The Spark Gap

Luke 1:26-28 --- In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

December is here and Christmas is just around the corner. I hope you can join us for our Christmas gathering and business meeting on Saturday morning 12/07/2024 at the Queen City Truck Stop.

Our beginner class for soldering will be starting soon and one spot is still available. We will discuss it at our meeting.

The Pearl Harbor QSO will start on the 6th of December and go through the 8th. This a once in a lifetime chance to get in on this event. More information below.

In other news, testing for license will begin again next year and the dates have been posted on ARRL.

Also in this months email should be a letter about Robert Hayes, who is the state manager for ARES. He was in an accident and a GoFundMe account has been set up for donations to help cover costs that are not covered by insurance. Please consider donating to help him in his time of need. I'll try to have more information on him at the meeting. See you there.

The next business meeting will be held in the side room at the Queen City Truck Stop from 9am until... on Saturday December 7th. Come join us for breakfast, coffee, and fellowship.

December 7th is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. The Battleship Alabama would like to invite you to participate in the first “Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day” Crossband Special Event, hosted by The BB-60 ARC. This event is to commemorate the surprise and unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Empire on December 7th, 1941. The event will take place on December 6th, 7th & 8th, 2024.

We have been assigned the military frequencies 7.463 MHz and 14.761.5 MHz. That's the frequencies where you will listen for us calling CQ. To work the Battleship you will operate split, listening on our military frequency and transmitting on the ham band. We will tell you what frequency on the ham band we are listening to for you. We have been authorized to use the Alabama's original WWII radio call sign - NEMW.

Operation will begin as soon as we get setup on Friday, December 6th, hopefully around noon. The purpose of this Special Event is to emphasize the importance for us to remember that "Day That Will Live in Infamy", lest it ever happen again.

To all radio amateurs

25th Annual SKYWARN Recognition Day December 7, 2024

SKYWARN Recognition Day is December 7, 2024. The annual event is celebrating its 25th anniversary. SRD was established in 1999 by the National Weather Service and ARRL to commemorate the contributions of SKYWARN volunteers. Using amateur radio and other means of communication, SKYWARN spotters provide real time ground truth to NWS offices. The ham-volunteers can also provide vital communications between NWS and local emergency management officials when other means go down.

In a video posted to the SRD web page, National Weather Service Director Ken Graham, WX4KEG, said the information ham radio operators and other SKYWARN volunteers provide is critical. "I, along with the entire National Weather Service, want to acknowledge and thank you for your valuable service to the communities we serve."

There will be a SRD special event from 0000 - 2359 UTC on the day. The objective is for all amateur stations to exchange QSO information with as many Amateur Radio SKYWARN Spotters and National Weather Service Stations as possible on the 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6,
2-meter and 70-centimeter bands.

ARRL will be on the air during the event from the ARRL Radio Laboratory station, W1HQ, using the call sign WX1AW. ARRL Public Relations and Outreach Manager Sierra Harrop, W5DX, said SRD is a great opportunity to welcome non-ham SKYWARN volunteers to explore amateur radio. "Storm spotting was my original draw into ham radio. I watched a large tornado tear up my community on May 3, 1999, and was listening via my mom's 2-meter mobile radio to spotter reports being relayed to the NWS Norman, Oklahoma, office. I knew I wanted to be a part of that and within months I was licensed. Amateur radio was my path into that community service and has been the hobby of a lifetime ever since," she said.

I'm reaching out to ask for support for Robert Hayes on GoFundMe. Please consider donating, no contribution is too small to help. Sharing with your network also helps reach more potential donors to support Robert Hayes, KC5IMN / Mississippi Section ARES SEC

I would be interested in talking with someone about assisting with the newsletter and the club web site. If this is your skill, please drop me a note.

EXAM SESSION

01/18/2025

Sponsor: Meridian ARC
Date: Jan 18 2025
Time: 10:00 AM (Walk-ins allowed)
Contact: Eldon L. Richardson (601) 227-6690
Email: eldon.richardson79@gmail.com
VEC: ARRL/VEC
Location: Lauderdale Cty EOC
2525 14th St
Pre-Registration Preferred
Meridian MS 39301-3945
Website: https://meridianarc.org/

MERRY CHRISTMAS!