RARC Club Meetings - 2000

RARC club meetings are held each month on the second Tuesday of the month at 7:00 p.m.. The meetings are at the American Red Cross Building, 310 14th Street SW.) Visitors are welcome.

RARC Meeting Minutes

Click on a month in the following table to go to the RARC meeting minutes.

2000

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Meeting Highlights - January, 2000

The January meeting of Rochester Amateur Radio Club was called to order at 7:00 PM by President Dave Peterson, K7CJO. Introductions were held with 35 members and 2 guests present.

Reports

• Secretary’s report by Bob, NØEST, was approved.
• Treasurer’s Report by Bob KCØGND was approved:

  Cash ­ $675.50
  Checking $430.94
  Savings ­ $398.32
  

• 501(c)3 - John NØHZN
  We did it! On 12/30/1999, the RARC was granted 501(c)3 status by the IRS. Thanks to everyone who helped out with the effort.
• Public Service ­ Pam KCØCJM - No Report.
• Technical Committee - Stew KCØZC - No Report
• Repeater Control Op ­ Roger WBØISF ­ No Report.
• ARES ­ Steve KBØPSS.
  Thanks to all who helped out with Y2K drill. ARES will be taking the rest of January off, and we’ll look at doing more in February. The Skywarn class for 2000 will be held at the end of March at Diggers in Kasson.
• Hamfest 2000 ­ John NØHZN
  Dealer letters have been sent (thanks to Rob KCØFOW). Radio City has donated $500 for an extra 2000 flyers. The biggest job now is getting the word out. We’re looking to promote the PC side was well. We will be folding 5000 at the February meeting, so help out if you can.
• Field Day ­ Pat NØADQ - No Report. (A bit to early to plan)
• Education ­ Mel KC0P
  There will be an over the air code class starting 1/13. It will meet Thursdays at 9 PM and Sundays at 8 PM. Will be using 146.58 Simplex. Will be going over 6 letters/week and shooting for a March 9 code test.

  Mel also reminded us of the VHF sweepstakes on 1/22/2000. Mel plans on doing some rover activity to help others get grid squares.

• Financial Status
  An overview of the club financial status was presented by Bob KCØGND. Bob presented the fact that the club will fall way short on cash this year unless drastic action is taken. We must increase revenue or reduce spending. Many ideas were put forth.

• Flyer Distribution
  A motion was made and carried to allow club members to receive the Flyer via the internet. The motion passed and we had about 20 folks sign up. We’d like to have 50% of the member sign up for this. ( If you are a currently paid up member and want to receive the Flyer online, just drop a note to n0est@arrl.net. You will be taken off the paper mailing)

Program

Excellent program by Mel KCØP and Neil WA5VLZ on the history of Amateur Radios. Lots of fantastic old time rigs from the 30’s on up to present day.

Submitted by Bob NØEST

Meeting Highlights - February, 2000

The February meeting of Rochester Amateur Radio Club was called to order at 7:00 PM by President Dave Peterson, K7CJO. Introductions were held with 30 members present

Reports

• Secretary’s report by Bob, NØEST, was approved.
• Treasurer’s Report by Bob KCØGND was approved:
  Cash ­ $20.50
  Checking $1551.88
  Savings ­ $398.71
  

• Public Service ­ Pam KCØCJM - No Report.
• Technical Committee - Stew KCØZC
• Repeater Control Op ­ Roger WBØISF ­ No Report.
• ARES ­ Steve KBØPSS.
  The St. Mary's / Mayo ARES program is gearing up. Dick Willis at Mayo is the contact. This will require special Ids and training to participate. Contact Steve if you are interested.

  Steve had a copy of the current ARES directory—members present were asked to verify information.

• Hamfest 2000 ­ John NØHZN - No Report
• Field Day ­ Pam NØADQ - No Report.
• Education ­ Mel KC0P
  There is a 10-15 member code class (Sun/Thurs) underway, with a target date of 3/9 for a code test.

