MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES – September 13, 2014
Stillwater Amateur Radio Association
1618 Pine Street West
Stillwater, Minnesota 55082
President: Peter NØGRM
The meeting was called to order at 9:06 AM.
Secretary’s Report: Steve KAØOBI
The last meeting before summer break was May 10th. Those meeting minutes have been posted on the website.
Treasurer’s Report: John N5JLZ
Beginning Balance: 8/1/2014 $3,923.74
Income: Zero
Expenses: Zero
Ending Balance: 8/31/2014 $3,923.74
Education and Training: Bob WØGAF
General Class licensing course will begin Thursday, September 18th. Classes will be held at Stillwater Public Library and Boutwell’s Landing. Contact Bob WØGAF for additional information and class locations at bobajensen@mac.com.
Activities, Programs & Events: Dave WØOXB
Post Mortem ARRL Field Day – June 28th and 29th. We experienced high winds on Saturday but were still able to achieve a combined score of 734 points for SSB and Digital.
Split Rock Lighthouse Event – October 31st – November 2nd. Attendance be limited to about 21 participants – contact Dave WØOXB or any Club Officer to express your desire to be there. There will be two SSB stations and Digital this year which should easily make 1,000 contacts.
Thursday Night Eye Ball Sessions – Held every Thursday at the Stillwater Public Library at 6 PM.
1.903 MHz Round-Robin Rag Chews – Held every evening at 8 PM (except Tuesday and Thursday).
Member Assistance Program – Get your requests in for any help you need with antenna suggestions, site selection, erecting, or repairs. The weather is changing rapidly and these projects will become more challenging after the first snowstorm.
Ideas for New Programs – Submit your ideas for any new programs or activities you would like to see to Dave WØOXB.
Digitial Net: Joe KCØOIO (Not present at meeting but sent report in advance)
SARA DigiNet will be returning Sunday, October 12th at 7 PM on 80 meters. Check in at 3.582.150 with the “sweet spot” or center frequency around 1000. BPSK31 on Sunday after the SARA Meeting and BPSK63 the rest of the month.
2 Meter Net: Rick KØBR
Monitor the SARA repeater at 147.06 MHz /+ offset tone 114.8 Hz at 9 PM on Wednesday nights. On the last net there were seven check-ins.
ARES/Emergency Communications: John KAØHYR
June 25th – Washington County held a Relocation Drill at a new location – Park High School in Cottage Grove (replacing the Armory which will no longer be used). Fifteen hams were on hand to staff stations within the site. This was the first drill run by the new Emergency Manager, Doug Berglund.
June 26th – July 2nd – The Lake St. Croix Beach City Council declared a state of emergency effective June 26th due to flooding on the St. Croix River. Mayor Tom McCarthy and Emergency Manager, Brad Peters WD9GNJ worked with EC John Regan KAØHYR to establish duties, set a watch schedule, and prepare for evacuation stage if required. Washington County ARES was demobilized on July 2nd after nine hams put in 115 hours on duty. The hams were awarded Certificates of Appreciation for their service from the Lake St. Croix beach City Council on July 21st.
July 12th – the Washington County ARES Go Kit Picnic was held at Ojibway Park in Woodbury. Sixteen members saw portable go kits, a comm trailer, a comm van, and learned about the emerging Mesh network set up. A short meeting was held among metro EC’s to discuss a wider metro SET format.
Sept 16th – there will be an ARES meeting at Woodwinds Hospital at 6:30 PM to receive and review detailed plans for a Simulated Emergency Test (SET) Drill.
Oct 4th – a Simulated Emergency Test (SET) will be held encompassing the counties of Chisago, Pine, Scott, Washington, and the City of Bloomington.
Oct 11th – Basic Emergency Communication Class (AERO 1) and NET Controller’s Class (AERO 2) will be held on Saturday at the Bloomington Civic Plaza, 9920 Logan Ave S., Bloomington, MN from 8:30 AM to 4 PM. Registration is with Dan Peitso NØPIY at N0PIY@arrl.net or phone him at 763-755-3262. Registration must be completed by Thursday, October 9th.
Handihams & Newsletter: Pat WAØTDA
A presentation was made to the Handihams by Cory KDØOOZ as part of an Eagle Scout project. Cory built a wooden storage cart to organize and store their power supplies and other equipment.
Volunteering Opportunities: Peter NØGRM
Oct 4th – SARA is supporting the ADA Walk to Stop Diabetes and needs volunteers to sign-up to participate. Contact Joe KCØOIO at kc0oio@radioham.org.
Oct 5th – SARA is also looking for volunteers to help at the Twin Cities Marathon on Sunday Oct 5th. For more details go to their website: https://www.tcmevents.org/volunteering/.
The business part of the meeting adjourned at 9:45 AM
Program: Brian McInerney NØBM
A short video was shown of Kay Craigie N3KN, President of ARRL. The video explained the proposed act and what it will cover. She also encouraged us to contact our representatives to get their support.
Brian spoke on the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2014 and how we could go about contacting Congresswoman Betty McCollum or Michele Bachmann to ask for their support of this bill. He discussed strategies for getting antennas and towers approved by local agencies. Brian also gave numerous examples of cases he has been involved with to help advocate for hams seeking approval of antenna and tower projects. He illustrated how helpful it is for the ham to be able to tell a story of how they have been a good citizen of the community through volunteering and having a good record of pulling building permits for other projects. The presentation ended with an audience question and answer session.
The meeting adjourned at 10:57 AM.
Meeting attendance: 31