The September meeting of the Dickson County Amateur Radio club was held on Monday, September 9th at the Renaissance Center.  At 7:30, the meeting was called to order by Secretary/Treasurer Melanie Ware.

In attendance:

Jeff Clark – NY4N, Becky England – AF4QB, Alice Kennedy – N4DXE, Steve Kennedy – W4MGY Paul LoCicero – K4TAF, Vollie Miller – W4TDB, Bruce Newberry – AG4VF, Justin Priami – KG4CEO, and Melanie Ware – AG4VG.

Committee Reports:

Christmas Party Committee:  Vollie reported that we are to pay at the door.  Price quoted is less than $10 per person.  The date is set for Monday, December 9th at 7:00 p.m.  The after-dinner speaker is scheduled to be Terry Cox – KB4KA, the ARRL Tennessee Section Manager.

Public Relations Committee:  No report.

History Committee:  Becky asked for current pictures of club members, preferably with their ham shacks.

Old Business:

HF/VHF Net:  Discussion of the net was tabled, due to lack of a quorum in attendance

ARRL Club Affiliation:  Melanie reported that all necessary documents had been forwarded to ARRL Headquarters and that the Club had received a letter acknowledging receipt of the paperwork.  ARRL will vote on our membership at their next general meeting.

Club Fall Picnic:  Date is set for Saturday, October 19th at 6:00 p.m. at Lakeview Park.  This will take the place of the regular October club meeting.

New Business:

ARES:  Jeff (Dickson County Emergency Coordinator) asked for three members to volunteer as assistant coordinators for emergency services.  Jerry Lewis will assist with SKYWARN activities, Paul LoCicero will assist with ARES activities, and Vollie Miller will act as the Club Emergency Liaison to the ARRL – Tennessee Section.  Jeff discussed the possibility of scheduling ARES emergency drills and also of each member spending 1-2 hours with Dickson County emergency dispatch to become familiarized with emergency resources within Dickson County.  The Club Secretary has Jeff’s contact information, should an emergency arise.

RACES:  Jeff announced that he needs more photos to process club members’ RACES applications.

Operation Goblin:  A special meeting will be called sometime in late October to discuss Club participation in Operation Goblin.

There was discussion on the Tennessee QSO Party, which took place on September 15^th.  Discussed were frequencies to use, CQ calling procedures, points, bonuses and multipliers.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. 

Reminders:

Next Club Meeting:  October 19th at 6:00 p.m. at Lakeview Park (Fall Picnic).  Please contact Melanie or Vollie with information on what you plan to bring.

VE Testing Session:  Saturday, October 5^th at First Bank in Waverly.  Testing begins at 7 p.m.

 Respectfully submitted this 24th day of September, 2002.

 August 2002

The August meeting of the Dickson County Amateur Radio club was held on Monday, August 12th at the Walnut Street Church of Christ.  At 7:30, the meeting was called to order by President Barry Turner.

In attendance:
Jeff Clark - NY4N, Tim Conley - K4ZAC, Tom Keil - NN5A, Wilma Keil - NN5YL, Alice Kennedy - N4DXE, Steve Kennedy - W4MGY, Jerry Lewis - KG4HDZ, Paul LoCicero - K4TAF, Bill Measures - K4RXY, Vollie Miller - W4TDB, Bruce Newberry - AG4VF, Landon Reynolds - KF4CAU and Drew, Ed Tilley - AG4FW, Barry Turner - N4KKT, Melanie Ware - AG4VG.

Committee Reports:
Christmas Party Committee:  Vollie reported that the price for dinner would be $10 per person and that one dish on the menu needed to be catfish.  The date is set for Monday, December 9th.  Vollie will secure an after-dinner speaker.  There was a question as to whether the money had to be paid in advance and Vollie will report back to the club on that matter.

Public Relations Committee:  Landon needed confirmation on a regular club meeting site, otherwise, submission of articles to the newspaper is set.

History Committee:  Becky reported that in talking to some people, they do not want to release their photographs to us for extended periods of time, due to their sentimental values.  She discussed with the club about getting someone to scan the photos so that they could be returned to their owners as quickly as possible.

Old Business:
HF/VHF Net:  2 VHF repeaters were proposed to conduct a weekly net, tentatively proposed for Thursday nights at 8 p.m.  Club members were requested to attempt to work the 147.150 repeater and the 147.225 repeater in McEwen from their base stations and e-mail their results to Vollie (W4TDB@arrl.net).  Ideas for the purpose of the net were discussed (training, SKYWARN/ARES, information, swap net, etc.), but no decision was reached.  There was also discussion that net control operator duties should be rotated among members of the club.

