The future of ham radio is bright, but we have our work cut out for us.

There’s a growing conversation happening on the Internet around many aspects of the amateur ham radio hobby. As licensed operators in the hobby, we should be asking ourselves, “What can I do to help preserve the hobby as it exists today, and leave it in a better place for tomorrow?”

Bay-Net is finding ways to answer these questions. I’m so proud to be part of this organization. Let’s recap a handful of the things they offered members and the area ham radio communities in 2015.

• Annual Field Day
• Antenna Day
• Ongoing Partnership with Sister Organization Radio Mala in Kathmandu, Nepal
• Radio Loan Program
• Learning Sessions on D-Star Systems
• Annual Bay-Net Meeting (now called BAYCON)
• Ongoing Partnership with Bay Area American Red Cross
• Designed & Built a Custom Antenna Product (PackTenna)
• Large Presence in Maker Faire Bay Area, including Editors’ Choice Award
• And more

It’s an impressive list that continues to grow. Already in 2016 we’ve hosted our annual conference, now dubbed BAYCON. Within two days of calling for presenters we had over 10 topics on the hook, and one surprise guest video presentation from our East Coast buddy, Cale, the creator and host of the Fo Time Podcast. With a record number of attendees, there was a brilliant new energy in this year’s event as compared to the previous two years I had attended! Other events in the works for 2016…

• SOTA (Summits Over The Air) event
• Annual Field Day
• more?

I’m not sure if there are many organizations out there that are doing as much for their immediate and global ham radio community as Bay-Net. Head over to the Bay-Net website, join our Email group, get involved, and -most importantly- have fun!!!