January Board Meeting!

The January Board Meeting will be at Buffalo Grill on Monday, January 4, 2010. We eat anytime after 5:30p.m. and the meeting begins at 6:30. Since this is our first meeting of the year it may go a little long but I will try my best to be finished by 8:30. We have much to discuss and I hope everyone who can attend will be there because your input IS important to the board. We need to know how you feel on issues that come before the board.
Also, I will be making team and special appointments as well. If you wish to be placed on a team please let me know by email and I'll get you on the list. If you were on a team last year and want to change teams or be taken off a team let me know as well.

Thanks and I hope to see YOU next Monday at Buffalo Grill!!
John Goswick
President Elect CAUHF

December Board Meeting.

The CAUHF monthly Board meeting will be Monday, December 7, 2009 at Buffalo Grill, in the Bowman Curve. This is a change from the previously announced meeting place. There were too many new restrictions to meet at Shotgun Dan's Pizza so we will return to our old meeting place at least for this month. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. but we will meet for dinner at 5:30 p.m. Come join us for great fellowship and good food. We will have a short year-end business meeting and plan for the Christmas party to be held on Monday, December 14. More about that later, but mark you calendars for both events!

FCC Makes Path for Employees to Participate as Hams During Exercises

The FCC has published a statement on amateur radio operators transmitting during drills or exercises in which their employers are participating.

You can read it for yourselves, but in short it says that employers may now request a waiver to allow employees to participate in drills and exercises.

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-2259A1.pdf

Thanks to Joe Giddens for passing this info along.

2010 Nominees for CAUHF Group Offices and Board Positions

The CAUHF nominating committee presented its recommendations for the election of 2010 officers and board positions at the September 21, 2009 CAUHF business meeting of the general membership.  Members of the committee were:

Paul Graziani W5ZK Chairman,
Leon Robinson K5JLR,
Danny Stressle KE5WLR,
Darin Dikes KK5WA,
Todd Koehler W5TMK

It was the consensus of the membership by motion and second that the 3 open at large board positions be filled by 3 out of 7 nominees receiving the most votes.  The motion carried and the following slate was accepted.

In order to vote in the upcoming election at the November 2009 eating meeting, dues must be paid by October 21, 2009.  Any person applying for membership and paying dues after that time will not be considered a member in good standing until January 1, 2010 for voting purposes.

In order to vote, a person must be present at the November meeting where the election will be held.  There are no absentee or proxy ballots, as these are not permitted by the Group Constitution.  I would encourage as many members as can to attend the November eating meeting.  Watch for the announced date.  The people we select will lead the club for the next year.  Your vote is important.

Finally, I want to thank the members of the nominating committee who volunteered their time to come up with a slate of nominees.  I also want to thank all of those who volunteered to run for office.  The fact that we have several positions with more than one person running is a good sign for the club.

Paul Graziani, W5ZK


2010 Nominees

President

• Sam Baldwin
• John Goswick

Vice President

• Joshua Carroll

Secretary

• Lynette Nordlund

Treasurer

• Ron Lynch
• Bill Maples

Board Positions (Vote for any 3)

• Steve Bour
• John Hale
• Ray Kenny
• Todd Koehler
• Tim Moore
• John Nordlund
• Rob Passwaters

Calling all stations who hold A.R.R.L. Field Positions...

The Hiram Percy Maxim birthday celebration starts today!  This is a contest that celebrates the 140th birthday of the ARRL's first president and co-founder.

If you hold a Field Position in the ARRL (EC, OO, PIC, AEC, and many others) you should add "/140" to your call sign starting today.  A full list of eligible stations can be found at the end of this article.  The contest ends on September 9.

Any properly licensed ham can participate.  To participate, stations will try to contact at least 25 stations that are adding "/140" to their call sign.  Stations signing "/140" send RS(T), appointment and name.  All other stations simply send RS(T) and name.

You can find more information on the ARRL web site at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/08/17/11025/.

Happy contesting!

