The meeting was called to order by Bryan Patterson (KB8ELG) at 7:30pm with 16 members in attendance, the pledge was given by all.
Members in Distress:
Bev Walworth (KC8UJC) continues to recover from several health issues, please keep both George (N8EUY) and Bev in your thoughts. We did have Allen Nash (KC8UQU) in our company this evening who continues to improve from his hip surgery.
The treasures report was given and a motion to accept was made by Bill Lampe (KD8WSL) and seconded by Ed Roth (WD8KRS).
There was one bill to present for the flowers for Jim Roth's funeral. On a side note, Ed Roth thanks the club for the attention and condolences.
A motion to pay the bill was made by KD8PUD and seconded by W8TUX.
Repeater Committee:
Not much change from last meeting, we still have structural repairs to make to the primary building before the end of the year. We will wait until autumn at this point to get past the heat of summer. Plans are to replace the trim boards and apply a fresh coat of paint. Bryan (KB8ELG) made a wellness check on the building to see how the new air conditioning system is working and reports it is operating efficiently.
The discussion was had about integrating weather alerts into the 147.195 repeater. CAT systems does make a WX-250 module for integrating National Weather Service alerts, with SAME code capability. There may be options to integrate third party radios as well, triggering one of the USER inputs on the 300DXL repeater. More information should be available at the next club meeting.
Old Business:
1. We still owe a list of materials to the County EMA for their VHF station. KB8ELG and KD8KBU will make a focused effort to get this done.
2. The antenna system at the Fulton County Health Center is complete. The radio has been tested and programmed for the Lucas County repeater. KB8ELG indicated there will be an upcoming net on the first Saturday in September when we can test this rig. He also indicated there is an ongoing net on the first Wednesday of the month which he would like to have a group of volunteers participate in. He will firm up the details, but we may ask out "retired" members to help with this effort. The hospital liaison did inquire about possible Amateur Radio classes for the Technician License for several of the hospital staff. KB8ELG provided them with contact information for the TMRA who puts on regular classes.
3. The mast trailer needs to have a license plate. KB8ELG will reach out to the Ohio BMV to see what is required for insurance (if any) and plate fees.
4. Our reservation for the Robert Fulton building hit a snag, so we were relocated to the County Admin Building now that the court house remodel is complete. We will verify, but it is very well likely we will be here going forward.
5. The Fulton County Museum Amateur Radio Day was a lot of fun to participate in. Thanks to all the club members who stopped out and special thanks to KB8ELG for bringing along some vintage gear to demonstrate.
Special Events:
August 24: Ohio QSO Party and Courthouses on the Air. We have permission from the County Commissioners to setup near the courthouse in Wauseon to participate in this event. We plan to be at the Courthouse by 8:00am to setup so we can start at 9:00am.
September 7: OSPOTA. We will be at Harrison Lake State Park again. We will still plan on having the cookout, but may setup an operator schedule for the radio. The best performing band for the day is usually 40m, so having a series of different antenna systems with a single rig and multiple operators throughout the event might be more productive. Further details as we get closer.
Upcoming Hamfests:
Septembe 8: Findlay
September 15: Adrian
October 13: Kalamazoo
October 27: Madison Heights
November 16: Ft Wayne
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.
Saturday morning breakfast at the Delta 109 at 9:00 AM, in downtown Delta, OH.
The next regular club meeting will be Monday, September 16 at 7:30pm at the County Administration Building (subject to change).
