Special Election to Fill Open Position on the MCACS Board

MCACS members are reminded that a special election is under way to fill a vacant at-large position on the MCACS board of directors. You may nominate yourself or another, but all nominees must be Full Members of MCACS. In addition, nominees must agree to serve before being placed on the ballot. So if you are going to nominate someone else, please confirm that they are willing to serve before submitting their name.

Please think about upping your level of involvement in MCACS. You don’t need a ton of experience, just a willingness to put in a modest amount of time toward advancing our mission. None of us was an expert when we started in this game. We learn as we go.

The election will be conducted entirely by email. Here is the plan:

• You may submit your nomination by sending an email to our president (ataylor@mcacs.net) no later than August 5.
• We will give the candidates a week to submit a statement, should they choose to do so. 
• On August 11, a member of the board will announce the slate of candidates on our weekly net, and ballots will be sent to all voting members of MCACS. (Remember, you must be a Full Member to vote.)
• We will establish a deadline of August 24 for returning ballots.
• The winner will be announced on August 25.

Tom Horne, W3TDH Appointed ARES Emergency Coordinator

On February 27, 2020, Tom was notified by ARRL HQ of his appointment as ARES Emergency Coordinator for Montgomery County. Tom was appointed to the position by Jim Montgomery, WB3KAS, Section Emergency Coordinator for Maryland-DC. Congrats to Tom.

Tom replaces Fred Bader, K3CSX, who has served in the position for so long that none of us can remember when he was first appointed. We thank Fred for his many years of service. Fred plans to remain active in ARES and remains on the MCACS board of directors as secretary of the organization.

Winter Field Day

We had another successful Winter Field Day deployment on the last weekend in January, although the weather was more spring-like than winter-like. We set up two stations in a tent and a third station in the MAIPN Van. Operating over a 24-hour period, we made contacts in 34 states and four Canadian provinces. Click here for the full story.

Maryland/DC Hospital Drill

Ten MCACS members participated in the quarterly Maryland/DC hospital net on the evening of Jan. 2, operating from stations at three county hospitals. Winlink traffic was passed to and from all participating hospitals, and a voice net was conducted on the Central Maryland Repeater Group’s network of linked 70 cm repeaters. The next hospital drill will be after the pandemic subsides!