Written - January 15, 2007
By: Darrell R. Norris - WA3AJQ
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Richard Trexler, N3ONQ, one of our 2006 members passed away on December 18, 2006.
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On December 15th, Patsy and I visited our son and his family at their new home in Spring City, PA to celebrate an early Christmas.
They have somewhat spiral stair case that makes two ninety degree turns from the upstairs to the living room. Where they make the turn there's a tread that goes from rather wide and narrows to about two inches. Unfortunately when coming down stairs, I thought I was stepping down one step at the first turn when it was in fact two steps. I went forward down the steps head first. I had miscellaneous injuries plus I fractured my right shoulder in two places.
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FCC CHANGES
New frequency allocations from the FCC became effective December 15, 2006. We have posted the ARRL's new colored frequency allocation form on our web site, www.qsl.net/w3bmd.com, for your general information.
Also, the FCC has decided to drop all code requirements for any of the amateur radio licenses.
The FCC has put new Amateur Radio vanity call sign processing on hold while it modifies the software that handles vanity applications. The suspension is a result of a rule change that went into effect December 15 to discourage the filing of multiple applications by one individual for the same call sign. The FCC is still processing vanity call sign renewal applications.
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Our club Christmas party was held at Hoss's in Indiana on Sunday December 10th. We had about twenty two people in attendance.
We want to express our thanks to Roger and Kathy Lute for their having planned this event again this year.
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Our SkyWarn Net was activated on December 1st because of some storms in the Indiana area. A club member had a tower destroyed as a result of the storms.
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There was an amateur radio article written by Chauncey Ross, a staff writer for the Indiana Gazette, and published the end of December. If you haven't read the article, I would suggest you do so. I've asked to have it posted on our website. I was impressed with the depth and accuracy of the article and appreciated the amateur radio recognition.
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Robert Zugates, KB3JOF, has been named our ARES Emergency Coordinator.
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Darrell R. Norris - WA3AJQ
2005 / 06 / 07 Club President
msword\News Letter February 2007 (8)
Minutes from last meeting: (December 5, 2006)
It was noted that Richard Stinson's call sign is KB3KBC, not KB3KBL as indicated on the December attendance sheet.
There were no other corrections.
Financial Report:
Accepted as read.
There were no comments or corrections.
ARES: Jerry Kiehl, WB3DUD
Line up net control operators; review and update the monthly call sheets as necessary and forward the updated sheets to our web master for posting.
Reminder: At the end of the month, the net control operator can submit his / her updated call list to Robert KB3JOF, as an Email attachment however, the acting coordinator will be the one to authorize Robert Zugates, our web master, to post it on our web site.
Robert Zugates is pursuing the position as EMERGENCY COORDINATOR. A couple Emails were sent to the WPA section emergency coordinator, Larry Bertoncello, KA3HUK, as given to us by the ARRL. Unfortunately we never got a response. Darrell, WA3AJQ, will continue to pursue this.
RACES: Rusty O'Donnell WB3EUQ
Robert Zugates, KB3JOF indicated last meeting that the county is in the process of designing identification cards.
Robert reported the county is aware he is replacing Rusty O'Donnell, WB3EUQ, as RACES officer.
ECHOLINK - Robert Zugates, KB3JOF
Robert would like to move ECHOLINK to his home but he indicated he will wait until February when Rusty, KB3EUQ, should know if he's going to return to the area,
Repeater Operation - Elmer Sorisio, KB3WG
Dave Dzelsky, N3DZ, reported that Elmer has been making some adjustments to the repeater in hopes of improving its performance.
Mall Display: Robert Zugates, KB3JOF
Robert indicated last meeting the mall schedule didn't coincide with his work schedule. He will try to get a date that will better suit his work schedule.
50 /50 was won by: __Jim St Clair - N3TQR
Potential activities for 2007
M S Walk ----------------------------------------------- April
VE Testing :- 1st Saturday in April & October
The club had voted in 2006 to support the VE testing in 2007. Bill McMillen, N3QM, will head this activity.
Torrance Walk --------------------------------------- May
Darrell, WA3AJQ, asked if the Torrance people would know who to contact since Rusty may not return to the area. Jerry Kiehl, KB3DUD, will check on this.
ARRL Field Day ------------------------------------- June
Club Picnic ------------------------------------------- September
Richard Stinson, KB3KBC, feels we can have our club picnic at his home this year.
Sheetz Coupons ------------------------------------ September
Ham Fest ---------------------------------------------- October
There is still concern as to whether we want to have a ham fest, considering the amount of work involved, compared to the money raised.
Multi County Breakfast --------------------------- October
It was pretty well agreed this was very nice and we should consider it again this year.
Christmas Party ------------------------------------ December
We may want to consider the Blue Spruce. There was disappointment expressed with Hoss's. We were in the small room again and had a limited menu.
Notes or comments?
Darrell asked to please pay your dues if you haven't already.
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If you know of anyone that would be interested in becoming a ham or would like to join our club, please invite them to our meetings.
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The FCC revised the HF frequency allocations effective December 15, 2006.
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The FCC decided there will be no more code requirements for any of the amateur class licenses.
Fred Maize made a motion and was second by Robert Zugates, since code is no longer required, Kim contact current as well as past members to determine how many might be interested in upgrading their license.
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Dave Dzelsky, N3DZ, expressed his thanks to all who participated in helping secure their damaged tower, antenna's, rotators etc.
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Dave also announced there is going to be another organ concert on February 3rd. If you're interested, please let Dave know.
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The amateur radio article recently published in the Indiana Gazette was discussed and all appreciated its accuracy, detail etc. A motion was made by Fred Maize, KM3M and second by Robert Zugates, KB3JOF, to have Kim Frech, our secretary, write a letter to Chauncey Ross at the Gazette, and express our appreciation.
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At the board portion of the meeting Darrell passed out the duties / responsibilities of board members as set forth in the club By-Laws and expressed hopes that our board would be more active in 2007.
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Motion to Adjourned By: __Richard Stinson KB3KBL Second: Robert Zugates KB3JOF
ADJOURNED At: __8:34 PM. (Local time)
ATTENDANCE:
| Dick Malcolm KA3IYT | Jerry Kiehl WB3DUD | Kim Frech ------------ | Linda Kiehl ----------- |
| Marcia Malcolm KD4ITP | Dave Dzelsky N3DZ | Jim St Clair N3TQR | Larry Freeman N3LT |
| Missy Carnahan KB3MDS | Richard Stinson KB3KBL | Robert Zugates KB3JOF | Terry Carnahan KB3JOD |
| Fred Maize KM3M | Darrell Norris WA3AJQ |
Respectively Submitted by: Kim Frech, Secretary / Treasurer
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