Adjourned at 7:20 PM.

Program

We folded the Hamfest Flyers. A great effort by all! We addressed, tabbed, sorted, and bound 5000 in just over 1 hour. And it was fun too!

Submitted by Bob NØEST

Meeting Highlights - March, 2000

The March meeting of Rochester Amateur Radio Club was called to order at 7:00 PM by President Dave Peterson, K7CJO. Introductions were held with 36 members present, and 1 guest.

Reports

• Secretary’s report by Bob, NØEST, was approved.
• Treasurer’s Report by Bob KCØGND was approved:
  Cash ­ $180.50
  Checking $602.16
  Savings ­ $399.10
  
• Doug WAØVEZ announced that the program for April will be by Bob Dubke KØSIR. He’ll talk about the rules changes and how it affects us.

• Public Service - Pam KCØCJM
  Dave K7CJO read some notes from Pam, who was unable to attend. She is starting to organize for the summer schedule of events. The first one is the Med City Marathon on Sunday May 28th. We need at least 12 folks to help out. (See announcement elsewhere—Ed.)
• Technical Committee - Stew WØSHL
  Minutes not available at publication time. Look for them next month.
• Repeater Control Op ­ Roger WBØISF ­ No Report.
• ARES ­ Steve KBØPSS.
  
  • Mayo ARES—Steve is putting together the Final list. Sign up with him. This will require special training and Ids.
  • On April 29th, there will be an ARES drill in the Cresco IA area. It will feature APRS, Voice, Direction Finding and K9 SAR. Listen to upcoming Sunday Night Nets for more information.
  • K9 SAR was looking for Operators for the Saturday drill (following the club meeting). It will be at Chester Woods. Contact Steve if you want to participate.
• Hamfest 2000 ­ John NØHZN
  A quick report. Tables sales are doing OK. We’ll need help on the 7th and 8th from a lots of folks in order to make it a success. Talk up the Hamfest where you can and sell tickets!
• Field Day ­ Pat NØADQ
  Field Day 2000 will be the last weekend of June (24-25). This year we’ll be at Assisi Heights again. There have been a few rules changes. Pat went over some of them. He also noted that we can get 100 points for setting up an demo APRS or ATV station.
• Education ­ Mel KC0P—No Report
  

• There will be a special paper only test session on April 15 from 9-11 AM at the American Red Cross. This is to process any license upgrades that happened as a result of the recent rules changes.

• John NØHZN announced that the Olmsted EOC will start giving the RARC $1000 per year, to recognize the work that we do to support public service. A BIG thanks to Dave Carr WØEAS for making this happen!

• Gary Peterson NØZOD was presented with an award (issued in December) for being the outstanding Volunteer of the year.

Adjourned at 7:40 PM.

Program

Bob NØEST presented an overview of the new Kenwood Mobile, the TM-D700A. We also talked about various APRS related topics.

Submitted by Bob NØEST

Meeting Highlights - April, 2000

The April meeting of Rochester Amateur Radio Club was called to order at 7:00 PM by President Dave Peterson, K7CJO. Introductions were held with 29 members present, and 3 guests.

Reports

• Secretary’s report by Bob, NØEST, was approved.
• Treasurer’s Report by Bob KCØGND was approved:
  
  Cash ­ $45.50
  Checking $3908.33*
  Savings ­ $399.46
  
  *Still need to pay $1250 for Arena Rental
  
  Bob KCØGND made a presentation on the RARC financial picture and outlook.

• Programs
  Doug WAØVEZ announced that the program for May will be Jay Bellows, K0QB, ARRL Dakota Division Director.

• Public Service - Pam KCØCJM

  The spring public service events are about to begin. Here is a partial list (See Article elsewhere in the Flyer—Ed.)

  • Med City Marathon 5/28
  • Diabetes Bike a Thon 6/3
  • Rochester Fest Parade 6/23
  • Centurion Bike Race 7/8
  
  Contact Pam if you want to help out at any of these events. Pam had signup sheets at the meeting.

