March 16, 2020

Club Meeting On the Air (147.195) roll: kb8elg, kd8zke, kb8kbu, kd8wsl, wb8zoi, nc4oh, kc8tcq, w8tux, ke8bhw, kc8pcu, kd8qhd (mobile), n8oxq, kb8gom, ke8cva, kd5guu, we8ter

The meeting was called to order at 7:30pm by Bryan Patterson (KB8ELG) with 16 members and guests in attendance on the 147.195 repeater.

Members in Distress: Keith Hosman (KC8TCQ) reported a silent key, Lowell Pfau (W8FGN) passed away, while not a club member, he resided just south of Fulton County in New Bavaria/Henry County.

Treasurers Report: no report

Bills to Present: nothing to present

Hamfest Committee: The next FCARC sponsored Hamfest will be the summer trunk swap on June 6, 2020, followed by the Winter Hamfest on December 5, 2020.

Repeater Committee: We need to schedule a HVAC check at the end of March.

Old Business:

• Additional repeater shed maintenance needs to be performed after spring rain has subsided.
• The TMRA hamfest, along with the Dayton Hamvention is cancelled this year.
• Emergency Services Practice Drill was run on March 11.  The only notes to pass along is some additional programming needs to be performed on at radios at the Health Centers and Nursing Homes to get simplex frequencies added.
• Comments: KC8TCQ suggested net control on simplex should have a taller tower for better coverage, but otherwise it sounded like it went well.

New Business:

• All major gatherings and Hamfests have been urged to cancel.  Dayton Hamvention followed suit and cancelled the 2020 expo in May.

Good of Amateur Radio:

• Bryan (KB8ELG) encouraged all of us to take advantage of this time to get on the air.  Experiment in HF and VHF, maybe try a new mode or a new repeater.  Our hobby is really designed for this type of event to be useful in emergency communications if needed.
• KE8BHW suggested Bryan make a declaration stating bills be paid in absence of a stated meeting.  Our by-laws allow for usual/routine bills to be paid at the Presidents discretion.
• KB8ELG suggested a Saturday morning Coffee on the Air on 147.195+ at 9:00am in lieu of our breakfast meeting.

Correspondence/Comments:

• KD8ZKE reported on getting his HF Amp up and running.
• W8TUX encouraged members to get on VHF as some band openings are starting to occur.
• WB8ZOI commented on some HF work on his Drake.
• KD8QHD reports his arm is healing well
• N8OXQ from Paulding County appreciated being able to sit in on our meeting to see how an on-the-air format would work.  Theirs will be 3/26 @ 19:00 on 147.135+

Upcoming Hamfests:

• 4/11/2020: Kalamazoo, MI (Crossroads) - CANCELLED
• 4/19/2020: Madison Heights, MI (GMARC) – CANCELLED
• 5/14/2020: Dayton Hamvention - CANCELLED

Club Nets:

• Weeknights at 10:30pm Bud's Midnight Madness Net -- 147.195+
• Wed at 8pm FCARC ES Net -- 147.195+
• Wed at 9pm 6M Net -- 1st Wed 50.400 AM, 3rd Wed 50.125 USB, all others 52.525 FM Simplex

Latest Club Information:

• On the web: http://www.k8bxq.org/
• On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Fulton-County-Amateur-Radio-Club-206939596063938/
• E-Mail list: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/fcarc

VE Testing: The club gives testing at 9am the last Saturday of each month at the George's Radio Service in Wauseon, contact Tom Servoss (KC8UOM) if interested, you can find his phone number on the www.k8bxq.org website under the VE Testing section.

POSTPONED: Saturday morning breakfast at the Delta 109 at 9:00 AM, in downtown Delta, OH.

The next regular club meeting will be Monday, April 20, 2020 at 7:30pm on the K8BXQ Repeater.

The Net was closed at 8:40pm by KD8KBU.