BOARD MEETING MINUTES – November 17, 2021
BOARD MEETING MINUTES – November 17, 2021
Stillwater Amateur Radio Association
This was a Cisco Webex online meeting.
Roll Call of Officers – Present: Joe KCØOIO, Bob WØGAF, Rich ADØSN, Zack AAØU, Shel NØDRX, Dave N9JNQ, Doug N9TOW
President: Joe KCØOIO
The meeting was called to order at 6:34 pm.
Secretary’s Report – Dave N9JNQ
The October 2021 Board and Membership Meeting minutes can be found posted to the club website.
Treasurer’s Report – Rich ADØSN
Beginning Total Balance: 010/01/2021 $17,846.89
- SARA
Balance: $6,089.55
Income:
Expenses:
Ending Balance: 09/30/2021 $6,132.42
- RBF
Balance: $11,757.34
Income: $0.00
Expenses: $0.00
Ending Balance: 10/31/2021 $11,757.34
Ending Total Balance: 10/31/2021 $17,889.76
Rich ADØSN reports that there is approximately $400.00 in the form of dues payments received since the end of last month that are not yet on the books. The expenses are related to the Edmund Fitzgerald special event, as well as an award plaque recently awarded.
Trustee’s Report – Shel NØDRX
Shel NØDRX reports that we have 130 members this year. We have 63 members paid for 2022, which is 13 above the pace for last year, so we are doing well.
The club has two bills coming due. The first is for Flickr, due November 20, 2021, in the amount of $59.99. This is an increase over the $43.79 paid last year. Discussion was had regarding changing to Google photos, which is free for the first 15 gigabytes, $1.99 a month for up to 100 gigabytes, a much cheaper option. Shel notes that he has most of the photos that are now on Flickr, so those could be put the Google. Shel noted that Flickr gets a lot of hits when photos are first put up there, but does not get much use thereafter. In any event, it was concluded that the club’s hands are tied this year as we have only three days to renew Flickr. It was decided to renew Flickr, but explore over the next year moving everything the Google.
The second bill is the club’s ARRL liability insurance in the amount of $200.00 due at the end of December.
A motion was made by Dave N9JNQ, seconded by Rich ADØSN, directing that these two bills be paid. The motion passed unanimously.
Shel contacted Boutwells Landing about reserving the conference room for membership meetings January through May of next year.
Reports of Committees/Work Groups:
Website: Collin KEØIYN & Bob WØGAF
Collin KEØIYN reported that he has been monitoring the website to make sure that the security certificates are updated automatically and has found that is is working as it should. WordPress needs to be updated to version 5.8, due to troubles he ran into last time, Collin needs to do the update manually, but has not tackled it just yet. WordPress uses Gutenberg editor, which it appears can be turned off if the club so chooses. Dave WØOXB reported having trouble uploading some material; Bob WØGAF said he would do it for Dave if needed.
Activities & Events: Dave WØOXB
Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald Special Event – Dave WØOXB reported that the special event went off successfully. He will have the certificate ready for Bob WØGAF in the next couple days. A special certificate of appreciation will be prepared and sent to the staff at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park for their cooperation and assistance. Shel NØDRX will check with the park on lining up reservations for next-year’s event.
Ice Station Special Event – Dave WØOXB will be in contact with Dave KØAIF to firm up this event. It is anticipated to take place Presidents’ Day weekend, February 19-21, 2022. After checking and confirming with Dave KØAIF, Dave WØOXB will send a note to the Board so that it can be advertised in the Newsletter and Broadcast. Dave WØOXB will then arrange for its publication in QST.
M.A.P: Dave WØOXB
Dave WØOXB reports that there is one request for an antenna raising in the queue.
Ham Resource Group – Brian NØBJE & Mark KEØQQN
Brian NØBJE asked the group for the donation of any unused mag-mount VHF/UHF mobile antennas. Dave WØOXB said he could fix Brian up with a couple.
Rich ADØSN noted that Pat WAØTDA gave him for donation to the club a number of VHF/UHF radios, which included an Icom IC-T2A, an Icom IC-2100H, and a Yaesu FT VX-5R. They will be passed on to Brian for the HRG. It was noted that neither the IC-T2A or the IC-2100H has DCS, which means they can not be used on the SARA repeater.
SARA Groups.io Forum
The forum is being used and works as it should.
