April 2018 Meeting Minutes
Snoqualmie Valley Radio Club
Meeting Minutes for April 5, 2018
Meeting called to order 7 p.m. Duvall Fire Station #66 by Tom Needham, WA7TBP.
25 members and guests present: Robin Amundson, Larry Backstrom, Jessie Brasch, Rowland Brasch, Paul Butzi, Joe Carpenter, Nancy Carpenter, Dick Freiheit, Al Gordon, Linda Hanson, Milt Hanson, Michael Jacob, Ken Kosters, Ralph Lease, Marc Miller, Irvina Mizell, Jim Myers, Tom Needham, Scott Perkins, Dan Pflugrath, Barb Powrie, Chuck Powrie, Tim Schmoll, Shawn Somers, Kurt White
Note: SnoVARC gained one new member and had two renewals plus a $200 donation with a renewal at the meeting. At least two other new memberships appear to be forthcoming.
Greeting, welcome, and leadership announcements:
Leadership announcements by Tom, WA7TBP—Tom clarified Amazon Smile donations. CDCCC is our umbrella 501c(3) organization the funds are donated to when purchases are made using Amazon Smile. The Amazon Smile donations total a small amount of money per year. When the CERTS, Medical Reserve, or SnoVARC makes a request of funds from the Amazon Smile money for a particular project, CDCCC leadership will allocate the donations accordingly. CDCCC leadership said this makes better sense than the detailed bookkeeping entries necessary for dividing the small amount of funds received three ways.
PayPal donations may be specifically targeted to specific CDCCC groups. The donor must fill out a form that specifies which group the donor wants the money to go to. Tom passed out a copy of the form the donor would use for review.
Secretary Report—Robin Amundson, WA7CPA. Motion was made by Nancy, KI7EMC, and seconded by Shawn, K7ATA. The March 2018 minutes, as published in the IO Newsgroup, were approved by voice vote.
Treasurer Report—Robin Amundson, WA7CPA for Lindy Friedlander, KG7IFA. Included in the 3/31/18 bank balance is $1,676.80, including $350 from the Mike and Key swap meet sales. An additional $1,000 from the Rotary grant has not yet been received.
Tom recognized Paul for his efforts obtaining the successful Rotary $1,000 grant. Discussion ensued regarding how and when to spend the funds. There was general agreement the funds should be spent sooner rather than later to satisfy Rotary they are needed and used according to the list prepared by Paul in the grant application. The funds will be used to upgrade repeater controllers, and the City Hall antenna.
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
Regarding the upcoming repeater move, Shawn has not heard from Richard Rob for weeks. Shawn said we need server racks and asked if anyone has any or knows anyone who has them we could have. Larry, N7ART, suggested Nebraska Surplus. Ralph, KC7QXD, said he knows someone who may have server racks. Shawn said other than that, we need a couple of gallons of paint. He noted the Cougar clock has not been changed since Daylight Savings Time because it requires someone going up the mountain, no remote option.
Emergency planning and mobilization task force—Ralph, KC7QXD, reported no upcoming events have yet been scheduled but he continues the documentation project.
Education & community outreach task force—Larry, N7ART, reported 32 sign-ups for the April tech licensing class. There is room for 4 more students. Larry brought flyers for Robin, WA7CPA, to post at Duvall businesses. Larry asked for VEs for the class. Dick, KF7TUA, Tom, WA7TBP and Paul, W7PFB, volunteered for VE duty. Larry again purchased with his own funds 10 Baofeng handheld radios to resell to successful tech class students. Shawn, K7ATA, volunteered to preprogram them. Larry also noted with the large size of the class, at least two runners are needed for the exam. Larry stated he is pleased this is the first year the club is able to present the full tech class without outside teaching assistance.
Dan, will continue the Tuesday, 7 p.m. newcomer tech nets, expecting an upsurge in participation after the April classes with more new licensees.
Carnation space—Shawn, K7ATA discussed remote access through the Internet, noting firewall ports will need to be reconfigured. There was also discussion about rust on the City Hall quad antenna clamps. The new antenna installation is still waiting for good weather. Shawn has been making himself available on Saturdays to assist members in soldering Handi-finder kits for the summer foxhunt. Jim, W7ABD, yielded his usual Saturday time in the shack for Shawn’s efforts.
Old Business
CDCCC Board meeting updates and upcoming events—Tom, WA7TBP, announced Kathy, K7KJB, is the new CDCCC President. Maria from Riverview School District is the new VP. All other positions remain the same.
Maria, from the school district, was contacted by Tom to ascertain if the Stillwater PTSA would be willing to provide money to purchase an antenna, power supply and coax cable. This equipment would be useable for reunification situations and other events at Stillwater. CDCCC will provide a match up to $300 to help with this purchase. Maria indicated that currently, the PTSA is focused on safety for the school related to active shooters. In addition, she thought the PTSA would be willing to do this, but the active shooter situation is their current focus.
