The January D.E.A.R.S. General Club Meeting will take place on Wednesday, January 13th 2021 at 6pm Eastern. There will be no VE testing session this month.
This month we will have a special presentation hosted by Bob Inderbitzen of the ARRL. John Knott and Michael Cauley will also be joining us to discuss Hamcation 2021. Please join us for a great evening full of fun topics and information for all!
With COVID-19 on the rise we will not be having an in-person gathering this December. Instead, we will be getting on the air as a club! On Wednesday December 9th at 6pm we will have a Holiday net!
For those who would like to, we will be on 40 meters around 7.225 MHz LSB. We will also use the 147.300 FM repeater. Echolink will hopefully be up for those who wish to talk in on that. Andy will be operating from the shack as WD4WDW acting as a holiday net control for HF. If you’re interested in being net control for VHF please let Andy know. On the net share what you do for the holidays and maybe get some ideas for ways to celebrate with your family.
This should be a great way to finish out the year on the air. Feel free to share this event as well.
This month we will be joined by some folks from the CW Ops. They will be speaking to us about Morse Code and the classes they offer. This would be a fun activity to do together as a club.
There will be no VE testing session this month due to COVID-19. The “Chat and Chew” will NOT be at the McDonald’s near the All-Star Resort as the meeting is virtual. The McDonald’s is open though!
This month we will be hosting a training on using the shack. This meeting will be virtual, but will be live from the shack. This would be a great time to ask question on how to get on the air at the club station!
There will be no VE testing session this month due to COVID-19
There will be no VE testing session this month due to COVID-19
This month we will be talking about grounding and bonding. Curious how to avoid RF in the shack? Ever heard of an RF burn? We’ll be discussing as a club our grounding stories, challenges, and ideas to improve our own stations!
DEARS will be hosting an Amateur Radio License testing session on Saturday, August 29th at 1pm. Please reserve your spot beforehand by emailing president@wd4wdw.org and be sure to wear a mask when attending. Thank you!
Testing Location Maxwell Field (behind Reedy Creek Fire Station #4) 1920 Buena Vista Dr, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
There will be no VE testing session this month due to COVID-19
This month we will be talking about Antennas! We’ll start with HTs and work our way up to large HF setups! Bring pictures, ideas, and questions. There is no formal speaker, but a moderated forum of our membership, just like the power discussion earlier this year.
There will be no VE testing session this month due to COVID-19
Our speaker this month will be John Knott, N4JTK, of Orange County ARES (https://www.ocares.org/). Continuing our theme of radio and Florida weather emergencies, John will be speaking on what ARES is and how you can get involved!
As a reminder, the new DEARS member/renewal membership form is located here. Renewals need to be complete by July 30th for FY21. New members are also welcome to complete the form as well. We do not currently charge dues.
This is a Skype Meetings Conference Call and may require you to install “Skype Meetings App (web)” before joining. If you have any questions please see further below for more detailed instructions.
There will be no VE testing session this month due to COVID-19
This month we have a busy meeting. Our guest speaker is Jessie Smith, WX4JRS, of the National Weather Service Melbourne Forecast Office. She will be giving an overview of Florida weather and a look ahead on the 2020 Hurricane Season. Following our guest speaker we have some club business to discuss: Fiscal Year 2021 Budget, Field Day, Club Membership Forms, and Bylaws Discussion.
The “Chat and Chew” will NOT be at the McDonald’s near the All-Star Resort as it is currently almost done with construction. Another venue can be coordinated via slack.
You may automatically join the meeting if your computer is already setup, otherwise you should see a screen with installation options. If you see the installation options screen click the link to “install or reinstall Skype Meetings App (web)”. This will install an add-on to your computer.
You should see a download for SkypeMeetingsApp.msi in your downloads folder. Run the installer. After the installer completes, click the link to “Try to join the meeting again” on the website.
Once joining the meeting you will need to configure your audio. You can do this by clicking on the button with 3 dots in the lower right. From there you can choose to use computer audio or have Skype call your phone. You can also setup video. To open the chat feature use the button on the left side of the screen.
Please note that Skype Meetings is the professional version of the Skype app. You cannot open this meeting in the regular Skype. There is no need to register or pay for any apps. If you get to a screen asking you to activate Microsoft Office you have probably made a mistake. We will be monitoring slack if anyone has connection issues.
Dial-in number (US): (515) 604-9300 Access code: 859521#
There will be no VE testing session this month due to COVID-19
For the next 3 or so months we will have a bit of a theme of emergency preparedness. This month we will be discussing portable power. This is a “show and tell” type discussion where everyone is welcome to share their setups and experiences. Feel free to talk about batteries, generators, solar panels, power distribution, etc.
Next month we will welcome the National Weather Service to present at our meeting and in July we will have Orange County ARES.
