We’re on the go and on the grow!
By Karla Dayhuff, F404927 (K4KLD)
November 2022
The Amateur Radio chapter’s “Appalachian Vacation” kicked off the afternoon of Saturday, May 21, with a social hour and introductions at Spring Lake RV Resort in Crossville, Tennessee. This RV park has excellent facilities, and the staff was very accommodating.
We had several first-time rally attendees, including longtime and new members. The welcome dinner was brought in by The Flying Pig restaurant. The service was timely, very reasonably priced, and the quality and quantity of food served was great.
By starting the rally on Saturday, it allowed us to have Sunday brunch at Homestead Harvest Restaurant inside Cumberland Mountain State Park. On Sunday, the group also visited the Cumberland Homesteads historic district and the Homesteads Tower and Homesteads House museums. And, yes, several members did climb the tower. Cumberland Homesteads was a project of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.
After Monday morning coffee and breakfast casseroles, we started an activity not done at previous rallies. In preparation, member Dennis Tuchalski applied for an Amateur Radio Relay League “special events” call sign. Non-hams might be asking what that is all about. An amateur radio station was set up, and over 40 ham radio operators made contact to our call “W4B.” Those contacted were logged by chapter volunteer net control operators taking turns manning the station. Those contacted learned a little about our chapter and what our special event was all about.
George Raney was the lucky winner of the rally’s grand prize drawing: a TN07 Stealth antenna with hitch mount from TN07 Engineering.
In addition to the special event activity, two groups went back to Cumberland Mountain State Park to activate the site on Parks on the Air (POTA). POTA was established to promote portable emergency awareness and communications from national/federal and state/provincial parks. To activate a “park,” you need a minimum of 10 contacts. We have several members who actively POTA while traveling and from their home QTH (code that ham operators use for sharing their location).
The Crossville Model Railroad Club is said to have “the largest multi-scale free admission model railroad display in the Southeastern USA,” and it’s worth a visit. Suitable for any age, this well-maintained volunteer model railroad display was thoroughly enjoyed by chapter members who took time to stop by. Donations help with insurance and to keep the lights on.
Tuesday, our last official rally day, started with our pancake and sausage breakfast — a tradition that has been passed down for decades. And since our chapter was chartered on April 15, 1981, that’s a lot of pancakes.
Our annual general meeting was followed by door prizes. There were some significant prizes to win, including the grand prize antenna generously donated by Bob and Laura Petrie, the owners of TN07 Engineering.
Interested in amateur radio? Visit our website — https://fmcaarc.com — to find out more about our chapter, net times, and upcoming rallies. Are you a ham? Join our membership of 116 family units!