SnoVARC

Snoqualmie Valley Amateur Radio Club

September 2017 Meeting Minutes

by · October 19, 2017

Snoqualmie Valley Radio Club

Meeting Minutes for September 7, 2017

Meeting called to order 7 p.m. Duvall Fire House by Tom, WA7TBP.

Twenty-four Current and Prior Members Present: Robin Amundson, Terry Beedle, Kathy Brasch, Rowland Brasch, Paul Butzi, Joe Carpenter, Nancy Carpenter, Andrew Dahlgaard, Dick Freiheit, Lindy Friedlander, Linda Hanson, Milton Hanson, Ken Kosters, Gene Laughlin, Irvina Mizell, Jim Myers, Tom Needham, Dan Pflugrath, Barb Powrie, Chuck Powrie, Shawn Somers, Carol Swanton, Ben Thompson, Chuck Woolfolk.

 Guest: John Petrich,

Secretary Report: Shawn, K7ATA, moved the published July minutes be approved. The July minutes were approved by voice vote.

Treasurer’s Report: Lindy, KG7IFA, provided the Treasurer’s report as of August 31, at which time the balance was $1,115.09.  Two check reimbursements were made at the meeting bringing the total a little under $1,000.

Committee and Task Force Reports:

Repeater. Shawn, K7ATA.  Shawn said there is a failing back-up battery. He thinks we need to move the cross-band frequency due to some transmissions from a Shelton repeater (noted by Jim, W7ABD), and an Oregon repeater on the frequency. Ken, W7ECK said past attempts contacting the Shelton repeater owner were unsuccessful.  Shawn noted due to propagation conditions there would inevitably be more crosstalk on our repeater from distant stations as UHF/VHF becomes more long distance for a time.  Use of squelch tone was discussed. Tom pointed out the downside of doing that is having published programming information becoming outdated. Also, the clock and repeater announcement will go away if squelch tone is used. Rowland said he recently updated our outdated repeater information. He learned there may soon be an interactive way to self-update online rather than wait for someone else to getting around to doing the updates.

Emergency Planning and Mobilization. As Ralph is out of town this topic was covered elsewhere in the meeting.

Education & Community Outreach.  Dan, KA7GPP, reported the New Hams Net on Tuesday evenings would continue for a time. He is willing to give script to new hams to practice running the net. There was discussion about getting word out beyond our club to newer hams. Lake Washington Ham Club was suggested as having young hams who may be interested in on-air mentoring. Paul, KG7STV, will reach out to them.

Hosting another technician class was discussed. Tom, Wa7tbp, noted we likely need people to step up to teach and take a more active organizational role with Larry, N7ART, now living in Leavenworth. He will contact Larry to get his thoughts.

Carnation Space.

  1. Paul, KG7STV said new coax is needed for the UHF/VHF feedline. He purchased and was reimbursed for LMR-400 to replace old feedline with water intrusion. Shawn suggested silicon stretch tape be used when fixing the feedlines.
  2. There was discussion about the fact the club’s RG8 coax has not been located. The Carnation space has been cleaned out and the coax has not been found. Anyone who may have a club box is asked to check to see if it is there. It is possible it was sent home with someone in a box after Field Day and it has not yet been discovered.
  3. Dan asked about a possible group purchase of coax.
  4. Jim has been at Carnation space every third Saturday but inexperienced hams have not been showing up for help. It has been an opportunity for Jim to do maintenance and cleaning there. Shawn will be starting up on a different Saturday of each month, but did not yet announce which Saturdays.
  5. Rowland volunteered to be liaison with City of Carnation to discuss antenna and radio issues.

Old Business

  1. CDCCC Board Meeting Updates and Upcoming Events-Kathy, K7KJB. Kathy discussed the list of upcoming September events, listed at bottom of this page.
    1. Nancy, KI7EMC, will be the CERT class instructor again for the new session beginning 9/11/17.
    2. Nancy encouraged members to sign up for the 2017 NW Citizen Corps EXPO on 9/23/17.
    3. A sign-up sheet for the region-wide emergency CERT/Amateur exercise September 30 was passed around. CERT/amateur licensees may be doing double duty for the exercise. Kathy asks everyone to be flexible that day. The exercise will be coordinated by City of Duvall and will extend up to Snoqualmie and North Bend. Participants will meet at the Riverview Educational Service Center in Duvall around 8 a.m. Lunch will be included. Those who signed up will receive more details of the event.
    4. Kathy also announced a September 16 all-day 9-5 class in Carnation to learn sheltering and situational awareness.
  2. Tom reminded we would be planning Elmer meetings in October for the coming year. He will contact John Morris, K7RLD, to inquire about a vintage equipment session. He requests more suggestions for the planning session.
  3. Shawn, K7ATA, reiterated groups.io is a moderated group. It has a WIKI, databases, public and private photos, and a place for SnoVARC discussion. It will be divided into two parts. The SnoVARC part is for discussion. The KE7GFZ part is for official announcements and documents. [Ralph (KC7QXD, Paul (KG7STV), and Ken (W7ECK) are additional admins for IO Groups.]
  4. Ben, KG7BTU, outlined his idea for obtaining copies of local maps and discovering coverage areas in our local emergency zones. He will contact King County to see what they can offer so there is not a duplication of effort. Ben wants a list of all repeaters in Carnation, including those privately owned and operated. Dan noted Mark owns “pair” repeater using 441,850.
  5. Net control schedule. Jim, W7ABD, said the net control schedule was updated by Rick, KB7CIN, in July and is current.
  6. Update on Grant Application: Paul, KG7STV, said the grant request would be for infrastructure upgrades (repeaters, including portable gear) outreach and education, new radios for fire stations, schools, and new hams. He said the fact we are coordinating with other agencies is helpful to the grant request.

New Business:

Tom, WA7TBP, said Depiction software, (for those who use it) is closing.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:54.

Elmer session. John Petrich, W7FU, from Radio Club of Redmond presented the Elmer session on the basics of software defined and enabled radio (SDR). The topic was well received with after-session informal discussions and sharing.

Upcoming Events:

  • 9/11/17 Start CERT class-Monday 6:30 PM, Carnation Fire Station 85, Nancy Carpenter, KI7EMC is instructor.
  • 9/16/17 Sheltering and situational awareness class 9-5 at Carnation Fire Station. Kathy Brasch taking sign-ups.
  • 9/23/17 NW Citizen Corps EXPO (including EmComm)-Renton Technical College. Register online.
  • 9/30/17 2017 Region-wide emergency exercise. 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., lunch included. Riverview Educational Service Center in Duvall. Kathy Brasch taking sign-ups.
  • 10/5/17 SnoVARC Meeting, Thursday, 7 PM, Duvall Fire Station; Elmer Session is 2018 Planning (All Club Members).

Minutes respectfully submitted by Robin Amundson, WA7CPA.

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