Meetings & Programs – Joe KCØOIO
Monthly Meeting at Boutwells – The Membership Meetings have gone well. Because the front desk does not open until 9:00 AM, and a COVID check-in process is required for entry into Boutwells, we will now aim to start the membership meeting at approximately 9:20 AM to accommodate check-ins. The live streaming has worked well, although the remote mic failed early into the presentation. Joe KCØOIO reports that he has resolved the battery failure on the remote mic used at the meeting by acquiring some better backups. Discussion was had regarding the difficulty of the centrally-placed mic picking up the crowd’s audio. Joe noted that Webex has a feature that filters out background noise, which most likely is the culprit. Unfortunately, this feature can not be turned off. Audience members will just need to step up to the mic.
The December 11, 2021 Membership Meeting will be the annual White Elephant Exchange Party. Dave WØOXB will send out a note to membership reminding them to do a sweep of their shacks for unwanted gear.
Tech Topic Thursday – Our speaker for the December 2, 2021 Tech Topic Thursday will be Bob Heil K9EID. This should be a very interesting program.
Joe KCØOIO noted that Mike KFØCCL is looking for ideas on topics or possible presenters for upcoming Tech Topic Thursdays. One idea suggested was a discussion of coax particulars, including design and construction comparison, use, loss, etc. It was also noted that we have not had a discussion of grounding in a number of years. Collin KEØIYN offered to do a discussion of the ham in Florida who was ordered to stop transmissions due to the effect of RF on nearby insulin pump use. It was also suggested that a discussion of the Xiegu G90 transceiver may generate some interest as a number of members have one (or in the case of NØBJE, two). Joe will pass these ideas on to Mike and help line up speakers.
Thursday Eyeball QSO Party – Joe KCØOIO reported that the Thursday Eyeballs booked at the Stillwater Library through January 2022 We may have booked the first Thursday of January; if so, we will need to release it as we use the first Thursdays for our live-streamed Tech Topic sessions.
Education and Training – Bob WØGAF
Bob WØGAF reports that six people (three from SARA, three from SEMARC) are now holding an Extra Class study group, and are now self-sufficient and handling the arrangements on their own after some initial coordination from Bob. One member cannot make Mondays.
As agreed previously, a SARA Tech class would resume on the regular Spring schedule as in years past. Bob is unaware at this time whether SkyWarn will be having an in-person training session or not.
VE Team – Shel NØDRX
A VE session will be dependent upon the Tech class and any possible graduates. In response to a question, Shel NØDRX noted that the ARRL VE certification usually expires on the same schedule as the examiner’s FCC amateur radio license, so if your license is coming up for renewal, you should check and, if necessary, renew your VE certification.
Newsletter – Pat WAØTDA, Dave WØOXB
Joe KCØOIO notes we can not rely on just Joe, Pat, Shel, and Dave to churn out material for the newsletter.
Repeater – Henry KØHAS, Shel NØDRX, Doug N9TOW
The repeater is functioning fine at the moment. Doug N9TOW reported that he is no longer housing the node for the River Falls, WI, digital system, so when he has the free time will redirect his antenna to the SARA repeater so that he can work on SARA’s YSF reflector issue. Doug would like to go up the stack in order to open up the squelch a bit on the repeater. Dave WØOXB will work with Doug on that.
Remote Bases Technical Committee – Pat WAØTDA
Joe KCØOIO reports that they are still working on the RFI issue on 40 meters at the WØEQO remote station. Rich ADØSN stated that tomorrow he was going to be bringing up some equipment provided to him by Pat WAØTDA to drop off with Bill NØCIC for the remote base. Bill will apparently switching out some of the equipment.
Unfinished Business
SARA Club Equipment Inventory – Dave N9JNQ reported that he was waiting on some of the equipment lists for the inventory. Joe KCØOIO provided Dave with an email that identified repeater equipment for the inventory. Zack AAØU said he would provide a list of the repeater equipment located at his house ASAP.
New Business
Nomination for club officers: Nominations for club officers will be made at the December 11, 2021 membership meeting. Joe KCØOIO, Bob WØGAF, Dave N9JNQ, and Rich ADØSN have informed Joe that they are willing to return for another term.
Discussion was had on how to handle the election due to the fact that we are now live-streaming the membership meetings; that is, how do we have the remote members vote. Last year there was a white ballot, so voting on-line was done by a showing of virtual hands. If we have more than one candidate for an office, we will have to determine how that should be done for those attending virtually. Shel NØDRX mentioned that we used to do email ballots for those who did not attend the membership meeting, but that had been many years ago. The matter was raised for consideration and will be addressed at the next Board meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:57pm on the motion of Bob WØGAF, seconded by Dave N9JNQ, passed unanimously.