[CC-ARES-RACES] [charlescountyhams] CCARC April 2012 Monthly Membership Meeting follow up report

[pmtackish at comcast.net]

Art; Great report! Please keep them coming! 

  

73, 

  

Mike KA3GRW 



----- Original Message -----




From: "Rob Hoyt" <robhoyt32 at yahoo.com> 
To: charlescountyhams @ yahoogroups .com 
Sent: Sunday, April 8, 2012 6:00:28 PM 
Subject: Re: [ charlescountyhams ] CCARC April 2012 Monthly Membership Meeting follow up report 

  






Art, 
 Nice write-up! Good to see you at the meeting, it was a another good one. I should have mentioned this before the meeting but I was planning to nominate Andrew Straatveit for President during the elections. Him and I talked after the last meeting and he had expressed an interest in the the position. I told him I thought he would be great for it and he asked that I nominate him.  


Also, since I've had a little break from the job of President I wouldn't mind getting back on the board. So I would like to throw my hat in the ring as Vice President. Now, I assume that both of these positions are going to be vacant. I have no desire to run against you or Charlie, you both have done a fine job. But if you are both stepping down, then I think Andrew and I (or whoever the club elects) can step in.  


I should be in town for the next meeting, I look forward to it. Thanks for all your efforts with the club, you obviously have other  priority's  now. Some day I wouldn't mind talking about your symptoms if you don't mind. I've had some urinary tract issues in the past and I have to admit, your experience has been an eye opener.  


73, 
Rob - N2OMC       





From: "Aa3rt at comcast.net" <Aa3rt at comcast.net> 
To: Unknown CCARC <k3smd at mailman. qth .net>; CCARC < charlescountyhams @ yahoogroups .com> 
Cc: Bill (Tugboat) Palmer < catwilpalm @ verizon .net>; john@ johnbeck .org; n3llr@ arrl .org 
Sent: Sunday, April 8, 2012 4:37 PM 
Subject: [ charlescountyhams ] CCARC April 2012 Monthly Membership Meeting follow up report 



  
















Hello once again CCARC ! 

A lucky 13 members and guests made their way to the La Plata Train Station Museum for the April membership meeting on Friday, April 6th. Attendees included (As always, in alpha-numeric order): 

AA3RT       Art 
KA3VNF    Debbie 
KB3HNP    Joe 
KB3KOW   Boy Scout Bob 
KB3OSF    Tim 
KB3UYZ     Pat 
KB3WYR   Spencer 
KE3GG      Fly Boy Bob 
N2OMC     Rob 
N3LLR       Bill Edgar ( ARRL Atlantic Division Director and Friday night's guest speaker.) 
WB3KAS  Jim 
W3TOM    Tom 
Melissa M  (Unlicensed) 

The meeting came to order at 7:35PM. After a round of self-introductions, mainly for the benefit of Bill (N3LLR) Edgar, we gave Bill the floor. (I should preface this by stating this was a very impromptu presentation. Boy Scout Bob (KB3KOW) had a presentation by an individual from the QSL Bureau lined up only to have them cancel a couple of days prior to the meeting so Mr. Edgar's visit was most fortuitous and appreciated.) 

As noted above in the list of attendees, Bill is the ARRL Atlantic Division Director, the vice director (Or would that be Director of Vice? ;-) is our own Tom (W3TOM). A link to the Atlantic Division page follows: 

http :// www . atldiv .org/ 

Bill addressed a number of topics as they related to the ARRL , the future direction of amateur radio and the ARRL membership. Bill first mentioned the Atlantic Division Team, the cohesiveness of the group and how well they worked together for the benefit of the membership. 

>From there, Bill talked about the ARRL webinars -a schedule is available at the ARRL website. There have been over 50 webinars held in the last 3 years. (A quick check of the ARRL website reveals that there's another webinar scheduled for this coming Thursday [April 12th] regarding Field Day.) 
http :// www . arrl .org/news/ arrl -pr-committee-to-host-field-day- webinar 

Also mentioned were the section and division news bulletins-the CCARC is fortunate that W3TOM already sends these out over the reflector on a regular basis. 

Bill also mentioned that the Atlantic Division Convention, which is generally held in Rochester, NY is looking for a new venue. Possible locations include Virginia Beach/Busch Gardens or somewhere in the DC region. 

There were no questions readily forthcoming from the attendees so Bill's talk ended right around 8PM. Again, we thank Bill for joining us and updating us on the workings of the league and also offer a big tip of the CCARC cap to Tom for making the arrangements. 

We then took a short break before resuming with the boring ol' business meeting. This gave our ravenous crew an opportunity to devour the chocolate chip cookies that Melissa (KB3OSF's "better half") had so thoughtfully provided. 

The business meeting started around 8:10PM. 

>From the president: Public Service Announcement -Folks, I'm not looking for sympathy but just to follow up, I announced at the February meeting that I'd been diagnosed with bladder cancer. At that time I didn't realize how severe it was but it required that my bladder be removed. I'm still recovering but I've learned a lot about this disease in the past 2 months. I strongly encourage anyone who is approaching or has passed the big 5 - 0 to have themselves screened at their next doctor's appointment or physical. If I can help one person with early detection and avoid the pain and discomfort I've endured it will have been worth it. More information here: http :// www .cancer.gov/ cancertopics /types/bladder 

While I was home recuperating I received a small package in the mail. Much to my surprise it was a 2012 copy of the World Radio TV Handbook thoughtfully provided by the CCARC . (Thank you very much!) When I first got re involved with short wave listening about 30 years ago, I picked up a copy of the WRTH for a couple of years. This book is the "bible" of frequencies, country of origin and target areas. If you're interested in medium wave or shortwave listening or DXing this book is a most valuable resource. In my condition the hand held print version was most welcome, rather than having to hobble my way to the computer and look things up on line. http :// www . wrth .com/ 

For those of you who are members of the American Legion or Sons of the Legion, you're eligible for membership in the American Legion Amateur Radio Club. The Legion maintains a club station at the group's headquarters in Indianapolis, call sigh K9TAL. http :// www .legion.org/ hamradio 

Repeater statuses: I've been in semi-regular contact with Mike (KA3GRW). He informs me that the KA3GRW (443.700 MHz) repeater has an audio output problem that he and Cliff (N3FI) have been working on. Mike may be trying to get some assistance from someone with Motorola experience so that the problem can be rectified once and for all. 

