Fulton County Amateur Radio Club

Monthly Meeting Minutes

August 17th, 2026

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

Attending: Bryan (KB8ELG), Jan (No call), Ryan (KC8HDG), Dene’ (N5XDM), Carl (AA8YY), Gretchen (KE8OKA), Ed (WD8KRS), Greg (KE8QFJ), George Norman (KB8BYA), Fred (KE8UJA), Bob (WB8ZOI), Larry (KD8PUD), Kim (KE8ITJ), Lee (KE8BHW), and Jason (KC8PCU)

1)         Pledge of Allegiance

2)         Guest Acknowledgement: None

3)         Members in Distress/Silent Key: Patrick Stein N8BRA became a silent key 6/02/26. He was founder of Command Technologies. He made many HF amplifiers sold all over the world. He also built and designed amps at the ARRL. He dedicated his life to ham radio and his family. Built by hams for hams. We lost a truly great member of community

4)         50/50 Drawing: KD8PUD was our winner

5)         VP’s Notes: Dene’ (N5XDM) requested repeater protocols to turn off announcements.

6)         Department Reports and Discussion

A) Repeater Committee- KB8MDF mentioned to KB8ELG that he may be able to source replacement transistors for those that are no longer able to be supplied by Henry Amplifier. Henry suggested that this is the likely cause of issues with the current amp. Sourcing of a backup or new primary amp is still considered to be the most viable option.

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

Raffles- Sales of “Winter Hamfest Cash” tickets have been strong but far too many remain unsold.

Door Prizes- Half of all 50/50 drawing proceeds are used for the purchase of door prizes. A very generous (and anonymous) member has donated a Dual Band Mobile radio for the Winter Fest.

Lectures- We will conduct a single lecture at the Winterfest with the topic either being soldering or a J-Pole antenna build.

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

 

5)         Old Business     

A) OSPOTA Preperation- September 12th, 2026 is the big day! Operations will run from 10am-  6pm on this Saturday. Jan has opted to take on the task of feeding us. Special note was given to the 75M band and who wishes to operate there. Logging contacts will be the responsibility of the individual station operators. We just need those individuals to log in an acceptable format to OSPOTA in the “Calibri Font” and be able to electronically transfer. It is also highly recommended that we use OSPOTA.org for spotting ourselves on the frequencies we use.

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

C)Recoordination of the repeater ownership- Tom Sly of the ARRL will be enlisted to finally get this matter settled.

6)         New Business

            The continuance of AR Newsline before Nets and the addition of the ARRL’s audio News.

7)         Good of the Club

A) The previous field deployment at York Park went well with KC8PCU, KE8OKA, KB8ELG, and AA8YY. The suggestion of conducting Simplex 440 exercises was mentioned and talk was also made about the establishment of a permanent antenna being placed at York Park.

B) Future activations to possibly occur at one of Napoleon’s riverfront parks, Gall Woods, or Fulton Pond.

C) Wauseon’s Super Cruise occurs August 18, 2026. All are encouraged to come out and help.

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

E) The Storm Net/ Emergency Service exercise conducted on August 3rd was well received by the EMA and surrounding areas. Operators are reminded that “Emergency Traffic” always takes precedence over nets and rag chew sessions.

 

 

8)         Adjournment- Motioned by KB8BYA, seconded by KE8UJA, approved by all at 8:15pm

Next Meeting scheduled for September 21, 2026

FCARC Schedule of Events:

Wauseon Super Cruise Night

August 18 Downtown Wauseon

Time: 5:30pm

 

 

OSPOTA

September 12 Harrison Lake, Fayette

Time: TBD

 

Wauseon Cruise Night

September 15 Downtown Wauseon

Time: 6pm

 

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: [email protected]