MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES – November 8, 2014
Stillwater Amateur Radio Association
1618 Pine Street West
Stillwater, Minnesota 55082
President: Peter NØGRM
The meeting was called to order at 9:02 AM.
Secretary’s Report: Steve KAØOBI
The minutes were read from the October 11th meeting and have been posted on the website.
Treasurer’s Report: John N5JLZ
Beginning Balance: 10/1/2014 $3,918.74
Income: $630.00
Expenses: $195.40
Ending Balance: 10/31/2014 $4,353.34
The majority of the income is dues from membership renewals.
Education and Training: Bob WØGAF
The VE session run by Shel NØDRX is still scheduled for November 13th at Boutwells at 6 PM.
Activities, Programs & Events: Dave WØOXB (Not at meeting but sent report)
Ice Station WØJH/Ø event is still looking for a small, out-of-the-way lake with little or no fishing and no snowmobiling for Feb 2015. The site and exact dates have not yet been determined.
Scheduled Saturday monthly meeting programs are:
December 13th – Dan KBØXC from Radio City will be on hand to talk about trends in the Amateur Radio industry. He’ll also speak about the latest high performance gear.
January 10th – SARA White Elephant Exchange (SWEEP) and the Annual Election of Officers.
Digital Net: Joe KCØOIO
SARA DigiNet has returned to active status and will be on air at 1900 CST on Sunday night. The net will be on 80 meters at 3.582.15. Look for it on the waterfall up 1000. Mode on Nov 9th will be PSK31.
2 Meter Net: Rick KØBR
Monitor the SARA repeater at 147.06 MHz /+ offset tone 114.8 Hz at 2100 CST on Wednesday nights. The net continues to have good participation by a group of regulars.
ARES/Emergency Communications: John KAØHYR (Not at meeting but sent report)
For this new season it is suggested that we:
- Take an ARRL or FEMA course to update our skills.
- Actively participate in the club and ARES.
- Make a commitment to try digital modes.
Handihams & Newsletter: Pat WAØTDA (Not at meeting but sent report)
We want to thank both Pat and Dave for their efforts in continuing to put together a great newsletter in such a short period of time.
DX Report: Mike NØODK
The bands have been very favorable for DXing recently. Two weeks ago when the CQ DX Contest was going on, you could easily work 30 to 40 countries and get a WAS award in just a weekend.
ARRL November Sweepstakes will be held Nov 15th from 2100 UTC to Nov 17th at 0259 UTC. Exchange will be: serial, category, call check, and ARRL section (SNJ).
The KP1-5 Project will be activating Navassa Island (very rare DX) in Jan 2015. The DXpedition will be a maximum of 14 days.
The business part of the meeting adjourned at 9:22 AM
Program: Overview of Split Rock 2014 Event – 10th Anniversary
Keith AGØH led the overview discussion. He posted a compilation of photos from 2014 & 2013 on the Flicker website: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stillwater_arc/sets/72157649172490732/. The setup this year was in the Split Rock State Park Trail Center and consisted of two “OXB” antennas with two Kenwood 590S transceivers and two logging computers. Joe KCØOIO and Bob WØGAF set up a digital station at a campsite using a 130’ end fed antenna with a 9:1 UNUN and Joe’s digital rig. The digital station experienced some challenges with interference from the inverter used to power their logging computer. Band conditions were not as favorable this year on 40 meters. 20 and 15 meters had the best propagation. About 650 contacts were made during the event. So far we have received about 250 requests for confirmation certificates. Twenty members, guests, and visitors all had a wonderful time. The weather was great on Friday during the outside antenna setup. Shel NØDRX has already made the club reservations for the 2015 event at the same location during Halloween weekend.
Meeting was adjourned at 10:28 AM.
Meeting attendance: 20