RARC Meeting Minutes – July 2008

The July meeting of the Rochester Amateur Radio Club was called to order by President KariAnn Wiles, KCØWIP, at 7:06 p.m., July 8th, 2008. at the RCTC Campus. There were 37 members present.

 

KariAnn began the round the room introductions.

 

Meeting Minutes:

The June 2008 meeting minutes were approved.

 

Treasurer's Report:  Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Checking $396.96
Savings $1485.80
CD @ 2.75% (note 1) $4354.41
Cash $20.00
----------
Total $6227.17

Transactions this period:
2008 Dues +$85.00
Interest +$0.01
IBM United Way +32.40
RAREXPO +50.00
RAREXPO -1421.72
Qwest -$16.33
RPU (3Q) -90.00
FD filter -42.90

Notes: 1 - CD is repeater reserve funds


Membership status:   108 club members  


Submitted by RARC Treasurer, Bob Hart, KCØGND.

 

  • Program – Stan AIØM
    • Stan is trying to line up a program on stealth radio for one of the next couple of meetings.
    • For this meeting's program, our guest epeaker, Ralph Bierbaum, NØAWN, from Shoreview, MN, will do a presentation on emergency preparedness.
    • For a future program we may have a session for new hams where some of the more experienced hams will share some of their experiences and discuss topics such as what radios to buy, and why. Perhaps for the September meeting we will have a demo night.

     

    Committee reports:

     

  • DX and Contests – Pat NØADQ reporting for Stew WØSHL
    • This coming weekend is the IARU HF World Championship Contest. It is a 24 hour contest starting at 7 a.m. Saturday. Scott KØMD will be running one of the headquarter stations on 80 meters.

     

  • ARES – Bob ABØBW
    • Bob is still working on what to do for drills this summer around the Rushford area.
    • Peter WØSA is buying a trailer that we will be able to use for emergency communications.

     

  • EOC – Steve WØSTV
    • Nothing new to report. Steve and Bob attended the airport emergency preparedness meeting. They are revamping their current program and plans due to future airport changes.
    • The current RARC EOC staff is Steve, Rob Richter, John Scott, and Eric Van Norman. Steve is looking for one more person to join the staff.

     

  • Med-ARES – Bob ABØBW
    • We want to get Med-ARES going again, and at least get together to test out the radios.
    • Bob has a listing of the simplex frequencies used for ARES and Med-ARES.

     

  • Public Service – John NØHZN
    • The Rochester Half Marathon will be held August 23rd. We are looking for volunteers to help.
    • The Centurion has not contacted us yet. That event is expected to take place in September.
    • Check the Event calendar on the web site for more public service dates and information.

     

  • Technical committee – Rob KCØFOW
    • The Techincal Committee did meet. They are still working on the 82 repeater.

     

  • Education – Bill NØNUV
    • Nothing new to report since school is out for the summer.
    • Schaeffer Academy School Roundup results: Last fall with WØMXW they had 644 total in 5 hours and ranked 8th. Last spring with WØSAA they had 432 total in one hour and ranked 17th.

     

  • Field Day – Dave KØVH and Pat NØADQ
    • Thanks to everyone who attended the Field Day activities this year.
    • Please patronize Subway, Famous Dave's, and Panera Bread. Thank the managers for their contributions to our Field Day event.
    • The Field Day article is on the web site. We are looking for more pictures.
    • Peter has an article on the web site on the pros and cons of QRP operating.
    • We are currently looking for volunteers for next year's Field Day.
    • Pat presented a summary report on the numbers for this year's Field Day. See the web site article for details.
      • We had 55 people attend, including 4 vistors.
      • We had 4288 points for QSOs: 1234 CW, 160 digital, and 1500 phone
      • We picked up 1390 bonus points this year.
      • The total looks to be 5678 points. Last year we had 5400 points.

     

  • RARExpo – RARExpo Committee Chairs
    • The Expo is coming together. Stan is booking the rooms.
    • We still need some door prizes for the main event. We are talking to AES to supply something. We also posted the event on their web site.
    • 5100 flyers have been mailed.
    • Flyers went to everyone that has attended hamfests in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.
    • Scott thanked the committee, and commented on the banquets, programs, and speakers that are lined up. See the RARExpo web site for the latest information.
    • We still need volunteers for various jobs. See Scott if you would like to volunteer to help at the expo.

     

    Old Business:

     

    • We still need a DOU between the RARC and Schaeffer Academy concerning the school station there. This needs to be completed for the September meeting. Scott KØMD will write the DOU.
    • There was some discussion about providing proxy voting. Daryl ACØID and Robert KØRDA reported that proxy voting could be feasible, but it would take a good deal of time and effort to accomplish it, and it may not even be practical or desirable. Other members then voiced concerns over providing proxy voting. The discussions ended with a motion to not provide proxy voting, and to remove it's mention from the club bylaws. The motion passed. Bob KCØGND will remove proxy voting from the club bylaws.

     

    New Business:

     

    • Bob KCØGND reported that College for Kids would like to see the RARC continue to make a donation this year. We have given a $300 donation to them the past several years. This year we do not have it in the budget. Some discussion took place on whether or not we could take that $300 from the money already allocated by club vote for education. A motion was made to donate $300 to College for Kids, and the Education Committee should finalize all expenses related to education and get those covered by the end of the calendar year. That gives the Education Committee adequate time to review all education related expenses, and for the club to vote on them before the end of the year. The motion was seconded, and voted on. Two opposed. The motion passed.
    •  

    • KariAnn KCØWIP announced that the August club meeting would be the annual club picnic to be held at Oxbow park. She asked for a person to volunteer to coordinate the event.

     

    The business meeting was adjourned at 8:18 p.m.

     

    Respectfully submitted, Daryl Mowrer, ACØID

     

     

    Program:

     

    The program was on emergency preparedness. The guest speaker was Ralph Bierbaum, NØAWN, from Shoreview, MN. Ralph shared some of his own experiences as an emergency communications expert, and provided plenty of useful tips on how to better provide emergency communications under many different situations and operating conditions.

     

    Return to Meetings Page



    Last update: September 1, 2008