August TARC Meeting Minutes
8/18/2008

August 11, 2008
Meeting called to order by President, Tommy Howell.
Tommy invited members present to introduce themselves and give their call sign.

Roll Call of Officers:
President: Tommy Howell, KG4MPU
Vice President:
Secretary: Michael Krueger, KI40XX
Treasurer: Rusty Hoyt, KG4QBE
Repeater Trustee: David Drummond, W4MD

Membership: Signed in on sign-in sheet.

Old Business:
Repeater Trustee / Net Manager: by David Drummond, W4MD
D-Star antenna installation project, 4th antenna installed on new tower at the White Building.
Repeater bids; looking at a Kenwood System, approximately $4,000.
Present repeater will be retained as a back-up & the present back-up will be retired.

New Business:
Grady reported that the Fayette Tailgate Party will be held on October 11th starting at 7:oo am till?

EMA Directors Report: by David Hartin, KG4KRO
David reported that the State EMA gave County EMA Centers money for D-Star radios.
He also reviewed criteria for ID’s that will be created.
Also he mentioned that Public Heath will be conducting a regional exercise, it would be an opportunity to test our emergency communications readiness.
Storm Spotter Class will be September 25th, 6:pm at Hillcrest High School, it will be a Basic Level Coarse.

Emergency Coordinator Report: by Eddie Lary, WS4I
Eddie announced that the Hot 100 conflicted with the Huntsville Ham Fest and they will supply their own communicators.
He also stated that Training for Emergency Communications will be at the EOC, on August 23rd, from 6-9:pm. 100 & 700 Level coarse will be reviewed and testing on line if time permits.
Eddie reminded members that during sever weather conditions storm spotters should remain in place & report conditions at location.

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Guest Speaker
8/18/2008

Tommy introduced tonight’s Guest Speaker: Jay Isbell, KA4KUN, ARRL Alabama Section Manager.
Jay introduced a new program that Arrl was sponsoring, Volunteer Instructors to teach Ham Radio Classes in local schools. Anyone interested can contact Tommy for details.
Another initiative of placing Ham Radio Equipment, 1 HF 1 UHF 1VHF radio in area hospitals, Contact person is Rick Cedars.
Also he spoke about various needs for emergency communications, such as:
Training operators to run the Ham Stations that have been set up in area Hospitals & establish Emergency Communications at designated shelters.
He also mentioned that a power point presentation was available from ARRL for training,
Jay will see if he can get a copy for the state clubs to share.

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