Things are rather busy in the Handiham Program office right now! LaToya needs to take some time off, so if you need anything, please reach out to me at handiham@allina.com. It will take longer than usual to process payments and camp applications right now, but rest assured that they will be processed as quickly as possible!
Field Day is right around the corner, June 24th and 25th! Field Day is always held on the fourth full weekend in June. If you haven’t yet made plans to attend, Field Day is a great time to check out a new radio club, make some new friends, share some good food, and have fun making contacts. We would love to hear your Field Day stories and share them in a future issue of Handiham World. Send your stories to handiham@allina.com.
We had a great time at Dayton Hamvention last month. One highlight was getting to spend time talking with everyone at the Kenwood booth. I was able to see the new TH-D75 radio, which looks a lot like the TH-D74. They let me know that Kenwood remains committed to amateur radio and to keeping speech available in their transceivers. While they have been impacted by supply chain issues, they are working to get speech boards and radios out as soon as they can. We also had fun talking to current and future Handiham members and volunteers at the Handiham booth. This year, we had great weather, which was unusual for Dayton, making the hamfest even more fun.
In September, we are returning to in-person Radio Camp, although it will look a little different from past Radio Camps. We will be in a hotel, the same one we used for the 2018 Amateur Radio and Assistive Technology Conference. Of course, we won’t be staying in the hotel all the time. We will be making several field trips during the week to operate radios and visit local attractions. Mark your calendars for September 6th through 13th, and make plans to join us for a very special week filled with hands-on ham radio activities and fun fellowship with other hams. If you haven’t yet requested an application, please send an email to handiham@allina.com to get on the list as soon as possible. If you already received your application, please return the completed forms to secure your place for this fun-filled week.
If you want to know more about the upcoming Radio Camp, I will be holding two more Zoom events to answer questions. The Zoom invite will go out to both the Handiham Radio Club and Handiham Notify groups.io email lists. If you are not on those lists and want to be added, just send an email to handiham@allina.com.
Jerry, W0UH, our net manager, would like to invite you to check into the Handiham Radio Club net. We have great net control stations who faithfully keep the net running smoothly each day. The Handiham Radio Club sponsors daily nets at 11:00 am Central time and on Wednesdays at 7:00 pm Central time on the Handiham Conference Server. Please join us as often as you can!
The intermediate Morse code class wrapped up with a Morse code QSO! What a great way to finish off a fun and productive semester! If you have already completed the intermediate level Morse code class or if you can copy around 13 words per minute, I invite you to join us in September of 2023 for a two semester advanced Morse code class. We will be taking students from 13 to around 20 words per minute. The class will run two semesters with a long break between semesters. If you are interested in this class, please contact me to be placed on the list for an application.
The new Technician Class wrapped up, and one student has already passed his Technician exam. The Handiham Program congratulates Kevin Lukens, KC3WDG, on his new call sign. Kevin did a great job studying throughout the class, passing every practice test we took during the final two weeks of class! Classes were held using the Zoom platform, and handouts and class recordings were provided each week to assist students with their studies. If you want to use the recordings and handouts to prepare for your Technician Class exam, please contact me for more information.
In the fall of 2023, we will also be starting a two-semester General Class license class. If you are interested in joining us for that class, please send an email to handiham@allina.com to get on the list for an application. This class will be in the same format as the two-semester Technician Class we just finished with interactive Zoom classes along with class recordings and handouts sent via email to students each week.
The Handiham Radio Club is getting radio active! In the June meeting, we elected new officers and corrected a discrepancy in our bylaws. We will have our next monthly meeting on July 2nd at 3:00pm Central Time. Meetings take place on the first Sunday of each month at that time, so you can mark your calendars and plan to attend. The Zoom link will go out to the radio club Groups.io list. If you have not yet joined the Handiham Radio Club, all current members of the Handiham Program are eligible to join. Just send an email to handiham@allina.com to let me know you want to be put on the email list for the club. Staying on that list allows you to keep up with everything that is happening in the club.
73,
Lucinda AB8WF