[FCARC] FCARC Meeting minutes for September 21, 2026 https://k8bxq.org/node/193

[Ryan Arno]

Fulton County Amateur Radio Club

Monthly Meeting Minutes

September 21st, 2026

The meeting was called to order at 7:02pm.

Attending: Bryan (KB8ELG), Jan (No call), Ryan (KC8HDG), Dene' (N5XDM), Carl (AA8YY), Gretchen (KE8OKA), George Norman (KB8BYA), Cindy (KB8TYN), Fred (KE8UJA), Bob (WB8ZOI), Lee (KE8BHW), John (KD8ZKE), Dinah (KF8FDS), Jake (KD8PFH), Debbie (KC8ZOB), and Jason (KC8PCU)

1)         Pledge of Allegiance

2)         Guest Acknowledgement: None

3)         Members in Distress/Silent Key: None

4)         50/50 Drawing: KE8UJA was our winner

5)         VP's Notes: Dene' (N5XDM) No comments

6)         Department Reports and Discussion

A) Repeater Committee- KB8ELG suggested swapping out repeaters at the shack in order to rule out it being the source of spurious emissions. Pending those results, a new amplifier may need to be purchased. No discussion was made on repairing the current amplifier. Sourcing of a backup or new primary amp is still being considered.

B)   Treasurer's Report- Read allowed and accepted after a motion made by KE8OKA and seconded by KB8BYA

C)   Winter Hamfest Preperation

Promotion- Registering the event with the ARRL will be taken by AA8YY. Making flyers to pass out at upcoming events mentioned. Of general note: We generally have 50 vendors and average attendance is approximately 150

Building good Will with the Legion- In the interest of showing our interest and investment in the Delta Legion, we will attempt to patronize their Sunday morning breakfast on the Sunday morning prior to our 3rd Monday of the month meeting.

Raffles- Sales of "Winter Hamfest Cash" tickets have been strong but far too many remain unsold. We have 158 out of 300 to be sold still available.

Door Prizes- Half of all 50/50 drawing proceeds are used for the purchase of door prizes. We will likely minimize emphasis on door prizes.

Lectures- We will conduct a single lecture at the Winterfest with the topic being a small soldering project. KE8OKA will purchase kits from Amazon with a budget of $100 or less. We should be able to sell these to lecture participants for the $5-10 range.

VE Testing- Will be conducted in a separate space to the lecture in case there is an overlapping of time between.

HT kit-bashing- Due to the great surplus of obsolete hand-helds donated to the club over the years, the thought of giving them away to attendees of the Winterfest. The purpose of which would be to transform them into pinewood derby type racecars.



5)         Old Business

A) OSPOTA After Report- September 12th, 2026 is behind us. Operations ran from 10am-6pm and fun was had by all participants. Many thanks to Jan, KB8TYN, AA8YY, and KE8ITJ for taking on the task of feeding and hydrating us. Anybody who has not submitted logs to AA8YY should do such in the acceptable "Calibri Font". The event saw the 40 meter band booming so everybody wanted to play there. Future efforts to spread us all out across the bands were discussed. This included the possibility of holding a band lottery, having 2 hour shifts on a band then rotating, or setting up specialized/band specific stations with rotating operators. Determining a universally used logging software was recommended. Using 2M simplex for greater communications between camps was mentioned. We will be operating from the Beach Shelter, North Shelter, and the Group Camp (primitive) for OSPOTA in 2027. Spotting needs to be more greatly emphasized in addition to maybe tuning in a better 75M antenna. Lastly, we can't forget to take the darned group picture next time!

B) Repeater Amplifier decisions- Identify an acceptable transistor replacement while also commencing a search for a second amplifier

6)         New Business

7)         Good of the Club

A) Christmas Party- Will be held January 2nd, 2027. This event will be a potluck with a sign-up sheet. We will be inviting the mayor and spouse in addition to having Santa Claus.

B) Election of Officers- Will be held January18th, 2027. Anyone interested in becoming a club officer should express it. The topic of going to staggered two year terms was also discussed.

C) Wauseon's Christmas Parade- will be November 21, 2026. Start time is 6pm and is the same day as Fort Wayne's Hamfest.



8)         Adjournment- Motioned by KE8BHW, seconded by KE8UJA, approved by all at 8:10pm

Next Meeting scheduled for October 19, 2026



FCARC Schedule of Events:



Wauseon Christmas Parade

November 21 Downtown Wauseon

Time: 6pm



FCARC WinterFest

Delta Legion Post 373

December 5,

Time: 6am setup



Christmas Dinner

January 2,2027 Rotary Shelter House Wauseon

Time: 6pm





Ryan M. Arno
Engineering & Operations Manager
A+ Engineering & Fabrication, Inc.
Phone: (419)832-0748 Ext. 273
Fax: (419)832-1821
Cell: (419)260-0597
Email: rarno at aplusengineering.com<mailto:rarno at aplusengineering.com>
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