MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES – March 11, 2017
Stillwater Amateur Radio Association
1618 Pine Street West
Stillwater, Minnesota 55082
President: Joe KCØOIO
The meeting was called to order at 9:06 AM.
Secretary’s Report: Steve KAØOBI
The general meeting minutes from the February 11, 2017 meeting are posted on the website. Please report any corrections to: Secretary@radioham.org
Treasurer’s Report: John N5JLZ
Beginning Balance: 2/1/2017 $3,172.26
Income: $209.00
Expenses: $5.00
Ending Balance: 2/28/2017 $3,376.26(Not including RBP income/expenses)
$16,703.24 (Including RBP income/expenses)
Education and Training: Bob WØGAF
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 is running 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:
March 16th – SARA Board Meeting
March 22nd – Using your DMM skills night
4th Annual Ice Station WØJH – the event was held February 18, 19, 20, 2017. We made about 700 contacts mostly on 20 & 40 meters.
Radios in the Park – this activity will continue again this year spaced about every 3 weeks.
M.A.P. – Dave WØOXB
As soon as the weather improves the MAP activity will begin to tackle more antenna projects.
Remote Base Project (RBP)
Both of the remote stations are currently up and running.
Two pieces of gear are still on consignment at Radio City.
There have been no issues that the Technical Team has had to deal with.
Washington County ARES: John KAØHYR (not present)
The ARES net will be March 5th and April 2nd on 146.985 at 7 PM CDT on the SEMARC repeater.
The ARES member meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 6th at the Cottage Grove City Hall.
The Prairie Island Relocation Drill will be in July 2017.
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 CDT on 3.581.15 centered on 800-1000.
Two meter ragchew is held every Wednesday night at 9 PM CDT. 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 CDT.
SARA Tuesday evening Round Robin RagChew – Will now be operating on 12 Meters 24.955MHz starting at 7PM CDT and switch over to 6 Meters 50.316 MHz around 7:45 PM.
SARA Monday morning Round Robin RagChew – It is operating at 3.856 MHz at 9 AM CDT.
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 March.
DX News: Mike NØODK (not present)
No DX news this month.
Check out www.ng3k.com for DX & Contest Calendar information.
Program Schedule:
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.
The new MFJ-986 manual tuner that was ordered is due any day.
Outfitting of the SARA/RBP trailer will get started after the planning stage is completed.
New Business:
Paul Ramey WGØG is trying to set up a ham station at a Minneapolis Veterans’ Home. He was inquiring about any assistance we may be able to offer to help him accomplish this.
Good of Association:
SEMARC Meeting – their next meeting will be March 28th at 7 PM at the Zion Lutheran Church located at 8500 Hillside Trail in Cottage Grove.
The SARA Kit Build Group met recently to put the finishing touches on their first project – the 360 Workbench Antenna Analyzer. They are currently looking for another build project.
Those members building the antenna analyzer kit include: KCØOIO, WØGAF, KØGW, KEØIYN, KEØIYF, N9TOW, KA8VHF, and N9JNQ.
Show Us Your Shack:
Bob WØGAF showed us a photo of his Islands on the Air set up beside a lake in northern Minnesota just yards from the Canadian border.
50/50 Drawing – The pot was won by Bill KDØOTB who donated the money back to the club.
Program – Restoring Old Radios – Randy Olson KDØVKB
Randy gave a very informative presentation on one of his special passions – collecting and refurbishing old portable multiband shortwave radios. He has a large and varied collection of Hallicrafters and Zenith TransOceanic models. Randy has a story behind how each model was manufactured, acquired, and refurbished. It seems the majority of the refurbishing is installing new polarized power cords, and replacing the out-of-spec capacitors, tubes and resistors. He also does not purchase models with missing knobs or spots of rust. A bit of well placed shoe polish helps the leather clad high end models. For scratchy controls he uses a small amount of Deoxit. Randy has developed a good source list for old parts and a keen strategy for how to not overbid on potential purchases on eBay.
The program and meeting concluded at 11:25 AM.
Meeting attendance: 30