President: Garry Wheatley, KD4GCY
Vice President: Jeff Wielgos, KB9BVL
Scribe: Ruben Fuentes, WB5WTF
Treasurer: Roger Good, KC4WPS
Minutes of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association (PARA) Meeting of Monday, September 13, 2021.
Club Officers in Attendance: President: Garry (KD4KCY); Scribe: Ruben (WB5WTF); and Treasurer: Roger (KC4WPS). There were 16 members present.
The meeting was held at Heartland Church, 4777 Alben Barkley Dr., Paducah, KY., and was called to order at 7:00 pm., by Club President Garry Wheatley (KD4GCY).
Gary led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance to the US Flag and thanked everyone for their support following the accidental death of his brother, Dennis.
Ruben (WB5WTF) read the Minutes of the August meeting. Don (KC4DR) made a motion to approve the Minutes and Jeff (KM4LDP) seconded it. The membership voted to approve them.
Roger (KC4WPS) provided the Financial Report, including but not limited to expenditures, revenue and current balance. Ruben (WB5WTF) made a motion to approve the Financial Report and Jeff (KM4LDP) seconded it. The motion carried.
Garry (KD4GCY) brought up the topic of an earthquake presentation by Mr. Thomas Beebe, (W9RY), at our next monthly meeting. There was extensive discussion by the membership including having invitations sent to other ham radio clubs in the area as well as local leaders such as the Mayor, the Chief of Police, the Sheriff, the Emergency Management Director and the County Judge Executive. The discussion concluded with Bruce (KS4V) making a motion to reimburse Mr. Beebe for fuel costs to come to our meeting as well as providing for his and a Club member host dinner that day. Mike (WA4ER) seconded the motion and it carried.
Garry (KD4GCY) announced the following upcoming events:
Weather Spotter training by the National Weather Service on September 16th and that you can sign up for it online.
The Great American Shake Out (Earthquake Drills) on October 21st.
He also announced there will also be Winter Weather training on December 2nd.
There was discussion about the Club’s annual Christmas dinner and the group consensus was to move forward with it for this year, at the same location, Casa Mexicana Restaurant. Garry will get Ed (AB4IQ) to make arrangements with the restaurant. If COVID disrupts this plan, we will have our regular monthly meeting instead.
After a two-minute video about the Fort Massac Encampment (Metropolis, Illinois) Ruben (WB5WTF) announced an invitation for Club members to participate as volunteers in providing support for first responders at this event which is scheduled for October 16th and 17th.
Roger (KC4WPS) initiated a discussion about the Club’s damaged generator. He provided a power point presentation on the trouble-shooting, discoveries and successful repair of the generator. The power point included pictures of the mouse that caused the damage, the chewed up electrical harness and the points of repair. The members thanked him for repairing it and for saving us the cost of repairs.
PARA Net Control Operator assignments were made and are published on our website (wn4nja.org) under the topic, Net Control Operators.
Frank (KY4LDS) did a presentation on a 2 meter/440 meter radio go kit that he put together. The presentation generated questions and comments about the kit’s contents, especially the power source.
The meeting was adjourned by Garry (KD4GCY) at 8:35 p.m.