October 2017 Meeting Minutes

Snoqualmie Valley Radio Club

Meeting Minutes for October 5, 2017

Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm at the Duvall Fire Station by V.P. Ralph Lease (KC7QXD) as Pres. Tom Needham (WA7TBP) was absent

 2016/2017 Members Present:  Larry Backstrom, Jackson Beard, Jesse Brasch, Kathy Brasch, Joe Carpenter, Nancy Carpenter, Lindy Friedlander, Ken Kosters, Ralph Lease, Debbi Lermond, Jim Myers, Shawn Somers, Chuck Woolfolk

Guests Present: Marc Miller

Greeting and Announcements Ralph (KC7QXD)

Secretary’s Report –  Robin (WA7CPA) Not Present — Lindy covered in her absence

  • Minutes from the September meeting were reviewed electronically prior to the meeting. A motion was made and seconded and member vote approved those minutes.

Treasurer’s Report –  Lindy (KG7IFA) 

  • Current Bank Balance $1,088.52 as of September 30, 2017 (not yet presented to CDCCC Board). And the amount right now is $1040.88, after a reimbursement was made at the meeting.
  • 2017 Club dues donations (tax deductible*): Currently 42 members in 2017, including 10 newly licensed (with waived fee). There was some discussion about the number of 2016 members who are no longer members and there was a suggestion that we mail those who dropped out after the March or April meeting when the influx of the first round of  2018 member signups has slowed down.   

Committee Reports

  • Repeater Task Force / Technical CommitteeShawn (K7ATA)
  • Repeater working well. KBARA Net (from Eastern Wa) at 7 a.m. daily had a bit of an altercation this morning due to maintenance wanting to delay net and net control didn’t.  Needless to say, it was shut down.  But all should be fine now.
  • Since Crossband is good at the south end of the valley, but not so good up north, it was decided that another crossband would make sense. Shawn and Jim will do heat maps to see the best location.  Chuck (KF7PQL) mentioned that the backup battery for the crossband in Carnation is still the original donated battery that won’t last more than a few minutes if the power went out.  So Jim said he’d price replacement batteries and bring numbers to the November meeting.
  • Jackson Beard (WA7SEA) (JBeard@DuvallFire45.com), our conduit to the Duvall FD (and prior Northshore interface between CERT and Law enforcement), spoke about the radios for all rigs and licensed operators for amateur radio. They will need to interface with SnoVARC and work with Shawn to program the Motorolas.  They have J poles at fire stations and would prefer better antennas for those that will be our Field Treatment Centers.  They are also considering swapping out the Motorolas.  Ralph felt the Yaesu FT-8900R that is at Duvall FS is perfectly adequate.  Jackson needs funding for these radios.  Per Kathy, Tom and Maria are working on getting an enhanced antenna for Stillwater Elementary (via CSA grant?).
  • Emergency Planning and Mobilization – Ralph (KC7QXD)  
  • No update.  However, given this time of year he did bring up the need for folks to remember to use eye guard or face shield when using outdoor power equipment.  Also remember to take appropriate caution when using chainsaws or ladder work.  A good rule is to always have someone else out there with you in case of an accident.
  • Education & Community Outreach – Larry (N7ART)
  • Next Tech Class – April was the consensus at the meeting.  He will figure out a date that won’t conflict with Spring break or any other events/activities.
  • VE Training: No update
  • New Hams Net – Dan (KA7GPP) Not Present. It was noted that folks are hearing good input about this net.  Jim will bring it up at Lake Washington to invite newbies.  It was also suggested that someone should bring it up at the KBARA net and also give a plug that many are coming through Cougar.
  • Carnation SpacePaul (W7PFB) Not Present
  • Jim and Paul tested the new feedline to see if it was defective. They ran a load test.  And it turned out that the new antenna is defective.  Since it is only about 5 months old (costing $177), Paul will contact them about a replacement or repair.
  • Jim (W7ABD) asked Chuck if he’d make another clamp. He will email pictures of the current.
  • No status update given on Saturday training.

Old Business  

  • CDCCC Board Meeting Updates and Upcoming Events (see below) – Kathy (K7KJB)
  • Drill After Action Report – Kathy (K7KJB)
  • The event went very well involving more groups than ever before, even a helicopter! There were about 85 volunteers.
  • Next year the drill may be around flooding. Interest was given for a more hands on skills testing event, perhaps at Tolt McDonald Park, practicing cribbing and maybe fire suppression, along with other CERT skills.  Maybe sandbagging could wrap into it, too.
  • Map Library for emergency deployment – Status – Ben (KG7BTU) Not present
  • Update on grant application – Rowland (K7RWB) Not present
  • 100 Women Who Care presentation status — It was noted that Paul is working on a draft grant application
  • Nobody indicated any interest in purchasing more coax from the 150 ft available in Carnation for sale to members for $.30/ft.

New Business 

  • Holiday Dinner planning: Some discussion on possible restaurants.  Nobody was interested in pursuing Blue Heron again, even if only a fixed menu buffet.  Other possibilities mentioned were Ixtapa in Redmond Ridge (although limited parking may be an issue) or Carnation (not Duvall), Carnation Cafe (if they can handle the volume), or BJs in Redmond.  Lindy said she’d call these restaurants to get information and pass on to Robin to bring to the November meeting for final decision and begin sign-ups.
  • FUN RUN SUGGESTIONS FOR 2018 (brought up during Elmer): Jim suggested that since we no longer get a donation for supporting the Fun Run, we should consider having a ‘vendor’ table (with the vendors) to ‘sell’ SnoVARC & ham radio. This is in addition to the usual SnoVARC table at the Pancake Breakfast the next morning.  We should also set up APRS with monitor to see real time where the lead car is. ADD TO AGENDA IN MARCH OR APRIL.

Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm.

ELMER SESSION:  

Tentative Nov 2017 –  October 2018 ELMER Topics:

November: Red Cross Deployment & Generator Safety — Rowland

December: Holiday Dinner

January (Split group 50/50): 1) Net Control Training (FD radio) and 2) Messaging Practice — Ralph/Tom

February: Hands on WINLINK (to set up & run) — Jim

March: Emergency Antenna/Hand Held Antenna — Ken/Shawn

April: Radio Club of Redmond speaker — Robin

May: Radio Club of Redmond speaker — Robin

June: Field Day Prep

July: Alternative Sources of Power for Radio (Emergency Power Supply) — Shawn

August: Directional Antennas & Schedule a Fox Hunt – Dan

September: OPEN

October: Planning

November: OPEN

December: Dinner

 

Respectfully submitted,

Lindy Friedlander

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Upcoming Events

  • 10/14/17: 1st Aid/CPR Class – Saturday, 8AM-4:30PM, Tolt Congregational Church, Carnation
  • 10/25/17: CERT Quarterly meeting – Wednesday, 6:30-8:30PM, Carnation Fire Station (Agenda includes: Map reading/navigation; Traffic & crowd management; What’s in your kit; Deploying & managing CERTs)
  • 11/02/17: SnoVARC Meeting, Thursday, 7PM, Duvall Fire Station; ELMER SESSION: TBD
  • November: Generator class, details TBD