N5JLC

The stations eligible to sign /140 are:

• Advisory Committee Member
• Affiliated Club Coordinator
• Assistant Director
• Awards Manager
• Assistant Emergency Coordinator
• Assistant Section Manager
• Bulletin Manager
• Director
• District Emergency Coordinator
• DXCC Card Checker
• Educational Advisor
• Emergency Coordinator
• General Counsel
• Headquarters Staff
• Honorary Vice President
• International Affairs Vice President
• Local Government Liaison
• Monitoring System Volunteer
• Net Manager
• NTS Official
• Official Bulletin Station
• Official Emergency Station
• Official Observer
• Official Observer Coordinator
• Official Relay Station
• Past Director
• Past President
• Past Vice President
• President
• President Emeritus
• Public Information Coordinator
• Public Information Officer
• QSL Bureau Manager
• QSL Bureau Worker
• Registered Instructor
• Secretary
• Section Emergency Coordinator
• Section Manager
• Section Traffic Manager
• State Government Liaison
• Technical Advisor
• Technical Coordinator
• Technical Specialist
• Treasurer
• Vice Director
• Vice President
• Volunteer Consulting Engineer
• Volunteer Counsel
• Volunteer Examiner

5th Annual River City Ministries 5k a "great success"

The 5th annual River City Ministries 5 K was a great success. The RCM 5K is so well organized and managed by Crystal that it is a dream to work. It was this year, just like in previous years, well organized and smoothly run.

Our people did a wonderful job and I would like to thank the following people for their efforts and contributions to making this event a great success.

• K5JNR
• K5CPH
• AD5FU
• KD5QMD
• KE5JYX
• Kb5DTK (and son Noah)
• N5QLC
• AE5AR
• KE5BPI (and son's friend)
• KC5EIQ (and spouse)
• KE5YQB
• N5KWL

Without the help of each and every one of these people this years event might not have been as much a success as it was.

Thank you all!

- Ron, K5NP

Announcement of Proposed Amendment to Club Constitution

At the June Board meeting of the CAUHF Group, a recommendation was made to increase the size of the CAUHF Board from the current 6 elected members to 9 members. Since this would require an amendment to the club constitution, President Randy Wright appointed a committee consisting of Bill Maples WA5BHW, Ron Lynch K5NP and Paul Graziani W5ZK to draft an amendment. The relevant section of the club constitution regarding amending the constitution and by-laws is included here. I would encourage everyone who is interested to read the club constitution at http://www.cauhf.org/resources/#docs. Click on the CAUHF constitution link.

Information should be forthcoming from President Wright as to the schedule for the necessary general club business meetings to vote on the amendment. There are some key points regarding the vote and the amendment.

First, one must be a dues paying member in good standing to vote.

Second, a member must be present at the meeting to vote.

Third, The ballot is by paper ballot.

Fourth, to pass an amendment, it requires a 2/3 affirmative vote of the members present. In order to conduct the vote, a quorum must be present. A quorum is defined as 25% of the current total membership.

Fifth, Note that a simple majority (51%) will not pass the amendment. In order to pass, the amendment requires a 2/3 vote.

Sixth, the text cannot be changed prior to the vote of the membership. This is what the membership has to vote on. A member has 3 choices.

1. Vote yes.
2. Vote No.
3. Don't vote.

The following is the specific article from the constitution regarding amending the constitution.

ARTICLE IX: AMENDMENTS

Proposals for amendments shall be submitted in writing at a regular meeting and shall be voted on at the next following meeting providing that all members have been notified by United States Postal mail or electronic mail of the intent to amend the Constitution and/or Bylaws at said meeting. This Constitution and Bylaws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of those casting ballots. This vote shall be by written ballot of members present at the meeting. Mail out ballots and proxies shall not be used."

The following is the specific text of the proposed amendment.

Article II: BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The CAUHF Group shall be governed by a board of directors consisting of nine members. These nine members shall include the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, immediate past president and four Board members at large. The President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and two Board members at large shall be elected annually.

Any full member is eligible to be elected to a board position in the CAUHF Group if he or she has been a full member in good standing for the previous six months. No member may hold or be elected to hold more than one office or board position simultaneously.

Article IV

Section Five: In order to maintain some assured continuity, the two new at-large board member positions shall serve two-year staggered terms. For purposes of the new board positions, the two persons elected shall draw lots to determine which serves a one-year term and which serves a full two year term in order to continue the order of staggered terms.

