BARC General Meeting, Thursday, September 17

nv1w Meetings

This month’s club meeting will be held on Thursday, September 17, at 7:30 pm at Artisans Asylum and on Zoom. The club will be recapping the Field Day and POTA events that were held over the summer, and there will be an open discussion period for attendees to present about their own ham radio adventures from this past summer!

The Zoom meeting room will open at 7:00 pm for a social period, and the meeting will begin at 7:30.

Zoom meeting information: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88001828836?pwd=mwgxZH0UfsbnJaqcrAb0uGvkffNlaD.1
Meeting chat link: https://us06web.zoom.us/launch/jc/88001828836
Meeting ID: 880 0182 8836
Passcode: BARC

BARC General Meeting, Thursday, June 18

nv1w Meetings

This month’s club meeting will be held on Thursday, June 18, at 7:30 pm at Artisans Asylum and on Zoom. We will be discussing plans for Field Day. This is also the annual Elections meeting.

The Zoom meeting room will open at 7:00 pm for a social period, and the meeting will begin at 7:30.

Zoom meeting information:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86214267248?pwd=WGXNvvbeyXQ5QhvJkXYc1qzObX29Rd.1
Meeting chat link: https://us06web.zoom.us/launch/jc/86214267248
Meeting ID: 862 1426 7248
Passcode: BARC

Club QSO Party, June 20–21

nv1w On the air

If you’re looking to get in some operating the weekend before Field Day, there will be a Club QSO Party in honor of the ARRL’s having declared 2026 the “Year of the Club”. It runs from 00:00 UTC June 20 through 23:59 UTC on June 21. Anything goes as long as RF is involved: any band (though like any contest, you should avoid the WARC bands) and any mode. Even repeater contacts count!

Rules are here: https://www.clubqsoparty.org. The exchange, for a club member (any club), is “C”. Sounds like a great opportunity to try out CW to me. However, you are also asked to suffix your callsign with the age of the club (in years) you belong to! For BARC members, that would be “/38”.

Long Island CW Club offering free training in June

nv1w Classes, Field Day, On the air

[Thanks to Arne, AC1UT, for drawing my attention to this. —NV1W.]

The Long Island CW Club is offering free Field Day CW training during the month of June, and for the first time this training is open to all amateur radio operators, not just LICW members.

ARRL Field Day 2026 takes place June 27–28. The Field Day operating period begins at 1800 UTC Saturday and runs through 2059 UTC Sunday. This year’s theme is “Amateur Radio: A National Resource.”

LICW will conduct nine Field Day CW training classes each week. These live Zoom sessions will focus on the practical skills needed for Field Day CW operation, including the Field Day exchange, operating rhythm, listening, sending, common abbreviations, recovery, and confidence-building.

This is a great opportunity for anyone who is curious about CW, returning to CW after time away, preparing for a first Field Day CW contact, or simply interested in understanding how CW works during Field Day.

There is no charge to attend.

Schedule and Zoom access information is available on the LICW website: https://longislandcwclub.org.

BARC General Meeting, Thursday, May 21

nv1w Meetings

This month’s club meeting will be held on Thursday, May 21, at 7:30 pm at Artisans Asylum and on Zoom. Our speaker will be Brendan Baldonado NW1S, presenting “HF in a Carry-on Backpack”. We will also be discussing plans for Field Day.

The Zoom meeting room will open at 7:00 pm for a social period, and the meeting will begin at 7:30.

Zoom meeting information:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83666052900?pwd=FOuL5AZb98JUkRNbXRzchlvgpWq86D.1
Meeting chat link: https://us06web.zoom.us/launch/jc/83666052900
Meeting ID: 836 6605 2900
Passcode: BARC

Technician test questions changing July 1

nv1w Exams

The questions used on the Technician test will be changing on July 1, 2026, and we will be using the new ones at BARC’s next volunteer exam session on July 13. This is a regular change that happens every four years.

What this means is you should make sure that study materials and practice exams use the new questions if you plan to take the Technician test after July 1, 2026. While the topics remain the same, and about half the questions will be the same as they were in 2022–2026, you will still want to study the correct ones. Gordon West, WB6NOA, reports that both new ARRL License Manuals and his updated Technician class study guide “will soon be available”.

You can find the new question pool at ncvec.org. As always, for more information on exams, or to make a reservation, contact Joe Chapman, NV1W, at joechapman@alum.mit.edu.