The January 17 NORAC club meeting was quite an event. We had not had a business meeting since October so there was a lot to talk about. 12 members and a guest met up at Boston Pizza for dinner beforehand and then many more members and guests arrived for the meeting:

On tables around the room were laid out the "small HF rigs" showcase, some QRP and some QRO.

On the first table was Arnd VE7IDK with his FT-817 and accessories:

Second was Bob VE7EZI with his Yaesu FT-857D, jumpstart pack powering solution, ATAS-120 mobile vertical antenna and other accessories:

On the back counter two more exhibitors, Murray VE7MH with his Kenwood TS-50, matching tuner and vertical antennae, as well as Doug VE7VZ with his Yaesu FT-817 (and Yaesu FT-857D in the car):

Next, our special guest from Kelowna, John VE7JWS showing his powering solution and balun to David VA7SZ. John showcased his Xeigu X5105 (not shown in pic):

Then we have Brad VE7WBM's new HT, built by his aspiring-HAM-to-be son Byron and given to Brad as a Christmas present:

Back to HF rigs, Mike VE7KPZ showcased his days-new Yaesu FT-891. Unfortunately the parts to his DIY LiFePO4 power pack were still in the mail as was his Wolf River Coils TIA antenna. Here Mike and Doug speculate on DC power draws while new NORAC member Carl VA7NUL takes a closer look:

And then we have Aaren VA7AEJ with his Elecraft KX3/PX3 combo (not shown) and his Buddipole. Here he and Arnd discuss possible SOTA activations with their QRP rigs:

Finally, we did some power testing of the rigs at idle RX as well as a 5 watt TX into a dummy load. Here Mike VE7KPZ audits the testing of Aaren VA7AEJ's Elecraft KX3:

The night ran a bit long, so perhaps in the future we won't have so much "program" at meeting nights, but everyone did stick around right until the 10 PM finish as the information exchange was great.

I hope club members will be excited to go HF portable in 2019 with some parks on the air and possibly even some summits on the air activations in our beautiful North Okanagan area.

FYI,
Mike VE7KPZ
NORAC Vice President 2017-2019

Photo credit Jane VE7WWJ