Upcoming Elmer Sessions—May will be Ken, W7ECK, and Shawn, K7ATA, presenting on emergency and hand-held antennas. The June meeting will be planning for Field Day. Equipment and site availability are unknown at this time. Ken let us know due to management changes at Carnation Farms he needs to be strategic about when and how he asks the new COO for approval using the site for Field Day. He says we likely have three possibilities. 1) Approval for another year of free Field Day operations from the hilltop cow shed. 2) The COO agreeing to our use, but with a fee. 3) We find an alternative site.
Mike and Key recap—Rowland, K7RWB, reported we sold the donated repeater at the March 9 swap meet at Puyallup fairgrounds. Other items were sold, as well. Unfortunately two hard drives were lifted despite what was thought to be careful attendance at the booth.
Fundraising ideas—Tom, WA7TBP, called for fundraising ideas. Robin, WA7CPA, suggested having a raffle of either a donated or purchased item. The suggestion included setting a provision that if a minimum number of raffle tickets are not sold, the raffle is canceled so a purchased item could be returned.
Duvall Days—Irvina, KC7YJK, sent around a volunteer sheet on behalf of the new organizer, Jen Hargrove, for the June 3 event. SnoVARC radio operators are needed for traffic control. Tom, WA7TBP, said he said no to a request for SnoVARC help with the parade, citing time proximity and the likelihood it stretches volunteers too thin.
Club IDs—Tom, WA7TBP, finally had a response from Button Smith regarding a potential order for IDs for SnoVARC members. Button Smith took responsibility for prior failure to communicate. No further information presented.
New Business
Grant Funding Extended Discussion:
Jim, WA7ABD, proposed and made a motion to spend $580 on repeater upgrade, including repeater controller. Paul, W7PFB, seconded the motion. Rowland, K7RWB, asked if any Rotary restrictions applied to this decision. Paul, W7PFB, said these are exactly the items in the grant proposal and the sooner we can report to Rotary we have followed the conditions of the grant, the better. There was a hand vote to approve the $580 as proposed by Jim.
CDCCC Matching discussion:
Tom, WA7TBP, said CDCCC made an offer of up to $300 to supply Stillwater Elementary School with an antenna, power supply, and coax cable necessary for go-kits in the event it becomes a re-unification site. The stipulation is matching funds from the school district. The school district is currently tied up with responding to current events and parent demands for security in a school-shooting scenario.
The discussion continued with Tom noting there is already a tower at Stillwater with a HF beam antenna, feed line, and power supply. The school has a Yaesu FT-757. It is unconfirmed whether all the equipment is currently useable. Tom’s bottom line was to see if Stillwater would eventually match the $300 matching donation offer by CDCCC. Irvina made the point that if we wait too long the $300 matching offer may disappear. There was a side discussion on purchasing LMR coax and its higher cost relative to more lossy options.
Tolt Dam drill planning: Tom, WA7TBP, reported the crew chief of Tolt Dam, tired of waiting on the Seattle Water Department for organization of a drill to test radio communications paths and wants to know what SnoVARC can provide radio-wise.
Request to purchase unused club tower: Jesse Brasch, W7JEB, requested the club consider selling him the unused 32-foot tower in covered storage at his father’s house for approximately six years. The club received it as a donation valued at $100 in 2011 but has never been able to put it to use. (Club Treasurer, Lindy, KG7IFA, researched paperwork for the donation subsequent to the meeting). Shawn, K7ATA, made the motion to sell the tower to Jesse. Paul, W7PFB, seconded the motion. The club voted to approve sale of the tower to Jesse contingent on the following steps: 1) Research a fair price 2) Make a formal offer to sell to Jesse 3) Jesse accepts or rejects the offer.
At that point the business portion of the meeting was adjourned for a short break before the Elmer session.
Elmer Session: Following the business meeting, Jim Meyers, W7ABD, helped the club understand how to get set up on WinLink using Winmor on 80 meters. His presentation included actual real-time set up and demonstration of how to send an email over radio for emergency and disaster preparedness.
Upcoming Events
April 14-15: Communications Academy, S Seattle Community College, Brockey Center and Olympic Hall. (At this time, only Sunday sign-ups are available. Saturday is full).
April 21 and 28: Technician class presented, Larry, N7ART, organizing. Location: Duvall Fire Station
April 23: “Stop the Bleed” class on Monday, April 23 at the Carnation Fire Station from 6:30-8:30.
May 3, 2018: SnoVARC meeting, Thursday, 7 p.m. Elmer session is Emergency Antenna/Handheld antennas presented by Ken W7ECK and Shawn, K7ATA
May 5, 2018: Traffic and Crowd Management class at the Carnation Fire Station from 8:30-12:30 AM.
May 9, 2018: CERT bi-monthly meeting, 7:00-9:00, Carnation Fire Station (Topics TBD)
June 7, 2018: SnoVARC meeting, Thursday, 7 p.m. Field Day preparation
July 5, 2018: Alternative sources of power for radio by Shawn, K7ATA
August 2, 2018: SnoVARC meeting, Thursday, 7 p.m Elmer session is directional antennas and foxhunt facilitated by Dan, KA7GPP
Minutes respectfully submitted by Robin Amundson, WA7CPA
