SnoVARC

Snoqualmie Valley Amateur Radio Club

January 2015 Meeting Minutes

by · January 8, 2015

Meeting Minutes January 8, 2015

Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm at the Duvall City Hall by Pres. Dan Pflugrath.

Members Present:   Kathy Brasch, Rowland Brasch, Bob Decker, Ken Dempsey, Kimberly Engelkes, Dick Freiheit, Lindy Friedlander, Mike Jacob, Jeremiah Judd, Jerry Konoske, Ken Kosters, Ralph Lease, John Lento, Bengt-Erik Norum, Dan Pflugrath, Barb Powrie, Chuck Powrie, Gerard Repko, Chuck Woolfolk.

Guests Present:  Glendon Pflugrath

Secretary’s Report – Minutes from November meeting were reviewed electronically prior to the meeting and approved at the meeting.

Treasurer’s Report – Bank account balance is $2,672.88.  This includes a matched donations from Microsoft.  Dan indicated that we should probably spend some of these funds on needed items, including the replacement of the free Costco batteries currently at the Bells and Woolfolk repeater locations.

Committee Reports

  • Repeater Task Force / Technical Committee – Dan (KA7GPP) – The timer for the Cougar repeater has now been set for 15 minutes due to timing out issues for some talkative users.  To permit changes remotely in the future, new firmware has been downloaded and will be updated over the next couple weeks.  The Bells’ repeater is working well.
  • Emergency Planning & Mobilization – Rowland (K7RWB) – Scheduling difficulties due to the recent flooding have postponed the planning session, but should have a plan ready next time. Regarding grants: the Snoqualmie Tribe is having issues so that our grant application is not being addressed at this time.  Rowland recommended we look at alternative funding options through Gofundme.com.  The group agreed.
  • Education & Community Outreach – Bengt Norum (K7ADD) –  Bengt will be setting up  a Technician class to run on two consecutive Saturdays, March 28th and April 4th (9 am – 2 pm), with the exam on the second Saturday from 1-2 pm.  Attendees will be required to purchase the book in advance of the class and read the first few chapters.  Bengt will have a deck available and will upload it.  The class will be held in the Duvall Visitor Center (the old library).  Volunteers will be needed to handle logistics, paperwork, etc.  Dan encouraged members to take the General/Extra exam, which could be taken on April 4th, as well.  He reiterated his interest in running a study group at various members’ ham stations for a General exam and/or follow-up Elmer sessions to assist newly licensed (or licensed but never used a radio) hams with getting on the air.

Old Business

  • The KE7GFZ Weekly Net (Thursdays, except for club night, at 8 pm) is on our 441.825 MHz repeater, positive offset and tone of 103.5 MHz.
  • 2015 Club dues:  20 members have paid to date.  Checks for all those remaining who still wish to be members should be made out to CDCCC and mailed to CDCCC, PO Box 644, Carnation WA 98014, with membership application – or brought to the next meeting.

New Business

  • Annual Election of Officers:
    • Ken Kosters was nominated and approved as President
    • Jeremiah Judd was nominated and approved as Vice President
    • Lindy Friedlander was nominated and approved as Secretary/Treasurer
  • The goals and accomplishments were reviewed for 2014.  Some highlights noted were: Field Day at Camp Korey, Duvall Fun Run, and the Tolt Evac Drill, as well as Elmer sessions for Space Station & message practice and IRLP, to name a few.  A few items that did not take place, such as the Evergreen Fair (cancelled due to politics) and Jamboree on the air (not enough interest), were also discussed.
  • Goals for 2015 (Events and Elmer sessions)
    • Field Day at Camp Korey
    • Monroe Fair (Ken D.)
    • Fox Hunt (Glendon, Ralph, Ken D., Ken K.)
    • Radio Monitor (Mark Miller)
    • Message Passing Drills (EmComm)
    • Windshield Surveys (EmComm)
    • Traffic Control Class (through CDCCC)
    • APRS (Bengt)
    • Go Pack (Gerald Repko)
    • Survival Video (Rowland)
    • 2 Licensing Classes (Bengt)
    • Hands on Class (Ongoing – 1st Saturday after monthly meeting)
    • CW QRP Kit (Dan)
    • Digital Packet (PSK-31 etc)
    • Remote OPS
    • CDCCC Drills (Forest fire drill and maybe a hazmat spill drill)
    • Duvall Days Fun Run (Barb)
    • Drones/Planes/Quadcopters
    • House painting weekend (Mike will remove our $1K debt for Cougar repeater)

Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm.

ELMER SESSION:  Postponed until next month due to crowded conditions: How to make the most out of your Go Kit– Gerard Repko (KG7REV) Members are asked to bring their personal go bags for group discussion.

Respectfully submitted,

Lindy Friedlander, Secretary

You may also like...