[K3PZN-List] June CCARC Minutes

[n3sb at qis.net]

Carroll County Amateur Radio Club
Meeting Minutes, 11 June 2007

President Rich Mitchell, N3III, called the meeting to order at 7:38 PM. Sixteen
members and one guest were present. 

Announcements:

The next CCARC meeting will be on Monday July 9 at the FTC.

The next BoD meeting will be on Wednesday June 20, 7:30 PM at the FTC.

The Frederick Father’s Day hamfest is this coming Sunday, June 17, in
Frederick.

>From the mailbag:

The club received a notice from the State of Maryland to renew our tax-exempt
purchase card. Tony KF3AK has already completed the form and returned it.

Secretary’s Report:

Steve N3SB published the secretary’s report to the club’s email reflector. The
report was accepted by the membership present. 

Treasurer’s Report:

Tony KF3AK provided the treasurer’s report, detailing current balances, income,
and expenses. Tony’s report was accepted by the membership present. 

Board of Directors Report:

Gene KB3JHR provided a brief report about the Board meeting. The primary topic
at the meeting was budget preparation.

Committee Reports:

Repeater Committee: Steve N3SB reported. The 147.285 repeater is being
coordinated through T-MARC.

DCS: Chuck N3TOT reported. The next committee meeting will be on Monday June 25,
7:30 PM at the FTC. The committee will review the Hurricane Zephyr after-action
report. 

Station Committee: Gene KB3JHR reported that he will try to get scrolling mice
for the computers prior to Field Day.

Membership: Bill N3WM reminded everyone that club memberships currently active
will extend through the end of 2008.

Digital Committee: John K3KWO plans to get the committee re-activated. 

Field Day: John W3JJH talked about plans for Field Day. Right now there’s a very
good chance we can enter in the 15F class, if we have enough operators at the
start of the event. We still need a Food Captain; otherwise it’s Chinese and
Pizza.

John displayed a very nice Index Labs QRP radio, which dedicated for the GOTA
Station. We have a sizable number of QRP radios already planned to support
operations. Our most critically needed resource is OPERATORS!

This year all the GOTA operators have to make at least 20 QSOs in order to earn
any contact points – a rule change from previous years. GOTA operators are
those who don’t get on the air much, or Technician class licenses that don’t
have HF privileges themselves.

This year’s Field Day will also have a GIOTA (Get It On The Air) station, an
invention of John W3JJH. The idea is to dig out the older QRP radios, the
simpler radios, the homebrew radios, or other equipment that might not normally
be called to duty in a contest, and have some fun with them. The point is
they’ll be fun to try!

Pat N8PK will be taking care of the Extra Points activities. He’s planning on
setting up APRS as the unique mode. He’ll be contacting others to secure as
many bonus points as possible. 

Old Business:

None

New Business:

Tony KF3AK presented the proposed FY2008 Budget. The budget was approved by the
membership present.

Other Topics:

Rich N3III has been building equipment that’s easy to operate by folks with
limited vision. His latest project is an audible antenna tuner kit. This
circuit, along with his Freq-Mite frequency readout unit, comprises what he is
now referring to as an SF (Senior Friendly) box. Rich demonstrated the antenna
tuner operation, which emits a tone as the tuner is adjusted – the tone is
lower in pitch for better antenna match. He then demonstrated the frequency
readout, which sends the receiver frequency in Morse code. 

Tony KF3AK has completed assembly of the controller and display sections in the
Club KX-1 Project. He demonstrated operation of the display and reading light.
Rich N3III will build the next section of the kit, and bring it back to the
club when it’s complete.

Closing notes:

The first door prize, a SoftRock Lite receiver was won by Steve N3SB. William
KB3GHE won the second prize, a Field Day shirt.

President Mitchell adjourned the meeting at 9.04 PM.

Respectfully submitted;
Steve N3SB
CCARC Secretary