2019 SARA Executive Officers
OXB Special Install
Ice Station WØJH 2014
Split Rock 2013
Ice Station WØJH 2014
Split Rock Lighthouse 2012
Kilo Parks Award
New Radio Gear For Some SARA Members!
AGØH 2013
SARA Work Party 1

BOARD MEETING MINUTES – September 19, 2019

BOARD MEETING MINUTES – April 18, 2019

Stillwater Amateur Radio Association

1618 Pine Street West

Stillwater, Minnesota 55082

 

Roll Call of Officers – All present with the exception of: Dan KE0IYF

President: Joe KCØOIO

The meeting was called to order at 6:05 PM.

Secretary’s Report – Collin KE0IYN

The meeting minutes from the monthly meeting will be posted soon.  There are no May board meeting notes as there was no May board meeting.

​Treasurer’s Report – Rich ADØSN

Beginning Balance      07/1/2019                   $2,690.19

Income                                                                  $50.00

Expenses                                                                   $217.35

Ending Balance           8/31/2019                 $2,522.84 (Not including RBP income/expenses)

$16,735.99 (Including RBP income/expenses)

It has been asked to add total expenditures and income for the year to date to see how overall spending and income has gone.

Trustee’s Report – Shel NØDRX

Nothing new to report, though wishes to add a note that we are running strong for this time of year on attendance.

Reports of Committees:

Activities & Events:  Dave WØOXB

Split Rock – the event will be held Nov 1-3rd.  Meal plans have been laid and reservations made.  The food plans are different this year; with no plan to do a meal AT Split Rock.

JOTA at Fred C Anderson Scout Camp – October 19.  N0BJE is point on this.  Has done limited setups in the past, but their person fell through and Brian offered.  We were given the ranger’s blessing to help, and will put out the Scout calling frequencies.  There is also a plan to use a repeater for coordination to help out.  More information about Jamboree can be found on K2BSA’s website.  Also, if willing to help and haven’t been around scouting for a long time, a reminder that there is a 2-deep leadership theme with no 1 person alone with a scout at any time.

Field day is booked for next year.

MAP:  Dave WØOXB

In an effort to plan for MAP projects this year Dave has produced a Project Request & Planning Form that will help prioritize who needs help with a project, what the project is, have the project materials been ordered, how many volunteers are needed, and what the timing is for the project.  Dave also emphasized that MAP is not just for putting up antennas but can include a multitude of other assistance with ham radio projects.

KKE had an antenna set up with help from Keith AG0H

Meetings & Programs – Joe KCØOIO

September:     Contesting 101 – Bill Mitchell AEØEE

October:          SDR dongles, receivers and software – Doug N9TOW and Collin KEØIYN

November:      Baluns, Ununs and Chokes – Dave WØOXB

December:      Reach out to W3QLC, Joe Hibbard, for a program on ham radio in stage/rally races.

January:         SWEEP

March:

April:

May:

Future Ideas:  RPi digital stations; Special interest clubs, SKCC (Straight Key Century Club), County Hunters, QCWA (Quarter Century Wireless Assoc.), 070, OMISS (Old Man International Sideband Society), YLRL (Young Ladies Radio League), Diagnostic tools – analyzers, DMMs, and other gizmos, Propagation-Can I get there from here?, Station grounding, Tuners-Manual vs. Automatic and Care & Feeding, Setting Up Your Shack, New Technicians – Here’s what you can do now.

Room Reservations – John N5JLZ

A new reservation system has been put in used and we are booked up for a while so far.

Eyeball Sessions – Tech Nights

Radios in the Park – Back for 2020?  Ideas include doing a one-night abreviated tailgate swap meet, one night with new ham night, and some just to operate radio/do ‘general’ things.

Future ideas – Tune a Duplexer N9TOW, Using Toroids to reduce noise and RFI, Learning CW and Building Speed WØGAF, Diagnostic Tools – Using an Oscilloscope, Hand tools for your workbench, How to read the Solar Reports, The “Tech” in Technician, Antenna Lab – Theory & Design Discussions, and SWR Bridge calibration.

Education & Training – Bob WØGAF (not present – teaching the Tech Class)

General Class – Fall 2019 – Thanks to Keith for years of service as an instructor.  Looking for new education blood in the ranks, a few have approached Bob with interest.  There are 4 students in the general class this year.  There is also work being done on a curriculum adjustment as there are more chapters than weeks for general, so some things get doubled up.  We will see how it goes.

VE Team – Shel NØDRX

The VE session will take place November 7th at Boutwell’s Landing.

New Ham Resource Group – Brian NØBJE, Holly KEØRZZ, Mark KEØQQN

It’s been quiet on the New Ham front; both radios are back in club posession for loaning out.

Newsletter & Website – Pat WAØTDA, Dave WØOXB and Holly KEØRZZ

Some health items have come up for Pat so he’s asked for a pushback to early October for the deadline with publishing by October 7th.

Nets & Roundtables

Nets are going fine so far.  The digital net will return sometime in October.

Repeater – Henry KØHAS & Shel NØDRX

We should be looking for a new antenna site since plans are to shut down the current site by 2028.

A site visit will be scheduled to tune-up the repeater.  The Cans are good with no deviation.  There is a tiny bit of work that could be done; but not enough to make messing with it worthwhile.  The antennas have been split to get both used and has resulted in what seems to be a larger coverage area.  Unfortunately, squelch was tightened too much and needs to be loosened up a bit again.  The air intakes on the amplifier were cleaned as well.  The Washington County cabinets were looked at.

Remote Bases Technical Committee

All committee members – Pat WAØTDA, Keith AGØH, Eliot KEØN, Bill NØCIC, and Henry KØHAS.

There is some investigation with looking into an MFJ RigPi remote control.

Builders Group

Nothing new.

Unfinished Business

Bring the equipment trailer to Radios in the Park to facilitate planning.

We need to to find a solution to the problem of the portable generator putting out band noise while in operation.

Equipment inventory is being worked on; Joe will double check if some information he sent was actually sent and now just need Dave’s collection of information to add last.

New Business

Solar Controller for Trailer – It was brought up to get a modern, more capable solar controller for the trailer to go with the solar panel.  An Epic PWRGate was a primary thought at about $180, which could be used to charge batteries, run radios, and do other things.  Other alternatives will be investigated.

SPEARS Repeater Offer (442.600) – It’s located atop building 220 and was underwritten by the St. Paul Fire.  It’s been offered to SARA to take over.  There are significant concerns about access and general concensus of the board is there is no real advantage to us and not worth it, given the challenges presented.

7300/7610 User Group – It was suggested to form a subgroup for users of these radios.  There is definite interest, but a head needs to be found.

Scout Camp Radio Funding Request to Membership – Brought forth by Brian N0BJE.  The Scout camp has an upper-lower split with a little repeater setup, that has fallen apart to a degree as one radio died and the others are close to it.  Wanted to see if individuals or the club willing to donate.  A notice will be sent out to members to get ahold of Brian, and if a definitive price is found for replacements the club may also be willing to help with the cost.

Projector – The club projector is old and has connection issues.  There is a desire to look into getting a new club projector or adapters.  Collin will research adapters.  Rich motions to get an adapter, and Collin seconds to get an HDMI to VGA adapter.  The motion carries unanimously.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 PM.