The CRES amateur radio club held a general membership meeting on
April 10, 2007 at the New Albany library. The following members
were in attendance: Bill Erwin N9CX, Al Mecozzi WA8LBZ, David Woolf
K8RSP, Bob Kenyon K8LJ, Jim Kerr K8KJ, John Lawson W8AGS, Dave
Brown K8AX, Mike Rauh W8GT, Tricia Kovacs KC8HIH, David Jeffords
K8ON, Brad Spencer KC8VKS, Bob Cartwright W3CRZ, George Kinder
KC8DJR, Ed Weston W8REW, Rick Tressler K8SV, George Foy N4DLR,
Tom Foy N4HAI, Dan Merrick K8TX, Andy Elliott K8LE, and Rick
Taylor N8OAW.

After a social hour, the meeting was called to order by president
Bill Erwin N9CX at 7PM. Meeting minutes from the previous meeting
were accepted, with motion by Al Mecozzi WA8LBZ. Dave Woolf K8RSP
presented the financial report, which was $305.77 in cash, $1660.25
in the Telhio savings account and $5651.96 in the Telhio CDs. The
financial report was accepted, with motion by John Lawson W8AGS.
Dave also reported that the CRES club has 37 members, 25 of whom
have paid 2007 dues. Dues may be paid to Rob Stampfli KD8WK.

Dave next reported for the repeater committee that he and Art
Grandle KD8ZG are aware of the hum problem and are working on it.
The tone squelch sometimes is not working because of the hum.
They will be adding a filter to alleviate this problem. Dave next
reported for the Volunteer Examiner committee that they were
holding a test session on Saturday, April 14 at the Parkview
United Methodist church. There were 7 Volunteer Examiners
scheduled to attend.

Bill Erwin reported that the CRES club had won the high score in
the 2006 CQ-WE contest and displayed the award certificate which
we received. Bill also received tickets to the Athens hamfest to
be held on April 29. These tickets were given to John Lawson,
who planned to attend. Bob Cartwright W3CRZ requested help with
field day, which will be held at Mike Rauh W8GT's house again
this year. Tricia Kovacs KC8HIH informed the club that our former
field day site behind the Lucent Technologies facility is now a
park in the new housing development. The meeting was adjourned
at 7:12 PM.

After the meeting concluded, door prizes were awarded by Bill
Erwin to the following people:

	Al Mecozzi WA8LBZ - antenna mount
	David Jeffords K8ON - headset
	Rick Tressler K8SV - power adapter
	Andy Eliot K8LE - surge station and noise filter
	Bob Kenyon K8LJ - RS232 cable
	George Foy N4DLR - multi phone recording control
	George Kinder KC8DJR - multi meter

Following the meeting, Rick Tressler K8SV gave an interesting
presentation entitled "Batteries and the Radio Amateur". Rick
was introduced by Dave Brown K8AX. Rick is the Training and
Education Manager at Alber. His presentation will be posted on
the CRES club website. Rick spoke about lead-acid batteries,
both Flooded and Valve Regulated (VRLA) types. He explained
electrolytes, hydrometers/refractometers, and how batteries
work. He showed examples of plates, a flame arrestor and a
valve pressure vent. He explained that the common battery for
ham radio use is the VRLA AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) type. He
gave us some practical advice on battery use, including proper
charging, storage considerations, storage & temperature effects
on service life, and battery safety. Rick presented examples of
determining the proper battery size and load cable size, and
explained how to read battery data sheets. Other topics included
amp hour capacity, load cable voltage drop and charger sizing.
Regarding battery safety, Rick discussed electrolyte dangers,
use of safety glasses and gloves, insulated tools, torque wrench
for proper cable attachment, First Aid and the need to follow
manufacturers instructions. Due to time constraints, Rick will
be presenting a second talk to cover the topic of other battery
types (nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride and lithium-ion
batteries). We were very impressed with Rick's knowledge of the
subject and look forward to his next presentation.

Meeting notes submitted by Tricia Kovacs KC8HIH