MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES -February 11, 2017
Stillwater Amateur Radio Association
1618 Pine Street West
Stillwater, Minnesota 55082
President: Joe KCØOIO
The meeting was called to order at 9:02 AM.
Secretary’s Report: Steve KAØOBI
The general meeting minutes from the January 14, 2017 meeting are posted on the website. Please report any corrections to: Secretary@radioham.org
Treasurer’s Report: John N5JLZ
Beginning Balance: 1/1/2017 $3205.26
Income: $207.00
Expenses: $240.00
Ending Balance: 1/31/2017 $3,172.26(Not including HELP income/expenses)
$14,424.24 (Including HELP income/expenses)
Education and Training: Bob WØGAF
February 25, 2017 will be the Skywarn training at the Stillwater Public Library.
The Technician Class training will be from March 2nd to April 20th, 2017.
The VE exam session will be held on April 27th.
An Extra Class Study Group will run at the same time as the 2017 Technician classes.
New Ham Night will be May 18th – the location is TBD.
Activities & Events: Dave WØOXB
Thursday Eyeball Sessions:
February 16th SARA Board Meeting
February 23rd – Using FlDigi & Associated FL… Programs
4th Annual Ice Station WØJH – the event will be held February 18, 19, 20, 2017 (Presidents Day weekend). KØAIF has agreed to host the event on the east side of Lake Elmo. A permanent 252’ antenna will be erected today to make it easier to operate there. All of the information will be posted on our website in a few days.
M.A.P. – Dave WØOXB
Due to the relatively warm weather a number of projects may be scheduled soon. Those projects include setups at the QTH of Colin, Linda, Frank, Randy, Dan & John. These projects are not just limited to antennas but also include: setting up new software, setting up new equipment, and helping to troubleshoot other shack issues.
Handiham Equipment Liaison Program (HELP)
Both of the remote stations are currently up and running. A new balun was installed at the WØZSW site to correct a tuning issue.
Washington County ARES: John KAØHYR (not present)
The ARES net will be February 15, 2017 and March 5th on 146.985 at 7 PM CT on the SEMARC repeater at 7PM local time.
The ARES meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 6th at the Cottage Grove City Hall.
SET (Simulated Emergency Test) for 2017 will be held the week ahead of the ARRL SET weekend.
Check the web site www.mnwashcoares.org regularly for current events, net schedule, and other items of significance.
Digital Net: Joe KCØOIO
SARA DIGI Net will be held this Sunday (12th) at 7 PM CT on 3.581.15 centered on 800-1000.
Two meter ragchew is held every Wednesday night at 9 PM CT. You can find us at 147.060 MHz 114.8 Hz Tone.
160 meters SARA Top Band Ragchew is at 1.966 MHz or close by depending on band conditions and interference. They operate every night except Tuesday & Thursday at 8 PM CT.
SARA Tuesday evening Round Robin RagChew – Will now be operating on 12 Meters 24.955MHz starting at 7PM CT on Tuesday evenings.
SARA Monday morning Round Robin RagChew – It is operating at 3.856 MHz at 9 AM CT.
Newsletter & Website: Pat WAØTDA & Dave WØOXB
Thanks to Pat and Dave for putting together the newsletter! Additional contributors are needed. Deadline for the next issue is the last Saturday of February.
DX News: Mike NØODK (not present)
The ARRL International DX CW contest will be held: 000Z, Feb 18th to 2400Z, Feb 19th, 2017. Logs will be due March 21st.
Check out www.ng3k.com for DX & Contest Calendar information.
Program Schedule
Feb: Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) – MNDMR enthusiast Trygee Svärd KDØPNQ
Mar: Working on Classic Radios – Randy Olson KDØVKB
Apr: ARRL Update and This is LOTW – Greg KØGW
May: SDR: Icom IC-7300 and Flex 1500 Show & Tell
Old Business:
SARA coffee mugs are on sale for $3 each – See Keith AGØH.
The SARA Oval Sticker/Decals are on sale for $1 each or you can get a free one when you renew your annual membership ($20) for 2017.
New Business:
The club is in need of a new tuner for our special events. The Board identified an MFJ 986 Antenna Tuner for this purpose which lists for $369.95. Since this exceeds the $350 purchase limitation it was brought to the general membership for a vote. A motion was made, seconded and carried to purchase the antenna tuner.
Interest in a social event to celebrate the club’s 25th Anniversary: A survey will be sent via email to the membership to get an idea of the level of interest for: a weekend dinner cruise on a St Croix packet boat where members could bring their significant other or a summer picnic special event (not on field day) or a club camping weekend (possibly at White Rock).
Good of Association:
SEMARC Meeting – their next meeting will be February 28th at 7 PM at Zion Lutheran Church in Cottage Grove.
The SARA Kit Build Group met at the last eyeball session to put the finishing touches on their
first project – the 360 Workbench Antenna Analyzer.
Those members building the antenna analyzer kit include: KCØOIO, WØGAF, KØGW, KEØIYN, KEØIYF, N9TOW, KA8VHF, and N9JNQ.
Show Us Your Shack:
Bruce KØSON had his shack featured. Bruce is a Collins radio collector and this was readily noticeable from his photo.
50/50 Drawing – $59 taken in. A portion of the $30 pot won was donated back to the club by the winner.
Program – DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) – presented by Trygve Svärd KDØPNQ
Trygve gave an excellent presentation of DMR by avoiding a lot of technical details and instead telling us what these radios can do for us and in easily understood terms how it does it. The radios provide a clear digital voice transmission and also provide an analog capability. They allow you to operate locally or worldwide.
The DMR system has been used in Europe for awhile and is just getting popular in the U.S. The radios utilize local repeaters in Centerville, White Bear, Faribault, Litchfield, Medina, St Paul, Oakdale, Rochester, U of M, and the airport. Three new sites were just added 2/10/17 in Chaska, Bloomington, and Minnetonka. Currently the radios are UHF but a new model will be released this June that will be a VHF/UUHF dual band handheld.
For more detailed information, Trygve has compiled a DMR Reference Information page that highlights all the related websites that explain the concept in greater depth. He also provided his entire presentation in pdf format that is available on the SARA website.
The program and meeting concluded at 10:47 AM.
Meeting attendance: 27