President’s Christmas Message
Well, here we are only ten days away (at this writing) from the Winter Solstice and nine days away from our annual Christmas/Holiday season dinner, and of course we can’t let the opportunity go by without the requisite comment on the number of shopping days left – thirteen I believe, counting Christmas eve – which is my usual shopping day (Grace says what shopping day – you don’t shop).
In any case, I’d like to take the opportunity to wish everyone a very Happy Hanakah, Merry Christmas, Super Solstice, jolly holiday, or even Happy Festivus (“Festivus -- the holiday for the rest of us” – if you have an aluminum unadorned vertical antenna, you may qualify – check Google if you’re curious).
As is customary at this time of year, editorialists usually recap the year past and do some prognostication regarding the year to come. I must apologize for not having much material for the “look back” part – as stated in my previous President’s Message, I was largely MIA and therefore can only, once again, thank the outgoing executive for their participation and work on behalf of the club. It is often a thankless task and I’m sure I speak for all the members when I say thank you all for being there. Also thanks and appreciation are in order for all club members who responded to club group activities such as Winter Carnival Parade, Falkland Stampede parade and the BBQ Picnic for our immediate past club secretary, Todd Sandrelli VE7MTS (now VE6MTS). This event was hosted by Garry VE7EIY and Linda VA7CAV, and by all accounts was a great send off for Todd
The one event on which I can personally comment is the ‘Antenna Analyzer’ night which took place on November 15th. Kudos to Murray VE7MH, Rob VA7RMM, Doug VE7VZ and all the others who attended and participated, it was a lot of fun and we even learned a few things. Those who weren’t able to make it will have an opportunity to see Murray’s awesome new ‘toy’ the Rig Expert© AA-230 Antenna Analyzer (Christmas come a little early Murray?) It’s a very interesting piece of gear and I’m sure if you ask him Murray will tell you all about it.
This leads me to the new year and plans that are afoot. On January 18th, 2013, the program for the regular “meeting” night will once again be on antenna and feedline topics. Our guest speaker will be Ralph Olds VE5RO (formerly of Saskatchewan via the Fraser Valley and presently of Armstrong). Ralph is very knowledgeable and has a great knack of making complex topics seem not so complex. This will be of interest to all, but the focus of the evening is mainly for the ‘not so technical’ ham or those of us who have largely forgotten some of the theory of antenna matching issues, feedline impedance and the like. This should prove to be very interesting evening so please do come out and participate (refreshments will be available).
Future winter programs will be announced as soon as we figure them out (hi hi). Please keep in mind that the next major participatory event will be Vernon Winter Carnival Parade, taking place on Saturday February 2nd, 2013. As NORAC is listed as a sponsor or the Winter Carnival parade, it would be nice to see a good turnout for this event.
Once again, I wish you all a joyful and safe holiday season, wherever you may be. Merry Christmas to all!
73,
Bob, VE7EZI
webmasters note
Bob really wanted his letter posted with a nice Christmas Tree graphic. But embedding this type of stuff is not supported by the website unless it's attached as a PDF file.
Here is the attached PDF file, please download it and enjoy his hard work (hi hi)