• Technical Committee Stew WØSHL

  We did not have a regular meeting this month. The committee did have a special meeting during the month to discuss the problems we were having with 820 repeater.

  The following activities were completed:

  • Tested for the static problem.
  • Took several readings on the repeater for future reference.
  • Replaced the cover and screws. (This seem to eliminate the static problem.)

  Members of the club were asked to watch and report any problems they experience.

• Repeater Control Op ­ Roger WBØISF ­ No Report.
• ARES ­ Steve KBØPSS.

  Steve gave a quick list of upcoming activities in April.

  April 11th: @ 3 PM Prep for “Tornado 2000” drill at the EOC
  April 12th: St. Mary’s ARES Meeting @5:30 PM
  April 19th: Tornado 2000 Planning Meeting
  April 20th: Tornado 2000 Drill—Contact Steve if you can help out.
  April 29th: Cresco IA Drill. Downed Aircraft, RDF, APRS… should be a lot of fun.
  

• Hamfest 2000 ­ John NØHZN

  Wow, what a Hamfest! We made $1752 !!! John thanked everyone that helped out.

  Dave K7CJO announced that John has resigned as RARC Hamfest chairman, and will take the new position of Fund Raising chairman.

• Field Day ­ Pam NØADQ—No Report

• Education ­ Mel KC0P—No Report

• VE Testing

  Bob Dubke KØSIR reported that during the Hamfest Test Session they had quite a crowd:

  9 Upgrades
  37 CSCE
  60 total exams! (WOW!)
  

Adjourned @ 7:45 PM

Program

• Bob Dubke KØSIR gave an overview of the license changes that will take effect on 4/15/2000.
• Dave Carr WØEAS gave a update on the changes at the EOC for Skywarn.

Submitted by Bob NØEST

Meeting Highlights - May, 2000

The May meeting of Rochester Amateur Radio Club was called to order at 7:00 PM by President Dave Peterson, K7CJO. Introductions were held with 30 members present.

Reports

• Secretary’s report by Bob, NØEST, was approved.
• Treasurer’s Report by Bob KCØGND was approved
• Doug WAØVEZ announced that the program for June will be a field day talk by Pat Cahill, NØADQ

Committee Reports

• Public Service - Pam KCØCJM

  The spring public service events are about to begin. Here is a partial list:

  Med City Marathon 5/28
  Diabetes Bike a Thon 6/3
  Rochester Fest Parade 6/23
  Centurion Bike Race 7/8
  

  Contact Pam if you want to help out at any of these events. Pam had signup sheets at the meeting.

• Technical Committee Stew WØSHL

  John NØHZN read the minutes, because WØSHL was absent (see eFlyer for the minutes)

• Repeater Control Op ­ Roger WBØISF ­- No Report.

• ARES ­ Steve KBØPSS
  • Steve gave a brief update on the Tornado 2000 drill on 4/18, and on the Cresco ARES drill held on 4/29.
  • Mayo ARES—badges are ready (Steve passed them out). Meeting on 5/17, Methodist Hospital, main entrance.
  • There will be a drill on 6/5 in Spring Valley. It will be a simulated tornado strike. Contact Steve if you are interested.
  • The 146.745 repeater will be used for SKYWARN this season, per request of WØEAS.

• Field Day ­ Mel KCØP

  Mel gave an overview of the planned field day setup for Jun 24/25. There will be 4 stations (HF Phone, CW, VHF Phone, and monitoring) Possibly some demos as well (APRS, SSTV). May have a PSK31/RTTY station if someone wants to set it up,

• Education ­ Mel KCØP—No Report

• Pam KCØCJM suggested that the club do another rummage sale in September as a fund raiser. Pam said that she would organize it. Pam will do some further investigation.

• Cliff KCØFOU mentioned that some Ham operators are need for an upcoming car rally. Contact Cliff for more details if you are interested.

