- Winterfest Confirmed -

Caravan Club’s Winterfest 2026 is now confirmed for 3:00 PM Saturday, January 10th 2026 at the San Mateo Olive Garden restaurant. The address is 6301 San Mateo Blvd NE. Please RSVP to Gayle KJ5AUJ no later than January 3rd. Gayle’s phone number is 505 259-6084, and her email address is silverlady.gd1@gmail.com. Remember, there will not be a regular Friday evening meeting in January. Attend Winterfest instead.

Why does the Amateur Radio Caravan Club celebrate the winter holidays in January?  Because, if we tried to find any date in December, many of our members would have conflicts with family gatherings, office parties, etc.  By choosing a date in January, we always have a great turnout.

- Free Amateur Extra Class on Zoom -

New!!! A free, weekly, live, Amateur Radio Extra Class Licensing course on Zoom will begin on Thursday, January 15, 2026, and will run through Thursday, March 26.  There will be 11 sessions.  The three-hour sessions will start at 4:30 PM Mountain Time and will also be recorded.  These are the classes that we have been holding for years sponsored by the Amateur Radio Club of the National Electronics Museum. Those wishing to sign up should email roland.anders@comcast.net.

Note:  Attendees should hold (or be studying for) the General Class Amateur Radio License.

- New Technician Class Question Pool Released –

The National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) Question Pool Committee (QPC) released the revised 2026-2030 Technician Class (Element 2) question pool. It will be required for all exam sessions beginning July 1, 2026. The new pool includes 409 questions (27 new, 30 removed, and about 155 modified), compared to 412 in the prior pool. The pool also includes three diagrams used for some of the questions.  You can view all question pools on the NCVEC website.

- Status of Licensing Classes -

As of November 29th, 2025, any Amateur Radio Classes that were being offered by the Caravan Club and the Frank Warren Instructor Group have come to an end for 2025.  The Technician Class that was offered in May 2025 brought NINE new amateur radio operators into the fold.  Then the General Class that was held in November 2025 saw SIX previous Technician licensees get upgraded to the General level.  And during the Duke City Hamfest for 2025 there were some preliminary discussions about the possibility of offering an Extra upgrade class sometime next year if there was enough interest. If you are interested in taking the Amateur Extra class or any other licensing class next year, please contact Larry Goga, AE5CZ, lead instructor at AE5CZ@arrl.net.

 For now, through the upcoming Holidays and the Winter Season, there are no more classes scheduled.  This is the time of year when people are busy with the Holiday events and friends and Family.  Please visit this website again in the Spring of 2026 to learn of any new class offerings for the upcoming year.  Thank you and Happy Holidays to you, one and all.

/s/ The Frank Warren Instructor Group

Getting Started in Ham Radio - A page has been added to the Become a Ham tab titled Getting Started in Ham Radio.  Thanks to Pete Stine for this write up to help those interested in becoming a licensed Amateur Radio Operator.

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Website Committee:  Pete KE5WTM; Larry K5LRY, Mark W5MHG Site Last Updated:   December 24, 2025. Copyright © 2025, Caravan Radio Club.  All rights reserved.