In meeting my requirement to speak to a community group, school, or other organized gathering of citizens – I debuted my presentation tonight to the Wheat State Wireless Association’s April club meeting – located in Paola, KS.
The club had about a dozen members in attendance – seems like a very nice club, a good number hams who were very friendly and welcoming.
Overall, I think the presentation went well. I think I am going to add a slide that shows the specific equipment that I used while in Iraq and maybe another slide showing the WinLink path between Germany, my station in Iraq, and the one in Qatar. I think maybe a handout as well that includes some of the QST articles that talk about amateur operations in Iraq. The presentation time ran about 30 minutes or so. It seemed like the audience was interested and there were a handful of questions afterwards. One young woman approached me afterwards and told me about how her grandfather was a member of Navy MARS during the Vietnam War and operated phone patches. She said she had never really understood what that was about and that my presentation made her realize the great value her grandfather provided the military personnel and their loved ones. She also said she remembered going into his radio room that had racks of old tube radios and the distinct smell that used to produce when they were in operation.
I have my notes mostly finished and will add a link to my presentation slides here soon.
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Amateur Radio – a hobby where people talk about their hobby using their hobby.