The immediate past president shall automatically assume this position upon the election of a new
president. In case of a vacancy in the immediate past president position prior to the conclusion of the term, an election shall be held to fill the remainder of the term as with any other vacant position.

Triathlon Support a Huge Success!

It has been a while since we've posted any news about what's been going on with the CAUHF Group, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to let everyone know what we've been up to...

Earlier this month the CAUHF, along with the Faulkner County Amateur Radio Club, supported the Toadsuck Iron-Man Triathlon. We had about 18 operators come out and we all had a great time.

Just this past weekend we supported the "Dawg Days Sports Fest" in Burns Park. This off-road triathlon event was smaller than the Toadsuck event, but it was a lot more dangerous. Several of the participants had minor injuries, and our operators actually responded to two emergency situations. We actually learned quite a bit from this event. We had a total 15 operators who were able to come and help out.

Don't forget that we have our board meetings the first Monday of every month and our Fox Hunts are held on 443.200 on the second Saturday of each month. Come join us!

"Fox Hunts" Making a Comeback in Central Arkansas

The Central Arkansas UHF Group (www.cauhf.org) held its first "fox hunt" on Saturday and everyone had a great time. The event was likely to have been the first of its kind in over a decade in central Arkansas.

A “fox hunt” is a direction finding contest (also known as a "transmitter hunt" or "T-hunt") in which participants use directional antennas to locate a hidden transmitter. The participating Ham radio operators were scattered all over Pulaski County at the beginning of the event (and some were still scattered at the end of the event).

Tem Moore (N5KWL) was the winner, being the first to locate the "foxes" at Mimi's Cafe.

"It was a ton of fun. I still think it was just luck. It made me very aware that my fox-hunting skills need to improve. I learned that a simple tape-measure antenna could out-perform a factory-made fox-hunting antenna. I thought it was just a huge amount of fun," said Moore.

John Goswick (W5JLG) and Barbara Goswick (KE5ZQN) served as the "foxes" for the hunt.

The CAUHF is hoping to have a "fox hunt" each month on the second Saturday of the month. The next one is scheduled for April 11 at 9 am. More information about future "fox hunts" will be made available on the group's web site at www.cauhf.org.

Events such as this are used to train individuals in direction finding which is used in radio navigation, location of harmful or hostile transmitters, emergency aid (such as locating civil aircraft), avalanche rescue, wildlife tracking, as well as for sport.

Technician License Class

There is a Tech License class being taught at the Kirby Arkansas Fire Station on January 31st and February 14th 2009.

Class will be from 8 AM to 4 PM each day, and the FCC exam will be given on the afternoon of the second day.

The Exam fee for 2009 is $15

This class is being hosted by Pike County Search and Rescue and is open to all who wish to attend.

For more information, contact John Nordlund - AD5FU at (501) 231-7001

CAUHF quarterly "Eat & Meet" - Reserve your seat!

We are pleased to announce we will host our next quarterly "Eat & Meet" on Monday, February 23. We will have 2 special guest coming to speak to us:

• Mike Francis with KARK TV and
• John Robinson with the National Weather Service

Dinner will start at 6:00pm and the program will start at 7.

There will only be 10 minutes of business at the most, then we will turn it over to our guests.

Dinner will be Chicken Fried Steak, potatoes, beans, drink and desert... all for $10.00

The restaturant will be closed to the public, so we have the whole restaurant to ourselves. We need at least 50 people to show up, but let's show our gratitude to the Home Plate Diner by packing the place full!

Register and mark your calendar now - you won't want to miss this one.

CAUHF in membership drive

The CAUHF group is in its 2009 membership drive. If you need to renew, join, or donate, please do so. You can now online at http://www.cauhf.org/join/

Technician class in North Little Rock

A technician class will be given at First Assembly of God church 4501 Burrow Drive behind the Golden Corral in North Little Rock. Class will start Sunday Jan. 18 at 3:00 till 5:30 in the gym. Classes will meet the next 3 Sunday with testing at the end. For more info email ae5rw@arrl.net
Download study material here on this site. http://www.cauhf.org/documents/Tech_Study_Guide_Dec08.pdf