[FCARC] August Meeting Notes

[Craig Szczublewski]

The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm by KB8ELG with 16 Club members in 
attendance.

1. Members in Distress

Dale Little/N8MI has moved to an assisted living facility, Kingston Residence.  
While he can receive visitors, the nature of the medication and memory loss 
means he might not remember everyone, so please be patient.

2. Finance

LuAnn/KB8ELH read the treasures report and a motion was made by K8JPD to accept 
the report and seconded by KE8BHW.  All were in favor of accepting the report as 
read.

3. Bills to present

No outstanding bills or deposits were noted since the last meeting.

4. Membership Report

Membership stands at 53 paid and lifetime members.

5. Hamfest Committee

A reminder was put out that the Winter Hamfest is scheduled for December 3 at 
the American Legion on St Rt 109.  KB8ELG requested all to make a concerted 
effort to promote the Hamfest at upcoming regional 'fests, like Ft. Wayne and 
Findlay.  We should have an updated flyer on the website this week to print off 
and hand out.

6. Education Committee

KB8ELG indicated he will be spearheading an entry level class due to interest 
from several sources.  The target date will be after the Fulton County Fair.  A 
suggestion was made to notify surrounding community EMS/Fire/Police about the 
class as we have had several inquires from those departments about obtaining 
Amateur credentials for better integration with the club members.

7. Special Events

OSPOTA will be at Harrison Lake on September 10, a separate email will be sent 
out regarding this.

8. Emergency Services

We received much praise for our efforts at the Bull Thistle Festival Fireworks.  
The team we had was assigned to parking and traffic control within the park 
before and after the event, as well as spotting assistance for the Park Rangers 
and Law enforcement.  The event happened without incident and we had several 
good take-away ideas.  The first and foremost idea is that club members 
participating in these types of events with traffic control should have a 
personal "go kit" that have in their vehicle at all times.  This includes basic 
items like a reflective safety vest, LED flashlight with traffic wand, small 
first aid kit, collapsible traffic cone, and a FRS capable radio.  The last item 
might stir some criticism, but as we found out, when trying to integrate with 
the other group directing parking, they had no means to communicate other then 
FRS.  We welcome any other thoughts on items which would be useful for the types 
of events we operate in.

We passed along word of a potential CERT training class for October 22-23.  If 
you have interest in this event, please contact KB8ELG (kb8elg at hotmail.com) to 
let him know.  We has a good amount of interest at the club meeting last night 
and would like to provide a committed number to the EMA so they can plan 
accordingly.

9. Repeater Committee

The new amplifier is in place and has made tremendous improvements to the foot 
print of the 147.195 repeater.  Future plans are to test a pre-amp on the 
kenwood to boost up receive sensitivity. There are also plans to turn up the 
power on the Fusion system at the backup site, as well as put a service monitor 
on the duplexors to get those tuned as well.

KC2RCU discussed the possibility of using Wires-X to link the Fusion systems in 
Defiance and Van-Wert to Fulton, which could provide a gateway to Lucas County.  
More on this as plans are made.

A motion was made by KD8WSL to adjourn, seconded by KD8JBS.

Events of Interest:
09/10 OSPOTA - Harrison Lake

Hamfests:

09/11 Findlay
09/18 Adrian

Next Meeting:  The next regular club meeting will be 7:30pm on September 19, 
2016 at the County Administration Building (same as the Drivers License Bureau), 
152 S. Fulton St, Wauseon.

Club Nets:

Weeknights at 10:30pm Bud's Midnight Madness Net -- 147.195+
Wed at 8pm EC Practice Net & Club Two Meter 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

Craig Szczublewski - KD8KBU