August 2018 Meeting Minutes
Snoqualmie Valley Radio Club
Meeting Minutes for August 2, 2018
Business Meeting called to order 6:15 p.m. Duvall Fire Station #66 by Tom Needham, WA7TBP.
17 members and guests present for business and/or Elmer session: Robin Amundson, Rowland Brasch, Joe Carpenter, Nancy Carpenter, Bill Condon, Dick Freiheidt, Linda Hanson, Milt Hanson, Ken Koch, Ralph Lease, Irvina Mizell, Jim Meyers, Tom Needham, Dan Pflugrath, Shawn Somers, Kirt White, Paul Williams
Secretary Report—Tom, WA7TBP, asked for motion for approval of July Minutes and they were approved.
Treasurer Report—Robin, WA7CPA, on behalf of Lindy Friedlander, reported the most recent bank balance is $2,756.75. The CDCCC board has not yet approved the July financial report.
There are 49 members, including one new licensee member with unpaid dues.
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 force—Shawn, K7ATA. Since the July meeting Shawn announced the owners of the repeater property on Cougar Mountain completed their negotiations with a paying customer, requiring us to prepare the new building for the equipment move. Shawn is leading the effort, planning, and organizing. Meanwhile, Jim, W7ABD, announced since the last meeting the owners of the Bell property are closing escrow on a sale in the middle of September, requiring us to move that repeater, as well, before September 15.
The first discussion was on an alternative to the Bell site. Shawn, K7ATA prefers Bull Hill, our Field Day site at Carnation Farms. He would like an antenna there at a height of at least 45 feet. He said we would need to know mast height restrictions if permission to use that property becomes available. An alternative temporary site is the QTH of Jim, W7ABD. This provides convenience for Jim to do work on that repeater.
The second discussion was planning for the work day at the Cougar Mountain repeater site to prepare for the move from its current building to the adjacent building. Shawn said he purchased two cans of primer, a tarp, and paint costing approximately $71. He will submit a receipt to the CDCCC Treasurer, Lindy, KG7IFA. Other items requested for the work day to be held Saturday, August 4, 2018 are: paint rollers, stepladder, black trash bags, yard tools, and Rowland’s paint sprayer. The volunteer crew will meet at the Issaquah Park and Ride, exit 15, at 8:30 a.m. The goal will be to pull out the heavy gear, clean out the building, and paint the interior.
Robin, WA7CPA, noted we need to send Herb Holeman, W7ZF, of the Radio Club of Redmond, a thank you for his donation of a server rack.
Emergency planning and mobilization task force—Joe, KI7EMB, and Nancy, KI7EMC, had nothing new to report. Joe said Ralph had been transmitting to him some information for heading the committee.
Education & community outreach task force—Tom, WA7TBP, requested someone volunteer to be the new organizer for the spring technician licensing class, noting Larry, N7ART, will provide help with the transition.
Jim, W7ABD, suggested we hold a group VE training soon to encourage as many extra class members as possible to get through the Internet based certification test all at one time. It was discussed September will be a more convenient month for most than trying to do it in August.
Dan, KA7GPP, reported his antenna is down. Therefore, he was unable to host the Tuesday net the last Tuesday of August. He will not be hosting the net again in the foreseeable future. He asked for a volunteer to continue.
Robin, WA7CPA, reported attendance by newly licensed hams has been down on the Tuesday evening Radio Play Gatherings at Big Rock Ball Fields. Robin suggested we try a different day of the week, suggesting Thursday evenings. That way we could potentially allow those for whom Tuesday is not good to have a chance at coming to the Gatherings. This might drive more participation to the Thursday net check-ins. However, it will be getting dark earlier and we need to identify an indoor location as the weather becomes cooler and wetter, too. Robin is tasked with doing a groups.io survey to find out which days are generally best for club members for the weekly Radio Play Gathering.
Robin, WA7CPA reported that Paul, W7PFB, and Tom, WA7TBP, installed an antenna at new ham member Ken’s, KK7KKA, North Bend QTH. Ken then had a test QSO using SSB with Robin. Following up on new ham support, Robin had Ken over to her QTH to go over IC-7300 features and demonstrate FT-8 as a mode Ken may be interested in.
Carnation space—Tom, WA7TBP for Paul, W7PFB. Paul volunteered to build a loaded 80-meter dipole for the club shack, believing 80 meters to be our best band for local communications in a regional disaster. It was generally agreed and Tom goes on record supporting the idea we need to establish a dedicated RMS Winmor/Winlink link at the club shack for disaster communications email when Internet is no longer available. Tom also promotes the idea of peer-to-peer Winmor/Winlink testing as additional disaster communication possibility.
Jesse, W7JEB, met with Jim, W7ABD, to design and measure the Carnation space for a new operating station which Jesse offered to build with scrap wood from his employer.
Old Business
Grant Update—Tom, W7TBP, for Paul, W7PFB. The next round of grant selection will give us an equal chance of selection as prior tries.
Upcoming Club Meetings—September meeting will be emergency handheld antennas presented by Shawn, K7ATA, and Jim, W7ABD. The October meeting will be a planning session for future meetings. There is currently no Elmer session planned for the November meeting. Ideas are welcomed.
New Business
There was no new business.
Note: The business portion of the meeting was concluded timely at 6:50 p.m. The summary of it at 7 p.m. ran 30 minutes, the same length as the business meeting itself.
Elmer Session: Dan, K7GPP, had us do indoor testing of our direction finding kits. We then went outdoors using our kits to find the hidden transmitter.
Upcoming Events
September 6, 2018: SnoVARC Meeting, Thursday, 7 p.m., Duvall Fire Station: Elmer is Emergency Antenna/Hand-held antenna by Ken and Shawn. (6:15 business meeting).
September 22, 2018: CDCCC Disaster readiness exercise
October 4, 2018: Business meeting at 6:15. Planning session for future meeting Elmer sessions will follow at 7 p.m. Please bring your ideas and wish list.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Robin Amundson, WA7CPA
