[FCARC] February 16 Meeting Notes

[Craig Szczublewski]

Hello everyone, here are notes from the Monday night Club meeting:

The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm with 22 members and guests in 
attendance. Minutes from the previous meeting and the treasurer's report were 
read and accepted.

Committee reports follow:

Education: KB8ElG and KE8RU will be working out the curriculum for a Technician 
Class in April.  The current plan is April 11, 18, and possibly the 25, 
depending on progress.  The plan would be to either have the students take a 
test on the 25, but if not ready, working with the VE team to have a special 
session on May 2.  Approval was granted from the club for KE8RU to purchase 
updated Technician Class manuals from the ARRL ahead of the class. KB8ELG 
reports we have three people interested, with a possible fourth.  The plan is to 
hold the class at the Masonic Lodge next to the library.

Repeater Committee:  Both repeaters continue to operate as expected.  Although 
it was intended to switch operation from the main repeater to the backup 
repeater on a monthly basis, it was decided to cut the time on the backup 
repeater short this month.  Complaints were made regarding signal strength 
differences between the two machines, resulting in lower signal quality for a 
few individuals.  The intention was to verify both repeaters are always in 
working order, rather then the surprise we hadd a few years ago when lightning 
took out the backup system, and it was several months before anyone was aware of 
it.  The repeater committee is still determined to make sure both systems are 
frequently used, and have decided the the first week of every month will operate 
on the backup system, with the remaining days of the month on the primary system.

Paperwork was presented to the club regarding Yaesu's DR-1X repeater special. 
Yaesu is making these new state of art systems available to clubs for incredible 
discounts resulting in a cost of $500.  We heard many arguments for and against, 
and had reports for several club members who are affiliated with other regional 
clubs who have all taken advantage of this offer.   In the end, it was put to a 
vote and we were authorized by the club to start the paperwork on this process 
to obtain one of these radios.  More information will be made available as we 
have it.

Memorial Committee: No Report.

Members in Distress: No Report.

EC Report: No Report.

Membership: We have 43 members as of the February meeting.

T-Shirt Committee: No Report.

Hamfest Committee: The Summer Hamfest will be June 6 at the Tedrow Woodlot.  And 
the Winter Hamfest has been set for December 5 at the American Legion on St Rt 
109, just south of Delta.  KB8ELG has asked club members to grab flyers at the 
Toledo show to handout at that hamfest, as well as any hamfests between now and 
December in efforts to get as many vendors as possible.

Good of Amateur Radio:

1. March 5 is the set date for Weather Spotter training at Northwest State in 
Archbold.  Details can be found at http://k8bxq.org/skywarn2015.

2. KB8ELG reports that we will have a club table at the Toledo Hamfest.  Any 
club member is welcome to bring items to sell and make use of the club table.

Upcoming Hamfests:

03/14/2015 Kalamazoo Twp, MI (was Marshall/Crossroads)
03/15/2015 Toledo, OH
04/11/2015 Highland, MI (Milford)
05/15/2015 Dayton, OH (5/15 to 5/17)
06/06/2015 Tedrow, OH (FCARC Summer Swap)
06/07/2015 Chelsea, MI
06/21/2015 Monroe, MI

Next Meeting:  The next regular club meeting will be February 16 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...

Craig Szczublewski - KD8KBU