Jan 1 2021 Timing is everything
Rounding the Corner and Moving Forward: Timing is Everything
2021 is here. So when will our club get back to normal operations and when will in-person meetings begin? I get these questions a lot. All I can say at this point is try to have patience and understand that we will move just as fast as it is safe to do so. With vaccines promised and hopefully coming soon, now is a great time to plan ahead and get our collective house in order.
With that said, I first must offer my thanks to our Board of Directors for their willingness to serve for another term. We are moving forward on a number of fronts. First, we are using this time to take stock of our club assets through an inventory and tagging process to account for all things the club collectively owns. From repeaters to antennas, from Field Day assets to yet to be sold donations, everything needs to be accounted for. A big shout out to Rob, K9RST for doing the heavy lifting (and I mean heavy) and for keeping our storage locker in order.
Second, the Covid 19 pandemic has introduced many new individuals to ham radio and we have many new members (that is a good thing!) but we need to offer mentors to those that are just getting started in our hobby. To that end, we now have a mentor coordinator, Elliot Goldman, K9EHG. Thank you Elliot! A questionnaire will be out shortly to take stock of those that have special expertise and are willing to share it. We will be asking all of you who are willing to become mentors to let Elliot or myself know so we can establish a list of our “experts”.
Next, we are looking forward to the eventual opening of our ham station at the Northbrook Library, which is now operational, but awaiting the official reopening of the library to the public. Not only will you be able to operate UHF/VHF, but also HF. If you would be willing to demonstrate operating skills to the public, please let me know so we can coordinate this effort.
Dave Hewitt, WW9S continues to offer our Build Club in a virtual environment and he is always on the lookout for new kits to offer to club members to build. So let him know if you come across anything that looks new and interesting.
What’s up in the future? Will we have a Winter Field Day? Will we have a summer Field Day? A Fox Hunt? A presence at Hamvention? All of this is still very much dependent on Covid, timing, and our ability to innovate? So please stay tuned.
What can you be doing in the interim? How about making sure your radio’s firmware is up to date? Or taking stock of the equipment you own? Do you have all of your serial numbers listed in a consolidated inventory list? Do you even have an inventory? How about your skill level? If you need to upgrade to the next level, how is that coming? If you have let some of your skills languish, now may be a great time to get up to speed. Have you acquired any new skills? Because sooner or later, the pandemic will pass and you may look back at this gift of time to reflect on whether you made good use of it. It’s time to plan for the future and evaluate our readiness and use the time we have. Here is to a happier 2021!
73,
Burt KR9T