The HOTLINE
Official Newsletter for the
Heart O’ Texas Amateur Radio Club
Waco, Texas
Volume XLV, Number 8 August 2020
From the President
Here’s hoping that everyone is faring this heat and must I say our ongoing quarantine.
Seems that Covid is still among us and preventing us from meeting each other in
person.
I know I mentioned the equipment that I received as a donation to the club last month
and I would like to add that he did bring and drop off the microphone to go with the
Icom 703. What do you think about next month we hold an online auction for these
donated items? I would appreciate your feedback.
We also have an August tradition that just because we are not together in person, I see
no reason why this can’t continue. That is our Ice Cream social. So, this year everyone
needs to bring a bowl of your favorite ice cream with any and all toppings you desire, and we will snack on our
Zoom meeting. Yes, I said it, a Zoom meeting. If you know of any potential new members, please feel free to
invite them and tell them to bring their ice cream to the meeting.
Where has this year gone to? Here it is the end of August and September is staring us in the face. With that in
mind, I want to remind you that it is time to start thinking about new officers. I realize that I have mentioned this
before, but I feel it important to bring this up again as there seems to be a bit of apathy in the group as no one
wants to take these positions on. After all that is how I got elected. I was a last choice. I have tried to bring fun
and humor to the meetings and am very proud that we now include the Pledge of Allegiance into our openings.
Be that as it may, we need someone to step up to the plate and take on the opening for President and other
offices that will be opening as well. It is extremely sad that when it is mentioned everyone backs away and
wants no part of it. Well my friends, this is YOUR club and without leadership, it can and most likely will
collapse and I don’t believe this is what any of us want. I know that I don’t want that to happen. So, I’m asking,
no pleading, with the members to stand up and take on this responsibility. Not to mention that it will make the
election committees work much easier. In fact, wouldn’t it be nice to have more that one person running for
office instead of one being “elected” by running alone. That feels more like an appointment than an election. I
will continue to mention this until we hold our elections and hopefully someone will take over the gavel.
Additionally, I would like to see someone new take over these positions instead of looking to other members
that have already held these positions. As stated, this is YOUR club and you should take pride in its operation.
I also hope that my successor will not have to conduct next years meetings by Zoom as we have had to do this
year and I want to personally thank Clint Anderson for setting up a Zoom account and providing it for our
monthly use.
Finally, I want to thank all members for their attendance on our online meetings and know that you are the
foundation of this club! Have a happy September and we will see you at the end of the month. Please don’t
hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.
Dwan Needham, KE5JWY
President
The HOTLINE August 2020 Page 2
For the Record…
HOTARC Meeting of Members
July 23, 2020
President Dwan Needham KE5JWY called the meeting to order at 7:00pm on the ZOOM Virtual Meeting
Room.
Jeb Leutwyler KG5WHS gave an invocation.
President Dwan Needham KE5JWY led us in the pledge of
allegiance
12 members were present. No visitors were present:
Previous Meeting Minutes. A motion to accept the
Minutes from May 28, 2020 as published in the HOTLINE
was made by Drew Dickenson KE5UBO seconded by
Mike Needham WB7SKK and unanimously approved.
Treasurer’s report. The Treasurers Report for May 2020
as published in the HOTLINE was filed.
Committee Reports:
•ARES: no report
•Trailer Committee: Brakes may have a wiring
problem
•Repeater Committee: Should have a new DMR
repeater working at the Eddy tower soon. Waiting on a
frequency pair assignment.
•Web Committee: working ok
•ATV: still working on a simplex repeater.
•Education Committee: no report
•Public Relations: no report
•Special Events: WWW100 tentatively scheduled for October 10, 2020
Unfinished Business:
New Business: Clint Anderson AE5CA moved to approve $125 for Drew Dickenson KD5UBO to spend as
needed on Trailer maintenance. Jeb Leutwyler KG5WHS seconded and the motion was approved.
