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Palestine/Anderson County Amateur Radio Club – K5PAL

www.pacarc.org P.O. Box 1376, Palestine, TX 75802 K5PAL@arrl.net

MEETING MINUTES

The regular monthly meeting of the PALESTINE/ANDERSON COUNTY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB - K5PAL was called to order at 7:00pm Tuesday, April 2^nd, 2019 by President Charles McReynolds, W5IAK. This was not a Dinner Meeting. Bob Dyer, WB5EAT, led the club in the Pledge of Allegiance. There were eight (8) members and one (1) guest, for total of nine (9) persons present.

The Minutes and Treasurers Reports were posted from the last monthly meeting. The current Treasury Balance is $1775.31

There were no applications for membership.

NET CONTROL:

May 6^th Charles McReynolds, W5IAK

May 13^th Jeff Montgomery, WB4WXD

May 20^th Charles McReynolds, W5IAK

May 27^th Tom Wardell, KB5YUE

Monthly Speaker: None this meeting.

MEMBER REPORTS:

Bob Dyer, WB5EAT, reported on speaking with Manny Perez, KB5YBA, about his health issues and upcoming medical procedures. He has also been listening to the Dit Dit.FM podcast about CW. He has been using Contestia 4/.250 while using an antenna which has one side on the ground.

Tom Wardell, KB5YUE, showed off his new Whistler digital scanner and mentions while it is absolutely fantastic, it does have a steep learning curve.

Carl Kellum KG5MCR, reported that he is studying for the General test and hopes to take it in May.

Ken Ives, N5LUD, spent some time testing his tube collection and reports he has a “truck load” of them.

Jeff Montgomery, WB4WXD, reported that he was working on the No Stick Buddy Stick which is a shortened center loaded wire vertical designed for portable work. He spoke about the weekly Texas Statewide DMR net on Wednesday nights, and the Dit Dit.FM podcast and website.

Charlie McReynolds, W5IAK, reported he also is building a No Stick Buddy Stick and is on the statewide DMR net.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

ARES: Jeff Montgomery, WB4WXD, reported the weekly Texas Statewide DMR net on Wednesday nights on talk group 3148. Skywarn training on the 20^th was well done and Jeff and Larry Davis were able to attend. We are in the middle of storm season so please pay attention to conditions. There will be a District ARES meeting in Tyler on April 13^th. All ARES members are invited to attend where the ARES and RACES programs will be discussed with emphasis on upcoming changes to the program. Don’t forget the Saturday morning Simplex Net as a training opportunity. It begins at 0830 on local simplex which is 146.42 open squelch.

VE: Jeff Montgomery, WB4WXD reported there was a VE session on March 17^th for a candidate who was going for his Technician but unfortunately was not quite close enough. He will try again at the next session which will be Sunday May 26^that 3pm. Rick Dees, KG5OMK, will be taking the general license test at the May session because the general pool changes on July 1^st. All who want to upgrade need to be studying the appropriate test pool. Since this is a general test, all other licenses will be given at the same time.

BUILDING MAINTENANCE: Charlie, McReynolds, W5IAK, reported that while mowing the lawn, he noticed what turned out to be 28 feet of the side fence damaged. He let Jeff know and they agreed that he should file a police report. Charlie reported that the police at that time were skeptical that the person would be found but notified him later that afternoon that they had found the person and supplied Charlie with their information. The family was contacted and they came to meet Charlie and Jeff at the clubhouse Saturday morning. Charlie and Jeff cut out the rest of the stump and pulled it and the damaged fence out with a strap and Charlie’s 4wd truck. Jeff also ran the club generator which we try to do monthly. Charlie reported that the mower would not start and the positive battery terminal was badly corroded. He cleaned the terminal and put another charger on it. More repairs on the terminal and battery will be needed. The family repaired the fence Sunday and Charlie checked with them on the way to the board meeting. One fellow was inside the now completed fence, about the use a ladder to climb over when Charlie suggest he would unlock the front gate and the man could simply walk out. He was very happy at the suggestion. The fence was repaired nicely. Charlie noticed that there were a couple of shingle tabs on the ground so we will need to check the roofing. We need to pick a cleanup day to get the debris from the old tree and fencing out of the property and could probably do some tree trimming as well.

FIELD DAY: Tom Wardell, KB5YUE, reported that we are gathering suggestions for the upcoming ARRL Field Day which is always the last full weekend of June. Possible locations are Dogwood Park , TSRR Park , Westwood Baptist, and Charlie’s Pecan Orchard. A survey will be sent to the membership regarding their interests and input on this year’s Field Day with an RSVP to ascertain the turnout. Plans will be made according to the returns. Charlie went over past Field Day activities and spoke of the possible common meal and other activities.

TUESDAY PROJECT NIGHT: Project Night meetings are on the 2^nd and 4^th Tuesdays of each month. Project Night met one Tuesday this month on the 12^th, with Gary Grimes, Charlie McReynolds and Jeff Montgomery attending. Gary brought the family’s new Icom 7300 which was won by Sandra Grimes, KG5SIR at the Rayne Hamfest. Antenna options for the new radio were discussed. Jeff and Charlie looked into building the No Stick Buddy Stick and how it actually works.

OLD BUSINESS: Jeff Montgomery, WB4WXD, reported that Picnic-In-The-Park, (PITP), held March 31^st on Whataburger with Charlie McReynolds, Jeff and Cindy Montgomery, Bob and Betty Dyer, Larue Fitzpatrick, and Tom Wardell participating. The next PITP is scheduled for April 28^th. The board meeting will be the following Sunday afternoon. Jeff Montgomery, WB4WXD, contacted the city to discontinue water service, and the final bill was payed and the disconnect notice paperwork was filed on March 9^th. Everyone was re-reminded of Carolyn Carnathan’s list of David’s gear which had been emailed to members. Charles McReynolds, W5IAK discussed the upcoming club audit which will be coming up in April. Gary Grimes, W5GEG, and Bob Dyer, WB5EAT have volunteered for the audit committee. Charlie opened nominations for the club officers and the only one at submitted at this time was a nomination of Charlie for President. Nominations were closed and will be opened again at the May meeting. The board met and decided to keep the club budget and dues structure the same as last year at $25 per member. Since we will experience a savings of over $600 a year on the water bill, we should do fine. The members will vote on the budget and dues in May.

NEW BUSINESS: No new business was offered.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Belton Hamfest will be April 6^th at the Bell County Expo Center .

Texas State Parks on the Air will be April 13^th and 14^th which is always the second weekend in April unless on Easter weekend and then moves back the 1 ^st weekend.

Mentorfest will be April 27^th from 9am to 4pm at the Garland Texas Shrine Center

Dayton Hamfest will be May 17^th to the 19^th at the Greene County Expo Center in Xenia , Ohio

Strange Antenna Challenge will be May 25^th and 26^th over the Memorial Day weekend.

Hamcom will be June 7^th and 8^th in Plano .

Jeff Montgomery, WB4WXD, reported that club patches are available at $3.00 each.

The Next Meeting will be held May 7^th, 2019, and will be a Dinner meeting, with Alan Wacha, KD5IZV supplying baked potatoes.

A motion was made by Alan Wacha, KD5IZV and seconded by Tom Wardell, KB5YUE, to adjourn the meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 7:54pm

Jeff Montgomery, WB4WXD

Secretary/Treasurer 2018-2019

PACARC

04/07/2019