Adjourned @ 7:35 PM

Submitted by Bob NØEST

Meeting Highlights - June, 2000

The June meeting of Rochester Amateur Radio Club was called to order at 7:00 PM by President Dave Peterson, K7CJO. Introductions were held with 35 members present, and 2 guests.

Reports

• Secretary’s report by Bob, NØEST, was approved.
• Treasurer’s Report by Bob KCØGND was approved:
  

  Checking: $1776.13
  Savings: $1400.62
  Cash: $35.00
  Total: $3211.75
  

• Doug WAØVEZ announced that the program for July will be a tour of KTTC. Doug also suggested that the August program be a tour of the Mayo 1 communications center. Dave K7CJO reminded us that the August meeting will have to be offsite, because the building is not available. After some discussion, it was decided to have a picnic for August meeting, and move the Mayo 1 tour to September.

• Public Service - Pam KCØCJM

  John NØHZN gave the report for Pam. 2 events are left in the summer schedule:

  6/23—Rochesterfest parade
  7/8—Centurion Bike Race
  

  Contact John NØHZN if you can help out.

• Technical Committee - Stew WØSHL

  See minutes elsewhere in eFlyer.

• Repeater Control Op ­ Roger WBØISF ­- No Report.

• ARES ­ Steve KBØPSS
  • Thanks to all that helped out at the recent Spring Valley floods.
  • Mayo ARES—now has 21 members. There is another training session 6/21, St Marys, west end.
  • If anyone has comments on the 6/5 Spring Valley drill, send them to Steve.
  • They are looking for a HAM to sit in the IEMS van during the Rochesterfest street dance. Let Steve know if you can help out.

• Education ­ Mel KCØP—No Report

• John NØHZN suggested that the club go looking for funding for APRS trackers that could be used by members at public service and SKYWARN events. Bob N0EST will draw up a list of equipment needed for these trackers. John will investigate funding.

• Bob KCØGND suggested that the club create a new award for “Ham of the Year”. He presented the proposed criteria. The club will think about it and vote on it at a future meeting.

Program

Talk about the Field Day 2000 setup by Pat NØADQ.

Submitted by Bob NØEST

Meeting Highlights - July, 2000

The business meeting was abbreviated to accommodate the tour of the KTTC television facilities.

The following brief reports were given:

• Field Day summary by Pat NØADQ.
• Public service summary by John NØHZN.
• ARES activity summary by Steve KBØPSS.

The business meeting was adjourned and the club members went on a tour of the KTTC studios.

Meeting Minutes - September, 2000

The September meeting of Rochester Amateur Radio Club was called to order at 8:00 PM by President Dave Peterson, K7CJO. Introductions were held with 27 members present

Reports

• Secretary’s report by Bob, NØEST, was missing. No minutes from the July meeting (lost), and no meeting was held in August.
• Treasurer’s Report by Bob KCØGND was approved:
  Cash ­ $20.00
  Checking $1104.17
  Savings ­ $1404.46
  

• Public Service - Pam KCØCJM—No Report.
• Technical Committee -- Stew WØSHL —John N0HZN gave the report (see minutes elsewhere in the Flyer).
• Repeater Control Op ­ Roger WBØISF ­ No Report.
• ARES ­ Steve KBØPSS.
  • Reminder for all ARES members to check in on the Sunday Night Net as often as possible
  • Some discussion on the use of a 100Hz tone on the 146.82 during ARES events if needed. There was also talk of using 136.5 tone instead. More discussion to follow.
  • We need to do more training on regular packet operation. Steve will mail latest ARESPACK program to members so they will have a copy.
  • There will be a drill on 9/16 at the Airport. This will be a simulate air crash. ARES members will act as shadows to the drill officials. Steve had a list of members who will help out.
  • There is a SET drill coming in October. We may try to use APRS messaging—more info will be coming.
  • Steve also had handouts of various ARES related material.
• Education ­ Mel KC0P—No Report

