[FCARC] Meeting notes for Februrary 2012

[Craig Szczublewski]

A summary of the FCARC meeting notes for February 20th, 2012:

The meeting was called to order at 7:35pm with 23 members in attendance.  We are 
glad to have such a great turnout for these meetings, it certainly helps shape 
the direction of the club. Introductions were made and minutes from the previous 
meeting as well as the treasurer's report were read and accepted.

Committee reports follow:

Education: The VE Team held a regular testing session at the end of January, 
with one person in attendance, passing their Extra class license.  KB8ELG 
reported that the Technician classes are going well at the Delta Public Library. 
  We have three participants in the free class, and he has confidence in their 
ability to pass the class next Saturday.  Conducting the class with KB8ELG are 
KC8UOM and KD8KBU.  Testing next week will be at 1;00pm at the Delta Public 
Library.  While we advertised 12:00pm, we are attempting to push it back an hour 
to give the tech class attendees an extra hour for study.

KB8ELG listed to suggestions for holding another class this year.  It was 
discussed and debated that the best time would be after the Fulton County Fair 
in September though no schedule has been determined yet.  We are also kicking 
around the idea of a possible General Class education session.

Repeater Committee:  K8LI brought in the newly acquired CAT-300DXL controller to 
the meeting this evening.  He discussed the merits of the new cntroller design, 
including Echolink and IRLP compliance as well as smart weather alert 
capabilities.  We discussed the necessity to move into the new repeater building 
we put on premise last year.  The current repeater shed is showing signs of 
structural deficiencies and while we had a mild winter, we do not want to risk 
another year in that building.  The next nice weather break we have will 
probably see us finishing work on that building and installing the equipment.

Memorial Committee: Dorothy Slemp, XYL of Howard Slemp (N8VHX), passed away 
January 21.  Many HAMs form the area attended the services and our condolences 
go out to Howard and his family.

EC Report: Nothing to report.

Membership: We have 48 paid and lifetime members.  Thanks to all who continue to 
support our club, it helps with the costs of running the club and allowing us to 
maintain and upgrade our repeater.

T-Shirt Committee: Nothing to report as of yet.

Hamfest Committee: The Hamfest will be June 2nd at the Tedrow Woodlot.  Everyone 
agrred the format of last years Hamfest was a success and we will run it in the 
same manner this year.

We also have a table at the Toledo Hamfest on March 18th, club members should 
feel free to bring along anything they might want to sell.

Old Business: We are still  attempting to get a pneumatic mast system together 
for Field Day.  We had a discussion on contingency plans in the event we are not 
able to have that system together.  The worse case is we do not run a beam 
antenna system this year, but we are HAMs and we usually figure out a way to 
make the best of what we have available!

Upcoming Events: The Henry County EMA is hosting NWS Skywarn Storm Spotting 
training on Tuesday March 13th at 7 PM. The training will be presented at the 
Henry County EMA EOC located at 1847 Oakwood Ave (County Rd 13) in the old 
Walmart Plaza. There is no need to pre-register.  Lucas County Skywarn will be 
on March 24th at 10:00am at St. Lukes Hospital.

Upcoming Hamfests:

03/17/2012 Marshall, MI
03/18/2012 Toledo, OH

Next Meeting:  The next regular club meeting will be March 19th at the County 
Administration Building (same as the Drivers License Bureau), 152 S. Fulton St, 
Wauseon.  The club meeting will be at 7:30pm.

Club Nets:

Weeknights at 10:30pm Bud's Midnight Madness Net -- 147.195+
Wed at 8pm Informal Two Meter & ARES Net -- 147.195+
Wed at 9pm 6M Net -- 50.400 AM on the first Wednesday of the month
Wed at 9pm 6M Net -- 52.525 FM Simplex

That's all I have for now.  Please reply back to me with corrections as I am 
quite sure I missed or misquoted something...

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Craig Szczublewski - KD8KBU