RARC Meeting Minutes – October 2008

The October meeting of the Rochester Amateur Radio Club was called to order by President KariAnn Wiles, KCØWIP, at 7:05 p.m., October 14^th, 2008. at the RCTC Campus. There were 32 members present and 4 vistors.

KariAnn began the round the room introductions.

Meeting Minutes:

The September 2008 meeting minutes were approved.

Treasurer's Report:  Tuesday, October 14, 2008

• For this meeting's program, we will have a presentation from some members of the Minneapolis Youth Radio.
• Bob ABØBW will give an update on the Rushford drills that took place Saturday, October 4th.
• Jerry Nau will tell us about the College for Kids program that was held this last summer.

Committee reports:

• The ARRL School Club Roundup is being held October 20 - 24. Bill would like to have some volunteers help at the Schaffer school club. Please contact Bill if you are interested in helping with the School Club Roundup.
• Bob KCØGND asked about the status of the DOU between the Schaeffer School club and RARC. Scott KØMD reported that the DOU would be discussed at the next Schaeffer school board meeting. Scott will communicate the results to the RARC officers after the meeting.

• ARES badges expire the end of 2008. Bob brought a list of all 39 ARES members and began the process of taking pictures for next year's badges. Please contact Bob if you have questions about your ARES member status, or if you still need to get your 2009 ARES badge picture taken.

• Nothing reported.

• Nothing reported.

• The 82 repeater is still being repaired, and it's backup is still on-line.
• The 625 repeater now has a new message.
• The technical committee is looking for a good deal on a generator for the 82 repeater site. They are looking for a kilowatt generator with an inverter, and an engine that has bearings.

• The November program will most likely be a kit night. Contact Stan if you have some good ideas for kit night.

• Stan reported that the Expo was a great success. We received lots of compliments on it. Around 300 people attended the Expo, and the Expo made around $3600.
• Scott said close to 150 attended the contesting meetings, and close to 350 people attended the Expo. We received lots of positive feedback from the Minnesota Wireless Association and from others. We raised about $3000 for the California DX group and gave away nearly $5000 in door prizes.
• John reported on the financial results. We spent $12084, took in over $16000, which left us with roughly $3600. John suggested that we do an Expo again next year with possibly a different format. It would probably be just a one day event. There is still some question of whether a flea market is necessary. If we are going to do a 2009 Expo we need to get started on it now.
• Lots of lively discussion took place on what to do with the $3600 raised by the Expo, and exactly who the $3600 belongs to. The discussions leaned towards using the money to fund the next Expo. Ultimately the debate ended with a motion that the RARC support another Expo in 2009. The motion passed.

• The Frozen Goose Run event will be held again in February. John is looking for voluteers to help with the event.
• More 2009 public service event information will be posted on the club event calendar at a later date.

• Dave said that we need to start working on the 2009 Field Day event planning in October or November.
• Dave is looking for three or four members to help on the committee. Let Dave know if you would like to join the Field Day committee for 2009.

Old Business:

• As a result of a vote at the July club meeting, the Education Committee will 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.

 

• Steve WØSTV said that we need a generator for the 82 repeater. A generator should be purchased as club equipment. The Technical Committee will look at the options that are available.

 

• Robert KØRDA requested that the club look into purchasing some Byonics Micro-Trak All In One APRS portable tracker units that could be loaned out to people for events or for SKYWARN storm spotting. The Micro-Trak All In One unit is based on the TinyTrak3, and sells for $250 assembled. More information is available at the link http://www.byonics.com/microtrak/mtaio.php.

Robert reported that he applied for and received a $1000 grant from IBM to be used to purchase four of the Byonic Micro-Trak units!

New Business:

• KariAnn announced that she is forming the nominating committee for the 2009 club officers. She would like five volunteers to participate on the nominating committee. If you are interested, call or email KariAnn.

 

• The December club meeting will be the annual RARC Holiday Party. KariAnn asked for suggestions on places to meet for the event. The following list was tabulated, and during the break, some club members selected their preference:
  
  

  Location	Members selecting location
  O'Neill's Pizza Pub	10
  HuHot	0
  Fisherman's Inn	0
  Old Country Buffet	0
  Dos Amigos	2
  BB's Pizza	3
  Wile's house	2

 

• Jim Evans asked that the kit night held during the November program include a project on antenna building.

 

• Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) for Boy Scouts is being held this weekend, October 18th and 19th. See http://www.scout.org/en/information_events/events/jota for more information.

The business meeting was adjourned at 8:04 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, Daryl Mowrer, ACØID

Program:

The program featured three presentors. The first was Bob ABØBW. Bob presented his Rushford Drills Post Assessment which included a slideshow with pictures taken of the event in Rushford, and a report on what worked and what didn't during the drills.

The second presentation was given by Phil Brunson and two others from the Minnesota Youth Amateur Radio Council . They presented on what the MNYARC was and some of the challenges they face getting youth interested and involved in amateur radio.

The third presentation was given by Jerry Nau on College for Kids. Jerry described the classes he gives for College for Kids during the summer, and how the kids relate to the class. Jerry also thanked the club for donating $300 to the program this year, and brought in treats for the break to show his appreciation.

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