Legion to celebrate 93rd birthday on air

The American Legion Amateur Radio Club station, K9TAL, will operate as a special event station in March to commemorate the 93rd birthday of The American Legion. Tentative hours of operation are 1000 to 1600, Thursday through Saturday, March 15-17. A special commemorative certificate will be provided to all stations that work K9TAL during that period. Any members in the area available during that period are welcome to operate the National Headquarters station for this event. Contact Bill at k9tal@legion.org to sign up or to get more information.

Plans are currently under way to initiate an IRLP American Legion Net in the near future, to complement this HF net and enable further information-distribution outreach to members via local repeaters. Once a reflector has been selected and the net potential coordinated with the owner, we will send out an email survey to determine the best time and date for this net to reach the maximum number of members.

The club is putting together a booklet about TALARC and the value of amateur radio to posts in assisting with emergency communications in communities. We anticipate that it will be completed and available early next year, and will keep all posted on the net.

Everyone is invited to participate in the email discussion forum (www.legion.org/hamradio) now available on the club Web page.  Just scroll down and click on the word “forum” to enter or begin a discussion thread on any club related topic. Email k9tal@legion.org with any questions.

A number of members have already asked about emblem merchandise for the club. Some, in fact, have even sent us suggestions of pins and patches. Yes, there will be TAL ARC items available, but we anticipate that these will debut in 2012.