Cliff (N3FI) was supposed to have gone to Blossom Point today to pick up the W3BPT (146.85 MHz) repeater and take it to Mike's house for safekeeping and troubleshooting. More to come... 

Vice President- Absent (On travel) 

Secretary- Absent 

Treasurer- Absent, however unlicensed Andrew did provide a proxy report via KB3KOW-The good news is that we have money, a couple of more members have paid their dues. The bad news is that both the club's insurance bill and the post office box rent arrived over the past month with a combined total expenditure of approximately $435.00. 

Activities Manager- We have a number of activities coming up in the next couple of months. Unfortunately details on a few of these are "sketchy" at best. 

April: 

14th-Charles County Running Festival out of Regency Furniture Stadium (Home of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs). Still awaiting information from the event coordinators. 

21st-Radio merit badge class at the American Legion Youth Camp in Cheltenham . 

28th-Celebrate La Plata Day (10th anniversary of the devastating tornado that struck on April 28, 2002) 

May 

6th-March For Babies (Formerly March Of Dimes) Walkathon-Still awaiting more information on this one as well. At the end of 2011's event, event coordinator Jennifer Abell said something about having a joint Calvert/Charles/Saint Mary's County event at Regency Furniture Stadium. However, Bob is still awaiting details. 

June 

23rd/24th Field Day to once again be held at Laurel Springs Regional Park. 

Reminder- The 15th anniversary of the founding of the Charles County Amateur Radio Club will be this coming October. 

Recent events: 

March 28th-Drill at the Charles County Health Department. The purpose of the drill was to exercise the HD's ability to distribute drugs to their organization which in turn would allow them to then go out and operate POD (Point Of Distribution) sites. 

April 3rd-Quarterly Prince George's-ARES Hospital Drill. KB3UYZ (Patrick) and KB3KOW (Boy Scout Bob) manned CIVISTA Hospital for the drill. The goal of stations in hospitals south of Route 50 was to send requests to Calvert and Saint Mary's counties asking for mutual aide. 

>From the members: 

KB3HNP- Joe talks about the upcoming Celebrate La Plata Day and the communication problem he encountered with a lady at town hall when Joe asked about the possibility of having a quiet spot to set up. Joe has the paperwork to b filled out. Bill (N3LLR) suggested the possibility of getting a 1X1 call sign for a special event station and while this is too short a notice to have the event mentioned in QST , there is the possibility of having notice of the special event station covered in an ARRL bulletin. I (AA3RT) volunteered to write up a history of how the CCARC responded immediately after the tornado and also suggested that the CD of the activities of that fateful night, recorded by a ham in northern Virginia, could possibly be played at our booth. More to come! Date-April 28th! 

W3TOM- Tom talks about a radio that he'd placed an order for some months ago-the Elecraft KX-3 transceiver. A small, lightweight transceiver, ideal for hikers and campers. More information here: http :// www . elecraft .com/KX3/kx3. htm 

KB3WYR- Spencer brought in his latest project-a Kenwood 2 meter, all mode  transceiver. (I couldn't find a picture of this one on the Internet.) According to Spencer this radio, which is about 30 years old, has a small problem with the audio output and he plans to replace the capacitors in the radio. I'm looking forward to seeing this one used  at either Cobb Island Day or Field Day. 

KE3GG- Nothing radio related this month, however I will be attending a two day school in Virginia on how to judge acrobatic flyers . 

N2OMC- Busy traveling between Camp Lejuene and Ft. Lewis in Washington State. Also trying to fit in some time visiting the kids. 

KB3YUZ- I had a good time attending the Timonium hamfest with Spencer and Joe. I purchased a hat with my name and call sign and a ramp for getting the dog in the van. I also saw a radio I liked but at over $1000.00 I opted for maintaining domestic harmony and passed on the radio. ;-) 

WB3KAS- Jim discussed some past hospital drills, he appreciates the input coming from Civista and the CCARC . Two events of note coming up in the near future: 

April 12th-The Maryland statewide EOC drill 

April 26th-Region 5 (Includes Charles County) Hospital drill. 

I noted that Friday night's full moon reminded me of the night of the tornado-after the skies cleared and I was cut loose from the hospital, after the phones and paging system was restored around 1:30AM, I took what was probably the eeriest walk of my life. There were no lights on anywhere in La Plata and there was no traffic either-all I had was the full moon to illuminate my walk home. A couple of others provided their memories of that night, almost 10 years ago now as well. 

WB3KAS made a motion to adjourn, KB3OSF seconded, all were in favor, meeting adjourned at 9:00PM. 

Next meeting: Friday, May 4th,  7:30PM at the La Plata Train Station Museum. 

Standard disclaimer: As I've mentioned before, my note taking left a lot to be desired 40+ years ago while I was attending Eisenhower High School and haven't improved much in the ensuing decades. Any errors or omissions are mine alone and are not intentional. If something is so glaring that you feel a correction needs to be made, please email me. 73, de AA3RT 












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