[K3PZN-List] February 2008 CCARC Meeting Minutes

[n3sb at qis.net]

Carroll County Amateur Radio Club
Meeting Minutes, 11 February 2008

President Rich Mitchell, N3III, called the meeting to order at 7:37 PM. Fourteen
members and three guests were present.

Welcome Aboard Guests:

Rob Rhodes, Anthony Comulada, and Bob K3JAN.

Announcements:

The next CCARC meeting will be on Monday March 10th at the Emergency Services
Training Center in Westminster.

The next BoD meeting will be on Wednesday February 20th, 7:30 PM at the FTC.

The County RACES Drill will be held on Tuesday February 12th, 7:30 PM at the
EOC.

>From the mailbag:

The club’s mail was briefly reviewed and dispositioned. 

Secretary’s Report:

Steve N3SB published the secretary’s report from the January 2008 meeting to the
club’s email reflector. The report was accepted by the membership present. 

Treasurer’s Report:

Tony KF3AK provided the treasurer’s report, detailing current balances, income,
and expenses. The report was accepted by the membership present. 

Board of Directors Report:

The BoD report was published to the reflector. No club members desired to have
the report read.

Committee Reports:

Technology Experimenters Committee: Pat N8PK reported that there will be a small
balloon launch on the Second Saturday in April (the 12th), tentatively at the
Century High School.

Old Business:

Field Day Location: Several locations are on the table – Springfield Grounds,
Freedom Park, the EOC (not using pre-existing structures). A quick vote was
taken: 4 votes for holding the event at the EOC, and 3 votes to hold the event
“elsewhere.”  To solicit additional response from members, there will be two
brief proposals developed: 1) at the EOC, and 2) elsewhere. Andy WO3L will
write the first brief proposal, and Steve N3SB will write the second. Both will
be published to the reflector for the purpose of generating comments.

Field Day Category: QRP (5 Watts) vs QRO (100 Watts): 2 votes for QRP and 4
votes for QRO. 

New Business:

Nominations Committee: Nominations are now open. 

Presentation: 

Joe Tracey KB3LNM gave a presentation on antenna modeling software.

Other:

ARES/RACES Updates: Steve N3SB reported – ARES conducted its first HF Comms
check in Carroll County a couple weeks ago, using 10M. Results indicate that
antenna polarization plays a key role in determining communications range (no
surprise). Stations using vertical polarization had difficulty hearing those
using horizontal polarization. Further testing is planned on each of the lower
bands to evaluate coverage. 

A grant request has been given to the County’s Office of Emergency Management,
outlining a plan to add HF & VHF Digital communications capabilities to the
EOC, and to complete the shelter kits with VHF Packet capability.

The new County Emergency Operations Plan has been released, and is available for
download from the internet at
http://ccgovernment.carr.org/ccg/pubsafe/eop2007.pdf

ARES/RACES Calendar – MS Walk Sunday April 13th; County Exercise Saturday August
2nd.

Door Prize – Chuck N3TOT won a PIXIE 2 CW Transmitter Kit. Bob K3JAN won an
Antenna Book.
 
Closing notes:

President Mitchell adjourned the meeting at approximately 9:10 PM.

Respectfully submitted;
Steve N3SB
CCARC Secretary