ARRL Club Affiliation:  Melanie reported that she needed the club constitution and by-laws to be signed by members present, which would complete the paperwork required by the ARRL.  She would then forward all documents to ARRL headquarters in Connecticut for approval.

ARES/SKYWARN:  Jeff reported that he was still having problems with the photos for the cards.  Vollie volunteered to bring his digital camera to retake photographs at the September meeting.  Jeff is also to inform the club of local weather spotting procedures, namely a frequency to use for local traffic so as not to tie up the MTEARS/SKYWARN repeaters.

Field Day:  Jeff reported that our Field Day score was 10350 points.  Last year's score was 10035 points.

New Business:
Permanent Meeting Location:  Landon reported that the Walnut Street Church of Christ was still available for our use and also during special events such as Operation Goblin.  Barry reported that the Renaissance Center was also available for use, according to Leanne Polk.  There was discussion to keep both options available.  There was a motion to use the Renaissance Center as our primary meeting location with the Walnut Street Church of Christ as a secondary location.  The motion was seconded and then carried by a majority vote.  Landon is to contact Ms. Polk to finalize the details.

Fall Club Picnic:  Two dates were discussed, October 12th and October 19th.  Location will be Lakeview Park in Dickson.  Jeff is to check which dates are available and reserve one of them for our picnic.

Repeater for Sale:  Charles Seay is selling his repeater equipment; price is $2000.  There was discussion about the club purchasing the repeater and it was decided not to do so at this time.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.  Afterwards, Ed presented our Project Night hands-on education program; the topic was soldering techniques.  Club members had the opportunity to see first-hand how to properly solder and de-solder, as well as try it out for themselves.  Experienced members got the chance to "brush up" on their technique.

Reminders:
Next Club Meeting:  Monday, September 9th at 7:30 p.m.  Program is scheduled to be an MTEARS presentation by Michael, KB5YJC.

VE Testing Session:  Saturday, October 5th at First Bank in Waverly.  Testing begins at 7 p.m.

Club members are requested to attempt to work the 147.150 repeater and the 147.225 repeater in McEwen from their base stations and e-mail their results to Vollie (W4TDB@arrl.net).  Please do this before the September club meeting.

July 2002

The July meeting of the Dickson County Amateur Radio club was held on Monday, July 8th at the Walnut Street Church of Christ.  At 7:30, the meeting was called to order by President Barry Turner.

In attendance:
Jeff Clark - NY4N, Tom Keil - NN5A, Wilma Keil - KG4KPJ, Alice Kennedy - N4DXE, Steve Kennedy - W4MGY, Evan McCutchen - KG4ABM, Stan McCutchen - KF4TJE, Bill Measures - K4RXY, Vollie Miller - W4TDB, Bruce Newberry - KG4AKS, Landon Reynolds - KF4CAU, Ed Tilley - AG4FW, Toni Tilley - KG4IWR, Barry Turner - N4KKT, Linda Turner, Melanie Ware - KG4RBH

Old Business:
Newspaper article:  Landon reported that there was a new editor at the newspaper and that he was writing a new article for submission.  He was planning to have articles submitted on the Friday, 1 ½ weeks after the club meeting.  Our meetings will be listed in the Calendar of Events.  Our web address will be included in all articles.

Jeff Clark reported that ARES memberships and cards were still in the process of being completed - he needed some photos to be resized for some of the cards.  He also reported that the club logged 1270 QSOs at Field Day and earned 1300 bonus points, giving us a score that was 300-400 points better than last year.

New Business:
There was discussion to add to the By-Laws a provision to elect a Public Affairs Officer, which was then revised to creating a Public Affairs Committee.  Members joining this committee were:  Landon Reynolds, Volie Miller and Melanie Ware.

There was discussion to create a Field Day Committee rather than have a single Field Day Chairman, to alleviate confusion and pressure, as well as to get more of a consensus from the Club membership.  Members joining this committee were:  Evan McCutchen, Stan McCutchen, Landon Reynolds, and Jeff Clark, who would preside as committee chairman.

There was discussion to conduct a club HF/VHF Net on a regular basis and the club was in agreement, but no frequencies or net operation procedures were selected or discussed.

There was discussion to operate a Special Events Station at Old Timer's Day in 2003.

There was discussion on the Christmas Party in December.  Vollie Miller suggested that we engage Town and Country Catering to cater the event instead of having members each bring a dish.  The club was in agreement and Vollie agreed to check with Town and Country on available dates as well as pricing.  There was discussion as to where the event should be held, no final decisions reached.

