The CRES Amateur Radio Club held its second quarter's general meeting of 2004 at Universal Radio in Pickerington on Wednesday, 09 June 2004. Preceding the meeting, Ron Rateno of ICOM gave an interesting presentation on the ICOM company and its product lines, including the new IC-7800 HF transceiver. President Jack Kirkpatrick/KC8TM then called the meeting to order at 7:35 PM. The following members and guests were present: K9RV, K8KJ, K8NU, K8ON, KC8HIH, KD8BJ, KD8WK, K8AX, W8REW, K8TX, N8AKH, W8FMN, K8RSP, N9CX, and WA8LBZ. The first order of business was to hear from the Field Day Committee: W8FMN: Field Day will be at NV7X's (like last year). There will be a table for visitors, and a picnic Saturday evening. Those willing to commit to operating are asked to sign up prior to the event. K8NU and K8RSP will provide HF rigs, and WD8EBS will provide a rig for digital modes. N9CX will is responsible for antenna setup. The club will use N8KDY's generator. Some discussion of the operating setup ensued. In the end, it was decided to use the garage and the porch, as was done last year. KC8TM agreed to bring a tarp to be used to shield the porch in the event of inclement weather. K8RSP agreed to bring a headphone splitter for CW ops. KC8HIH: There will be a potluck at 6:30 on Saturday, June 26. The club will provide burgers, brats, paper plates and utensils, and soft drinks. Those attending the picnic are encouraged to bring a side dish or other food items to share. Repeater Committee: K8RSP: The repeater has recently been plagued with a strange intermittent interference problem at the main site. This is also affecting the .76 machine (worse than us). We continue to investigate alternative sites for the machine, should it become necessary to relocate the repeater in November. This will become the top priority of the club's leadership after Field Day. K8NU suggests it might be viable to take the repeater down and join forces with another group that has an available low-usage repeater. K8AX suggested exploring placing the repeater with the OSU Radio Club. W8FMN suggested that if the duplexer's need for temperature stability is a show stopper for an otherwise acceptable location, it could be placed inside an old refrigerator to stabilize it. The growth committee has met and continues to exchange emails. KC8HIH suggested that the Growth and Outreach/Education committees meet to jointly determine the scope of each committee. KD8WK requested he be notified of the outcome if this were done. VE Team: The next VE exam session will be at the Columbus VOA hamfest on August 7. KD8ZG has notified the ARRL and KD8WK has posted a notice at Universal. K8RSP will send out sign-up notices to the VEs next month. KC8HIH showcased a new flyer highlighting the CRES-ARC for prospective members. It was warmly received. It will be placed in the club info rack at Universal and made available at VE sessions. KC8HIH also mentioned she had been in contact with other local ham clubs. We have placed links to their web pages on our website, and several have reciprocated by listing ours. KD8WK gave the Treasurer's report: Currently, the club has $4467.25 in checking/savings, $2153.25 in CDs, and $87.17 in the cash account, plus $20 in undeposited funds received at the meeting. KC8TM then said that at the previous meeting, it was unclear whether there had been an actual vote on whether to hold monthly club meetings or not. This had been discussed among the EXCOMM members and it was their sense that we should revisit this point at the next (this) general meeting. KD8WK motions (and KD8BJ seconds) that it be the sense of the membership that the club endeavor to schedule a club activity every month. It was pointed out that this in no way contravenes the club's constitutional requirement to hold quarterly general meetings (but these could serve as the activity for the months in which they are held). The motion carries with one opposed. KD8WK announced that the CRES-ARC has become re-affiliated with the ARRL. Although it had been so long since we were last affiliated that we proceeded like we were joining for the first time, the ARRL recognized our former status and has bridged our service, listing us as being a member club since 1977. (To view our ARRL info record online: ) KC8HIH announced that she has been busy planning for the next quarter: There will be a tour of the CMH airport tower during the last week of July. Due to airport restrictions, it must be on a week day -- time and date to be announced. In August, K8KJ agreed to do a fox hunt. At the September general meeting, KC8VKS will give a talk on antenna modeling software. Additional suggestions for future events: KD8BJ: tour the WW2 Equipment Museum in Groveport. WA8LBZ: Visit FAIR Radio in Lima. Also, have folks take pictures and movies at events like Field Day and have a showing at a later meeting. K8NU: Host a ham radio garage sale, or rent a table at a local hamfest. The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 PM, after which many of those present went next door to see the new IC-7800 on display at Universal until the end of the week. The officers and members of the CRES Amateur Radio Club wish to thank Ron Rateno/W9WL for his excellent presentation and Fred Osterman/N8EKU for hosting the event and providing the great food and refreshments. Respectfully submitted, Rob Stampfli CRES-ARC Secretary/Treasurer