Tonight was the first club meeting of the year, and what a great meeting it was! We had great attendance and real enthusiasm from everyone. A great way to start the year.
We had election of officers, and I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out. Our president, Ed, has had some serious health issues in the past year, though he's past them now. He had said he would stay on another term as president, but I wasn't sure if he actually felt like it or not.
A club member put forward a motion to re-elect all the current officers. They all agreed with the exception of my wife, who is secretary.
She's never felt like much of a secretary, and I pretty much drafted her for the job when the club reformed to get her to the meeting each month (it worked!).
Bill, former president of the Bullitt Co. ARS, was elected secretary of the club. The spot of vice-president was open, since we had no vp and the ARRL wanted us to have one. My wife nominated Jody for that one, and he agreed to accept the spot.
We even had two new members sign up, and you can't beat that for a January meeting.
And what else did we discuss? Tech class, electronics class, Field Day, a hamfest, boy scouts, etc. Like I said, it was a very busy night.
I have been monitoring the KSN, the Kentucky Slow CW Net most every few nights at 10 pm. I think I'm finally getting the hang of net operation. Its no wonder that CW traffic handling is done so efficiently — they have such great abbreviations for the various commands and phrases that a good traffic handler can pass the message faster than by phone (with fills).
I want to check in to the KSN, but I have not done so yet. Part of me is still chicken!
I'm surrounded by Vibroplex bugs, but guess what I'm using at the operating position? My old, crusty Speed-X bug! I've got it adjusted to a good speed, and its variable enough to go up or down without too much fussing. I'm really liking this key a lot more than I would have imagined.
A little irony — I've got four other of the exact model Speed-X bug in my collection, all in mint condition — one of them still in the original box with original cable. And here I'm using the worst-looking one of the bunch!
I guess I'm like that. My other favorite bug is a 1925 Vibroplex Original that is very worn. I had plans to refinish the base, but after I found the call letters “WAR” scratched in the base I decided to hold off. The WAR bug is a smooth one too. I think many of the pre-1940 bugs are smoother than their newer brethren. Of course, how well a bug works probably depends more on adjustment than anything else.
That's about all for this entry. I'm off to prowl the 80-meter band, though it sure sounds noisy.
73 es CUL …. de KY4Z SK ….. dit ….. dit ….