Board Meeting Minutes – January 14, 2016
Stillwater Amateur Radio Association
1618 Pine Street West
Stillwater, Minnesota 55082
Roll Call of Officers – Five officers were in attendance which was sufficient for a quorum.
President: Joe KCØOIO
The meeting was called to order at 6:04 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Steve KAØOBI
Minutes from the Board Meeting on December 17th, 2015 have been posted on the website.
Treasurers Report – John N5JLZ
Beginning Balance 12/1/2015 $2, 960.71
Income $294.00
Expenses $98.86
Ending Balance 12/31/2015 $3,155.85
Reports of Committees:
Activities & Events: Dave WØOXB
Ice Station WØJH – is currently scheduled for Feb 13, 14, 15, 2016. The event will be held at Lake Elmo utilizing 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
This activity is on hold until the weather improves. Dave would like to compile a list in advance of the season in order to best schedule these installations.
Meetings & Programs – Joe KCØOIO
February – SSTV & DSSTV – Keith AGØH & Mike WAØKKE
March – Sights and Sounds of Digital Modes – Joe KCØOIO
April – Foxhunting – Dan Franz WDØGUP. A SARA/SEMARC sponsored East Metro Foxhunt is scheduled for April 23rd.
May – SOTA (Summits on the Air) – Jim KDØIPI
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? and Station Grounding.
Education & Training Report – Bob WØGAF (not present)
Extra Class Study Group has 6 to 8 people interested. This would run concurrently on the same nights as the Technician classes.
The SkyWarn training session will be held Feb 27th at 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM at the Stillwater Library. There will be time set aside for a lunch break.
The Technician Class training will begin March 3rd. A VE testing session will be held on April 28th at Boutwells. Dave WØOXB will distribute flyers.
New Ham Night will take place on May 19th at Brekke Park (Oak Park Heights) from 5 to 9 PM.
The regular Board Meeting will be rescheduled to May 26th.
Newsletter & Websites – Pat Tice WAØTDA (not present) & Dave WØOXB
The deadline for submitting content for the February issue of the newsletter is January 30th. The February issue will be published by February 6th. If you have an article to contribute please forward it to Keith AGØH as soon as possible.
Repeater – Henry KØHAS & Shel NØDRX
There is a need to locate a small cabinet to house the APRS transmitter and TNC at the site..
Unfinished Business
ARRL 2016 National Parks Anniversary Special Event (NPOTA) – there is a lot of interest for the club to schedule a local event.
HELP Project
During the first work day on Dec 30th most of the equipment was moved out of the storage facility and distributed to members for testing and assessment write-ups.
The Valuation Team made up of Pat WAØTDA, Keith AGØH and Joe KCØOIO will be responsible for determining selling prices for the radios and accessories.
The SPRC Auction will be held January 30th from 0830 to 1300 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church on 401 Concord Street. Since this is prior to our next General Meeting, a small number of items will be taken there for sale that our general membership would most likely not want to purchase.
The first opportunity for SARA members to purchase items will be at the February General Meeting on Saturday Feb 13th. Our goal is to have everything out of the storage facility by April 16th. A suggestion was made to send out a newsletter with a list of the available equipment.
In order not to flood the market with used equipment, we have identified five select opportunities to sell the equipment:
Cabin Fever Reliever, St Cloud – Feb 13th
Northland Antique Radio Club Workshop and flea market, Pavek Museum – Feb 21st
Eau Claire, WI Annual Equipment Auction – Mar 5th
Midwinter Madness, Buffalo, MN – Mar 12th
Brainerd Area Hamfest – Apr 16th
New Business
Appointment of Club Trustee for 2016: A motion was made, seconded and passed to appoint Shel NØDRX as the Club Trustee for 2016.
Eyeball Sessions Projects & Topics: Suggestions included – volt/amp meter kit, power pigtails, training for FLDGI, station grounding, and Radios in the Park (this summer).
A motion was made, seconded and passed to give a free Associate Membership to the new president of SEMARC, Jeff Walker AAØIJ.
All three of the club laptops are currently updated to Windows 10 software.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:36 PM.