[FCARC] August Meeting Notes

[Craig Szczublewski]

The following are meeting notes from the August 15th club meeting:

The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm by KB8ELG.  We had 23 members and 3 
guests in attendance.  Minutes from the previous meeting were read by KB2AVN and 
accepted as well as the Treasures report by KB8ELH.  Individual committee and 
special reports follow.

Members in distress:
One of our club members, Owen Hinkle (AC8OH) is on the mend after suffering a 
mild heart attack.  Owen is at the Findlay Hospital but set to go home soon.  
Owens address is 3806 Bright Rd, Apt 304, Findlay, OH, 45840 if you want to drop 
him a line and wish him well.

Old Business:
The club purchased three assembled and finished picnic tables from a local 
Fulton County wood shop for $150 total and donated them to Jim Roth for use at 
the Roth Family Woodlot in Tedrow.  The tables were delivered as a surprise by 
kb8elg and kd8kbu and, needless to say, well received.  We thank Jim and the 
Roth family for having out for our Hamfest and Field Day year after year.

Education/VE Report:
The VE Team conducted a regularly scheduled testing session on July 30th in 
Archbold.  We had two people attending, and issued CSCE's for a new Technician 
and an upgrade to Extra.  KA8KDS reports we have one person scheduled for the 
August 27th testing session.  September will have two scheduled testing 
sessions, one on the regular date and time (September 24th) and a special 
session after the Technician class on July 17th.

The Technician class is a full go for September 10th and 17th at the Delta 
Public Library.  After much debate, we are altering the class by eliminating the 
course fee and providing all of the testing material for the participants.   The 
club members in attendance passed a motion to accept donations from the club 
members for purchasing 5 sets of ARRL study guides to offset the normal $30 fee 
which may be a barrier to potential new Hams.  We collected enough money for 
that purchase evening and I have issued statements to the ARRL and local county 
newspapers indicating the elimination of the test fee, but also limiting the 
class size to 5 seats.   An updated flyer for the class can be found here, 
please download and put them in public areas to help promote the class:

http://www.k8bxq.org/sites/default/files/flyer%20-%20idea%201.pdf

Repeater Committee:
We had a special guest this evening, Justin Thompson, the Fulton County EMA 
Director.  JT was out to explain a state study and assessment of the tower which 
houses our primary repeater site.  Accepting that the even though the tower had 
been well maintained, it still is around 40 years old.  Recent changes in 
ratings related to ice buildup and wind gusts have put the tower at 240% 
capacity.  This is before the new county 800MHz system even goes in.  Without a 
suitable overhaul costing much more then the county can absorb at this time, all 
antenna systems need to be off the tower accept the new county system.  While we 
are not alone in this change, we have an advantage of having the backup repeater 
site which is not only on a 190ft tower, but on one of the highest points in the 
county.  The current plan is to move the primary repeater to the backup repeater 
site this Saturday morning after breakfast at Weber's.  The backup repeater 
system will be offline for the time being until we can find a suitable home for 
it.  JT has assured us he, and the county commissioner, are working finding new 
homes for the current radio systems, including ours, so this will more then 
likely be a temporary situation.  There also stands the chance the will reinvest 
in the current tower and make the necessary updates, at which time we could 
return to that site.

So what does all of this mean?  After the move, there should be no significant 
change in repeater coverage although people in southern Fulton county may have a 
bit more difficult time getting on with an HT.  Northern Fulton county should 
see improved coverage.  There will be a short time this Saturday afternoon that 
both repeaters will be offline while we swap equipment.  Your comments are 
welcome, and if you have any suggestions for our backup repeater (as a temporary 
measure), please let us know.

Special Events:
The Fulton County Fair is September 2nd through the 8th.  K8LI is lending us his 
10x10 shelter for the club booth, and like last year we will have a VHF and HF 
rig available.  We are looking for ideas on what technology to showcase to 
create interest and excitement about the hobby.  Current ideas are integration 
with Internet technology like IRLP and Echolink and showcasing using mobile 
devices to access distant repeater systems.  Also, if you are interested in 
helping out at the Fair Booth, please let us know, email officers at k8bxq.org and 
indicate what times/days you could assist.

Other Miscellaneous Notes:
We have a handful of t-shirts left over, once those are gone we are going to 
look at the next design with an updated logo and messaging.  We are currently 
letting the old stock go for $10/shirt.  You can contact Lindsay (K8LI) for 
details on those (lindsayinf at yahoo.com).

On September 24th, There will be an Auction at 10:00am in Tedrow for much of the 
radio tubes and parts from Nelles Roth's collection and business.  More 
information can be found at Whalen Realty and Auctions site:

http://www.whalenrealtyauction.com/auction.asp?az_feed_pos=http%3A//www.auctionzip.com/cgi-bin/auctionview.cgi%3Flid%3D1178238%26feed%3D129%26group%3D0%26state%3D%26kwd%3D%26zip%3D%26category%3D0%26nojava%3D0 


September Hamfests:
09/11/2011: Findlay/Great Lakes Division Convention Hamfest
09/18/2011: Adrian ARC Hamfest

That's enough for tonight!  I'm sure some things slipped through the cracks, but 
we'll get those corrected another time.

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Craig Szczublewski - KD8KBU