Hotarc-color-small

The HOTLINE
Official Newsletter for the
Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club
Waco, Texas

 

Volume XLII, Number 7

July 2017

 



For the Record

 

HOTARC Meeting of Members
June 22, 2017

The Treasurer Reports...

 

Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club
Treasurer’s Report, June 2017

Starting Balance

$10,965.76

Income

Interest

$0.09

Field Day shirt- Larry Parnham

$15.00

Total Income

$15.09

Expenses

PayPal

($0.63)

HF Dipole for trailer

(189.00)

Trailer repair

($32.12)

Field Day shirt shipping charge

($12.50)

Field Day gasoline

($36.34)

Field Day food

($109.30)

Total Expenses

($379.89)

Ending Balance

$10,600.96

Uncleared activity:

PayPal Fees

Field Day shirt - Larry Parham

($15.00)

2 fire extinguishers

($53.78)

Amount in acct. as of

6/19/2017

$10,532.18

(Includes Flower Fund)

Flower Fund Balance

$135.26

Submitted by
Norris Martin, KB5SLI
HOTARC Treasurer

President Lynn Gustafson, KD5DZU called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the W5NCD Workshop Meeting Room.

Bill Feltenberger, KD5UEW opened the meeting with a prayer.

22 members and 5 visitors present: Harvey Duve, Chris Isom, Rick Fair, Jean Fair, and Polly Wilke introduced themselves to the membership.

Last Meeting Minutes. A motion to accept the Minutes of the April 2017 meeting with these amendments was made by Larry Carlson, AA5LC and seconded by Dwan Needham, KE5JWY, and unanimously approved.

Treasurer’s Report. Lynn reviewed the Treasury Report in the HOTLINE. Bill Feltenberger, KD5UEW motioned to accept the report and seconded by Arthur Brown, K5RMI and was approved by membership.

Committee Reports:

·         ARES: Ed Hynan, KC5NI was absent; but Lynn, KD5DZU reviewed the report in the HOTLINE. If you are interested in being a member of ARES, contact Ed at KC5KNI@arrl.net or 254-722-4578.

·         Trailer Committee: Keith Adams, KG5AWC has been designated the Trailer Committee Chairman. Trailer is ready for Field Day except for some minor additional equipment that can be setup early on Field Day. Lynn reviewed the repairs and modifications made to the trailer for the membership.

·         Repeater Committee: Clint AE5CA indicates that everything is working.

·         Website: John Chamberlain, AC5CV reported that website is working fine.

·         ATV: David Bush, KC5UOZ indicated that task is under construction.

·         Education Committee: Clint Anderson, AE5CA reported nothing new at this time.

·         Public Relations: Dwan Needham, KE5JWY reported progress being made in promoting the Field Day event; Doc Anderson is expected to visit Saturday afternoon.

Old Business

·         Field Day 2017. Discussion of details was covered after the meeting.

New Business

·         Steak Procurement Reimbursement. Drew Dickerson, KE5UBO made motion to reimburse Clint $135 for steak procurement, seconded and passed unanimously.

Other Discussions

·         Field Day Logistics. Lynn continued discussion of coordinating logistical tasks for Field Day. A motion was made by John, AC5CV and seconded by Bill, KD5UEW to procure necessary fire extinguishers; seconded and approved by the membership. Meeting concluded to allow further detailed planning, coordinating and tasking for Field Day.

Motion to adjourn by Bill Feltenberger, KD5UEW was recognized by Lynn KD5DZU at 7:47 pm.

Post Meeting Program

Post-meeting program replaced with continuing logistics coordination by members for Field Day.

Submitted by
Dan Hapenney, AG5HF
Secretary

 



Special Events

by Clint Anderson, AE5CA
HOTARC Past-President

Field Day

ARRL-FD2017-logoI am finishing up the Field Day submission later tonight. I will have a brief overview of our Field Day results at the Club Meeting on Thursday. I really want to thank everyone that helped out with Field Day. We faced some challenges with the weather and the bands and a few equipment problems, but overall—we had a great Field Day!

Waco Wild West

Waco Wild West 100 Bike TourThe Waco Wild West 100 Bike Tour is coming up October 7. This is the biggest HOTARC event of the year and requires the most support. Typically we staff 13 Rest Stops, a lead car, and Net Control requiring a minimum of 14 operators. Please make plans to help us with the WWW100 this year. For those of you with APRS Trackers, it is time to get them out and make sure they are working. If you need some help with your tracker please let me know.

