Hello fellow club members. I hope all is going well. I start this Month’s article on a sad note. The club lost a long time club member on Thursday April 25th. Doug Ward, K7AEZ has become a silent key following injuries from a fall one week earlier. Doug liked to go out with the group to Red Mountain park to chat with people and talk on the radio.
While there he was carrying some items and lost his balance. Emergency crews were called to the scene. He had a couple of broken bones in his leg that required surgery. After only a couple of days he was sent home.
I understand at some point he ended up with a blood clot and was back in the hospital. He passed away a couple of days later. Doug, thank you for always taking the time to talk to me at all of our club events. We always had great conversations and I always admired you for the care you had for your parents in their advanced age. I will miss our conversations and will never forget you. Until we meet again, I bid you a final 73.
The club picnic was a very big success. I was unable to be there this year. However, I heard a lot of great things about it. There was the normal telling stories around the campfire and people telling lies. I wish I could have been there. All the camp spaces were used, and there were 28 people that attended lunch.
A big thank you goes out to our Vice President Dave, KC7MAD for putting that together. There was a cost of $15 per person for lunch and that just barley paid for the park fees. I look forward to being there next year. We also plan to have more campouts in the future.
Our next outing will of course be Field Day coming up at the end of June. We always have a great turnout for that event and I look forward to seeing everyone there. We always have a great time there.
As most of you know, the club put up a 64-foot tower there at the end of last year. The tower was mainly put up to assist with cell phone coverage at the site. It will also be used for some Ham radio antennas at some point in the future. It will not be ready to use for Field Day this year. The club is still working with the landowner to work out some details but we hope to go forward with the project soon.
On Tuesday, April 30th Josh, KE7WIL drove up to meet with the Verizon team at Lost Eden. They did a survey on the site to see if a cell phone repeater will work there the way we hope. April 30th is the day after I wrote this article so I do not have the details yet. As soon as Josh reports back to me, I will pass along the information. Thank you Josh for taking time out of your schedule to drive two and half hours to meet the Verizon team.
Thank you to all the Team leads who are taking time out of their busy schedules to help this club out. Without all of your help, things would never get done, and the club would not grow.
73 for now and I will catch you all on the air or at club meetings.
Steve, KB7KWK