The Mason County Amateur Radio Club’s next meeting will be 13 Aug 2016 at the Kneeland Park Picnic Shelter, Shelton, Wa. from 0900-whenever.  Also known as an “Antenna Party.”

Bring what you want to work on for an antenna. We’ll be making some yagi’s for the fox hunt. And we’ll have a Pot Luck lunch so bring your favorite dish (food!) to share. And drinks. Plates. Silverware. Maybe a chair to sit in to supervise from. A hat. The Club will provide some hamburger and hot dogs.

For those interested, the planned trip to Bellingham this August 27th to see the Sparks Museum is still in the planning stages. Anyone interested is requested to let AE7VG-Marlene (Madam President) or KF7NSM-Diane (Secretary) know.

Also, The annual Perseid meteor shower, already one of the most reliably impressive celestial events, promises to be especially good this year. The Perseid shower happens every year in August “when Earth ventures through trails of debris left behind by an ancient comet,” according to NASA. NASA is expecting more meteors than usual this year “because Jupiter’s gravity has tugged some streams of comet material closer to Earth.”

Typically, the Perseid meteor shower “has 80 to 100 meteor showers per hour.” But in the upcoming shower, “we’re going to have anywhere from 160 to 200 meteors per hour. So the rates are going to double this year.”

Best viewing this year will be the night of Aug 11 (Thursday) into the wee hours of Friday morning. Hopefully, the Weather will cooperate this year! (And us Old Guys can stay up that late!)

So, to sum up: Antenna Party this Saturday. Possible Bellingham trip the 27th. Bright lights in the sky without having to drink/smoke anything. What more could you ask for!?