4/2/21 |
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The club will be hosting it's
second
"New Ham Day" on Saturday April 17th. The event will be held from
9:00 AM to 12:00 noon at the
farm of Steve Webre AF5VR located at 1529 Beaugh St. in Church Point,
LA. Activities will focus on basic HF station setup. You do not have to be a newly licensed
ham to participate in the event and everyone is welcome to attend.
If you are interested in
attending, please contact Chris Ancelet N5MCY at
cancelet@gmail.com or (337)
591-8871.
A map to the event location can
be found here.
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3/16/21 |
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The club will be hosting it's first
"New Ham Day" on Saturday March 27th. The event will be held from
9:00 AM to 12:00 noon at the
farm of Steve Webre AF5VR located at 1529 Beaugh St. in Church Point,
LA. Activities will focus on VHF/UHF communications using both
simplex and repeater modes. You do not have to be a newly licensed
ham to participate in the event and everyone is welcome to attend.
If you are interested in
attending, please contact Chris Ancelet N5MCY at
cancelet@gmail.com or (337)
591-8871.
A map to the event location can
be found here.
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3/16/21 |
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Club officers for the 2021 calendar
year will assume their duties on April 1st.
The list of new officers is as follows:
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President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Member-At-Large
Member-At-Large
Member-At-Large
Youth Member-At-Large
Public Information Officer
Newsletter Editor
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Chris
Ancelet N5MCY
Derek Meche WM5TS
Michael Cavell KI5ARX
Tom Dischler W5OHJ
Danny Daigle KD5JSM
Barrett Oge KG5SSO
Steve Webre AF5VR
Patrick Taylor KG5YFR
Herman Campbell KN5GRK
Joseph Meaux K2JDM |
2/12/21 |
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A informal "RAG CHEW" net will be
held every Thursday night at 8:00 PM on the club's 443.000 MHz repeater.
This will be an informal net in that there will not be a designated net
control station. The net discussions are not limited to amateur
radio topics.
Repairs have been made to the
club's 146.820 MHz repeater and the repeater has been placed back into
the net schedule. Both the Monday night and Wednesday night nets
will be held on this repeater starting at 7:00 PM.
Also note that the LCG owned
SKYWARN repeater system has been inoperable for several months and it's
future status is unknown. Therefore, the Tuesday night
SKYWARN net will continue to be held on the club's 147.040 MHz
W5EXI repeater in Duson until further notice. Start time for the
net will continue to be at 7:00 PM.
Everyone is encouraged to
participate in these weekly nets as much as possible. The net
schedule can be viewed at
https://www.w5ddl.org/clubsite/files/calendar.pdf.
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11/30/20 |
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Due to the ongoing COVID-19
situation the club's traditional Christmas Dinner will not be held this
year. The club will host a Christmas Social at 7:00 PM on Thursday
December 3rd. The event will be held at the SEOT office
building located at 1300 Bertrand Drive. The club will provide
cake and coffee along with ten $25 gift cards to be drawn for by club
members in attendance. Everyone is encouraged to attend but please
practice the appropriate COVID-19 precautions.
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9/22/20 |
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In-person general meetings will
resume starting October 1st. The meetings will be held
at the SEOT office building located at
1300 Bertrand Drive and will
start at 7:00 PM. VE testing will be
conducted prior to the meeting starting at 6:00 PM.
Social distancing and wearing of masks will be required.
Each attendee's temperature will also be taken so
please do not attend if you suspect you are sick.
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9/2/20 |
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Due to the ongoing COVID-19
situation the club's general meetings will continue to be held by radio
on the 147.040 MHz W5EXI repeater.
VE testing will continue to be
conducted on an "as needed" basis.
This years Tour du Teche canoe
race previously scheduled for October 2 - 4 has been cancelled by race
management.
The club's Veterans Day Special
Event planned for November 7th is in question. A final
determination regarding the status of the event should be made in
October.
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6/1/20 |
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Although the COVID-19 social
distancing guidelines have been somewhat relaxed, access to the clubs normal meeting location at the Lafayette Science Museum remains
unavailable. Therefore, the
club's General Meetings scheduled for the first Thursday of the month
will continue to be conducted via radio using the W5EXI (147.040 MHz +0.600 103.5)
repeater. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the meetings
via radio if possible. Attempts will be made to find an alternate
site so that in-person club meetings can resume. Anyone that knows
of a specific site that is available should contact the board at
board@w5ddl.org.
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4/27/20 |
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Until the COVID-19 social
distancing guidelines allow access to the Lafayette Science Museum, the
club's General Meetings scheduled for the first Thursday of the month
will be conducted via radio using the W5EXI (147.040 MHz +0.600 103.5)
repeater. Everyone is encouraged to participate in the meetings
via radio if possible.
An in-person socially distanced
VE Test Session
will be held in Youngsville the morning of Saturday May 9th.
Due to space constraints imposed by the CDC social distancing guidelines
there will be limited spots available. Candidates wishing to
participate must Pre-Register.
Candidates will be contacted with more details after registration.
Use this form
https://forms.gle/4YF7xL2b1K38WZ6F9 for
registration or inquires.
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3/19/20 |
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Club officers for the 2020 calendar
year will assume their duties on April 1st.
