[CC-ARES-RACES] Station Grounding and Other Topics

[Michelle Sack]

Lee,
I was very glad to have the info on grounding and lightning
protection...esp.
with the tower going up at the antenna party on Oct 30. Thank you!!!
I think a CCARC club house and esp. a storage location for our gear is a
great idea. I don't know who to contact about the fire academy building.
Mike Tackish is our usual contact with them. Even if we could arrange the
room at the EOC...that would work...but then with security issues...not sure
how that could be arranged.
I'm sorry to hear that Bob's suggestion of this in the past was met with
"deer in headlights stare"...but it was a good idea then and it's a good
idea now. Let's look into the possibilities.
Bob is correct...it shouldn't be one person only working on it. What if we
all inquire about places?
Michelle
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Flick, Darryl L." <dlflick at co.pg.md.us>
To: "ARES/RACES Reflector" <cc-ares-races at mailman.qth.net>; "CCARC
Reflector" <k3smd at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, October 15, 2004 13:18
Subject: [CC-ARES-RACES] Station Grounding and Other Topics


Dear CCARC and ARES Members,

Rarely do I get excited about anything I read on eHam or QRZ (because I get
a downer feeling when I read licensed operators making themselves feel good
by publicly trying to make others feel bad), however I gotta tell you about
a wonderful site featured on eHam.  I tried to capture the link and post it
here, but was not successful.  Go to eHam and look at the area where they
review and rate websites relating to amateur radio.  It is on the lower
right side of the page.  One of the sites relates to grounding of radio
stations, including surge protection.  The site is terrific and I learned a
lot.

As some of you know, I have always feared lightning (duh), and my property
was actually hit 2 times in the same season while at our home in Issue, MD.
I am fortunate enough to report that I suffered no damage other than a few
rattled nerves. Tide with bleach works great !!  Sharon (KB3GHI) was
actually within about 20' of a strike, but was not injured.  Since then, I
have been nervously cautious.  And then I hear those stories from Tom
(W3TOM) describing his plasma balls, exploding TVs, and phrases such as
"...and when I woke up, I was on the floor 10' away with a nasty tingling
and numb feeling across my left jaw and over my head."

In closing, does anyone have interest in a "CCARC Club House"? Or possibly
referred as "CCARC Ready Room", or "CCARC Comms Center".  Could be our own
place for meetings, training, parties, and with an actual operating station?
It would be great if we were able to do demonstrations and training on
equipment that is CCARC owned, already in place, hooked up and able to be in
operation within five minutes of opening the door.  This topic has been
raised before however with our new concerns regarding a monthly meeting
place, it may be a good time to think about this topic and how to make it
happen.  I have always thought that the Radio Station Road Tower Building
(that brick and CMU building at the base of the tower that houses the CCARC
repeater) would be ideal.  Does anyone have any info or suggestions as to
how we may inquire about use of this building?  Or with whom?  Or any other
locations? Or if there is any interest at all?  During emergencies, there is
only one place to report, which is ready to go. I feel our services would
have a greater impact and a obvious value to the Charles County Government
had we a central mustering post capable of being on the air immediately.
That is the general nature of emergency response. And with possible
availability of grant money through the Department of Homeland
Security/Office of Domestic Preparedness, this has the potential to evolve
into a tremendous asset for our Club, the County, and for Southern Maryland.

While I had the podium, I thought I would take this opportunity to throw
this one out to the masses.  I guess you will never know the answer unless
you ask the question.

73 to all
Lee Flick
N3YWZ
_______________________________________________
CC-ARES-RACES mailing list
CC-ARES-RACES at mailman.qth.net
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/cc-ares-races