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We are excited to announce that we’ve just crossed the halfway point with vendor table reservations, so if you’re considering bringing in your collection of ham finds that you’re hoping to pass along to a new home, it’s time to get moving! Use our online reservation and ticketing system to reserve yours now!

Our system let’s you pick exactly where your table will be! Want a table near the food? Or over by Club Corner? YOU choose where your table of soon-to-be-discovered finds will be located, right from the map, and your table is reserved instantly. No hoping for table #4 and finding that NO9B already got there before you! Click, buy it, and it’s yours.

Tables are still a steal this year at $15 each for an 8 foot space, meaning that you’re typically money ahead after your first successful sale. When you order your table, be sure to add enough tickets for your crew, as a ticket is required for each person. Need to add an extra ticket at the last minute? Order tickets online and get them via email in mere seconds.

Don’t let another table take away the perfect table: reserve your table now at https://www.W9MQB.org/SwapFest !

Remember the loooong lines last year to purchase Fest tickets? Skip right to the front this year by ordering your tickets online. After last year’s record turnout, we’ve worked on improving our day-of-Fest traffic flow, but you can skip the line and get right into the Fest with your electronic tickets.

For those of you who still want paper tickets, remember that we need to receive your order by NEXT Friday, March 10th, to insure that we can get your tickets back to you in time using the self-addressed stamped envelope you provide. Missed the deadline, or need to add an extra ticket at the last minute? Order tickets online and get them via email in mere seconds.

Hate the fuss of self-address stamped envelopes and the agony of having to wait forever to get your stuff back, but still want to order a table or tickets? Put the paper form down. Order it it online. Check your email. Done. And, while there is a convenience fee on credit/debit cards to cover the PayPal charges, it’s still way cheaper than two envelopes and two stamps.

Forgot your tickets at home? If you can bring up your email on your phone, you can use your iPhone or Android smartphone as your eTicket! We can scan right from the phone, so you don’t even need to print anything!

Get your tickets at https://www.W9MQB.org/SwapFest !

The next meeting for the TCARC will be Valentines Day Tuesday 2/14/2023 at 6:30 pm in the upstairs meeting room at the Dwight Foster Public Library, located at 209 Merchants Avenue in Fort Atkinson (map and directions).

For those of you who can’t make the meeting in person, we’ll also be on Zoom (Meeting ID: 468 502 4089, Passcode: 36061741) with a link to the meeting here: Link to Join Zoom Meeting.

This will be the election meeting and Hamfest discussion meeting. Unfortunately, if you can see what I’m seeing, you might guess that I won’t make the meeting, since am in Fort Lauderdale.

This picture is where I am currently typing these minutes from a recording and if I missed your name in attendance, its because you’re quiet and I didn’t hear you in the recording – hi hi. BTW its 80 degrees.

Have a good meeting and see you in March.

Thank you,

Paul Marowsky KD9PM

Secretary of TCARC – W9MQB

Greetings to all and Happy New Year.  The next meeting will this coming Tuesday 1/10/2023 at 6:30PM.

• The meeting will be held at the Fort Atkinson Public Library but will be in the upstairs meeting room – not the lower room. Probably will not be a ZOOM meeting this month as the logistics for the room have changed. We will have to see what’s available for future meetings.
• You may click this link to download a copy of the Tri-County Amateur Radio Club Constitution that can be printed out for your records.  Note the section on election of officers.  Nominations will open this meeting with election to be held in February and the Officers will take office in April.
• Hamfest 2023 will be reviewed and a flyer for 2023 will need to be updated/made as an example.

See you on Tuesday!

Yes, it’s time to celebrate all of the good things that have happened this year in Amateur Radio in Jefferson, Rock, and Walworth Counties — and all of those other areas that the Tri-County Amateur Radio Club in which has been able to be an influence. We’re going to celebrate with a Pizza Party on December 13th, at 6:30 pm, at the Community Room at the Dwight Foster Public Library, located at 209 Merchants Avenue in Fort Atkinson (map and directions). Our meeting will start at 6:30 PM and will run until the pizza and cookies run out, or the library staff kick us out for having too much fun.

It’s also a great time to renew your membership while you grab a slice of pepperoni! Can’t make it in person? Use our Online Membership form link at https://www.w9mqb.org/MembershipForm/ to apply, check your current membership status, or renew for 2023.

Join us!

The next TCARC meeting will be November 8, 2022 in the larger downstairs Community Room at the Dwight Foster Public Library, located at 209 Merchants Avenue in Fort Atkinson (map and directions). Our meeting will start at 6:30 PM and should run through 8:00 PM. Check your email for a second reminder with October meeting minutes that will be sent out on Friday.

Aren’t getting those minutes? Join the club! No, I didn’t mean that I don’t get them, I meant that literally: become a member using our Online Membership form link at https://www.w9mqb.org/MembershipForm/ to apply, check your current membership status, or renew for 2023.

