Via the ARRL: North Carolina Radio Amateurs Adapt Tailgating Hamfest to the COVID-19 Pandemic

With most hamfests canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some radio amateurs in Raleigh, North Carolina, have come up with a way to adapt with a tailgate hamfest in an unused shopping center parking area. The event grew out of the so-called Ham Radio Taco Thursdays, begun many years ago by ARRL Life Member Alan Pitegoff, AB4OZ.

Pitegoff had to put his event on hold when the pandemic erupted. It was suggested that hams could gather and socialize at a safe distance by having a Taco Thursday with the taco truck outside in an adjacent empty parking lot. That event was a success, with participants remaining at their vehicles and bringing their own chairs. That success inspired holding a tailgate hamfest in the same spot, and it’s now turned into a monthly event, called the AB4OZ Hamfest.

Pitegoff said Taco Thursday started collecting more people — up to 15 or so — at Taco Thursday, and when Taco Bell closed due to the pandemic, the event moved to a Thursday on-the-air net, with one requirement — that participants could not talk about COVID-19.

Read more – via American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources http://www.arrl.org/news/view/north-carolina-radio-amateurs-adapt-tailgating-hamfest-to-the-covid-19-pandemic