BOARD MEETING MINUTES -December 17, 2015
Stillwater Amateur Radio Association
1618 Pine Street West
Stillwater, Minnesota 55082
Roll Call of Officers – All seven officers were in attendance.
President: Joe KCØOIO
The meeting was called to order at 6:03 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Steve KAØOBI
Minutes from the Board Meeting on November 19th, 2015 have been posted on the website.
Treasurers Report – John N5JLZ
Beginning Balance 11/1/2015 $2, 971.05
Income $478.00
Expenses $488.34
Ending Balance 11/30/2015 $2,960.71
Reports of Committees:
Activities & Events: Dave WØOXB
Ice Station WØJH – is currently scheduled for Feb 13, 14, 15, 2016. A decision has been made to go to Lake Elmo and use Dave KEØAIF’s QTH as a base of operations. Notice of the event will be in the February issue of QST and the League’s web page. Dave’s QTH has parking for approximately 36 vehicles.
MAP: Dave WØOXB
A Hustler 6BTV vertical antenna was donated by Jim KCØQCO and has been passed on to newly licensed General Class Frank Carlson KDØSVO.
Meetings & Programs – Joe KCØOIO
January – S.W.E.E.P. (SARA White Elephant Exchange Party)
February – SSTV & DSSTV – Keith AGØH & Mike WAØKKE
March – Understanding Solar Indices – Joe KCØOIO
April – Foxhunting – Dan Franz WDØGUP (Possibly a SARA/SEMARC sponsored East Metro Foxhunt will follow 2 weeks later)
May – SOTA – Jim KDØIPI (Joe talked to Jim at Split Rock but the date is not firm yet)
Additional ideas: Antenna analyzers and other Diagnostic Gizmos; Baluns, Ununs, and Chokes; Mobile Installation-Tips, Tricks, and Pratfalls; Maidenhead Grid Squares; Ham Radio Roundtable; Propagation-Can I get there from here?; Station Grounding; and IDing Digital Modes.
Education & Training Report – Bob WØGAF
There was interest shown by 6 or 7 people at the General Meeting in forming an Extra Class Study Group for 2016.
The SkyWarn training session will be held Feb 27th.
The Technician Class training ( 8 classes) will begin March 3rd followed by a VE testing session on April 28th.
The Mahtomedi Library’s meeting room and one at the Woodbury Gander Mountain are good alternatives when Stillwater’s rooms are not available.
Newsletter & Websites – Pat Tice WAØTDA (not present) & Dave WØOXB
The deadline for submitting content for the January issue of the newsletter is December 26th. The January issue will be published by January 4th. If you have an article to contribute please forward it to Keith AGØH as soon as possible.
Repeater – Henry KØHAS & Shel NØDRX
Shel NØDRX was unable to attend the latest regional repeater meeting but reviewed the online minutes.
Unfinished Business
ARRL 2016 National Parks Anniversary Special Event – Based on the response at the General Meeting there is a lot of interest being shown for the club to host a local event in 2016.
The Handiham/SARA Equipment Program MOU was signed 12/03/15 and the storage facility rent will be paid through April 2016.
Club Officer Nominees for 2016 have been set (Joe KCØOIO will ask for any additional nominations at the January General Meeting).
President – Joe Heitzinger KCØOIO
Vice President – Keith Miller AGØH
Secretary – Steve Bonine KAØOBI
Treasurer – John Zuercher N5JLZ
Director 2 (Even Years) – Bob Jensen WØGAF
Arrowhead Radio Club WØI Follow Up by Shel NØDRK – Kenny from the newsletter who lives near Mora did not want to get involved in any inter-club politics. Shel talked to an Arrowhead officer who said they did not want to conflict with our club’s event in the future.
New Business
HELP Project – the first work day at the storage facility will be Wednesday, Dec 30th at about 9:30 AM. This is an unheated facility and there is only one overhead light bulb and no outlets. The main task will be to start to separate Tier 2 and Tier 3 items and get the serial numbers of the Goldwater Collins equipment. We also need to find out who can take some equipment home to begin to evaluate if these items are in good working order. Most of the Tier 1 equipment is not in the storage area.
The items to be sold will be offered to SARA members first before they are put on the open market. If we have a list of some working items ready by the January General Meeting we can offer those for sale to our members.
Saint Paul Radio Club is having an auction on Saturday, January 30th. So that will be our first opportunity to sell items to the general public after they have been offered to SARA members.
Pat Tice WAØTDA is having a retirement party on January 29th from 2 to 4 PM at the Sister Kenny Courage location in St Croix.
The club liability insurance bill will be coming due shortly. For the past couple years the premium cost has been $200. A motion was made, seconded and passed to pay the insurance bill.
The club’s bank has a new name and fee structure starting in January 2016. If the new fees are unreasonable then we may want to research moving the account to a different bank with more favorable terms.
ARRL is offering an ‘Instructor Bundle’ that includes a spiral-bound Technician Manual, General Manual, and a non spiral-bound Instructor Manual for $49.43. A motion was made, seconded and passed to purchase two Instructor Bundles.
Dave WØOXB mentioned that Joe Simonet WØTBC (92 yrs old) fell six weeks ago and had to leave his home and is now staying at Boutwells Landing in Room 206. He may not be able to return to his home. Dave was wondering if we shouldn’t have a Sunshine Committee that would send get well cards to ailing/hospitalized members and arrange visits to same if possible. John N5JLZ agreed to take care of sending cards/flowers when the need arises.
Shel NØDRX gave an updated accounting of SARA’s membership – 64 regular members and 8 associates.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:23 PM.