BOARD MEETING MINUTES – January 25, 2023
BOARD MEETING MINUTES – January 25, 2023
Stillwater Amateur Radio Association
This was a Zoom online meeting.
Roll Call of Officers – Present: Joe KCØOIO, Bob WØGAF, Shel NØDRX, Dave N9JNQ, Rich ADØSN, Brad VE3MXJ; Absent: Brian KØPU.
President: Joe KCØOIO
The meeting was called to order at 6:39 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Dave N9JNQ
The December 2022 Board Meeting and the January 2023 Membership Meeting minutes can be found posted to the club website.
Treasurer’s Report – Rich ADØSN
Beginning Total Balance: 12/01/2022 $18,946.79
- SARA
Balance: $6900.96
Income: $548.29
Expenses: $386.71
Ending Balance: 12/31/2022 $7,011.03
- RBF
Balance: $12,097.34
Income: $0.00
Expenses: $69.00
Ending Balance: 12/31/2022 $12,028.34
Ending Total Balance: 12/31/2022 $19,039.37
Rich ADØSN reports little change in the report since the January 2023 Membership meeting.
Trustee’s Report – Shel NØDRX
Shel NØDRX reported that he submitted to the ARRL the renewal for Special Service Club status on January 16, he has not seen evidence that it has been processed as yet. Upcoming work includes the annual filing for the federal IRS, which is due May 15. It appears the IRS has changed the online access a bit.
Reports of Committees/Work Groups:
Website: Collin KEØIYN & Bob WØGAF
Collin KEØIYN reports that there still is an issue with the Special Interests area of the website. (Later Collin reported that he had fixed the problem during the meeting.) Collin reported that a WordPress updated is needed and will be done shortly. The certificate is working properly.
Activities & Events: Dave WØOXB & Bob WØGAF
Ice Station WØJH 2023 – This special event will take place February 18-20, 2023 on Lake Elmo. Dave KØAIF has asked for volunteers installing the steps down to the lake and doing some snow shoveling (BYO shovel). The work is planned for Friday January 27 at 12:30 pm. Ice thickness will be checked during the work. Joe KCØOIO will send out an email broadcast asking for volunteers. Dave WØOXB asks that the trailer is available to set up to at a minimum demonstrate digital operations. Joe reports that he will be attending the special event on Saturday and Monday; Brad VE3MXJ may be in attendance on Saturday. Joe will bring two radios and three laptops.
Field Day 2023 – It was determined at the January Membership meeting that Field Day will take place at Valley View Park in Oak Park Heights, MN. Rich ADØSN will cancel the Saturday reservations for Autumn Hills Park, and has secured the liquor permit for both days, although the permit must be run through the Oak Park Police Department before it is finalized. Bob WØGAF noted that further planning will take place when we are closer to the date.
M.A.P and NHRG: Dave WØOXB & Brian NØBJE
M.A.P. – Dave WØOXB noted that some newer Generals have been talking about antennas, but it is still at the planning stages until spring breaks.
Dave reported that he has been contacted by the widow of Ray KØZZT (SK) about liquidating his shack. Zack AAØU and Brian KØPU have agreed to assist Dave in this endeavor. Dave will be doing a walk-through of the shack next week to determine what there is to do.
NHRG – Joe KCØOIO welcomed Shane WØNKA as the newest member of the NHRG Team.
Meetings & Programs – Joe KCØOIO
Program Planning Team – Dave N9JNQ reported that the committee has plans for the March through May membership meetings. The February meeting will be the 2022 POTA Challenge award presentation and wrap-up. For the March program, the committee has secured Rob Sherwood NCØB of Sherwood Engineering to make a virtual presentation on the results of his tests of various rigs, as well as a tour of his contest station. Rob has provided Dave with a few photos and a description of his station, which Dave will work up for the March newsletter.
The April program will be an “ask the elmer” presentation. It was suggested that the presentation be hyped in the Tech Class, which will be ongoing at that time, with the goal of bring in prospective new hams who most likely would have many questions for the panel. The May meeting will be a virtual presentation by Mike Walker VE3MW of Flex Radio Systems on SDR radios and the history of Flex.
Dave noted that the panel has leaned into securing virtual presentations as opposed to putting the touch once again on the handful of members who have provided the bulk of the presentations over the years. Joe KCØOIO agreed that we should leverage the ability to now get known hams from around the country through Zoom to make presentations.
Joe also commented that the annual SWEEP event at the January Membership meeting went well, regardless of the absence of the Flying Pig. He noted that there appeared to be a higher class of equipment at this year’s event, a few of which changed hands multiple times.
Room Reservations – Dan KFØIYF
Dan KFØIYF has been working gathering up rooms through April for Eyeballs and the upcoming Tech Classes. Most of the Tech Classes will take place at the Stillwater Public Library. The Eyeballs are a bit more tough and go as they only take reservations three months in advance and it is first come first serve, with many of our dates already taken. As an alternative, Dan is securing the Lake Elmo Library for many of the Eyeballs, including March 2, 16, 23, and April 6, 13, and 20. Collin KEØIYN offered his basement “diner” for Eyeballs if there is a need.
