President’s Notes, July 2018 — Ham Radio Excitement!

by Bill Carroll, KC9CIK
President, SLSRC

During this past month, I have been able to see the excitement of amateur radio. Two examples have come to mind.

The first one is seeing a young ham who has been around the club meetings a few times, and at this year’s Field Day event. This year at Field Day I had the privilege of observing Kyle, AAØZ, explain to him 2018 Field Day-Kyle AAØZhow our Field Day antennas were arranged and how they were used. If you get the opportunity, ask Kyle about the discussion he had with the young ham.

The interest that this young man has in the hobby, and the ability for him to understand the technical side of the hobby was really fun to observe. I could see the joy on his face while he was absorbing all of the information that was being fed to him. This is one of the many joys of our hobby. The ability to expose others to the fun of amateur radio.

My second opportunity was with Tom, KEØSGU. Tom was in a recent Technician Class sponsored by SLSRC, and went on to pass his VE testing for Technician. He is a teacher from the Jefferson County area, Thomas KEØSGUand is looking for ways to make science exciting. He also has been awarded a grant from the ARRL to learn more about how to use amateur radio in the classroom setting. For the past week, he has been in Dayton learning just that. I have been able to watch as he has done Facebook Live posts of some of the activities he has gone through. Tom has shown an excitement for the hobby that will lead him to great chances to inspire children.

I look forward to working with Tom and others in getting excited about the hobby of amateur radio.