Minutes of the March 2011 meeting of the Fort Smith Area Amateur Radio Club
The Fort Smith Area Amateur Radio Club met at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 21, 2011 at the Health South conference room.
President Royce Rainwater called the meeting to order. Chuck Johnson made a motion that the minutes from the February meeting be accepted as posted on the web site. It was seconded, voted on and passed. Treasurer Rick Deaton provided a report including income from admissions to the upcoming hamfest. Mark Clayton made a motion that the report be accepted as presented. The motion was seconded, voted on and passed.
Old Business
Hamfest from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 2 at Columbus Acres – Art Sellers reported that Columbus Acres staff will be at the facility during set up time. He will not be able to be there since he will be recuperating from surgery. The van has been tagged and Mark Platt plans to prepare the van for the sign shop, so it will be ready soon. The club logo and call sign will be on several places on the van. Jimmie Lowrey provided a list of the prizes. Doors open to the public at 8 a.m. and there will be a number of interesting sessions. Volunteers were recruited for several open positions. Club members were encouraged to purchase tickets in advance.
Repeaters: Plans are to work on the repeaters on the mountain soon. The 444.3 machine is operating but is not at full capacity.
Hospital Radio Station Support – President Royce Rainwater reported that he received a phone call from Health South. They have made a formal request asking the club to help them set up a station since they do not have equipment and they will be accepting the overflow from Sparks. There were 87 area hospitals that received equipment but Health South was not one of them. Royce told them that we would help them. They need a radio, power supply and antenna. Also there are other hospitals that need the radio programmed so they are all the same. The county’s radio needs to be checked as well. John Samuels made a motion that we support Health South to include purchasing the equipment that they need and support other hospitals by programming their radios. The motion was seconded, voted on and passed. Pat Hopkins will chair a committee to coordinate the efforts.
There was no new business.
Jan Eddleman is still in Sparks hospital in a room on the 6th floor extended-stay area. She is now responsive but is very weak. Doctors are still running tests to. If you would like to visit her, now would be a good time.
Mike Bell made a motion to adjourn. It was seconded, voted on and passed. The meeting was adjourned by 7:30 p.m.