Eyeballs and SARA’s Radios in the Park – Joe KCØOIO
Joe KCØOIO asked if the Board thought that we should continue having the summer Eyeballs in various parks; the Board fully agreed that they were well received in the past and should continue this coming summer. It was agreed that the third week of the month should be dedicated to operating Radios in the Park. Joe will put together a list of Eyeballs starting with the new ham night, which will be held outdoors again this year, and ask Zack AAØU to secure reservations for the locations at the town hall. Brad VE3MXJ suggested that he would like to come down if the club once again has a POTA operation on the second weekend of June, which this year would be June 10-11. Joe agreed to set up June 10th as the club’s POTA Activity Day.
Education and Training – Bob WØGAF
CW Training Sessions – Bob WØGAF reports that the CW group has agreed to reconvene of Wednesday February 1 to hear from two members who are now taking the CWOps program. Also, with the Minnesota QSO Party taking place on Saturday February 4, Greg KØGW will be putting together a discussion on how to set up for CW contesting.
Technician Class – Bob WØGAF reports that the class dates are set, beginning March 2. He will be getting the calendar together and sharing it with instructors to determine availability. Bob noted that he has not heard from the SkyWarn folks on their plan for in-person classes; however, they have been holding classes online and may continue to do so.
VE Team – Shel NØDRX
Shel NØDRX states that he has penciled in April 27 for the next VE Session based upon the Tech Class calendar. Joe KCØOIO suggested VE examiners check their status on the ARRL website as he recently noticed he had fallen off of the list, which he rectified. Shel noted that you should be picked up for the list each time you participate in a testing session.
Newsletter – Pat WAØTDA, Dave WØOXB
The deadline for the February issue is the weekend of February 4/5.
Repeater – Henry KØHAS, Shel NØDRX, Doug N9TOW
The repeater was down a couple of hours today, most likely the result of Excel Energy doing some power work on the smokestack today per notice Brian KØPU received. Brian shared the information on groups.io. At this time, only Joe KCØOIO can notify all members via email; he will discuss with Collin KEØIYN how to set up another mailing list that could be used by others.
Remote Bases Technical Committee – Pat WAØTDA
Joe KCØOIO reported that it is beginning to look like the WØZSW remote station will be moved to Hayward, Wisconsin, to the property of Brian KB9TBB. Collin KEØIYN had also offered his location, which may be ideal for the location for an iGate digipeater for APRS use. Joe will discuss this possibility with Collin.
Two Meter Tuesday – Dave WØOXB
Dave WØOXB noted that there as been a shift to using the TMT round robin ragchew as an ask the elmer opportunity due to the influx of newer hams checking in. Dave has prepared a modified script for use by the group leaders.
SARA’s POTA Challenge 2023
Bob WØGAF has a slide deck that he will use at the upcoming meeting incorporating some January numbers. It was decided that the Awards ceremony program will go first, followed by the business meeting.
Unfinished Business
Budget for POTA Challenge prize swag bag – Bob WØGAF reports that the prize committee is hard at work, and all prizes have either been received or are in the mail. At this point, the prize committee is coming in $82.00 under the $500.00 budget, although a few reimbursements still need to be made.
Repair Work on NHRG Icom IC746 – The Icom .IC746 did not need to go for repairs to Gary Grivna; rather, Zack AAØU is doing the radio repair, and Shane WØNKA has repaired the automatic tuner, although there is still a bug that needs to be worked out as the tuner is not 100% working order.
New Business
Discord Server – Joe KCØOIO announced that a Discord Server has been established for the club by Brian KB9TBB. Collin KEØIYN described a discord server as like a private chat server, less formal than Zoom, where you can have space dedicated to certain topics. Joe noted that it is more instantaneous than groups.io. You can access it through your browser or by using the Discord app, although the latter is just running a browser. Joe suggested that the club push this as another way to keep in touch and to share information within the club.
Bob WØGAF made a motion to include the Discord Server as a SARA resource. Joe seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
POTA Donation – Joe KCØOIO noted that last year the club made a $100.00 donation to POTA in recognition of the club’s use of its data base for the SARA POTA Challenge. Joe suggested that the club make another such donation in recognition of its use of the POTA database for its 2023 POTA Challenge.
Bob WØGAF made a motion that a $100.00 contribution be made to POTA in the name of SARA; Dave N9JNQ seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Joe encouraged all members to consider making a personal donation to POTA. He noted that the Amazon SMILE program is going away, impacting some of POTA’s donation income.
Financial Audit of SARA’s Books – Joe KCØOIO noted that it is time for the annual audit of the club’s financial books. Keith AGØH did the audit last year, as he did in previous years. Rich ADØSN will reach out to Keith to see if he is willing to do so again this year.
Dave N9JNQ made a motion to adjourn the meeting; the motion was seconded by Bob WØGAF; the motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 PM.