TN SECTION UPDATE June 18, 2025
The ARRL Tennessee State Convention is coming up this Saturday, June 21 at the Radio Amateur Club of Knoxville’s 58th annual Hamfest. This is the 2nd year at the new location: Wallace Memorial Baptist Church, 701 Merchants Drive (right off I-75 exit 108). The new event venue has plenty of air-conditioned inside vendor space and a large, level outdoor space for tailgating. Breakfast and lunch will be served (and as the folks from last year can attest, the food was good and the prices cheap).
Tailgate check-in opens for vendors at 6:15 AM and the doors open at 8:00. Other than buying and selling, there’s plenty of other activities at the convention: The Hospital Coalition Net will hold their annual meeting at 8:00 AM. The Tennessee ARES meeting with SEC Jim Snyder AJ4NO will be at 9:00AM followed by the ARRL forum with Delta Division Director David Norris K5UZ, Vice-Director Ed Hudgens WB4RHQ, and myself at 10:00 AM. At 11:30 AM, Alex Cochran KB4LX (TN Phone Net Manager) will give a presentation about remote operating that is sure to be interesting and informative. There will be a hamfest fox hunt at 11:15 (you must check-in at the RACK Communication Van in the tailgating area). VE testing is at 1:00 PM. Card checkers (ARRL and ETDXA) will be on-hand for DXCC and WAS awards. There will also be representatives from the Red Cross and several local amateur radio clubs in the exhibit hall along with free radio programming curtesy of KG7BAM. There will be hourly prizes (must be present to win) and a slate of grand prizes to be awarded at the close of the hamfest (2:30 PM). You do not need to be present to win any of the grand prizes.
Right on the heels of the ARRL State Convention we’re looking forward to Field Day 2025 on June 28 and 29. Now’s the time to check out all your gear and accessories to make sure you and your friends are ready to go at 1800 UTC on the 28th. ARRL Field Day is the most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada. There will be more than 31,000 radio amateurs gathering with their clubs, groups, or friends to operate from remote locations. For over 90 years, ARRL Field Day has been amateur radio’s “Open House” weekend; combining public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event.
For more information, please visit www.arrl.org/field-day. There you can find complete rules and regulations, official Field Day merchandise, and a Field Day Locator to help find your nearest location to participate.
That’s it for now. I’m hoping to see many of you at the ARRL State Convention on June 21 and at Field Day the following weekend.
73,
David Thomas KM4NYI ARRL Tennessee Section Manager
CUT AND PASTE THE LINK BELOW IN YOUR WEB BROWSER TO VIEW THE LATEST EDITION OF THE NEWSLETTER:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-mUmrCiBiEfVZZSTy2gd0cx6YNp-8gCU/view?usp=sharing