February 2019

                              Blog #1
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 The Gila Amateur Radio Club is inaugurating a Blog, beginning this month.  I expect that there will be a new one, perhaps every month.  It will consist of club news, events (past and future) and other happenings of interest to all hams. Perhaps some will even have hands-on tips/help for using your equipment.  I’m not sure what will be here, but there should be something of interest to everyone at one time or another.  You will only have to tune into this website and see what is currently here.  You will also be able to read past blogs that you may have missed. If you would like some information on some subject or have an announcement, send a message to the email address on the front page of this website, and let us know.  If you  would like to write a blog, also let us know.
 
On February 2, 2019, GARS had their first quarterly meeting of the year .  It was held in the City Hall Annex on Hudson Street next to the Washington Bank.  Elections were held and the following officers were elected:
Russ Imler               K2RSI                   President                                    
Glenn Persons      W5GJP                Vice Pres
Andrea Imler         K1ZZE                  Sec/Treas
Bob King                  WA0QJE             Communications
In addition:  Stan Gantz W5GZ was appointed as the Repeater Trustee, and Marc Levesque W5MTS was appointed as head of repeater maintenance.
 
Last Saturday, February 9, was the last class for new prospective hams wanting to become licensed.  It was held downtown at the City Hall Annex on Hudson Street and met 4 out of the last 5 Saturdays from 9am to 1pm.  There were 13 students who were expertly taught by Andrea Imler K1ZZE.  The class was sponsored by SAR in conjunction with GARS.  Some of the students were involved with SAR and others were just eager to get their ham license.  The last class was missing 3 people due to work responsibilities, and they will take their tests later.  Two others wanted to wait for a couple of weeks, so we will reschedule them for later also.  However, testing was given at the end of this class and 8 people took the test, with 7 of them passing. That is good for Search and Rescue and also for our club. Congratulations to them all. They should get their Call Signs in a week or so.  The testing VEs were Steve London N2IC, Bob King WA0QJE, Glenn Persons W5GJP, and Marc Levesque W5MTS.
 
The GARS net is still running and we are slowly getting more participation.  Times are Sunday and Thursday nights at 8pm on the GARS Repeater at 146.980, with a PL of 103.5. Any licensed ham can come and join in the fun.  I hope to have a listing of who has been visiting us on the net in the future.  Some of the hams new to the net in the last month are Jeffery Johnson K5BOR, and Steven Budny KC1ACL.  Steven has just moved here from Rhode Island.  Bob Deal K5PPP and Verna Deal N5PPP have moved back to their home here from Las Cruces.  We welcome them back.  Join us on the net sometime; we’d like to hear from you.
 
W5GJP