The remainder of the meeting was spent in discussion and review of the proposed Constitution and By-Laws for the club.  The new Constitution and By-Laws were approved by majority vote and are effective as of the August meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Note, Expenditures:  $76.00 remitted to Becky England; reimbursement for the purchase of a battery for the Club for Field Day.  The battery is to be auctioned off at the next Club auction.

Respectfully submitted this 6th day of August, 2002.

June 2002

The June meeting of the Dickson County Amateur Radio club was held on Monday, June 10th at the Dickson Public Library. At 7:30, the meeting was called to order by President Barry Turner.

In Attendance:
Jeff Clark - NY4N, Tim Conley - K4ZAC, Jimmy Davis - KF4SEI, John Davis - KF4SOK, Becky England - AF4QB, Tom Keil - NN5A, Wilma Keil - KG4KPJ, Alice Kennedy - N4DXE, Steve Kennedy - W4MGY, Jerry Lewis - KG4HDZ, Paul LoCicero - K4TAF, Evan McCutchen - KG4ABM, Stan McCutchen - KF4TJE, Vollie Miller - W4TDB, Ed Tilley - AG4FW, Toni Tilley - KG4IWR, Barry Turner - N4KKT, Linda Turner, and Melanie Ware - KG4RBH.

Old Business:

Newspaper article: No report on the status of the club article in the newspaper. There was discussion about listing our meeting in the newspaper Calendar of Events as well as on the cable local access channel. 

ARRL club affiliation: Melanie Ware provided copies of the current club by-laws as well as copies of a new constitution and by-laws which would satisfy ARRL requirements. The new proposed constitution and by-laws will be posted on the club website. Members were encouraged to read the by-laws, which will be discussed in-depth at the July meeting. 

There was discussion to transfer the status of inactive members from Full Membership to Associate Membership so as to maintain the requirement that at least 51% of voting members be ARRL members. No formal motion was necessary, but the following members were arbitrarily transferred to Associate Membership, by way of not having fulfilled the 120-day club participation requirement as listed in the current club by-laws:

New Business:

The Dickson County Library invited us to set up a booth at their festival on Tuesday, June 25th. Any members interested in participating in the festival were asked to contact Becky England for more information.

Jeff Clark volunteered to recycle aluminum cans and donate the proceeds to the club general fund. All members are invited to bring their aluminum cans to Jeff at future club meetings.

There was a reminder for all interested club members to sign up for the club mailing list to receive e-mail reminders of club meetings. The mailing list link is on the club website. [I'll try to get something other than the Yahoo! service - possibly sending the reminders out myself --Evan, KG4ABM]

Steve Kennedy reminded us that the 3-RATS club in Humphreys County holds their meetings on the 3rd Monday of each month with talk-in on the McEwen repeater. Everyone is encouraged to attend. 

There was discussion about appointing a Club Historian, which was then expanded into a Club History Committee. This Committee will be responsible for collecting pictures of members and their stations as well as short biographies. The Committee will also be responsible for recording club events and collecting information on past members and club history. Members volunteering for the Committee were: Becky England, Vollie Miller and Evan McCutchen.
There was discussion on having a Project Night as the club meeting program every few months. This would give members the opportunity to learn new skills as well as perfect ones they already have. It would also be a great way to help introduce amateur radio to those in our community who are not yet licensed by giving them a "hands-on" experience. Vice President Jerry Lewis also reported that he was working on having KB5YJC present the latest Skywarn seminar as well as having a program from NY4T.

The remainder of the meeting discussion pertained to Field Day operations: the call sign to be assigned to the GOTA station, who would be operating on what band/what mode, and who would bring what equipment.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted this 25th day of June, 2002.

Melanie Ware
Secretary-Treasurer
 

May 2002

The May meeting and Spring Picnic of the Dickson County Amateur Radio Club was held on Saturday, May 4th at Lakeview Park. As always, there was an abundance of good food, which everyone enjoyed.

The meeting was called to order by President Bill Measures.

In attendance were: Jeff Clark (N4YN), Jimmy Davis (KF4SEI) and wife, John Davis (KF4SOK), Becky England (AF4QB), Alice (N4DXE) and Steve (W4MGY) Kennedy, Jerry (KG4HDZ) and Brenda Lewis, Paul LoCicero (K4TAF) and wife, Bill Measures (K4RXY) and Caroline, Vollie (W4TDB) and Rita Miller, Bruce Newberry (KG4AKS), Landon Reynolds (KF4CAU) and Drew, Andrew Smith (WB4NVO), Ed (AG4FW) and Toni (KG4IWR) Tilley, Barry (N4KKT) and Linda Turner, Melanie Ware (KG4RBH) and Andrew and Joshua.