The list of new officers is as follows:
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President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Member-At-Large
Member-At-Large
Member-At-Large
Youth Member-At-Large
Public Information Officer
Newsletter Editor
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Chris
Ancelet N5MCY
Derek Meche WM5TS
David McCutcheon KG5JHR
Tom Dischler W5OHJ
Danny Daigle KD5JSM
Barrett Oge KG5SSO
Steve Webre AF5VR
Patrick Taylor KG5YFR
Herman Campbell KN5GRK
Joseph Meaux K2JDM |
3/19/20 |
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The AARA Annual Banquet that
normally follows the hamfest has been postponed indefinitely due to the current Coronavirus
situation.
The April general meeting and associated VE test session normally
scheduled for April 2nd has also been cancelled. The
status of subsequent meetings will be determined as the Coronavirus
situation plays out.
Additional information regarding club activities will be provided as it
becomes available. Members are encouraged to participate in the
club's weekly nets to help stay informed of club activities.
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3/13/20 |
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Due to the current COVID-19
situation, Hamfest activities originally scheduled for Saturday are
CANCELLED
as mandated by the City of Rayne.
Additional information can be found at
w5ddl.org/hamfest.
You may also
contact us at hamfest@w5ddl.org.
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3/13/20 |
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The 2020
AARA Hamfest will be held as scheduled.
MFJ,
Ham World and
The Sign Man arrived Thursday
and started setting up.
Other vendors are scheduled to arrive Friday morning. The
Crawfish Boil
will be held Friday night at 6:00 PM as scheduled.
We hope to
see everyone there.
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11/14/19 |
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The AARA will
enjoy it's annual Christmas Dinner on Thursday, December 12th,
2019. There will not be a general meeting on December 5th.
The dinner
will be held in the banquet room at the Golden Corral Buffet & Grill
located at 3110 Ambassador Caffery Parkway. Information on the
facility can be found at
https://www.goldencorral.com/locations/906/golden-corral-ambassador-caffery-pkwy/.
The room
will open to the group at 6:00 PM but you may arrive and eat earlier if
you so choose. Each member is responsible for the cost of their
own meal. Door prizes will be drawn for by those in attendance.
We hope to
see everyone there.
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8/12/19 |
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The AARA plans to commemorate the
2019 Veterans Day celebration by conducting a Special Event Station on
November 9th at
the Southwest Louisiana Veterans Home in Jennings, LA. Details for
the event will be published as they become available.
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8/12/19 |
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The AARA will be providing
communications support for the 2019 Tour du Teche canoe race.
Additional information can be found in the Events section of this
website and at
W5DDL - Tour
du Teche.
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8/12/19 |
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The AARA sponsored a showing of the
Apollo 11 documentary on July 11th at the Lafayette Science
Museum (LSM). The presentation was open to the public and
commemorated the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing.
It also coincided with the 50th anniversary of the LSM to
whom the AARA is thankful for their continued support.
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7/1/19 |
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The Lafayette Science Museum (LSM) with the
support of the Acadiana Amateur Radio Association (AARA) will be offering an 8-week
ham radio course every Tuesday at 5:30 pm starting July 16th, 2019.
After successful completion of the test the student will be awarded an FCC
Technicians Class license for ham radio operation. This course is open to
anyone and lasts 8 weeks. However, class size will be limited so please
sign up early. Course material will be $20 and there is an FCC fee of $15
at the time of testing.
The LSM is offering this course as
a way to promote ham radio to the youth of South Louisiana. This
course is recommended for kids and adults 10 years and older. The
Lafayette Science Museum is located at 433 Jefferson Street, Lafayette,
LA.
For
more information visit
www.lafayettesciencemuseum.org or call
(337) 291-5544 to sign up.
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6/30/19 |
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Since the normally scheduled date for the July general
meeting coincides with the nationwide July 4th Independence Day holiday,
the July general meeting and associated VE test session have been
cancelled. The next regularly scheduled club meeting will be held
August 1st.
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6/4/19 |
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The AARA will be hosting 2019 Field
Day activities June 22 - 23 at the farm of Steve and Mel Webre located
at 1529 Beaugh St. in Church Point, LA. These activities are open
to the public and anyone interested in learning more about amateur radio
is encouraged to attend. You do not have to be a licensed ham to
participate.
Additional details on the event
can be found at W5DDL - 2019
Field Day and at ARRL - 2019
Field Day.
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5/16/19 |
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The club's 146.820 MHz and 443.000
MHz repeaters located on top of the Chase Tower in downtown
Lafayette are back in service. The previously existing
antennas were replaced with new monoband fiberglass vertical
antennas. The coaxial cable connectors were replaced due to
water intrusion that was found when the previous antennas were
removed. New mounting assemblies for both antennas were
designed and installed to eliminate contact with the building roof
and to simplify future replacement of the antennas. The
repeater repair effort was lead by Glen Thibodeaux KF5FNP with
assistance from Steve Webre AF5VR, Tom Dischler W5OHJ, Derek Meche
WM5TS and David McCutcheon KG5JHR. The AARA Monday Night Net
has resumed activities on the 146.820 MHz
repeater.
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4/12/19 |
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Several
"After Action Reports" regarding Hurricane Michael are posted on the Emergency
Communications page of the club website. They are in PDF
format and can be downloaded and/or printed for future reference.
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2/15/19 |
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The club's 146.820 MHz and 443.000
MHz repeaters are temporarily out of service due to pending roof
replacement operations at the Chase Tower. Replacement of the antennas, feedlines and mounting systems for both
repeaters is being evaluated to improve reliability of the repeaters
when they are reinstalled. Until the repeaters are returned to
service, the AARA Monday Night Net normally held on the 146.820 MHz
repeater will be held on the club's 147.040 MHz repeater located in
Duson.
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