New !!! POTA Was Well Covered – The Amateur Radio Caravan Club thoroughly enjoyed Rob “No Bad News” Summerhill KI5NBN’s talk at its May 9th, 2025, meeting.  He described just about everything on Parks on the Air (POTA).  His enthusiasm on the subject was infectious!  He explained that the entire POTA program is FUN, FREE! and the number of parks is growing rapidly.  You can also participate using all modes within the frequencies within our bands. He also emphasized that hams worldwide are anxious to make a contact in New Mexico…so be prepared for a pileup! Our sincere thanks to Rob for a very informative and enjoyable evening.  For more information on Parks on the Air Click Here.

During the business part of our meeting:

1.    Club president John Mocho KC5QOC announced that John Larsen KL2AX has agreed to be the club’s program director. Thank you, John! 

2.    The club board of directors voted to hold the club’s Field Day activity on June 28th at John Mocho KC5QOC’s QTH.  He lives in the Vineyard 55 Plus Community, 6118 Edith Blvd NE (between Montano Blvd and Osuna Rd). He says there is a large field there so everyone can spread out their rigs.

3.    The 2025 Socorro Hamfest will be held at a New Date-New Location.  It will be on July 11-12 at the new Socorro Convention Center at 1220 US Highway 60 just west of town.  On Friday evening they will have their banquet w/speaker with the main event following on Saturday.  For more info Click Here.

4.    The 2025 Duke City Hamfest is now calling for presentations at https://www.dukecityhamfest.org/call-for-presentations/ and for community sponsors please go to treasurer@dukecityhamfest.org. I’m told that the Caravan Club has already signed up as the first sponsor. 

5.    Larry Goga AE5CZ, head instructor of the Frank Warren Instructor Group, announced that their next General licensing class has been shifted to November 2025, the same month as last year’s class. Exact date and location TBD.

New !!! Spring Tailgate Also Very Well Attended - Ken KO5Y (“Mr. Trivia”) hosted his latest tailgate.  It was on Saturday, April 26th (6 AM to ~ 11 AM) at the American Legion Post 13 parking lot. Attendance was outstanding and maybe a record number of vendors selling a wide variety of wares, including Sweet Jerky.

New Mexico QSO Party Well Attended – The Amateur Radio Caravan Club gathered at the Petroglyph National Monument’s picnic area on its west side to participate in the New Mexico QSO Party. This is the activity where us hams in Bernalillo County, NM, try to contact as many other NM counties as possible (and vice versa) and hams in other states try to contact us. It’s a lot of fun. I counted 7 rigs spread out in the parking lot plus plenty of kibitzers. Propagation was reported to be pretty good from 8 – 9 AM when Tom KD7YUR collected 11 POTA contacts, mostly from Florida, and then the propagation died after that.

New !!! Radio Fun in the Park Begins on Saturday, May 10th - Caravan Club president John Mocho KC5QOC, announced that Radio Fun in the Park for 2025 will begin in May on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays (9AM ~ 1 PM) again at Sister Cities Park. We will meet under the trees on the Harper St. (north) side of the park. This activity is expected to continue monthly through to about September or whenever the weather gets too cold. We look forward to being “radio active” in this beautiful park throughout the summer. For directions to Sister Cities Park Click Here. Come join us!

General Licensing Class - Larry Goga AE5CZ, lead instructor of the Frank Warren Instructor Group has announced that he hopes to conduct a General class in the fall. At this point he is only collecting names for it. Larry’s email address is lgoga@swcp.com. No dates, times or venue yet but he hopes to have it during November 2025.

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:   May 14, 2025 Copyright © 2025, Caravan Radio Club.  All rights reserved.