2024 Recap and New Years Wishes

As I sit here pecking away at my keyboard I am thinking about the progress the club has made this past year. 2024 was a banner year for the Suffolk County Radio Club.

Club membership has exploded. We started 2024 with approximately 56 dues paying members. As we end 2024 we have 90 dues paying members on the roster. That is almost double the club size in just 12 months. This is all due to the continuous efforts of recruitment during club events, community outreach and classes, member referrals, an aggressive VE testing schedule and the club being in the news to name a few. Without any of these we would not have reached the current member count. This is the highest number of members in years, maybe even decades!

Another achievement the club accomplished in 2024 is the increase in the number of club activities. The saying goes “An active club is a healthy club”. By that measure the SCRC is one of the healthiest clubs on The Island! Our members have developed, organized, and participated in well over 13 events this past year. Again, more than any year in recent history! Some notable ones were Winter Field Day, HamSci Solar Eclipse event, Masticon, our 1st POTA event as a club, Maker Faire, ARRL Field Day and Skywarn training as well as numerous club breakfast meetups, parades, 5k’s and Marathons. All of which were a great success in their own right. Accolades were received from many event organizers and public officials due to the members participation and professionalism.

The SCRC has also become a leader in our county by reaching out to , supporting, and developing working relationships with other local clubs. This has put the club in the spotlight, brought in new members and has become a welcomed practice within Suffolk County.

History has knocked on our door this year. The SCRC was featured in a multitude of articles across numerous publications this year. One such article brought a beautiful lady and her husband down to the HamSci Solar Eclipse event in Center Moriches. Elaine and Red Thompson had read the article about the club participating the the event and she decided to come down and bring some things with her. You see, Elaine is the daughter of Frank Ryder. Not only was Frank one of the original members of the Suffolk County Radio Club but he also was the first holder of the W2DQ call sign. Elaine shared some of her most loved memories of her father with us as well as provided some QSL cards, photos and other papers from Frank’s shack.

Another surprise at the Solar Eclipse event occurred when Section Manager Jim Mezey, W2KFV, presented the SCRC with a Commendation Certificate for Public Service from the ARRL.

Club member Joe Franolich, WI2M runs a Youtube channel called Ham Radio On The Go and was kind enough to spotlight the SCRC in numerous Youtube Videos. You can see the videos on his Youtube channel here : https://www.youtube.com/@hamradioonthego/videos

I encourage every single one of you to become even more involved in 2025. If you didn’t attend any events then promise yourself to join us for one this coming year. I promise you will be glad you did. If you participated in 5 events this year then attend 6 next year. The more everyone participates, the more we can do and ultimately the more fun we all can have.

Technology was another area of growth this past year. The club acquired 3 laptops as well as logging software licensing. This allows us to now log contacts at events in real time into a central database from multiple workstations. The days of paper logs, transcription and duplicates ended for the SCRC in 2024. 3 complete soldering workstations were donated to the club by members. The club purchased a Zoom license which will help with further outreach, presentations and connections between members. SCRC VE sessions are now uploaded and graded online. No more blue overlays needed. Shortly the tests will be taken on tablets and put an end to all paper testing. Numerous club members are also VEs with some having full remote online testing credentials. This will allow the SCRC to provide remote online testing sessions for anyone within the USA to test with us. This is another area the SCRC is at the forefront!

Before I close let’s highlight one of the Maker Nights members of the club organized. Members built FM receivers and learned new skills. But it was more than a basic soldering class to build a small radio. It was a teaching opportunity, a social event where bonds were made. An unanticipated side event broke out that night, a friendly competition as to who brought the best soldering setup to the event. What a wonderful and fun evening.

In the end all this success can not be achieved without YOU, the club members, staying active and enthusiastic. A club is nothing without it members.

Wishing every one of you and your families a healthy, safe and prosperous New Years! And do not forget to stay Radio Active in 2025!

73,

Brian Bresocnik, NG2S