BOARD MEETING MINUTES -March 24, 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.
Bob WØGAF was teaching class and Peter NØGRM was out of town.
President: Joe KCØOIO
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Steve KAØOBI
Minutes from the Board Meeting on February 18th, 2016 have been posted on the website. No additional comments from the group.
Treasurers Report – John N5JLZ
Beginning Balance 2/1/2016 $2,989.85
Income $88.00
Expenses Zero
Ending Balance 2/29/2016 $3,077.85 (Not including HELP income/expenses)
$4,697.35 (Including HELP income/expenses)
Reports of Committees:
Activities & Events: Dave WØOXB
Ice Station WØJH QSL certificates update – Over 350 electronic QSL certificates have been sent.
New Ham night May 19th – will be held in Brekke Park – further details will be available later.
Mobile Portable, & Go-Kit Picnic w/WashCoARES – will be held June 11th in Brekke Park
Field Day 2016 – scheduled for June 25th & June 26th in Autumn Hills Park – reservations have been made and a broadcast will be put out for volunteers to assist with each aspect of the event.
Radios in the Parks – is scheduled for June 16, July 7, & August 18. Locations for each scheduled date have not been decided. Valley View Park on Osgood Avenue in Oak Park Heights is one place being considered.
Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald is scheduled for Nov 4,5, & 6.
MAP: Dave WØOXB
A new 230’ antenna (“OXB” special) was just installed for John KA0HYR on 3/21. Get your specific requests in and keep in mind that Dave will be gone most of April (8th thru 28th).
Meetings & Programs – Joe KCØOIO
March – The Operating Skills Roundtable and Mini-Hamfest were well attended and received good feedback from the members. Proceeds from the Mini-Hamfest were in excess of $2,000.
April – Foxhunting – Dan Franz WDØGUP. A SARA/SEMARC sponsored East Metro Foxhunt is tentatively scheduled for April 23rd.
May – SOTA (Summits on the Air) – Jim KDØIPI
Since there is a lot of confusion among members about correct antenna tuner installation and operation, it was suggested that a program addressing this topic be added to the potential general meeting program list – Tuners – Manual versus Auto & Their Care & Feeding.
Education & Training Report – Bob WØGAF (teaching class)
The SkyWarn training session was very successful on Feb 27th with about 40 people attending.
The Technician Class training will continue through April 21st. Attendance has been very good since the local high school has been sending physics class students for extra credit. A VE Session will be held on April 28th.
New Ham Night will take place on May 19th at Brekke Park (Oak Park Heights) from 5 to 9 PM.
Newsletter & Websites – Pat Tice WAØTDA (not present), Dave WØOXB, Peter NØGRM (not present)
The April issue deadline is March 26th with a publishing date of April 2nd. Since Dave will be out of town, please send articles to Pat.
Repeater – Henry KØHAS & Shel NØDRX
Currently the Digipeater planning includes using a Kenwood D700. A D700 will be replaced by an FT-1900 from HELP for use as a field station radio at Field Day or Split Rock.
Unfinished Business
The HELP project liquidation of equipment is progressing nicely. Sales from the March 5th Eau Claire Auction brought in over $2,500. The Mini-Hamfest on March 12th grossed over $2,000.
The upcoming Brainerd Hamfest will be attended by Joe KCØOIO & Keith AGØH. Major pieces of equipment taken to this site will include: FT990, Kenwood 7950, Kenwood 850 and some smaller items.
The Superior Hamfest is scheduled for May 7th but so far no members have volunteered to attend.
The Flex 1500 was recently repaired for $155 and is ready to be sold.
Radio City has offered some storage space for HELP items when our paid storage expires.
An ad for a $1,000 amp was placed by KØVVY (SD School of Mines in Rapid City); however, since Radio City recently sold a PW1 for $1,300 it was decided not to sell the HELP PW1 for only $1,000.
Ideas for Eyeball Session construction projects are still being considered – including Volt/Amp meter kits, Baluns, Portable wire antennas, Buddisticks, and Roll-up J-Poles.
ARRL 2016 National Parks Anniversary Special Event (NPOTA) – this could be a possible future special event using WØJH callsign and utilizing the required Logbook of the World for logging contacts.
New Business
A motion was made to prepay for the Boutwells general meeting room for Sept 2016 to May 2017. The motion was seconded and carried.
It was decided that we should continue to book the conference room in the Stillwater Library three months in advance as we have been in order to insure we will always have the meeting space available.
It was announced that this year there won’t be any HandiHam Camp. Apparently they haven’t decided if they are going to hire someone to fill Pat’s job since his recent retirement.
The New Member Welcome Letter, Promo Sheet, and Member Application Blank will be updated as soon as possible.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:12 PM.