Our most recent club event, the Fox Hunt was held on Tuesday, July 14. This year was somewhat unusual as of the first four who found the Fox, three were young people!  First to find the Fox was Carter KE9FPA who had Warren KC9IL as his Elmer. Now we all know that Warren IS the best Fox hunter around, however Carter is an up and coming contender for the title. Check out Carter’s bio on QRZ. Second to find the Fox was Tom N9TOM. Third was the father and son team of Mike K9MTP and his as yet not licensed son. Fourth was another family team of Joel W9ICL and his son Mitchel KC9SWS. Show that to those who would claim amateur radio is a dying hobby comprised of old men!

Field Day 2026 was held on June 27-28th. To top it off, we had perfect weather which does not happen often. Our radio stations operated for 24 hours on SSB, CW, and FT8. As an added bonus our Technical Director Greg Karlove, W9GAK made satellite contacts! We made many more contacts Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning at the GOTA (Get On The Air) station.

Although we will not know how well we did in this “not a contest” for several months, I would consider this event a victory. As you might know we get extra points for having first responders, elected officials, and medical personnel visit our site. This year we had them all.

One of the key elements of Field Day is exposing Amateur Radio to the public.  In fact, Field Day is our BEST opportunity to show off how effective we can be in an emergency.  By now you’re thinking yes Brian, we know all that.  The point of this month’s column is to ask for YOUR help inviting your friends and neighbors to experience the North Shore Radio Club Field Day.  We will be operating at Clarkson Park in Northfield from 1pm on Saturday June 27 through 1pm on Sunday June 28.

How do YOU answer the question what is amateur radio?  When friends ask me about amateur radio, I’m frequently at a loss as how to explain my hobby.  Is it about public service, electronics, emergency communication, speaking with folks far away, or something else?   That very question is the topic of this week’s email newsletter “On All Bands” published by DX Engineering.  It has some great insight into explaining our hobby.  Here is the link:

‍ https://www.onallbands.com/youth-insights-tips-on-explaining-amateur-radio-to-your-non-ham-friends/

What does it mean to be an amateur radio operator in 2026?  Looking back the history of radio one finds the radio amateur prominent in the development of equipment and operating methods.  In 1939 RCA recruited a few of the then 50,000 plus radio amateurs to build and demonstrate the new technology: Television!  Fast forward to 2017 and WSJTX including FT8 were developed by hams Joe Taylor K1JT and Steve Franke K9AN. 

IWorld Amateur Radio Day, held on April 18th each year, is celebrated worldwide by radio amateurs and their national associations, which are organized as member-societies of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). It was on this day in 1925 that the IARU was formed in Paris. American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Co-Founder Hiram Percy Maxim was its first president. The first Ham Radio Open House event last year was tied to IARU’s centennial celebrations. This year’s activity is part of ARRL’s “Year of the Club” theme.