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A special thanks to all of you that gave up your time on a brisk Wisconsin Sunday morning to support Amateur Radio in south central Wisconsin by attending HamFest 2023. Our official numbers have just been confirmed by our Fest Audit: our final tally indicated that we sold 86 tables with 396 people attending the Fest. I’m gathering numbers on testing but, when I popped my head at the window, there looked to a good group of you working to level up or become a new ham, which I find totally encouraging. While about 80 people less than the record-setting attendance for 2022, this is above average for our pre-Covid years so we are VERY pleased by the turnout.

We’re interested to hear what your experience at the Fest was like, so we’ve set up a Survey to hear from you. If you’d like to give us your view of what was good and what we should work to improve next year, use this link: https://www.W9MQB.com/Survey/?id=HamFest2023.

We are grateful beyond words for your partnership, and are looking forward to applying what we learned to make 2024 even better. Block out the date on your calendar– March 17th, 2024 — and start the count down until we’re back to do this once more!!!

The Madison Area Repeater Association will be hosting its annual Ham
Fest on Saturday April 15th in Stoughton, WI at the Mandt Community
Center. Event details, general admission tickets and vendor
registration may be found on the club’s web site… https://w9hsy.org/hamfest-2023/

Have information about another area Fest? Forward it to us at least 4 weeks before the event, by emailing us at TCARC@w9mqb.org and we’ll publish the information to help other ham groups succeed!

After sludging our way through a Midwestern winter, an dreaming of better SWR days to come, even the sturdiest Ham will need some encouragement and fun… and the Tri-County Ham Fest starts tomorrow to give you just that!

We’re selling out the last tables online right now, so expect to find table after table after table of ham radios to cover every band, antennas, connectors, tuners, books, vintage equipment… heck I don’t have the space to describe everything, since we’re filling 12,000 square feet of the Activity Center with vendors bringing in even the stuff you didn’t remember you needed! On our new SwapFest page (https://www.W9MQB.org/SwapFest/), you can point to a table in your favorite browser and find out what they’ve announced they are bringing!

Want to learn about becoming a ham? Are you already licensed, but is it time to jump onto the upgrade path? Local clubs will have information out about Club meetings and opportunities to increase your knowledge and bring your amateur radio craft. to new heights.

Doors open at 8 AM. Visit the club food area and we’ll greet you with hot coffee and donuts to power up your treasure hunt.

Still need tickets? Avoid the line!! Purchase tickets online at https://www.W9MQB.org/SwapFest/, bring the email message with your ticket (or a printout), and you can skip the line and head right into the Fest. You want fast and easy? It doesn’t get much better than this.

And, just to thank you for supporting Amateur Radio in the Jefferson, Walworth, and Rock County WI area, we’ve assembled a MASSIVE list of door prizes. We have nearly $1,000 worth of prizes we’ll be giving out including: $25 HRO gift certificates, five $100 gift certificates for Alpha Antenna, an HT, books, and tons more.

If you purchase your ticket online, you’re already entered. If you but your ticket at the Fest, make sure you stop at Table 93, just inside the entry doors, with your ticket to get entered into the hourly drawings! Keep an ear open for the hourly announcements or drop by Table 99 to check out all of the goodies. We’ll be giving out this cool stuff between 8 AM and noon, so hang around to increase your chances of winning something very cool!

The next TCARC meeting will be Tuesday, March 14, 2023 in the upstairs meeting 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. Our primary topic will be to work through the final arrangements for the Tri-County Ham Fest coming up on Match 19th. Check your email for a reminder that will be sent out on Friday, which will include the February meeting minutes .

Aren’t getting those minutes? Drop us an email at TCARC@w9mqb.org and we willmake sure you’re on the list! You can also update your membership data using our Online Membership form link at https://www.w9mqb.org/MembershipForm/ to apply to become a member, check your current membership status, update your information, or even renew your membership later this year.

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.

See you on Tuesday, March 14th!

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!