[CTSARA] Public Service Event and Field Day Reminder

[Jonathan Solomon]

Good Morning Everyone!

I wanted to remind you of two upcoming events:

1) Bennett Cancer Ride:  SARA provides support for this event
annually.  All hams are welcome to participate regardless of club
membership or skill level.  No experience with public service events
is necessary.  In fact, you don't even need a radio if you do not have
one! Or, if you have a radio and are unfamiliar with it, a club member
will be happy to help you program it for the event.

The event is Sunday June 6 starting at about 6:30am.  This is a great
way to volunteer and help the community.  It is also good practice for
all type or radio operations.  Most importantly, it's a good time with
you fellow hams (and a large number of cyclists!)

Please contact Jon Perelstein (KB1QBZ)  <jperelst at yahoo.com> to sign up.

More information about the Bennett Cancer Ride can be found at:
www.hope-in-motion.org

2) Field Day: Field day is quickly approaching (only 33 days!)
Participants are still needed.  Again, you do not need to be an
experienced contester, field day participant or experienced operator
to participate. In fact, if you have not been on HF before (or are not
active on HF) your presence is welcome even more!  For those
unfamiliar with what Field Day is, I have copied an excerpt from the
ARRL.net website below.  You do not need to commit to the full
weekend; even a few hours can be helpful.

Terry Martin (W1TSM) <ranceiii at aol.com> is the club's captain Field
Day. Please contact him direct, or visit the website
(http://ctsara.org/saraSIGNUP.htm) for more information.  Please do
not be overwhelmed by the web page.  There is a lot of logistics to
prepare for this event.  You can simply contact Terry to talk about
what you can do, and we will update the website for you.

The club is shortly laying out the weekends plans, so I encourage you
to sign up as soon as possible (and so you don't forget!)

While the club has secured radios for the event, we still need the following:
   - operators (to work radios) and loggers (to log contacts).  Don't
worry we can train you.
   - food:  Second only to operators, the most important thing on
field day. Most of the meals are pot luck.  You can even bring
something for lunch, and stay and operate or log for a few hours!
   - computers: computers are networked together and used to log each
contact made.  While laptops are preferred , if you have a desktop
(with Windows, please) sitting around, it can be useful.  These are
for loan on the weekend.

Please feel free to contact Terry with any questions.

>From the ARRL.net website:
"ARRL Field Day is the single most popular on-the-air event held
annually in the US and Canada.  Each year over 35,000 amateurs gather
with their clubs, friends or simply by themselves to operate.

ARRL Field Day is not a fully adjudicated contest, which explains much
of its popularity.  It is a time where many aspects of Amateur Radio
come together to highlight our many roles. While some will treat it as
a contest, most groups use the opportunity to practice their emergency
response capabilities.  It is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate
Amateur Radio to local elected community leaders, key individuals with
the organizations that Amateur Radio might serve in an emergency, as
well as the general public. For many clubs, ARRL Field Day is one of
the highlights of their annual calendar."

'73s to all
Jon
W3EIC