Greetings fellow GERATOLers. We hope everyone has been enjoying a wonderful summer season. Hopefully, you were able to complete those “critical” antenna projects you had planned out in detail during the winter months.
It’s hard to believe, but indeed it is nearly time for us to launch yet another GERATOL NET season. This year we celebrate 55 years of service to the Amateur Radio community. We once again plan on having a SPECIAL EVENT station to commemorate this milestone. More on that later, once the season gets under way.
Just a reminder: Beginning with the new 2026/27 Season of the GERATOL Net on Thursday, October 1st. The net start time will be 9PM Eastern Time. We will NOT be shifting start time with daylight savings time, but will keep the 9PM Eastern, 8PM Central, 7PM Mountain and 6PM Pacific time throughout the year.
NCS OPS NEEDED !!!
As we have mentioned in the past, we have NO NET without our dedicated Net Control Operators. Last year, once again we had a great cadre of NCS ops who carried the GERATOL torch all season. For the coming season, we have two evenings that need to be filled. The current NCS roster is as follows:
Monday – Chuck,N5WGA
Tuesday – OPEN
Wednesday – Bob, AI4IL
Thursday – Steve, AC1DR
Friday – OPEN
Saturday – Steve, AC0SG
Sunday – Kevin, N1KL
Alternates: OPEN
Anyone interested in taking a shift on Tuesday or Friday, or who would be willing to take an alternate role, to fill in any evenings where our regulars can’t make it, please let Bob, AI4IL know asap. He can be reached at: ai4il@arrl.net
GERATOL ELECTIONS:
As previously mentioned, this coming season we need to fill some of our Board of Directors positions, including:
Chairman of the Board
Vice Chairman of the Board
Secretary
We will be taking nominations for these three BOD positions beginning October 1st through October 11th. Anyone interested in running for any of these positions, or in nominating someone for the open positions, should contact either Bob, AI4IL or myself, N1KL. If you plan to nominate someone for one of the three positions, we ask that you check with them first, to make sure they are in fact, interested in running. Following the nomination period, as we have done in the past, we will hold the election on our net frequency, on Wednesday, October 14th beginning at 0100Z.
NEW AWARD !!
To kick off the 2026/27 season, we will be offering a new award, entitled the APPALAICHIAN TRAIL CHALLENGE !
The trail passes through a total of 14 states on it’s way from Georgia to Maine. The challenge will be to work stations from each of the 14 states, no QSL’s will be required, it’s all done on the honor system. We will have application forms available on the website, as the time approaches. The states along the trail include:
GEORGIA
NORTH CAROLINA
TENNESSEE
VIRGINIA
WEST VIRGINIA
MARYLAND
PENNSYLVANIA
NEW JERSEY
NEW YORK
CONNECTICUT
MASSACHUSETTS
VERMONT
NEW HAMPSHIRE
MAINE
GERATOL MEMBER NEWS and SILENT KEY UPDATES from Barry – K2MF
NEW CALL SIGN:
One of our GERATOL members, Court – K2JOI GERATOL Number 1570 is now sporting a new call sign, W8CPS
SILENT KEYS:
It is with sadness we report the following GERATOLers who are now Silent Keys
Charlie, K4BSF G # 2070
Verle, K8VW G# 2229
May their souls, and all the souls of our departed GERATOLers, Rest In Peace…
Should anyone have any questions about the notices published on this POST, feel free to reach out to me via email at N1KL@ARRL.NET