indoors,  Breakfast and lunch will be available.

Our annual Fun and Fellowship day will be Saturday, November 4th at the Morrilton City Park.  Both pavilions have been reserved.  At least one HF rig will be set up for making QSOs if anyone is so inclined.  Made a couple last year.  If you have something to sell or trade, bring it.  Tables will be available at no cost or you can tail gate. I will be there about 8ishAM to start setting up.  I will have the magic box in case someone wants to test.  I will also have some things to sell or trade,  Looking forward to seeing you all there.

The Winter Field day will be 1300 hours January 27 to 1300 hours January 28 2024.  Set up will start about 10ish.  North Fire Station has been reserved again this year.  Mark it on your calendar.  More on that as it gets closer.

Any questions or comments? Contact me here or Roger at kf5sde@gmail.com.  

Have a great day and safe weekend.

Jim   AF5EI

Just a heads up:

The Arkansas Diamond Amateur Radio Club’s quarterly meeting will be October 12th at the Downtown Church of Christ, Morrilton.  More on that later.

The K5BOC Memorial HAMfest is October 14th at the Petit Jean Lutheran Camp on Petit Jean Mountain.  The grand Prize is a Yaesu 991A.  I will send out another e-mail as it gets closer.  In the meantime more information is available at  http://www.arrl.net and/or at http://www.k5boc.net.  This is a very family friendly event and is mostly indoors.  Breakfast and lunch will be available.

The Arkansas Diamond Amateur Radio Club’s Annual Fun and Fellowship Day will be November 4th at the Morrilton City Park.  More on that later.