• Dave K7CJO announced the RARC was presented a Partner Award by the American Red Cross for all the work the club has done for the Red Cross.
• Bob KCØGND went over his proposal for a new award—”Ham of the Year” - see details of this in the Flyer. We’ll be discussing it at a future meeting.
• John NØHZN reminded us that we need to decide on the future of the Hamfest. This needs to be decided soon, as prep work begins in November. We will discuss this at the October meeting and vote.
• Bob KCØGND also did a short presentation on the 2001 budget. So far it looks like we will be ok in 2001 and not have to raise the dues, if we keep thesame number of members (hopefully go up!).
• Reminder of the Skywarn banquet in November (see letter from Dave W0EAS elsewhere)

Adjourned @ 9 PM

Program

The program for the meeting occurred before the meeting itself. Doug WAØVEZ inflated a hot air balloon and answered questions on it’s use and operation. A great Show!!

(See Hot Air Ballooning page -- Webmaster)

Submitted by Bob NØEST

Meeting Minutes - October, 2000

The October meeting of Rochester Amateur Radio Club was called to order at 7:00 PM by President Dave Peterson, K7CJO. Introductions were held with 20 members present.

Reports

• Secretary’s report by Bob, NØEST, was approved.
• Treasurer’s Report by Bob KCØGND was approved:
  Cash ­ $45.00
  Checking $1405.81
  Savings ­ $773.18
  

• Public Service Pam KCØCJM—No Report (Pam was Absent)
• Technical Committee Stew WØSHL— (see minutes elsewhere in the Flyer)
  . Joe KB0RZW asked about the problem with noise on the 146.82 repeater. So far no problem has been found, we will continue to monitor.
• Repeater Control Op­ Roger WBØISF ­ No Report.
• ARES Steve KBØPSS.
  • The NWS will be trying to join the Sunday Night, some of the time.
  • Steve has been broadcasting the ARRL Audio news following the net—this will continue
  • There will be a Mayo ARES drill later in October. Date to be set later—listen on the Sunday Net.
  • Gary NØZOD talked about the DEM activities this year. We lucked out and there were no fires this year.
• Education Mel KCØP—No Report

New Business

• John NØHZN and Dave K7CJO will be talking a class on writing grants - this will help the RARC get funds form various community groups.
• Pat NØADQ talked about JOTA. It looks like we won’t be doing one this year.
• Pat NØADQ also mentioned that 6 students are in the class Mel and Pat are teaching. He also asked about interest in another over the air code class.
• John KØKTY gave some statistics for the RARC web page:
  For 9/2000, 1390 hits (46/day). 1/3 of the hits were to the main page. Most hits were to: 1) Members Page, 2) Links Page, 3) Flyer, 4) Classes, and 5) Scanner Frequencies.
• John KØKTY and John NØHZN gave a presentation on the outlook for the 2001 Hamfest. Basically, income has been flat, attendance is declining. The outlook is for more of the same.

  Long discussion on whether or not to continue the Hamfest.

  A motion was then made and seconded to discontinue the Hamfest in it’s present form. This was passed—the RARC Hamfest is no more—we had a good run (23 years).

  Some discussion on alternative Hamfests—like tailgate swap fests. This was deferred to a future meeting.

• John NØHZN is collecting nominations for officers for the November meeting. If you are interested in a position as a club officer, please contact John Scott NØHZN.

John Scott NØHZN gave a talk on the proper operation of the 146.82 repeater, the autopatch and the remote base.

Submitted by Bob NØEST

Meeting Minutes - November, 2000

The November meeting of Rochester Amateur Radio Club was called to order at 7:00 PM by President Dave Peterson, K7CJO. Introductions were held with 25 members present.