Meeting Adjournment: President Dwan Needham KE5JWY adjourned the meeting at 7:54pm.
After the meeting Clint Anderson AE5CA gave a presentation on Field Day efforts and Results.
Submitted by
Jeb Leutwyler KG5WHS
The Treasurer Reports...
The HOTLINE August 2020 Page 3
McLennan County A.R.E.S.
by Paul Collins KG5DHS
McLennan County Emergency
Coordinator
Hi HOTARC!
SKYWARN Training event
SKYWARN Communications Test for the Fort Worth Weather Office is scheduled
on Saturday, August 29, 2020 between 0900-1100 CDT. This test is only for those
areas services by the NWS Fort Worth Office.
The need for this Communications Test is necessitated
by the novel Covid-19 virus and its impact on our lives.
It is changing the way we live, work and even service
the public such as SKYWARN. Our fellow radio
operators that voluntarily man the SKYWARN desk for
the Fort Worth Office of NWS have been asked to
operate remotely. While some of the operators can
connect to the repeater at the office normally using
various methods; an alternative method may be
needed for various reasons including; poor reception;
Echolink to tower repeater is down; amount of traffic on
the nets is too great or it is unreliable.
We are using this test to ensure we have alternate methods to communicate with the SKYWARN desk operators.
We will conduct our TEST NET on Saturday the 29
th
at 0900 local. We’ll use the 145.150 W5ZDN repeater. If you are
available, please check in! I’ll submit the results via ECHOLINK to the NTX ARES SEC. Thanks in advance for
participating!
If you want to participate in ARES, it's easy.
Go to the HOTARC Web site http://www.hotarc.org/
under the frequently asked questions and download the application.
E-mail or mail the completed application according to the instructions listed at the bottom of the application. Your
application will be processed and you will receive an ARES ID Card. Check in to the Weekly McLennan County ARES net
every Monday at 8:00 PM on the 145.15 repeater (tone 123.0). If you have a sincere desire to help, registration is
necessary before the next emergency, not after it occurs. We are also beginning to include our 70 cm repeater 442.875
MHz (input at +5.0 MHz, tone 123 Hz).
Special Events
The Waco Wild West is scheduled for Saturday, October 10. So far this event has NOT been
canceled. While I am sure there will be some updates to the Start/Finish Line and the Rest Stops due
to Covid-19, this event is outdoors and the riders are by default socially distanced. I would expect
that this event will happen.
Please support this event if there is any way you
can. This is a major event that takes a lot of
people. It is also a major source of funding for
HOTARC. I will be setting up a signup sheet and
have some further information in the near future.
Clint Anderson, AE5CA
Baker’s Dozen counties
The HOTLINE August 2020 Page 4
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 Mike Davis KI5EIW, MikeKI5EIW@gmail.com
HOTARC 2020 Board of Directors
President: Dwan Needham, KE5JWY
President@hotarc.org
Vice Pres: Paul Collins, KG5DHS
VicePres@hotarc.org
Secretary: Jeb Leutwyler, KG5WHS
Secretary@hotarc.org
Treasurer: Clint Anderson, AE5CA
Treasurer@hotarc.org
Past-Pres.: Lynn Gustafson, KD5DZU
PastPres@hotarc.org
Director (2020): Keith Adams, KG5AWC
Director2@hotarc.org
Director (2021): Bill Feltenberger, KD5UEW
Director3@hotarc.org
Director (2022): Mark Plough, AC5DE
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 have NOT scheduled a test session at this time. It is with an abundance of
caution that we plan to follow the COVID-19 advisory against meetings. If any testing session is
scheduled, our website will be one of the first places we will announce the testing session.
Contact: Linda Hynan, AC5QQ at 254-666-4873 or Linda.Hynan@UTSouthwestern.edu.
President
Meeting Notice
HOTARC will hold its monthly Meeting of
Members at 7:00 PM on Thursday August 27, 2020
via the Zoom Video Conferencing Platform.
Please check your email or the Members Only
section of the website for login information.
