Category Archives: Tailgates

March 5, 2026 WARC Club Meeting

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The meeting was called to order with 20 members present.  After the welcome and all the reports were given and voted on, we heard reports of recent Amateur Radio activities (i.e., the last New-Not-So-New Workshop where Doug gave us the low down on Half Wave Dipoles, the SEARS rocket launches held in Samson, AL and the Fox Hunt at Southeast Parkway.)

A break from the actual meeting was taken for a Hands-on Activity to introduce an activity that will be used for the Tailgate in April.  The Daleville Library (Rachel Horne, Head Librarian) had previously turned us on to the SNAP Circuits for kids to learn about electronics (and some skills needed for the Amateur Extra Exam).  We assembled 5 different projects in teams of 3 or 4 folks.  Resistors, switches, speakers, and LED’s were assembled in various configurations for the projects assigned.  All groups completed their projects in under 15 minutes with laughter and delight abounding.

We then settled down and returned to the meeting.  The WARC Activities Sheet is pleasantly being filled in with names for folks offering demonstrations and helping with activities.

Greg Lane has informed us of the RaDAR Rally upcoming on April 4th.  He sent a link to help understand what happens:  https://youtu.be/hDh9sdOAX4M?si=XERvNqGH-Rc8dhuR

We discussed the April 24th Tailgate in depth.  We approved the flyer.  The Duty Roster was passed around and names were added as helpers/anchors/volunteers.  WE STILL NEED MORE!

We talked of the Rookie Round-Up.  Charles Woodall is heading this up.  Jimmie Hassell has agreed to help get it going.  https://www.arrl.org/rookie-roundup is a site to help you understand what this event is about.  The April 19th (Sunday) event is Single Side Band (SSB) and is open to all Amateur Radio Operators who have been licensed 3 years or less (that’s a Rookie).  Other helpers are needed as well and they need folks to contact,… so get with Charles and let’s make it happen.

June 6th is the Tri-States Bike Ride this year.  We voted to participate in this event again.  Charles is heading up this one too.  A sheet was passed around to sign up.  The New-Not-So-New Workshop that was scheduled for that date has been canceled to accommodate folks helping with this event.

A few in-house items were discussed and then we learned about power supplies and how they work from Steve Norris.  He demonstrated a Flyback Transformer with a memorable story to share.  This Saturday he will teach how to make our own power supplies.  (Starts at 9AM – don’t be late;-)

Afterwards, the meeting was adjourned and Doug sold raffle tickets which are now on sale!  The grand prize for the Spring Tailgate on April 24th, 2026 is the Yaesu FTM-150R.  You do not have to be present to win the grand prize.  You do have to be present to win door prizes given throughout the day.

I have attached the flyer for the tailgate in case you can’t find it anywhere else.

TriClub Spring Tailgate

Great meeting y’all!

BLC

April 26, 2025 Wiregrass Amateur Radio Club Tailgate

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The W4DHN Wiregrass Spring Tailgate on the Square in Headland, Alabama was a wonderful event.  Quite a nice turnout in vendors and we even had a little Fox and Hound fun.  There were 7 folks that passed in testing today (4 new Techs and 3 new Generals).  Kudos to our phenomenal Volunteer Examiners (VE) Team;-)

Thanks to everyone who came out and especially to Daleville Amateur Radio Club for a large turnout.  Enterprise had a good showing too.  Thanks to the vendors and to ARRL for being onsite today to boost our sport!

Congratulations to the winners of the raffles, especially Mr. Ken for winning the Grand Prize!

Great day all the way around!  Way to go W4DHN Amateur Radio Club!

     

April 27, 2024 Tailgate

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The W4DHN Spring Tailgate was Saturday, April 27, 2024 at the Headland Park Square in Headland, Alabama. Starting about 8am and continuing till about noon, we had some great folks show up and display some of their items for sale (or trade). Testing started at 10am with a total of 11 attendees and 14 tests given. Congratulations to all that passed!  We had a W4DHN members lunch at noon with the grand prize drawing happening as well. There were also hourly drawings for other prizes. The weather was delightful (not too hot and not muggy)… Did I mention all the great people that came out?

Thank you to everyone that came out and made it a very successful event and fun get together.

Thank you, Greg for coming up and bringing Suzy the amazing mascot!

WARC Spring Tailgate 2023 Wrap-up

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Thanks to Alan Curtis – KQ4ELM – for this post

Thanks to everyone for another successful Wiregrass Amateur Radio Club (WARC) event. It was a great Saturday morning. We had nine vendors, and a lot of good conversations. There were operators making contacts on CW in multiple countries, and after a great lunch our team went into testing for new licenses and upgrades. It was just a great day all in all and the weather was perfect.

We started our day with breakfast at Hardee’s with the usual suspects, making any last-minute arrangements, then off to the tailgate.

Area Vendor’s and Operators set up their tables and tailgates with radios, antennas, meters, and other goods.

There were four prizes for the hourly drawing with the grand prize being this new Yaesu FT-2980.  Oh yes, did I mention there were free cookies and tea?

Here is one of our members making contacts around the world with his portable CW equipment.

When lunch was over our VE team went to work setting up for today’s testing.

They had three candidates pass, (1) new Technician (1) upgrade to General and (1) upgrade to Amateur Extra.

Thanks for all the help from the club members and the vendors.

We at WARC hope to see you there next year!

WARC Spring Tailgate Event

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The Wiregrass Amateur Radio Club Spring Tailgate is scheduled for Saturday, April 22, on the square in Headland. The WARC Spring Tailgate is an opportunity to come out to find radio and related equipment for sale, see demonstrations of various equipment and set-ups, and mix and mingle with fellow ham radio enthusiasts. The tailgate starts at 8 a.m., with door prizes given away each hour. The final grand door prize will be given away at noon, followed by lunch. Please bring a side dish to go with fried chicken.

The Wiregrass Hams VE team will hold a testing session immediately following the tailgate, starting at around 1:00 p.m. To reserve a seat for the testing session, send an email to info@wiregrasshams.org.