BOARD MEETING MINUTES – January 18, 2018
Stillwater Amateur Radio Association
1618 Pine Street West
Stillwater, Minnesota 55082
Roll Call of Officers – All officers were in attendance except Bob W0GAF. Welcomed are Rich, AD0SN as Treasurer, Collin, KE0IYN as Secretary, and Doug N9TOW as general director. Bob W0GAF has advanced from general director to Vice President. Thanks are given to Keith, John, and Steve for their years of service to the club.
President: Joe KCØOIO
The meeting was called to order at 6:03 PM.
Trustee Nomination –
Shel Mann N0DRX has agreed to serve as trustee after motion made by Bill and seconded by Collin and approved by unanimous vote.
Secretary’s Report – Collin KE0IYN
Minutes from the Board Meeting on December 14, 2017 have been posted on the website. No additional comments from the group. Thanks go out to Steve KB0OBI for his 4+ years of service as secretary.
Treasurers Report – Rich AD0SN
Beginning Balance 12/1/2017 $2,631.22
Income $291.00
Expenses $259.95
Ending Balance 12/31/2017 $2,662.27 (Not including RBP income/expenses)
$16,655.20 (Including RBP income/expenses)
Changes to accounts of adding Rich took place. Thanks go to John N5JLZ for his 4+ years of service. John has graciously agreed to continue coordinating getting reservations at Stillwater Public Library and other venues.
Reports of Committees:
Activities & Events: Dave WØOXB
Ice Station WØJH – will be held on Presidents Day weekend (Feb 17, 18, 19 in 2018) at Dave KEØAIF QTH in Lake Elmo. A notice already appears on the ARRL website. There will soon be a listing in the QST magazine. Dave will be sending out a note to members to invite them to stop by.
MAP: Dave WØOXB
We are looking at developing a list of those whom which to help with MAP, and a list of their skills that can be easily viewed. This may be in Excel or some other simple format, to possibly be hosted on the site and put in with newsletters. A survey needs to be developed to send out to members to query for skills, and for other needed information. This project is looking for drivers to help push it along.
Meetings & Programs – Joe KCØOIO
February – FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) – Skip KSØJ
March – Electro Magnetic Pulse (from a nuclear detonation) and CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) and their effects on ham radios – John KAØHYR & Skip KSØJ
April – WØAIH Contest Station – Paul Bittner WØAIH – Falls Creek, WI
May – BITX40 Builders Showcase
Additional ideas for future programs: 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, SSTV, ATV.
There may be a desire to bring in the Dakota division director to discuss ongoing activities at ARRL. He has offered to speak at a meeting and this would be an addendum to an existing one, rather than a topic replacement.
Eyeball Sessions – Skills Night
Projects include: Toroids to Reduce Noise, SWR Bridge Calibration (KØGW), exploring FT8 and WSJT-X software, programming HTs, DX Labs Suite, Logger32 & N1MM (NØODK). The next likely one is on FT8 and WSJT-X, some time in February.
Education & Training Report – Bob WØGAF (not present)
The SkyWarn class will be held Feb 24th and the Tech class will start March 1st and end April 19th with VE examination on April 26th. The library has been booked for March. Dave will do the posting for the classes.
VE Team – Shel NØDRX
The next VE session will be scheduled for the last Thursday in April.
Newsletter & Websites – Pat Tice WAØTDA (not present) & Dave WØOXB
The January issue deadline is January 27th with a publishing date by February 3rd. There is a desire to add some filler content, like questions from members, puzzles, or information about current directors. This information should be submitted. Additionally, a new membership form has been created which is a fillable PDF document, that has been posted. Dave is also undertaking updating the SARA flyer for events and handouts.
Repeater – Henry KØHAS (not present) & Shel NØDRX
Dave WØOXB is undergoing his training as part of gaining access to the repeater site. The Digipeater parts are all at Joe’s house and will be brought to an eyeball session to be assembled and tested after he drills some ventilation holes in the box.
Remote Bases Committee – Pat WAØTDA, Keith AGØH, Eliot KEØN, Bill NØCIC, and Henry KØHAS.
No report. There is mention that Handihams has sent out a newsletter once again, and it is being observed to see how this may or may not affect the group.
Builders Group – The Bitx40 project has an email list going with 14 people who will be building the kit. The first run of the kit sold out and there will be some improvements made before the second run is available. One is available for sale, contact Ray K0ZZT.
Unfinished Business
Remote Base Project – The two items on consignment for sale have been sold. The TS-570 has given returns of $262.50 and the TS-480 sold for $550, with returns being that minus the 25% cut. Elecraft K3/10 and the Flex 1500 have been offered to members. An individual from Blountville, TN, Dennis N4DD, ran across our newsletter and is interested in purchasing the K3. Contact is being made about this potential sale.
Equipment Trailer – The remainder of the wiring projects will be done in April 2018. Joe has the parts now to repair the roof vent lid.
Equipment Inventory – A board project for the 1st quarter will be to get an inventory of all club gear in the trailer and at member QTH’s. This project will be led by the secretary, Collin KE0IYN, whom will obtain prior lists from Shel and Keith whom have access to the old site which should have them.
Reservations for Field Day and Radios in the Park – Reservations are made for 2018 and 2019 for Field Day, at Autumn Hills Park. Radios in the Park will be held at Valley View Park on June 14, July 5, July 26, August 16, and September 6 this year. There is a desire for one of those sessions to be run as an antenna shoot-out to determine propegation as an experiment.
Room Reservations – All tech class meetings are reserved, for Stillwater, Lake Elmo, and Mahtomedi public libraries. Reservations are continuing with a new contact for Boutwell’s Landing, with no pricing change at this time.
New Business:
Dave W0OXB brings up training and possibly working with the county after seeing some information SEMARC has put out in Dakota County. This may be an opportunity for us to consider going forward.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:51 PM.