Reports

• Secretary's report by Bob, NØEST, was approved.
• Treasurer's Report by Bob KCØGND was approved:
  Cash - $45.00
  Checking $1407.13
  Savings - $704.55
  

• Public Service - No Report
• Technical Committee - Stew WØSHL-- Stew was absent.
  John N0HZN reported that the committee did not meetthis month due to scheduling conflicts.
  Cable for the 146.82 repeater is *still* on order.
• Repeater Control Op - Roger WBØISF - No Report.
• ARES - Steve KBØPSS.
  • It has been suggested that the Sunday Night Net, which is a 7:30 PM during the winter, move to a permanent time of 9PM. Steve asked for a show of hands and most folks thought this was a good idea. It will be discussed on upcoming nets and a date will be announced (It's moving to 9 PM on 12/3/2000--Ed)
  • There will be a Mayo ARES drill on 11/28. All ARES members are invited to participate.
  • There will be a IEMS committee meeting on 11/21 at Fire Station #1 They will be discussing Airport Disaster Drill planning.
  • There will be a "gator" hunt after the 11/19 net. This is a variation of a "fox" hunt. We'll be using the input of the 146.625 repeater (146.025)
• Education - Mel KC0P--No Report

• Dave K7CJO announced that Peggy KC0GNE will be the new Public Service Chair for 2001.
• John N0HZN says he is still working on 501C3 funding sources. We need to work on "selling" the club to various organizations.
• John K0KTY gave an update on the RARC Web page: Hamfest Page (announcing the end of the Hamfest) had the most hits. Other pages with a lot of hits: Note from Todd Shea, Public Service Frequencies. John also noted that a picture taken by KC0IDR (which is on the web page) is in this month's QST.
• John K0KTY also talked about upcoming activities to find out more about the interests of the club members. Starting in Mid January, we will start holding "focus" sessions with small groups of club members. What are you interested in? Where do you want the club to go?
• John N0HZN commented that the attendance at Hamfest MN was way down, and that Midwinter Madness is being scaled back too.
• Steve KB0PSS was asked is anything had come of his Repeater Link investigation. Looks like he has reached a dead end and will drop it for now.
• Dave K7CJO asked if we should have a Pizza Party for December. A big yes from everyone. Maybe move the meeting to Godfathers Pizza--Dave will investigate.

Program

Doug Schmidt WA0VEZ, showed a video tape of his recent trip to the Albuquerque Balloon Festival. It looks like a great event (even though the weather could have been better). (See hot air balloon festival page.)

Submitted by Bob NØEST

Meeting Minutes - December, 2000

The December meeting was called to order at 7PM by Dave K7CJ0. No roll was taken, estimate 20-30 members plus family were present.

Reports

• Secretary’s report by Bob NØEST was approved.
• Treasurer’s report by Bob KCØGND was approved.
  Cash - $70.00
  Checking - $674.49
  Savings - $1408.52
  

• Technical Committee
  John N0HZN reported that the 82 repeater will have to be taken down and sent in for repair to figure out what’s wrong with the modem. This will take it off the air for several weeks. An announcement will be placed on it for a week or so before it’s taken off sometime after the first of the year.

• President Service Awards

  Dave K7CJ0 presented several Awards for service:

  • Bob NØEST for bringing the Flyer into the electronic age and driving down costs.
  • Bob KCØGND for budget work
  • Steve, KBØPSS for ARES support in the Mayo Clinic.
  • John, KØKTY for moving RARC web site to new url.

• 2001 Officer Elections

  John NØHZN reported as of this meeting, we had the following candidates:

  • President - Dave Peterson K7CJ0
  • Vice President - None
  • Secretary/Newsletter - None
  • Treasurer - Bob KC0GND
  After some discussion vote was taken and the officers were elected as follows:
  • President - Dave K7CJ0
  • Vice President - John NØHZN
  • Secretary - Stew WØSHL
  • Treasurer - Bob KCØGND
  • Flyer Editor - Pam KCØCJM

Meeting was adjourned at 7:20PM

Program
: We all had Pizza!