FCARC Meeting Minutes for January 9, 2007
Members & Family Present: 29 Guests Present: 3 Total Present: 32
Don Bollman, KB8LNV
Kelly Boswell, KA5MGL
Chris Brannon, K5ELY
Perry Carleton, AE5EE
George Carroll, KB5HE
Ken Chafin, N5RKC
Robert Crites, N0UVE
Danny Daniel, KE5DEW New Member
David Doty, N5XF
Jim Durham, N5UXX
Jim Elliot, W5JNE
Calven Evans, KC5RMR New Member
Bob Hambuchen, N5OMW
Judy Hambuchen, N5QKH
Randy Harrington, N5RYG
Gary Hawkins, KD5ZQF
Wayne Johnston, KD4TA - Vice President
Brian Kessler, N1WNC
Marlene Kessler, KE5HQU
Glenn King, N5GK - Custodian
Craig Mangrum, N5CTM - Secretary / Treasurer, and his wife, Janine
Dan Merry, KC5WMN
Jim Norwine, W5CS
Frankie Parks, K5FRP - President, and his wife, Hannah
Ojima Robinson, KE5ERI
Joe Seiter, KI5ZT New Member
David Turner, KD5JKX
Guests:
Bobby Brannan
Booker T. Lovelace
O'Neal Whitlock
Call to Order
President, Frankie Parks, K5FRP, called the meeting to order at 18:38.
Treasury report is $1954.61
Quick Announcements
Update On Perry Carleton, AE5EE
Perry is doing well and in good spirits. He is currently staying at MEMS here in Conway. The doctor has told him not to put any weight on his left leg for 3 months to allow his left pelvic bone to heal.
Perry is doing a lot of research on tower safety. He said he'd like to take this experience and turn it around to make something positive come out of it. He wants to increase tower safety as much as he can, not only for our club, but also for others.
Club Dues For 2007
Craig Mangrum announced that the club dues were to start being taken at this meeting. The deadline for the dues is February 13, 2007. There is also a new membership form and ARES commitment form that ALL members need to fill out. If you can't attend a meeting or lunch, please go to the club's website and download a form. The address to send the form in is on the form. The follow web address will take you directly to the form: http://www.w5auu.org/files/FCARC_Membership_Form.pdf
Old Business
Club's Website
Frankie has made a lot of improvements to the clubs website. All members should use the website to keep up with club activities and news. There is a calendar that will be updated on a regular basis. Also, Frankie said he welcomes any input on the website.
Pictures For Website
Wayne Johnston started taking club pictures for new members and those that wanted updated photos for the club's website.
FCC Drops Code Requirement
The FCC has dropped the Morse code requirement for all licenses in amateur radio. This decision has not taken effect yet. It is expected to take effect sometime in February or March.
Update On Repeaters
Glenn King gave an update on the repeaters. Glenn has been working on the antennas making sure they are tuned to give the best performance. We are waiting for someone to climb the towers before we put them up. Glenn also said the two 70cm repeaters are ready to be installed. David Doty also said the 6m repeater is ready and again just waiting on getting the antenna and repeater put up at the site.
New Business
Ideas and Visions For The Club - Frankie & Wayne
Frankie and Wayne spoke about several ideas and visions that they would like to see for the club.
Club photo credentials
Frankie and Wayne want to get photo ID badges made for all ARES members. ARES members will need these to get into secure places to perform their emergency communication job. Craig Mangrum said he would look into prices for getting the badges made via an office supply or print shop.
Up to date list of equipment and capabilities and training
Frankie talked about the club to get a list or database put together of the club members' resources. His examples are what kind of radio, is it a large one or portable, deployment capability, portable antennas, vehicle setup, etc. Other information that he is looking for is training that each member has had. These would include things like Skywarn, emergency communications, incident command, etc. This will give the club a better idea of where to use each member and what members need to insure their emergency communications skills.
Meet your local hams & their setup
Another idea Frankie presented was to have a presentation to the members each month describing of what you have, how you set it up, what you have done with it, and what you wish you had. Most of our knowledge like this comes from one on one discussions rather than a group presentation. This was an idea that David Doty shared with Frankie and Wayne. David also said he'd like to see members put their station on the club's website using photos.
Digital net once per quarter
Wayne recently helped George Carroll fine tune a PSK31 George had setup at his home. Wayne did this last year with the help from another ham located in Montana. Wayne said it really helps to have someone across town help you tune you sound card output for PSK31. Wayne also asked if there would be interest in getting a digital net organized and doing this once a quarter. Several members said they would be interested. It was mentioned that several of the members might need some insight into making the connection between their radio and computer. David Doty stated he'd like to see the club look at getting a 10m or some other HF net started up. Again, several members agreed they'd like to see this happen.
At this time, Glenn King stated he was thinking about trying to get a class together for new hams and any hams that wanted to learn more about setting up their equipment and making their first contact. Glenn said that many times, someone would pass their test and get their license, but then feel too awkward to make their first contact, and give up on the hobby. Several members showed interest in taking and help with this class.
Quarterly deployment drill
Frankie then discussed have a drill using NVIS or 2M simplex operations across the county. Plan a date (contingent upon weather) and then deploy from home on a Saturday morning to a predetermined location, establish contact, and be done by noon.
Scout Venturing and Ham Class
Wayne discussed the Scout Venturing program that was presented to the club on a Friday at lunch. What is needed to go forward with this is to know if there are enough adult members to help with this and if there are enough young people in the county willing to participate.
Wayne said this brings up the question do we need to do another ham licensing class. He suggested doing this in a community accessible area like the county library. That we should publicize it on TV, in the newspaper, at ACXIOM, and the high school maybe in their science classes. Several members agreed and said they would be willing to help with this also.
Presentation
Ken Chafin has volunteered to do our next presentation at the February meeting. Ken is going to do his presentation on grounding. He mentioned he had seen this in the St. Louis area and would try to get that information.
Upcoming Events
The Lawrence County ARC Winter-fest will be February 17th 2007. Location: Walnut Ridge Fire department's Fireman's Hall 218 East Main Street Walnut Ridge, AR 72476 Same Locations as last years fest. Parking is across the street at the church of Christ, we ask everyone to please not park in the beauty shop parking lot to the south of fireman's hall. http://www.cwrnet.com/lcarc
Russellville Hamfest March 3, 2007. More details on the Russellville club's website at http://www.cswnet.com/~arvarf/hamfest.htm
Ken Chafin made a motion to adjourn and was seconded by Jim Durham. The meeting adjourned at 19:31.
2-Meter Net Reminder
The FCARC net meets each Thursday night at 7:30pm on 145.210MHz PL 114.8Hz. The Net Control Operator for January is Wayne Johnston, KD4TA. Net control for February will be Perry Carleton, AE5EE.
Don't forget about lunches at Smitty's BBQ on Fridays at around 11:00 am till we leave.
For more information about the Faulkner County Amateur Radio Club, including news and upcoming events, go to http://www.w5auu.org/
Minutes taken and typed by Craig Mangrum, N5CTM, Secretary/Treasurer