Meeting Bullets:
•  President Gregg Powers, rang the meeting to order at 6:30PM with a cowbell and noted the previous meeting minutes were posted on the website.
•  Secretary Christine Ryan was not at the meeting.  Kristi Powers filled in for her.
•  Treasurer Tom Wallace presented the Treasurer's report.
•   John Acton reported that the Winlink net continues to grow and has 27 regular participants. John posts a Winlink exercise on the website every Tuesday.  See the home page under Weekly WINLINK Net for John's contact information if you are interested in participating.
•  Doug Hatten updated the club on several developments from the EOC:
    •  The internet issue has been resolved for the VARA FM gateway, hopefully we’ll not have any more issues.
    •  The Baldwin County Commission has approved the donation of 3 laptops to the club with the support of CIS Director Brian Peacock.  Thank you Mr. Peacock!   
    •  The 2 towers that have been offered to the county are still in the analysis stage but Doug sees no reason why this project won’t move forward.
    •  The west tower by the old 911 building is being decommissioned due to rusting issues and will be removed by August 1st. The 147.090 repeater may be off for 2-3 days as that work is done.
    •  The EOC is working on an agreement with the Revenue office, that is now in the old 911 building, to move the equipment in the outside enclosure to a room inside.
•  President Gregg Powers noted that planning has begun for Summer Field Day which is only two months away.
•  Ken Bell reported on the club's Parks on the Air efforts last weekend. Some Deep South club members joined the fun and 240 contacts were made in 47 states and several countries.
•  Gregg Powers reports Fort Blakeley has now been recognized as a POTA park with park director Mike Bunn being very supportive of future POTA deployments.
•  The club has been invited to participate in a Touch-a-Truck event May 18th, 2024 at the Home Depot in Daphne.  We will likely set up a table with free literature on ham radio.
•  Bill Dionne and Joe McIntosh did presentations on WinLink and basic antennas respectively.  As always these were informative and entertaining!

Other News:
VEC Coordinator Joel Emmett reported that he has 4 registered for the May 4th test session and still has 2 seats available. Please see the home page for VE testing information and Joel's contact info.

Also on the VE front, Ron Thomas of the Westminster Village club reported that he has 6 candidates, 2 of which will be upgrading to General on April 20th.  Ron's contact information can also be found on the home page.

Editorial:
    I counted 38+ in attendance on this mild, mid spring evening.  We got a lot of important updates from Doug Hatten who is a club member and a manager at the Emergency Operations Center.  Over the years the county has been a great supporter of the club.  Many thanks should go out to all involved, including the commissioners and all county agency employees.  I would like to add kudos for our own members like Kristi Powers who volunteered to fill in for Christine as secretary this month and Ken Bell who's time and energy in organizing the ARES group, FaceBook page, POTA events, and Field Days, is an important asset.  That also goes for the folks who put together presentations for our meetings and do the many other things both big and small that keep the club vibrant.

     There are a few of you that I still don't have email addresses for so if you see your name isn't listed on the Contact Us page dropdown list please fill out the contact update form.  Good things are happening at the club and our growth is a result of them.  I hope to see you all next month!

Please note:
The club's policy is to publish the last meeting minutes on the website well in advance of the next meeting.  This saves time at the meetings and gives members a chance to analyze and discuss any items at the meeting.  The minutes also include more details on club business than is possible in the Kerchunker.  Please go to the Meetings Page to view current and past meeting minutes.

Published monthly on the web at www.n4mz.com
copyright 2007 Baldwin County Amateur Radio Club
P.O. Box 491  -  Robertsdale, AL.  36567
Editor: Emery Wooten - KC5LIO