February 2018 Meeting Minutes

Snoqualmie Valley Radio Club

Meeting Minutes for February 1, 2018

Meeting called to order 7 p.m. Duvall Fire Station #45 by Ralph Lease, KC7QXD, for Tom Needham, WA7TBP.

Members present: Robin Amundson, Jesse Brasch, Rowland Brasch, Paul Butzi, Joe Carpenter, Nancy Carpenter, Lindy Friedlander, Linda Hanson, Milton Hanson, Mike Jacob, Ken Kosters, Ralph Lease, Dan Pflugrath, Chuck Powrie, Shawn Somers, John Tharp, Chuck Woolfolk

Guests present: NA

Greeting, welcome, and leadership announcements: Ralph reminded us to wear our badges to meetings to keep the importance of having them available in our consciousness.

Secretary Report—Robin Amundson, WA7CPA. Motion was made and approved to accept January 2018 Minutes as published in the IO Newsgroup.

Treasurer Report—Lindy Friedlander, KG7IFA. Even with the 2018 memberships, funds are low ($1,300.13 not counting the restricted funds for the foxhunt kits). There are 25 members as of the meeting date. All but two payments for the foxhunt have been received. Those two were lost in the mail and were asked to send in another check. It was decided Dan, KA7GPP, and Lindy would go ahead and order the kits for building the foxhunt project.

Member dues for 2018 and the annual written liability waiver need to be turned in. Please make the checks out to CDCCC and mail to PO Box 644, Carnation, WA 98014. The link to information on joining the club and the form is at http://snovarc.org/join/

Committee and Task Force Reports

Repeater task forceShawn, K7ATA

Shawn reported the Cougar repeater is fully functional at this time. The donated cross-band repeater is in use (and being tested) on 145.750, tone 103.5, currently installed at Shawn’s house. It is functioning, although not yet available to the club at large.

Emergency planning and mobilization task forceRalph, KC7QXD. The January committee meeting was delayed due to illness.

Ralph drew a grid list on the white board obtained from MRS. It showed the six field treatment centers along the top and listed names of people who have previously agreed to self-deploy as primary or secondary to those locations in case of community emergency. There was discussion about contacting some of the radio ops on the list we have not recently seen at meetings to assess their continuing interest in serving in that role. Ralph invited others to add or subtract their names from the grid.

Dan, KA7GPP, mentioned Seattle has communication hubs in place for the radio ops there.

Ralph stressed the need for a yearly documentation review and edit.

Education & community outreach task forceLarry, N7ART, was not present to make a report.

New Ham NetDan, KA7GPP, continues to host the net.

Carnation spacePaul, KG7STV. Paul will replace the Carnation antenna when the weather improves. Saturday training is still available at the space.

Old Business

 Map LibraryNo report, Ben, KG7BTU, absent.

Grant application—Paul, W7PFB. The 100 Women Who Care grant application will be decided in the next two weeks. Paul will send existing application to the Rotary by their February 15 deadline. Paul agreed to send funding request letters to other vendors.

Mike & Key Event — Rowland (K7RWB)Reminder that we will have a table for members to sell their equipment.  We are also waiting to hear from Shawn, Paul, and Jim regarding any of the club’s donated equipment that aren’t needed by the club and could bring in some much needed funds to the club.

Upcoming Elmer Sessions RevisionMarch will be Rob Fanfant, N7QT telling us about the recent VK9MA Mellish Reef DXpedition. April will be Jim, W7ABD, showing us how to set up Winlink. May will be Ken, W7ECK, and Shawn, K7ATA, presenting on emergency and hand-held antennas.

 New Business

 FundraisingLindy, KG7IFA,

Lindy reported CDCCC discussion about Duvall welcome bags for new residents. SnoVARC can create a separate coupon or flyer to advertise its existence to hams moving to the area and to others who might be interested in becoming licensed members. Robin, WA7CPA, agreed to ask Larry, N7ART, and Deb, K7DAL, to use their artistic talents to create a black and white .pdf flyer devoted to explaining SnoVARC and the various training opportunities. Shawn, K7ATA,  said he can get the printing done.

Rowland brought up the fact that new hams do not get training after licensing, citing the low statistics for licensed hams who actually get on the air. Rowland is working with ARRL club coordinator, Lynn Burlingame, N7CFO, creating a lesson plan for new hams anyone could use across the country. Shawn said new ham HT training can be added to Saturday trainings at the shack. There is an ARRL magazine for new hams under development.

Elmer Session: Following the business meeting, Rowland, K7RWB, presented on generator safety.

Paul, W7PFB, made the motion to adjourn the business meeting.

Upcoming Events

February 26, 2018: Spring CERT class begins

March 1, 2018: SnoVARC Meeting, Thursday, 7 p.m. Duvall Fire Station, ELMER: Rob Fanfant, N7QT, from the VK9MA Mellish Reef DXpedition

April 5, 2018: SnoVARC Meeting, Thursday, 7 p.m. Duvall Fire Station, ELMER: Jim Meyers, W7ABD on Winlink.

April (date TBD): Crowd & Traffic Class, details to follow

April 21 and 28: Technician class presented, Larry, N7ART, organizing. Location: Either Duvall Fire Station or Stillwater Elementary

April 25, 2018: CERT Quarterly Meeting, 6:30-8:30, Carnation Fire Station (Topics TBD)

Minutes respectfully submitted by Robin Amundson, WA7CPA