 



ARES Bits and Pieces

by Ed Hynan, KC5KNI
McLennan County Emergency Coordinator

McLennan County ARES is in the process of verifying all membership information. This process is ares_logo_hi_resaccomplished every 2 years to insure that contact information is fresh and correct. I will have copies of your current ARES data sheet (expires July 2017) at the July club meeting.  Please review your data sheet, make any necessary corrections or additions, and return it to me as soon as possible. New ID Cards will be issued as I receive the sheets with an expiration date of July 2019. Individuals who are current ARES members that do not return a data sheet will be placed in the inactive member file and will not receive a new ID Card.

A real emergency is going to take all the resources that we have, and after the event happens is not the time to join ARES. Remember, effective with this verification of membership data, those wanting to work disaster response must have completed these four FREE FEMA courses:

·         IS-700.A (NIMS) – Introduction to National Incident Management System

·         IS-100.B (ICS) – Introduction to Incident Command System

·         IS-200.B (ICS) – Incident Command Systems for Single Resources and Initial Action Incidents

·         IS-800.B (NRF) – Introduction to National Response Framework

 



Solar Eclipse: August 21, 2017

by John Chamberlain, AC5CV
HOTLINE Editor, HOTARC Webmaster

Many amateur radio clubs are making plans to operate special event stations concurrent with the “American solar eclipse of the century” coming August 21, such as station W9E planning to operate from Marion, Illinois. “This will be the first total eclipse on American soil since 1991, the first on the mainland United States since 1979 and the first to sweep across the entire country since 1918. It will be an event you do not want to miss!” the W9E announcement says.

I must concur: this is probably the only opportunity in our lifetimes to witness a total solar eclipse within driving distance. Central Texas will only see about a 75% eclipse, so we’ll have to drive north to someplace like St Clair, MO to witness the event. We must plan to be in position by lunchtime on Monday August 21.

CAUTION: Anytime you look at the sun, you risk eye damage—even with a total solar eclipse. So please take every necessary precaution, and use the proper equipment and techniques to avoid permanent eye damage!

There are many web pages and YouTube videos appearing with helpful presentations about the event. Here are a few to explore. In most cases, other links on these pages are also quite helpful.

·         Eclipse Map (zoom in and click): https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/map/2017-august-21

·         State-by-state Guide: http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/path_through_the_US.htm

·         Safety Guidelines: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/Solar_Eclipse_Safety_RTFv14.pdf

·         Interactive Google Map (zoom in and click): http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2017_GoogleMapFull.html

·         Cloud cover along the eclipse path: https://www.weather.gov/source/crh/eclipse.html

Or just explore on your own with a simple Google Search!

 

The HOTLINE is the monthly newsletter of the Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club (HOTARC), Inc., a nonprofit corporation, chartered by the State of Texas and principally located in Waco. It is permissible to use any of the original material contained herein, provided proper credit is given to the source.
Edited and Published by John Chamberlain AC5CV, AC5CV@arrl.Net

HOTARC 2017 Board of Directors

President: Lynn Gustafson KD5DZU
President@hotarc.org

Vice Pres: Bill Feltenberger KD5UEW,
VicePres@hotarc.org

Secretary: Dan Hapenney AG5HF
Secretary@hotarc.org

Treasurer: Norris Martin KB5SLI,
Treasurer@hotarc.org

Past‑Pres.: Clint Anderson AE5CA,
PastPres@hotarc.org

Director (2017): Paul Collins KG5DHS,
Director2@hotarc.org

Director (2018): Terry Williams KD5KJU,
Director3@hotarc.org

Director (2019): Ed Hynan KC5KNI,
Director1@hotarc.org

Club Repeaters

145.15 MHz (input at –600 kHz, tone 123 Hz)

146.98 MHz (input at –600 kHz, D-Star)

442.875 MHz (input at +5.0 MHz, tone 123 Hz)

VE Testing

The HOTARC VEs will NOT hold a test session in August . The September date and location is TO BE DETERMINED. Test takers will need to provide 1) testing fee of $15 (cash only); 2) a photo ID (two for first-time licensees). Additionally, already licensed amateurs also must provide: 3) Reference copy or photocopy of current license; and 4) photocopy of any relevant CSCE. Contact: Linda Hynan, AC5QQ at 254‑666‑4873 or Linda.Hynan@UTSouthwestern.edu.

 

Meeting Notice

HOTARC will hold its Meeting of Members at 7:00 pm on Thursday July 27 at the W5NCD Workshop, 12772 Chapel Rd in Lorena. Meetings generally last about 75 minutes consisting of fellowship, general Club business, and an interesting program and discussions. Visiting hams, family members, and prospective hams are welcomed!