BOARD MEETING MINUTES – October 19, 2017
Stillwater Amateur Radio Association
1618 Pine Street West
Stillwater, Minnesota 55082
Roll Call of Officers – All officers were in attendance.
President: Joe KCØOIO
The meeting was called to order at 6:01 PM.
Secretary’s Report – Steve KAØOBI
Minutes from the Board Meeting on September 14, 2017 have been posted on the website. No additional comments from the group.
Treasurers Report – John N5JLZ
Beginning Balance 9/1/2017 $2,401.72
Income $275.00
Expenses Zero
Ending Balance 9/30/2017 $2,676.72 (Not including RBP income/expenses)
$17,272.95 (Including RBP income/expenses)
Reports of Committees:
Activities & Events: Dave WØOXB (not present)
Remembering the Edmund Fitzgerald – will be held in the Split Rock Lighthouse State Park on November 3, 4 & 5. Shel NØDRX verified with the Split Rock Park personnel that the club was coming this year, had reservations for the activity building and was paid up for the upcoming event.
MAP: Dave WØOXB (not present)
No new projects scheduled until Dave returns from WA.
Meetings & Programs – Joe KCØOIO
November – ARISS School Contact with John Dean KØJDD
December – Stump the Elmer Round 2 (possibly send out a quiz in advance to members)
January – SWEEP
February – Russian Woodpecker – Skip KSØJ
March – Digital Modes Update – the FT-8 Craze – KCØOI
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.
Eyeball Sessions – Skills Night
Projects include: Baluns, SWR Bridge Calibration (KØGW), crimping coax cables, exploring FT8 and WSJT-X software, programming HTs, DX Labs Suite, Logger32 & N1MM (NØODK).
Education & Training Report – Bob WØGAF
General Class 2017 – now in week 5. The last class will be held the week we go up north to Split Rock.
VE Team – Shel NØDRX
VE session scheduled for Nov 9th. There are plenty of VE volunteers available.
Newsletter & Websites – Pat Tice WAØTDA (not present) & Dave WØOXB (not present)
The November issue deadline is October 28th with a publishing date by November 4th. Keith AGØH made changes to the website to include all the necessary information regarding the Split Rock event.
Repeater – Henry KØHAS & Shel NØDRX
We are still looking for a second club member to be credentialed for digipeater access. The APRS Digipeater will have the D700 transferred to the new box and prepped for digipeater use when KCØOIO gets some free time.
The annual Repeater Report was sent into the council by Shel.
Remote Bases Committee – Pat WAØTDA, Keith AGØH, Eliot KEØN, Bill NØCIC, and Henry KØHAS.
The remote stations are both functioning. At some point, the computer software will need to be updated.
Builders Group – The Bitx40 7 watt transceiver is the next project. So far we know of five members who have ordered the kit.
Unfinished Business
Remote Base Project – There are still two items that are at Radio City on consignment – the Kenwood TS570 and the Kenwood TS480 200-watt transceivers.
Equipment Trailer – the trailer is now functional and will be towed to/from Split Rock by Dave WØOXB. Additions that still need to be added include: interior red lighting, exterior work lighting, replace exterior roof vent cover, clean up the wiring underneath and purchase of two padded folding chairs (Joe will purchase at Wal-Mart). So far we have spent about $700 of the $1,000 that was originally budgeted for the project. The trailer is currently sitting at KØAIF Dave’s QTH in Lake Elmo.
New Business:
Shel sent the annual Minnesota 317A Non-profit renewal in which included an address correction for the official club address.
On 12/7/2017 SEMARC will be holding a special event to mark the 60th anniversary of the placement of the USS Ward forward gun at the Minnesota State Capitol Mall. The gun was used to defend Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 in WWII and has been at the Capitol Mall since 1958.
A new audio system has been installed at Boutwells so we need to make sure we have VGA connector cables for the general meetings. Boutwells has a new contact person we will be dealing with and we still are not sure if there will be a conflict with the Veterans’ Day (Nov 11th) meeting.
Motion: Purchase (2) RIGrunner 4005 Powerpole boxes to add to the radio kits. Purchase from Radio City utilizing Remote Base funds. Motion made, seconded and carried.
Motion: Purchase SARA lanyards with breakaway, printed with lettering – “Stillwater Amateur Radio Association – since 1992” Budget for the purchase will be up to $300 using SARA funds. Collin KEØIYN agreed to take on the project and try to get delivery prior to Split Rock. Any color but white is OK for the lanyards. Motion made, seconded and carried.
Motion: Reserve the Split Rock Park building for the first week in November 2018. Motion made, seconded and carried.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:39 PM.