October 2007

Dickson County Amateur Radio Club minutes:

The October meeting of the Dickson County Amateur Radio Club was held on Monday, 8 October 2007 at 7:00PM in room 216 of the Dickson Renaissance Center.

Members Present were
Vollie NA4C,
Toni KG4IWR
Ed AG4FW
Charles KN4HL
Becky AF4QB
Jeff NY4N
Larry K4GWG.

Charles, KN4HL, was presiding officer of the meeting.
Since the Club secretary, Jerry, was not present, Vice President Jeff, NY4N read a copy of the August meeting minutes. They were approved as read.

Jeff reminded everyone that the SKYWARN weather net has moved to the 146.955 MHzs repeater for the time being. Permission from Tom, K1KY, has been granted to use the machine. When in use, the repeater's PL tone and links will be turned off.

Those who took the CPR class at the last Dickson Signal Corp's meeting had their official CPR cards available. Only one, Larry, received his card at the meeting.

It was brought up that the White Elephant sale at the last Club picnic was a great success. It was noted that non-ham items are welcomed and that prizes that have an increased value may have a minimum bid placed, and/or may not be wrapped, to increase its value on the auction block. Remember that ALL proceeds raised at the picnics go into the Club fund.

The Club voted to allow Landon, KF4CAU, to use the Dickson County ARC call, WC4DC, in the upcoming Jamboree on the Air (JOTA), in Hickman County on 20 October, 2007. As per the Club's by-laws, a Club member with a General class or higher license must accompany Landon on his special event station. Vollie and Larry agreed to attend, and the use of the call was granted.

Jeff wanted to clear up some confusion on the many call signs that are floating around. He advised the following calls may be used in the future and their most likely designation:
WC4DC - Dickson County ARC Club call. Will be used when the Club is on the air and operating, including, but not limited to, Field Day and Operation Goblin.
KI4TKA - Call sign issued to special operations originated from the Dickson Police Department. The main use of this call will be SKYWARN net activations from the 911 Center.
WX4DSC - Call sign of the Dickson Signal Corps. This call may be used when the Corps is called out by the 911 Center or the Emergency Management Agency for emergency communication activation. This call may also be used if/when training exercises are in progress.
KI4UVX - Old Dickson Signal Corps call. No longer in use and replaced by WX4DSC.

Jeff indicated that the Dickson Chapter of the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and the 911 Center has some possible issues with the changing of the way the National Weather Service issues severe thunderstorms and tornado warnings from the Weather Service office in Nashville for our county.
A meeting was arranged on 9 October 2007, at the regular LEPC meeting at the Horizon Medical Center, to have the NWS office's Jerry Orchanian explain the new Storm-based warning system. It was decided that the tornado siren it to be activated during the event of a tornado warning being issued for the entire Dickson County area, regardless of the location of the actual storm. More on this to follow.

Charles indicated that he had received permission from Chief Chandler of the Dickson Police Department to hold Operation Goblin this Halloween night. Being on a Wednesday night, the activation should not last more than three hours. All participants should meet at the City Council Chambers around 6:30 for briefing.
There will some paperwork for participants to sign, and if have not done so, a description of the vehicle and license plate number should be provided to Jeff before the exercise starts. It would be better if vehicle information can be provided a few days in advance. Send all information to NY4N at his e-mail address, or let Charles know at his office.

Vollie indicated that an older ham operator in the area has donated an older ICOM HF rig, power supply and phone patch to the Club.
It was suggested that Jeff might store the equipment at his shack until needed. Possible uses for the rig may be Field Day Operations, Special Event Stations and loners to those who may be off the air due to equipment problems. The Club voted and seconded a motion to send the owner of the gear a plaque to recognize his gift to the Club.

Jeff and Greg came up with an idea to bring more hams in the area to our Club. A possible e-mail and/or letter writing campaign may start after the first of the year. Stay tuned on updates on this project.

Charles is to look at reserving the new local eatery, Joann's, for our Christmas Party. Charles is to advise the Club on his progress at the next Club meeting.

Local ham fests include Clarksville on 20 October and Chattanooga on the 28 of October.

Contests include Pennsylvania on the weekend of the 13-14 of October
Jota and the Illinois contest on the 20-21
The Kentucky QSO Party will be held on 10 November.

The Club voted and seconded to allow the new Signal Corps to have a link added to the web page of the Dickson County ARC when the Corp has it web-page created. Thanks to the hard work from Ed on the web page, it has been updated and looks good.

It was noted that the local Emergency Medical Services/Emergency Management Agency, with the help of Dickson County, would soon be moving their operation to the old 84 lumber building. It is not known at this time whether a spot for Amateur Radio will be available in the new headquarters.

The total take on donations for the evening was 11 dollars. Jerry will update the new balance at the next meeting.