For those of you who can’t make the meeting in person, we’ll also be on Zoom (Meeting ID: 498 306 5761, Passcode: 36061741) with a link to the meeting here: Link to Join Zoom Meeting.

See you on Tuesday, November 8th!

Reminder, the next TCARC meeting will be October 11, 2022 in the larger downstairs Community Room at the Dwight Foster Public Library, located at 209 Merchants Avenue in Fort Atkinson (map and directions). Our meeting will start at 6:30 PM and should run through 7:45 PM. Check your email for a second reminder with minutes that will be sent out this weekend.

For those of you who can’t make the meeting in person, we’ll also be on Zoom (Meeting ID: 498 306 5761, Passcode: 36061741) with a link to the meeting here: Link to Join Zoom Meeting.

See you on October 11th!

It’s time for the Tri-County Amateur Radio Club’s September meeting. We’ll be meeting in the larger downstairs Community Room at the Dwight Foster Public Library, located at 209 Merchants Avenue in Fort Atkinson (map and directions). Our meeting will start at 6:30 PM and should run for 90 minutes, as we review the events of the summer and plan ahead for Fall and Winter club activities.

For those of you who can’t make the meeting in person, we’ll also be on Zoom (<inactive link>) with a link to the meeting here: Link to Join Zoom Meeting.

See you on September 13th!

The Jefferson County Fall Refresh ham fest ran this past weekend and we’d like to thank those of you who came out for the event. While our spring HamFest is an indoor event held in the Activity Center at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, our Fall “refresh” is held outdoors, about 1/2 mile north on Jackson Avenue.

This made the day a far more relaxed event than our Spring HamFest. This year, we had just under 2 dozen vendors and about 80 attendees. While that was smaller than last’s year Fall event, those who came enjoyed the mix of things people were selling (Yay, Nixie tubes!!! Antennas! ) from the tables set up behind or inside their cars, and several of those selling commented they really liked how easy it was to set up — and cleanup!

It was h

It was a far more relaxed event that our normal Spring Ham Fest, with just under 2 dozen vendors and about 80 attendees, significantly smaller than last’s year Fall event. Those who came enjoyed the mix of things people were selling (Yay, Nixie tubes!!!) from the tables set up behind or inside their cars, and those selling commented they really liked how easy it was to set up — and cleanup!

We also had some delicious food served this year! A special thanks to Brian, KB9OXS, and Karen, KB9PHC, for donning their aprons and making it both a fun AND tasty day for those who attended. At the start of the day, I enjoyed a Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit and some good hot coffee that got me up and running in search of deals! Around 10, I saw someone fighting to devour a quarter pounder with cheese — sorry, a “0.11364 kilogrammer with cheese” — and looking very happy about the challenge. Yes, the menu had a number of “uniquely named” items, so ordering was almost as fun as eating.

The Tri-County ARC is going to have a discussion about the event at our next club meeting, and we’d love to hear from you. If you came, let us know and let us know what you liked and what could be improved. If you didn’t attend. we’d live to hear why not… and what might change that for future events! While the comments won’t be shown, click the “Leave a comment” link above and let us know, and we’ll include your comments in the meeting!

Now, I just need to organize a little better so I have room for my new finds… plus my calendar tells me I have only a month before Ozaukee and the HRO SuperFest, so I had better get moving! See you there or hear you on the air!

73!

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Ever have one of those days where nothing goes according to plan, and that one significant step just messes everything up? Yeah, we’re having one of those months here.

After getting our website back up after being down for a day and a half, we discovered that somehow, one of the linked Fest listings listed the ticket price at $5, rahter than the prices liste on our flyers.

Oops.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When the advertising you published offers a lower price than you planned, have a sale! So, effective today, the Club decided to drop the online ordering and adjust our price to $5 for all admission tickets purchased on the day of the Fest. With the reduced ticket price, we won’t bring the credit card scanner, so all ticket purchases will be cash only.

If you already purchased online, we’ve already refunded the difference back to your account, with our thanks for supporting amateur radio in Jefferson, Rock and Walworth Counties here in south-central Wisconsin. Enjoy the $2 or, even better, bring it to the Fest to spend on cool Ham gear.

If you haven’t purchased tickets already, here’s the 4-step plan to save you money and impress your friends: (1) Show up at 892 N Jackson Ave in Jefferson, WI (click for a map). THIS Saturday, Aug 6th, between 8AM and noon. Follow the signs to enter at the South entrance; (2) Buy a $5 cash ticket, glowing in the knowledge that you’re getting HamFest fun at a discounted price; (3) Search through up to 50 vendors offering the coolest in Ham gear, electronics, antennas, and other unique finds; (4) Take your stuff home and brag to your friends about your skill as a bargain hunter!

Here’s the Fest flyer — just ignore the old pricing!

See you Saturday!