[FARReps] FAR Meeting Minutes - Wednesday, April 12

[Al Brown]

Foundation for Amateur Radio, Inc.
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, April 12, 2006

The meeting was held at the Fire and Emergency Services Building in
Landover, Maryland.  President Mary Morris (N4TCI) called the
meeting to order at 8:05 pm.

Seven people attended and introduced themselves.

Chip Weems         W4PBG   Historical Electronics Museum ARC
Don Kirby          KR3A    Calvert ARA
William Hatfield   W3QX    Montgomery ARC
Mary Morris        N4TCI   Mt. Vernon ARC
Al Brown           KZ3AB   Maryland Emergency Phone Net and
                            Antietam Radio Association
John Chitwood      K3RGB   Acting Treasurer
Dan Blasberg       KA8YPY  Laurel ARC

-- Secretary's Report:

    - President and Acting Secretary for the March meeting Mary
      Morris, N4TCI, distributed the March meeting minutes.

    - The March minutes were approved with corrections.

-- Treasurer's Report

    - Acting Treasurer John Chitwood, K3RGB, presented the
      Treasurer's report.

-- Vice-President’s Report:

    - Vice President William Hatfield, W3QX, reported on our Web
      site. Thanks and a tip of the hat to Ed Herbrechtsmeier,
      K3QX, for the work he has done and Al Waller, K3THJ, for
      the use of his <qsl.net> web server.

      There was a discussion concerning the slow response time
      that sometimes is seen on the <qsl.net> server. We will
      keep a close eye on this in the future.

      The new domain name, <farweb.org>, has been registered and
      the new URL that should be used is <http://www.farweb.org>.
      All previously used URLs are now automatically linked to
      <farweb.org>.

    - The discussion about registering the phrase, "Investing in
      the future of amateur radio" was indefinitely tabled.

    - A discussion was started concerning the placement of
      advertising banners on the the FAR and FARFest web pages.
      The majority in attendance suggested that advertising
      banners should *not* be placed on the FAR home page,
      <http://www.farweb.org>, but may be added to the FARFest
      web site, <http://www.farfest.org>.

-- Scholarship Committee Report -

    - There was no one present from the Scholarship Committee to
      give a report.

-- ARRL Report

    - There was no ARRL report.


-- F.A.R. Fest

    - FARFest2006 will be Saturday, September 9 and Sunday,
      September 10 at the Montgomery County (MD) Agricultural
      Center (Fairgrounds) in Gaithersburg. Flyers, with a map
      on the reverse side, have been printed and are being
      distributed.

    - Volunteers are needed. Please contact Dan Blasberg at
      <KA8YPY at verizon.net> to volunteer.

    - Tables for member clubs will, again, be available at no
      cost.  *But,* clubs are to understand that they may be
      "bumped" in order to accommodate paying vendors at the
      discretion of the FARFest chairman.

    - A mailing including a set of FARFest flyers and two free
      admission tickets will be sent out to clubs in the area
      by mid-July.

    - The FARFest Committee is in need of a "Forums"
      chairperson. If you would like to volunteer, please
      contact Dan Blasberg at <KA8YPY at verizon.net>.

-- Old Business:

    - No progress has been made on the by-laws rewrite.

    - Dan Blasberg, KA8YPY, volunteered to contact World
      Radio magazine and cancel the AutoCall/FAR advertisement
      which has been running in the magazine.

-- New Business:

    - There was no new business.

-- Announcements:

    - Saturday, April 22 through Thursday, April 27 + National
      Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention in
      Las Vegas, NV.  Of note is the Amateur Radio Reception
      Party - Wednesday, April 26 at 6:00 pm in the Las Vegas
      Hilton hosted by Heil Sound

    - Sunday, May 7 + Great Hagerstown Hamfest. For info
      click on <http://www.w3cwc.org/HamFests.html>

    - Friday, May 19 through Sunday, May 21 + Dayton (OH)
      Hamvention. For info click on <http://hamvention.org/>

    - Sunday, June 4 + Manassas (VA) Hamfest. For info click
      on <http://www.w4ovh.net/>

    - Saturday, June 24 and Sunday, June 24 + ARRL Amateur
      Radio "Field Day." For info click on
      <http://www.arrl.org/contests/announcements/fd/>

    - Sunday, July 9 + BRATS Hamfest at the Howard County (MD)
      Fairgrounds. For info click on
      <http://www.bratsatv.org/hamfest.html>

    - Saturday, July 29 + ARRL Maryland State Convention
      sponsored by the Antietam Radio Association in
      Hagerstown.  For info click on
      <http://www.w3cwc.org/HamFests.html>

    - Saturday, September 9 and Sunday, September 10 +
      FARFest sponsored by the Foundation for Amateur Radio.
      For info click on <http://www.farfest.org>

    - For other hamfest information, go to
      <http://www.arrl-mdc.net/> and click on "Hamfests" in
      'links' bar at the top.


The meeting adjourned at 9:06 p.m.

The next Foundation for Amateur Radio meeting is scheduled
for Wednesday, May 10, 2006 at 8:00 pm at the Lee Center in
Alexandria, Virginia.

Everyone is invited to attend.

Respectfully submitted,


s/E. Allen Brown


E. Allen Brown, KZ3AB
Acting Secretary for the April Meeting