[FCARC] Meeting notes for May 2012

[Craig Szczublewski]

A summary of the FCARC meeting notes for May 21st, 2012:

The meeting was called to order at 7:40pm with 19 members in attendance. 
Introduction 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 testing at the Archbold Police Station on April 28th 
with one person in attendance who upgraded from Technician to General.  Dave 
Nelson reports there will be a testing session on May 26th at the Archbold 
Police Station again, walk-ins are welcome.  Dave also reported that we will 
have a special testing session at the FCARC Hamfest in Tedrow in June 2nd at 
10:30am.  All normal rules and requirements apply.  See the Fulton County Radio 
Club website http://www.k8bxq.org/ for further details.  Also a special thanks 
go out to Dave Nelson who took time out of his day to assist the Seneca County 
Radio Club with their VE Testing on May 19th.  The Dayton Hamfest left them a 
bit shorthanded and Dave answered their call for help and represented the Fulton 
County crew exceptionally.

KB8ELG is planning on a second Technician class this year.  He reports the Class 
will be taking place September 15, 22, and 29th at the Delta Public Library. 
We'll post more details as they become available.

Repeater Committee:  The new repeater shack is ready to receive power.  In order 
to complete this, we need to take some non-club equipment offline at the 
Hospital site.  We are working to coordinate this with county officials, but the 
soonest will probably be in a few weeks, after public schools are out for the 
summer.  After that, we are ready to move the equipment and bring the new 
repeater controller on-line.  The county has offered the club space in the older 
commercial shack on the grounds at the hospital, but we are opting to use the 
building we have invested our time into.  This decision is focused around 
limiting any liability we may incur in a shared environment.  We would be 
sharing the building with the Wauseon Schools and the repeater committee feels 
it would be in out best interest to keep out equipment in a separate environment.

Several weeks ago, the backup repeater site took a lightning hit which initially 
appears to have destroyed all major components.  KB8ELG is currently working 
with our insurance company to replace these components.  We will have more 
information in the coming days.

Memorial Committee: No news to report, although we do want to wish KV8V's kids a 
speedy recovery.

Membership: We have 51 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: No forward movement yet, it is still in the works.

Hamfest Committee: The Hamfest will be June 2nd at the Tedrow Woodlot. All 
services and assignments are in place, so please stop out and say hi.  We will 
also have our new pneumatic antenna mast on display, which KC8UOM and the other 
club members have been working very diligently on.

Field Day Committee: Field Day is June 23-24.  I'll be sending out some 
additional e-mails to start coordinating.  If you are planning and bringing a 
rig and operating, or even coming out to assist in logging, please send me an 
email so I can start formulating a list.

Old Business: The 60 foot pneumatic mast is almost complete.  Short of trailer 
lights and some reflective tape, the mast system is ready to go.  KB8ELG has the 
rotor plate fabricated and a TailTwister rotor and antenna masts ready to go 
also.  As previously stated, we cannot give enough thanks to Tom (KC8UOM) for 
his efforts in making this happen.  And thanks to all the other club members who 
put time and effort into this project.  You can see photos on the club website, 
or see the mast trailer at the Hamfest June 2nd.

New Business: We received correspondence from the Fulton County Fair Board.  We 
will be putting a booth up again this year.  In the mean time, we will be 
focusing on updating some of the DVD presentations and signage to showcase the 
latest technologies in Amateur Radio.  The Fulton County Fair runs August 31st - 
September 6th, so please mark your calendars and let us know if you can help out 
at the booth.

Upcoming Events: FCARC Hamfest June 2nd, Field Day June 23-24.

Good of Amateur Radio: PRB-1 (HB 158) has been signed into law.  More 
information can be found at the ARRL Ohio section website http://arrl-ohio.org/

Upcoming Hamfests:

06/02/2012 FCARC Hamfest: Tedrow, OH
06/03/2012 Chelsea, MI
06/17/2012 Monroe, MI

Next Meeting:  The next regular club meeting will be June 18th 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

I think that about covers it...73 for now!
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Craig Szczublewski - KD8KBU