Minutes of the July 2012 meeting of the Fort Smith Area Amateur Radio Club
July 17, 2012
Minutes of the Ft. Smith Area Amateur Radio Club monthly meeting for July 2012.
Meeting called to order by president Jimmy Lowrey W5JNL at 7:00 p.m. A call for approval of the June 2012 club meeting minutes was made and a motion for them to be accepted as posted on the club website was made by Levi Taylor WA5WRN and seconded by Wayne Johnson W5OFN. Motion carried.
Our club secretary, Win Dooley, W5JAG, could not attend tonight’s meeting due to an injury. Mike Cole, W5TMC brought a recorder to take the minutes but in rare form did not have good batteries and it would not work. For some reason Mike developed a red face but needed no medical attention as the condition passed quickly. Jeff Ricketts, K5KDX took the minutes instead.
Rick Deaton K5RRD, club treasurer, read the treasurer’s report. There were expenses of $451.51 since our last meeting. A total of $120.00 was taken in for the Field Day supper and has yet to be deposited to the account. The account balance is $6,648.97 prior to the $120.00 deposit. A motion was made by Chuck Johnson, N5JUD to approve the minutes as read and this was seconded by Roger Martin, W5LW. Motion carried.
Wayne Johnson gave the repeater update and recognized Rory Bowers, K6CKS, John Samuels, W5ATW, Corey Freeman, K5GTO and Michael Davidson, KD5WVW for their work to get the Tulsa Link repeater up and running again. Thanks was given to Tom Ransom, N5HIG for the donated antenna and for John Samuels and Rory Bowers for refurbishing the antenna to get the Tulsa Link up and running. Unfortunately, due to some improper usage of this repeater and the 444.500 repeater, both have been turned off temporarily until they are not used improperly. The Tulsa link system is heard by many people across a large area and does not need to be used for general conversation purposes when simplex or a local repeater will suffice. Those who use repeaters should support the repeaters where and if possible. Wayne also indicated that the Sebastian County EOC has a landline installed now but that number is confidential. It will be used as needed when needed. The EOC computers are still operating on Wi-Fi and will soon be hooked up directly.
Randy Baggett, KG5NE mentioned that he has all of the FD logs except for possibly one 15m RTTY log. He will need the log to be able to respond to the QSL cards he is receiving. Randy still is receiving QSL cards from the DXpedition some members of the club undertook in EM24 (Rich Mountain) for the June 2012 VHF/UHF Contest.
Mike mentioned that he spoke to Deborah Kee, K5KEE about the club possibly using the air conditioned building at Bell Park for next years Field Day. To this John mentioned that he was going to mention to ARRL President, Kay Craigie, when at the OKC Hamfest coming up that it would be nice to change when FD is held due to the extreme heat and the toll it takes on folks in the South. Mike also spoke about the October club picnic. This meeting will take place the Saturday before when the normal club meeting would occur in October 2012. Mike needs to call about reserving the Harry E. Kelley facility pretty soon to make sure we get it. No comments were received from the floor about when or where the picnic should occur. It is assumed that all agree to go with the time and place and Mike will call about reservations.
Jimmy mentioned the need for some volunteers to work the Octoberfest at Columbus Acres this year for parking duty.
There was no comment from the floor regarding Old Business
Comments from the floor regarding New Business
The club van needs at least 1 new tire as it no longer has a spare tire due to a blow out on Field Day Sunday. John suggested we consider at least 2 new 4 ply tires since the 2 ply tires on the van now do not appear to be adequate for the weight of the vehicle due to weak sidewalls. A discussion about the need for maybe 4 new tires was generated by Chuck Foley, W5CJF. W5JAY suggested further discussion and van committee action before the expense will be incurred and to determine what tires it will need. Rick mentioned that the van budget has been exhausted at this time. John mentioned that we have been invited by the Green Country Hamfest folks to bring our van up to Claremore, OK next year to show everyone what our club has done. Good tires will be a necessity for this trip. The age of the tires is unknown as they were on the van when the club bought it. The faulty door on the side of the van is either in process of being repaired or is already repaired. John had not had a chance to talk to the repairman yet.
There was no other business. Mike Bell, K5JMB then motioned for adjournment and so it was.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Ricketts, K5KDX
FSAARC Club member