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.

 ADARC we will be meeting in the North Fire Station June 24th

May 18, 2023

Hello Roger,

When I retired several years ago one of the first things I did was throw anything away that might tempt me to get a job!  But I’ll send a short note to get things going for you.

 I attended the University of Arkansas studying Electrical Engineering until I realized that had nothing to do with what I enjoyed!  During the summer between my sophomore and junior year, I started as a volunteer fireman.  At that time, the Fire Department would send you to EMT school for free.  I did that just as a way to keep from having to get a real job.  Unfortunately, it did lead to a job at the first municipally owned ambulance service in the state.  I was then able to go to the very first paramedic class held in Hot Springs.  We started with 40 students, and 5 of us finished.  It was quite the experience.

As part of my duties at the ambulance service, I was assigned as the representative to the Local Emergency Planning Committee. The communications guy told me that I needed to be a ham radio operator, and I didn’t have any better sense so I said OK. I shortly became the ARRL EC for Garland County, then was appointed as the Southwest DEC.  I became the Section Emergency Coordinator when David Norris was elected as SM.  I enjoyed that position until David was elected as a Director.  The ARRL appointed me as the Section Manager when that occurred.  During that time I became responsible for all amateur and outside-the-box communications for what is now the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management (ADEM).  I was appointed to be the Section Emergency Coordinator by our current SM, Jay Ferguson N5LKE.

Along the way I was able to attend the first Communications Unit Leader (COML) class in the state.  I am the chair of the Communications Unit Working Group (COMU) for the state, which is responsible for advising the Arkansas Wireless Information Network (AWIN) on qualifications for all ICS positions in the Incident Command structure, We also make recommendations about talk groups for Public Safety agencies. 

I teach ICS 300, 400, COML, and AUXCOMM for ADEM.  I am a member of the SAFECOM committee, which is a Federal Advisory Board.  I sit on two other committees for AWIN; Technology and the Policy Working Groups.  I’m also a voting member of the Arkansas Wireless Information Network Executive Committee.  I hold an amateur, SHARES, and GMRS licenses,  I live and breathe radio.

I am married to Debby KD5UPS, who is a retired airline pilot.  We live in Royal, Arkansas, where I am the 5th generation on the Lazy R Ranch.

ADARC in cooperation with the National Weather Service’s office out of Little Rock held a free class where residents and hams of the area could view a presentation on a large screen, and then by the end of the evening walk out the door as a trained weather spotter.

The event was held at the Workforce Training Center on the campus of UACCM