Please welcome Essex’s newest club, the Thurrock Acorns Amateur Radio Club.
Following the success of a series of weekly 2m simplex nets, a group of amateurs in the Grays Thurrock area met for the first official club night of the Thurrock Acorns Amateur Radio Club.
We’d like to thank TAARC for inviting Essex Ham along to the first get-together, where the official formation of the club was discussed and agreed, and plans outlined to prospective members regarding the club’s future direction.
With support from the assembled amateurs, the committee was officially formed, and it was agreed that the club will host monthly meetings on the third Tuesday of each month, in addition to the weekly net.
The club’s Chairman, Nick G4HCK mentioned that the club’s regular Thursday night net has become something of a dating agency for amateurs in and around the Thurrock area, and it was great to see so many amateurs turn up to support the formation of the new club. A series of club nights are already in preparation and will be held at the club’s meeting venue: the 1st Grays Scouts Hall, on Cromwell Road, Grays.
The club also plans to be very active with training, and at the same time as the inaugural meeting was taking place, a local foundation training session was already in progress at a nearby location.
To give prospective members a taste of what to expect from the new club, Dave M0TAZ presented an excellent talk on the subject of QRP. The talk covered a number of areas including antenna types, power supplies, and examples of some of Dave’s own operations. Dave also passed on a number of QRP tips for field days, such as ensuring that your field activities don’t clash with contests, and that rather than shelling out for expensive antennas, a drum of 100m speaker wire costs £12 – meaning that you can easily make a multiband antenna for around £15 with plenty of cable to spare. Dave ended by reminding the audience that good weather is on the way (at least in theory), so now is the time to get ready for the year’s portable activities and to get out there and have fun with radio.
You can find more information on Dave’s QRP activities, including some video clips, at www.davecutts.co.uk
It was great to spend time with the new team behind TAARC, and also to have a chat with the other assembled amateurs, including some of the Monday Night Net members (and lurkers!). It was also nice to catch up with Keith G4JED, the RSGB DRM for Kent, who’d also been invited along to show his support for the launch of the club.
We wish TAARC all the best for the future, and look forward to attending future events held by Essex’s newest club over the coming months. Their next meeting is on Tuesday the 18th of February 2014, and if you’re in the area, go along, meet the team, and sample their tea and biccies.
To find out more about the Thurrock Acorns Amateur Radio Club, and to enquire about membership, events and training, go to www.taarc.co.uk
