– Langner Nails It! –

The Amateur Radio Caravan Club was honored to have Mike Langner K5MGR take us back to the beginnings of mobile radios and the Caravan Club. Back then, mobile radios were huge, took up the entire floor between the driver and the passenger seats…or were in the car’s trunk. Imagine the inconvenience of having to stop the car and open the trunk to fine tune a frequency on your “mobile” radio. Their vacuum tubes also sucked up a lot of a car’s battery. However, those were the days when hams had no money so many built their own radios from used parts. Our since thanks to Mike for a very educational and entertaining evening.

During the business part of the meeting, Caravanmaster John Mocho KC5QOC announced that Radio Fun in the Park for 2026 will begin in May on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays (9AM ~ 1 PM) again at Sister Cities Park. We will meet under the trees on the Harper St. (north) side of the park. This activity is expected to continue monthly through to about September or whenever the weather gets too cold.  We look forward to being “radio active” in this beautiful park throughout the summer. For a map Click Here

- New Mexico QSO Party -

The Amateur Radio Caravan Club participated in the NM QSO Party by traveling to Arthur Park in Estancia, NM, about an hour’s drive from Albuquerque.  Fourteen members and visitors were present during the day, with six portable stations in operation. Propagation was somewhat spotty, but several contacts were accomplished. The park was beautiful and the weather was great in the morning, but the wind came up in the afternoon with intermittent sprinkles. Click here for some photos.

As the sponsoring club for the NM QSO Party, we’re now looking forward to processing the logs in a couple of weeks.

- Amateur Extra Class -

The Frank Warren Instructor Group has announced that it will be teaching an Amateur Extra class, its first ever, this year. The dates are October 10th and 11th and then October 17th and 18th of 2026 and they have reserved the Clubhouse of the Vineyards 55+ Mobile Home Community at 6118 Edith Blvd NE in Albuquerque. This is the same location where they held the last several class sessions. The times available to them are 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, just like before.

More importantly, they believe they have found a way that they can add half-again as much material (600 questions instead of 400 questions) into the same 32 hours. However, due to the complexity of the Amateur Extra requirements, all students are expected to put in six months of study, including practice exams, prior to the class. For more details, Click Here. If you are still considering enrolling, call lead instructor Larry Goga AE5CZ at his home phone number 1-505-293-5866, and please leave a message. Also, given the preparation time for this new class, the Group will not be teaching Technician nor General classes this year.

Thank you for joining our growing club. 73

Website Committee:  Pete KE5WTM and Larry K5LRY Site Last Updated: April 13, 2026. Copyright © 2026, Caravan Radio Club.  All rights reserved.