BOARD MEETING – February 16, 2017
Stillwater Amateur Radio Association
1618 Pine Street West
Stillwater, Minnesota 55082
Roll Call of Officers – All officers were in attendance except Bob WØGAF.
President: Joe KCØOIO
The meeting was called to order at 6:01 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Steve KAØOBI
Minutes from the Board Meeting on January 19th, 2017 have been posted on the website. No additional comments from the group.
Treasurers Report – John N5JLZ
Beginning Balance 1/1/2017 $3,205.26
Income $207.00
Expenses $240.00
Ending Balance 1/31/2017 $3,172.26 (Not including HELP income/expenses)
$14,424.24 (Including HELP income/expenses)
Reports of Committees:
Activities & Events: Dave WØOXB
Ice Station WØJH – the event will be held Feb 18th– 20th, 2017. Dave KØAIF will be hosting again just across from his house on Lake Elmo. A fixed 252’ antenna was erected last Saturday 2/11 for the event. John N5JLZ will be operating a 2nd station in Dave’s driveway from his well- equipped van. Notice of the event is on the ARRL website and the bulletin board at Radio City. The event will run from about 10AM to 4PM depending on the volume of contacts and propagation. The station will start at 75m in the morning and return to 75m late in the day. It is expected that 20m will be the bulk of the event’s contacts throughout the day. John’s station will be working a different band than the main station to avoid interference.
MAP: Dave WØOXB
ADØSN is retiring soon and is anxious to get involved as a volunteer for MAP.
Meetings & Programs – Joe KCØOIO
The February program presented by Trgve Svärd was an excellent look into the world of Digital Mobile Radio (DMR). It was well received by the members and was followed by many interesting questions.
March – Reconditioning Vintage Radios – Randy Olson KDØVKB
April – ARRL Update and This is LOTW – Greg KØGW
May – SDR: Icom IC-7300 and Flex 1500
Additional ideas for future programs: Arduinos & Raspberry PIs, Microcomputers for Ham Radio; Special Interest Clubs: SKCC, County Hunters, QCWA, 070, OMISS, YLRL; Operating Portable Roundtable, Diagnostic Tools: Analyzers, DMMs and Diagnostic Gizmos; Tuners: Manual vs. Automatic + Care & Feeding; Setting up your Shack; New Technicians: Here’s what you can do now; Show us your Shack-Supersize.
Eyeball Sessions – Skills Night
February 23rd – FLDIGI Hands-On
Education & Training Report – Bob WØGAF (Not present)
The SkyWarn 2017 Training – Feb 25th at the Stillwater Library. From 10:30 to 3:30 with a lunch break factored into the schedule. Notices have been posted at Radio City and the Stillwater Library. Press releases have been sent to the Pioneer Press and Twin City Lily Newspapers in Oakdale, Stillwater, Lake Elmo, and Woodbury.
Technician Class 2017 & the Extra Class Study Group will both begin March 2nd at the Stillwater Library.
The VE Session is scheduled for April 27th at Boutwells Landing.
New Ham Night will take place on May 18th.
Newsletter & Websites – Pat Tice WAØTDA (not present), Dave WØOXB
The March issue deadline is February 25th with a publishing date by March 4th. The April issue deadline is March 25th.
Repeater – Henry KØHAS & Shel NØDRX
Nothing new.
Remote Bases Committee – Pat WAØTDA, Keith AGØH, Eliot KEØN, Bill NØCIC, and Henry KØHAS.
Doug has been troubleshooting the Kenwood TS-480HX 200watt transceiver and found a burned out component. He has placed an order for that part.
Unfinished Business
HELP Project
Of the items that were dropped off at Radio City to be placed for consignment sale – it appears that the Icom PW-1 Amplifier has been sold for $2,700. There has been no interest in the Yaesu FT-847 All-mode Transceiver – $699 since there is another one for sale right next to it. The pricing on the Ten-Tec Pegasus SDR Transceiver is $500 and the Ten-Tec Orion is $450. It was suggested that we rollback the prices 10 % on the remaining three radios.
A motion was made, seconded and carried to change the name from the HELP Project to the RBP (Remote Base Project).
Equipment Trailer – Still waiting for spring weather to get going on a plan for interior build-out.
SARA’s 25th Year in 2017 – Since Bob WØGAF was not present we will wait until the next meeting to put together a member survey to determine the club’s preference for how to celebrate the 25th Anniversary. Then Bob will set it up on Survey Monkey to compile the results.
501C3 Application – No action deemed necessary for the time being.
Nets & Ragchews – The 2 meter net has had very good participation with 8 members on the air last time. The Tuesday Round Robin Net has been working well on 12 meters. The digital net will continue until early April.
Tuner Purchase – The general membership approved the purchase of an MFJ 986 Antenna Tuner on 2/11. An order will be placed with Radio City for the purchase.
New Business:
We want to make sure the Stillwater Library personnel are aware of how we want the meeting room set up for the upcoming SkyWarn session on Saturday, February 25th.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:31 PM.