[FCARC] June 19, 2023 Meeting minutes

[Ryan Arno]

For three years, I have been honored to call myself a member of the Fulton County Amateur Radio Club. What has ensued over those years are many new friends and a greater knowledge of the hobby which I have been a participant since 1997. I can’t overstate how valuable each and every member of this club is to me. We all share a great camaraderie around the radio. It brings us all together regardless of our backgrounds or beliefs. 

In response to our achievements in our 2023 ARRL Field Day, I would like to add some comments. The event was organized differently than it has been in years past. Despite horrible band conditions and some ruffled feathers, we put up possibly our best score since 2011. Many people worked their tails off in planning, preparation, and operating. One of our members even drove 15 hours each way from a jobsite with a trailer-load of some of the finest field operating equipment on the planet to make this our best Field Day ever. I helped people set up, worked as a greeter, helped operators find missing parts for their rigs, operated, and circumnavigated the Wood Lot more times than I can count. I had an absolute blast and had absolutely no problem sleeping Saturday night. However, despite the success, certain things were missing and some things just weren’t right.

The main reason for me writing this is to get ahead of divisions and rifts brewing within our club while they are still small. We are a growing amateur radio club with much to offer the local community. I am only a “newbie” in our fine club by comparison, but want to embrace its traditions. Hopefully, you fine folks can see the benefits of our radio club encouraging, educating, and competing like a top tier radio club. Field Day definitely fueled my competitive side and we put our club on the map. However, some things were missing at the Wood Lot: Our "Whole" Family. Not to mention, the lack of a whole family celebration! A couple times during the event, I could have used a sit-down moment with a libation and friends. The Field Day activities surely could have used a few more operators too. What makes our club great is the many social opportunities we provide in conjunction with playing radio. Playing by FCC rules which the ARRL chose to enforce was a fact of life for Field Day. The ability to make it a great time for all who attended did not go away. Going forward, I sure would like to see better lines of communication between organizers, participants, and campers. There should be a greater desire to be understanding of all would be participants. Especially to the ones who took on the task of organizing the event. 

Respectfully,
Ryan KC8HDG