Minutes of the October 2013 meeting of the Fort Smith Area Amateur Radio Club
Meeting minutes for the F.S.A.A.R.C. for Monday Oct. 21, 2013
The oct. 21, 2013 meeting of the F.S.A.A.R.C. was called to order by Club Vice President David Overton who then turned the floor over to the clubs Treasurer Rory Bowers for the financial report which can be read in its entirety by visiting the the club’s website.
The club members in attendance then voted on and approved the financial report as well as the September minutes as posted on the clubs website.
David then turned the floor over to the repeater committee chairman Wayne Johnson for a report who made mention that they had a committee meeting and discussed the situation concerning the 146.940 repeater which at this time there was no immediate concern to relocate the repeater at this time BUT we as a club were asked to keep a look out for a replacement location for the future relocation of that machine.
Rory Bowers then took the floor and explained that he and John Samuels went to the hill to replace the controller on the 146.640 machine and after further investigation it was then decided to realign the duplexer to help in improving the receive capability of that repeater.
Mark Clayton then asked the repeater committee how the battery system was holding up and John Samuels made mention after some improvements with a isolation kit and charging system the the water usage has dropped considerably which is better for the batteries.
Rory Bowers also made mention that the 145.110 ( W5JWT ) Jerry Tucker repeater will in the very near future have a replacement due to the ongoing issue with the present machine so stay tuned.
David Overton then took the floor on behalf of the Van Committee and explained after careful consideration and discussion that there was an offer to purchase the Van from the club and there was a decision from the committee to keep the Van for at least one more year and only after seeing if the clubs Van would be used accordingly to help in benefiting the club ie. special events, demonstrations for schools and Public Relations .
David then passed around documentation on the cost of building a storage/ operation trailer for everyone to look over and see what will cost verses what the van cost.
The floor was then turned over for introductions with two NEW Hams in attendance.
The floor was then opened for new business and Jeff Rickets made mention that the Arkansas QSO Party was successful event this year with the W5ANR club members that represented Sebastian County winning the county award. David Overton also touched base with the FSAARC being invited to host a group of scoutst for this years JOTA event at the Sebastian County’s EOC and spoke about how much the scouts enjoyed getting their Merit badges along with talking on amateur radio.
The floor was opened for club officer nominations for the 2014 calendar year with Jimmie Lowery ( W5JNL ) nominated as Club President along with Mike Cole ( W5TMC ) as Vice President. Chuck Johnson ( N5JUD ) was nominated as Club Treasurer and Jeff Rickets ( K5KDX ) as Club Secretary. These posts will go into affect officially at the January Banquet.
There was a short discussion about getting a work crew from the club to go up to the repeater site to have a repair and clean up day as soon as the weather permits due to all of the shrubs and tree growth as well as looking over the fence and repairing it too.
Jeff mentioned that there was a program to follow the meeting involving QSLing Part Two and for interested members to hang around and attend the program.
The floor was then opened again for new business with Mike Bell ( K5JMB ) MAKING A MOTION TO ADJOURN WHICH WAS VOTED ON AND CARRIED.
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Mike Cole, W5TMC