BOARD MEETING MINUTES – December 20, 2018
BOARD MEETING MINUTES – December 20, 2018
Stillwater Amateur Radio Association
1618 Pine Street West
Stillwater, Minnesota 55082
Roll Call of Officers – All present.
President: Joe KCØOIO
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Notes are up on website.
Treasurer’s Report – Rich ADØSN
Beginning Balance 11/01/2018 $2,385.67
Income $538.00
Expenses $666.63
Ending Balance 011/30/2018 $2,257.04 (Not including RBP income/expenses)
$16,889.64 (Including RBP income/expenses)
(No December expenses reported.)
Reports of Committees:
Activities & Events: Dave WØOXB
Ice Station W0JH – Planning is progressing and notes will be going out soon. Dave K0AIF assures us there will be ice.
White Rock 2019 – Working on planning. Mayor Rudy needs to be contacted yet.
MAP: Dave WØOXB
There are a few antennas that can be worked on. Devin in White Bear Lake has requested his antenna be put on hold as the wife is pressuring for a move.
Meetings & Programs – Joe KCØOIO
January – S.W.E.E.P.
February – Operating Roundtable
March – Baluns, Ununs, and Chokes – Dave WØOXB
April – Logging Programs for Mac and Linux OS – Collin KE0IYN and Bob W0GAF
May – SDR Dongles and SDR Software – Doug N9TLW and Collin KE0IYN
Future Ideas: Special interest clubs, SKCC (Straight Key Century Club), County Hunters, QCWA (Quarter Century Wireless Assoc.), 070, OMISS (Old Man International Sideband Society), YLRL (Young Ladies Radio League), Diagnostic tools – analyzers, DMMs, and other gizmos, Propagation-Can I get there from here?, Station grounding, Tuners-Manual vs. Automatic and Care & Feeding, Setting Up Your Shack, New Technicians – Here’s what you can do now.
Room/Park Reservations – John N5JLZ
Doing fantastic job. Skywarn class has room booked, working on getting tech classes booked. 4 of 8 booked so far. But there’s availability issues, looking at other libraries for other 4. Still working but might be a problem. But if have any ideas let John know.
Eyeball Sessions – Tech Nights
Future ideas – Using toroids to reduce noise and RFI, SWR Bridge calibration (KØGW); DX Labs Suite, Logger 32 & N1MM (NØODK); Diagnostic Tools – Using an Oscilloscope; Hand tools for your workbench; How to read the Solar Reports; The “Tech” in Technician; Antenna Lab: Theory & Design Discussions
Education & Training – Bob WØGAF
Skywarn Class 2019 – The room has been booked. Need to contact the Skywarn folks yet.
Spring Tech Class 2019 – Tentative dates picked with 4 people already signed up; classes starting 28th of February. See above for issues with rooms. New books need to be obtained. Dave will have new flyers to Bob by mid January.
VE Team – Shel NØDRX
Next session is April 25th, 2019.
Newsletter & Website – Pat WAØTDA & Dave WØOXB
The January deadline is December 29th, for publishing Jan 5th. Want to introduce a tech article – not all on antennas but things like dB vs power vs gain and such like that.
Rag Chews – Dave WØOXB
Propagation has continued to be poor. Experiments will commence on 6m with some homebrew antennas. The simulcast Tuesday night net will be pulled for lack of attendance.
Repeater – Henry KØHAS & Shel NØDRX
There are some noise issues that are being troubleshooted. Collin and Doug are working on setting up means to record all transmissions and track data to see if there are common environmental factors.
The APRS Digipeater will be tested just prior to installation at the stack. It is currently on hold.
Remote Bases Technical Committee
All committee members – Pat WAØTDA, Keith AGØH, Eliot KDØOTB, Bill NØCIC, and Henry KØHAS.
Both remote stations are currently operating OK.
Builders Group
There is a potential for a project for homebrew low power WWV-B style NTP interface/transmitters for home use. Looking at this more deeply with proposed shutdown of WWV/-B.
Portable antenna building is also considered here. A design for 6m homebrew antennas are currently considered.
Unfinished Business
The equipment trailer is yet to be completed. Tire and jack were obtained by Bob W0GAF, with thanks to him. A heater install will be done this spring with a carbon monoxide detector. Red interior lighting will be done this spring as well.
The equipment inventory is being worked on. Sent the forms again to the necessary folks to get filled out. Dave has reviewed, Joe will review.
The 501(c)3 application is being researched along with best forms of transition. This is on hold for the time being due to the holidays.
Nominations have been made for 2019 –
- President: Joe KCØOIO
- VP: Bob WØGAF
- Secretary: Collin KEØIYN
- Treasurer: Rich ADØSN
- Director 2019-2020: Dan KEØIYF
New Business
The club was gifted from a secret santa a iPower 2000 watt inverter generator. Shel will register the warranty as at his address. A gas can and oil will need to be purchased for it.
Lanyards – there are 15 lanyards left. Doug makes a motion to purchase more, with Bob seconding. The vote is unanimous. Collin will order.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:56 PM.