April 2017 Meeting Minutes
7:00 p.m. meeting called to order by Ralph Lease (KC7QXD), substituting for Tom (WA7TBP)
Leadership Announcements by Ralph were as follows:
w CERT will do a Carnation Walk-About on June 10, meeting at City Hall for an 8:45 a.m. briefing. An embedded ham will record observations for residential and public works items of note on provided forms. Ham relays information to Fire Station 85 via Winlink, if possible. An alternate method will be available. CERT/Hams should come dressed for drill.
w Quarterly CERT meeting will be at Carnation Library April 27 at 18:30 hours.
Secretary/Treasurer’s Report:
w Lindy (KG7IFA) was absent so there was no Treasurer’s Report given. Robin (WA7CPA) took meeting minutes substituting for Lindy. Robin announced she will be take the meeting notes, preparing them for submission to leadership going forward.
Committee & Task Force Report:
Repeaters:
w Shawn (K7ATA) and Ken (W7ECK) discussed some technical aspects of updating main repeater. Report from Ken is repeater work is 80% complete. The weekly Tech Net and KBARA net need to be added.
w Jim (W7ABD) gave an update on the Bell repeater regarding the power failure. The property owner took responsibility, saying it was a result of an unnoticed tripped GFI in the garage. The repeater went down hard. Jim is working on upgrading software so repeater can tell us when the battery dips below 12V. Everyone who needs keys has them.
w Discussion regarding location of club certificates at Carnation and the need for storing them in duplicate at a second location.
Emergency Planning and Mobilization Report by Ralph (KC7QXD)
w No report on the regional network, as Tom (WA7TBP) was absent.
w An EmComm meeting was held March 22, including Rowland, Tom, and Jim.
w Ralph circulated an Eye Warn brochure from Clark County, WA, suggesting it is a program SnoVarc may want to emulate to organize significant weather event reporting by local hams where they are located at the time. More info at http://www.w7aia.org/eyewarn.htm
w Ralph suggested sending new hams within a nearby geographical area an individualized letter inviting them to visit our meetings. Ken (W7ECK) suggested targeting North Bend up to Monroe because there are no clubs in those communities.
w CERT members whether or not club members need to be encouraged to check in to our net to give them radio practice.
w Rowland (K7RWB) reminded interested volunteer CERT members to fill out EOC application.
w It was noted Jim (W7ABD) is the Technical Liaison for the Emergency Planning and Mobilization Task Committee. He stated there should be a 6-month check-up schedule to make sure radios are working.
w Rowland mentioned a regional frequencies list.
w Discussion about 8900FT Yaesu just came in for the treatment plant. Rowland said existing Motorola radios do not hit the repeaters and are “anchors” difficult to program in an emergency. Goal should be replacing Motorola’s with all 8900’s.
w There was a tabled discussion regarding becoming an ARES group. It was mentioned that SnoVarc could be an ARES club with some, not all, participating. ARES has a command structure not all might appreciate.
Education & Community Outreach Report by Larry (N7ART)
w Larry (N7ART) has flyers for the Spring Ham Tech Class at Duvall Fire Station May 13, 20. Dan (KA7GPP), Rowland (K&RWB), Nancy (), and Dick (KF7QUA) previously volunteered to help teach sections.
w Larry (N7ART) purchased ten Baofeng-F8T handheld radios with a new chipset for a discount at Vetco. Plan is to sell them at cost, pre-programmed, for successful exam takers at the Spring Ham Tech Class. Shawn suggested advertising the pre-programmed radio offer in the class flyer. Discussed was good PR for club from offering radio along with free pizza during the classes.
Carnation space report by Paul (KG7STV):
w Paul (KG7STV), showed us the wire to be used for the loop. Rain delays progress. The computer in Carnation is now on the Internet using the club’s call sign. There is no HF radio set up there at this time.
Old Business-None
New Business:
w Ralph (KC7QXD) verbally announced upcoming events listed on the Agenda
w a new greeter role was discussed, first suggested on Facebook by Nancy (KI7EMC), (not present). Robin (WA7CPA) volunteered to write a proposal for submission to leadership in collaboration with Nancy (KI7EMC) for a process of successfully onboarding new members. Larry (NZART) and Debbi (K7DAC) volunteered to mail new ham invitation letters based on a monthly list of newly licensed hams in the geographic area.
w After discussion about other clubs offering free first-year memberships to drive club growth, a seconded motion to give new hams a 1-year free SnoVarc membership was unanimously passed.
w Tom (KG7BTU) reported on his drive-around to find Carnation dead zones.
w Rowland requested reports on frequency heard with time noted to assist FCC in getting the nasty spammer plaguing the entire Puget Sound repeater system off the air. Tom (KG7BTU) says he can provide recordings. There have been at least 60 complaints filed, getting FCC attention.
Renewal Memberships submitted to Secretary during meeting:
w Peter Haigh (KG7FFA), $20 check and form.
w Larry Backstrom (N7ART) and family member Debbi LerMond (K7DAC) $30 check and forms
Meeting was adjourned at 7:57 to enjoy the Elmer presentation by Dan (KA7GPP) on building portable fox hunt antennas and how to use them.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Robin Amundson (WA7CPA)
