Minutes for September 7 2006 Meeting

OUARC 7 Sept 2006 - Submitted by Laura KE5DZH; not yet approved.

Attending:

Robin KC0BSC
Chris KE5JZN
Jeff KC0HJX
Keith KC9OKU
Matthew KE5IAR
Gerard KI4LJT
Sarah n/a
Jason AC0BB
Laura KE5DZH
David KD5ZLG
Chip WX9EMT
Somer n/a
Jud W5JA

Quote of the meeting: "Closet hams. I've been flushing them out." -- Dave Grizzle KD5ZLG

Reminders 1. Next on-air club meeting: 21 Sept 2006 on 146.88 (backup 147.06). Main topic will be the upcoming antenna raising. 2. Next in-person club meeting: 5 Oct 2006 in Cross Center 3. Dues ($15/year) are due to Jud Ahern's office in the Geology department, located in Sarkeys Energy Center. Make checks payable to "OU Amateur Radio Club". 4. Club website: http://ouarc.ou.edu 5. Questions? Comments? Nasty remarks? Send email to ouarc@ou.edu and Jud Ahern will forward it to the right person.

Minutes 1. Discussed a veritable cornucopia of possible club activities. As a budding club, we first must identify what it is as a club that we want to do. The suggestions at the meeting tended to fall in 3 main categories: getting involved with Skywarn and other severe weather operations support, internal activities, and community service.

Severe weather/Skywarn

• Storm spotting and disaster preparation (Robin will look into this)
• Possible speakers who have good presentations: Rick Smith, Jeff White, Bill Locket (sp?), Chris Novi (sp?).
• Skywarn spotters are predominantly older individuals that spot from home, so there is a use for mobile spotters who are willing to go to specific locations. Dave would like to put mobile spotters in parts of the no-siren zones where there are safe places to go if the weather gets too rough.
• Set up a core group of people who can be called on to spot. It may be situation dependent.
• Bring OUARC folks to net control and the EOC to see what goes on there.
• Ultimately, if the club decides to go with any particular route, Dave can work with the club to get that severe weather operations concept in writing and then convey that concept to OUARC members. This would give people the opportunity to participate to their availability/comfort level.
• Ask the weather service how they want to utilize OUARC. If the club becomes self-sustaining, OUARC's role can be written into their severe weather operations plans. Internal activities

Internal Activities

• Don Graham would probably be willing to run a licensing class if there is interest from >5 people.
• Set up an Echolink node, which raises interest and would put use on the club repeater.
• Set up a base station in the shack.
• Arrange seminar-style talks from knowledgeable people (not necessarily within OUARC) to provide more information about general topics of interest related to ham radio. There is already one request for a short seminar to further understand the role of the atmosphere in radio communications.

Community service

• The university needs help with their severe weather plans. Working under the purview of OUPD, OUARC members might go around to the dorms and ask the Resident Assistants to show the weather radio, evacuation plan, building plans, communication with OUPD, and that they have actually scheduled in discussions about severe weather. Basically, confirm that OU really is Storm Ready, and if it is not, tell the appropriate people that they need to comply or the signs need to come down. Chip is interested in doing this.
• Dave notes that there is a need for a 6 person litter team to be available on game days. Medical background preferred. If interested, contact Dave. * Free CPR training is available for community-based groups. Contact Dave.
• Identify facilities and assign hams to those critical facilities in the event that a power loss interferes with communication. Dave is the person who puts hams and the City of Norman together.

2. Club to-do list * In-person meetings on the 1st Thursday of the month at 7p in Cross Center. On-air meetings on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 7p on an as yet undetermined repeater. * Schedule a shack day to toss old junk, set up radios, and set up new antennas. * Liaise with SCARS and show support for their organization (check in to the ARES net on Tuesday nights, attend their meetings, join their organization). * Redesign the website (modernize it, password-protect a section for officers, most current news to appear at the top of the site, RSS feed, new useful links). * Further investigate ways to become involved with Skywarn. * Look into purchasing a club repeater.

3. Formed committees to tackle the above items: Website committee: Jeff, Laura, Chip. Skywarn development committee: Chip, Robin, Gerard. Repeater committee: Matthew, Jud, Gerard.

4. Antenna raising: 30 Sept 2006 * The biggest issue is access to the roof, which is required to set up the antennas, and to the CESL building. Dave will make some calls and Jud will contact Stan Kilmer of OU Physical Plant to find out about getting on the roof. Robin is the paperwork warrior. * Jud plans to donate an old HF rig to add to the existing equipment. * There exists money from a previous equipment sale to buy new cables if needed. Jud is the contact person for this. * Chip has rock climbing equipment that could be used to raise the antenna base to the roof.

5. Repeater * The repeater on the Physical Sciences building belongs to Mike Salem. It is not the club's repeater, but Mike graciously lets the club use it. Club members report that it has been having issues lately. * OUARC is a new club, so there is some question of whether it makes sense to invest in a club repeater. On the other hand, a club repeater that is owned by the club could be easily fixed and upgraded as the need arises. * A repeater would cost ~$2000. * Sarkeys foundation may be a source of funding for a repeater. Repeater committee will look into this and find out how to get Sarkeys Foundation grants (pick up brochures from their office). * Another source of funding may be asking for donations from local businesses, stressing how a repeater would help the community. * There is interest in a digipeater, APRS, IRLP, and packet radio capabilities.

6. Relationship to SCARS * OUARC will eventually have its own identity but will also coordinate with SCARS. * SCARS is very supportive of OUARC. SCARS members have a great deal of experience that they are quite willing to share with us young'uns. * Bill Baker is who to contact from SCARS about OUARC meetings. * Tim Wiegman will serve as the OUARC liaison with SCARS. * Thanks to Don Graham, SCARS meetings now feature technical material that may be of interest to OUARC members. * SCARS has a system in place to help folks get their licenses.

7. Growing library * A full set of licensing manuals has been ordered. * Robin will donate an old copy of the technician class licensing manual. * Chip is willing to loan an antenna book and an ARRL handbook. * Sarah is borrowing the club copy of the technician class licensing book.