Landon Reynolds reported that the Dickson Herald is in the process of hiring a new editor, thus the delay in having our column published. He stated that the interim editor was very interested in our club’s activities.

The club voted to officially join and affiliate with the ARRL.

The club voted to accept and grant full membership to the following:
Justin Priami – KG4CEO
Tim Conley – K4ZAC
John Beard – KF4BMV

The club voted to accept and adopt the final version of the logo submitted by Melanie Ware as the official club logo.

The club presented a certificate of Honorary Membership and a 2001 Field Day pin to Ray Clark.

The club elected the following officers for the 2002-2003 term:
President: Barry Turner
Vice-President: Jerry Lewis
Secretary-Treasurer: Melanie Ware

The meeting was then adjourned and a White Elephant auction was conducted. The auction was a tremendous success, raising a total of $155.50. top of page

April 2002

Meeting was called to order by Bill Measures.

In attendance were; Bill Measures, Vollie Miller, Ed & Toni Tilley, Steve & Alice Kennedy, Tom & Wilma Keil, Barry & Linda Turner, Melanie Ware, Jeff Clark, Becky England, George Fries, Larry Duke, Landon Reynolds, Tim Conley, Bruce Newberry, Jerry Lewis, Justin Priami and John Beard.

Vollie reported that for now bill PRB-1 is dead for all intents and purposes.

Landon made a motion that we invite David Shephard and Doug Jackson to attend one of our meetings and also invite them to Field Day.

Jeff reported that Field Day preparations have begun. Buckner Park is reserved and we will discuss details in the June 10th meeting.

Our club picnic has been relocated to Lakeview Park due to soccer games being held that night.

Landon sent a column to the Dickson Herald and is waiting for approval from the editor.

The club voted to apply for ARRL affiliation.

Our program was presented by Melanie Ware, KG4RBH. She explained and demonstrated IRLP and made contacts with Illinois and Canada during the demonstration. top of page
 

March 2002

The meeting was called to order by Vollie Miller.

Present were: Vollie Miller, Jeff Clark, Becky England, Ed Tilley, Henry Morris, Tom & Wilma Keil, Steve & Alice Kennedy, Barry & Linda Turner, Jerry Lewis, Justin Priami, and Landon Reynolds.

Landon is checking into the possibility of having a monthly column for club activities in the Dickson Herald.

There will be VE testing in Waverly on April 6th.

A motion was passed for our club to support legislation for a bill based on PRB-1 that would guarantee Hams the right to erect antennas of 75, 140, or 200 feet. depending on population density and the size of Ham's property.

Ed Tilley provided club members with notebooks containing club bylaws and various Amateur Radio
information.

Jeff Clark gave a presentation on Field Day 2002.  It will be held at the Buckner Park Soccer Field.
We will be running QRP, category 5A. New this year will be a GOTA station (Get On The Air).
[For rules/regulations, see the ARRL's Field Day website at www.arrl.org/fieldday] ]  top of page
 

January 2002

The meeting was called to order by President Bill Measures at 7:30pm.

We had 21 people in attendance. Members present were Bill Measures, Vollie Miller, Ed & Toni Tilley, Becky England, Jeff Clark, Jerry Lewis, Steve & Alice Kennedy, Landon & "Drew" Reynolds, Andrew Smith, Tom & Wilma Keil, Henry Morris, Bob Measures, Stan McCutchen.

Also present were Floyd Patterson, KG4MXF and Melanie Ware, KG4RBH. We will vote on their membership at next
month's meeting.

We began making plans for Field Day (June 22 & 23). It was decided to order $75.00 worth of field day pins now so we will have them for Field Day.

We also set a date of May 4th for our Spring Picnic and White Elephant Auction. It will be at Montgomery Bell State Park at 6:00pm, if the Park is available. [See the DCARC Home page for updates]

There will be a Skywarn Class in Charlotte on Feb.8th at 7:00pm at the Sheriff's Office Training Facility.

Our guest speaker was K1KY, Tom Delker. He gave us a very interesting talk about ARES and especially the Middle Tennessee Emergency Amateur Radio Society. KB5YJC, Mike Davis and W1KLM Kevin Matheny were also in attendance and helped in the presentation. Maps & info about the Repeater Link System and National Weather Service were passed out.

Meeting adjourned at 9:00pm. top of page