Meeting called to order at 7:39. Members in attendance: 14
Minutes from last meeting accepted by W1GIG and KC1FB.
Treasurer report: We’re in good shape! The bank is trying to charge us a fee for the account, but KC1FB is going to fight it with advice from K1FC.
Old Business:
American Legion Tribute to Veterans and Touch-a-Truck, headed by George, went really well! Demonstrations of police dogs, World War Two memorabilia and reenactors were some of the attractions. We had an HF station set up there and operated off battery power from 11 AM to 6:15 PM, so we did a great job. We’ve been invited back for next year. Civil air cadets and high school students were interested in our station, so we may have gotten a few new hams as well.
Bloomin’ Metric Charity Ride also went very well. There were lots of attendees and lots of hams helped out. We’re invited back next year. Great joint effort between GFARA, SARA and GNARC, which happens far too seldom.
Innovation Day at the Wilton Library – lots of people helped set up the antenna. A woman came by our booth and told us about how ham radio helped her family find her father during World War Two when he was taken as a prisoner of war. We may be able to get her to come and speak about her father’s experience to the club.
ConnJam: May 21st – a number of hams came and set up a booth. Many kids were able to send their names in CW over the air. Only one kid wasn’t able to send his name. Many of the kids were very interested in learning more about ham radio and CW in particular. Thanks very much to all the donors who pitched in with some money to support us at this event and who helped buy us keys! They are listed below.
WB2JBV, K1RF, N1ZZ, KB1YCL, K1FC, W1ZP, W1JFF, K1WYQ, W1GIG, N1ZD, KC1DHQ
New Business:
Wilton CERT class has 7 new hams, hopefully the remaining 3 will pass their test on Saturday and some will join the club.
We need a better portable antenna to set up – quick, simple and effective. MFJ’s Big Ear might be an option for $180. Tuned offset half-wave antenna, no antenna tuner needed provided you tune it to a particular band. If anyone has any ideas, let Sam or Dee know!
MS bike ride this coming Sunday – if anyone wants to volunteer, please let Sam know. The longest shift is 3 hours, or 2 2-hour shifts at rest stops. Two net controls, who will be Paul and Sam. Steve Simons has offered his antenna farm to help us communicate throughout the 102-mile course. Mike is attempting to get APRS on sag wagons’ operators’ phones so we can all beacon while we’re in motion.
Field Day 2015 will be at the Comms Center June 28-29! Hour blocks for operators and signup will be on the website. 20M, 15M &40M, 10M & 80M station, as well as VHF and GOTA. No committees for setup since we’re doing it here. All of the setup is currently being done by Hugo, Paul, Charles and Dee. Feel free to reach out and lend a hand, though. We need more antennas though!
Tim’s son in law is donating an outdoor Weber grill to the club. It will live outside the comms center chained to a tree. It needs a new igniter, but apart from that is ready to go. Thank you!
Lawn signs for Field Day are a go provided that we get permission from the city and property owners.
BYOH (bring your own headphones) for Field Day, and do all your own logging. George has offered his antennas for GOTA. Thank you George!
If you would like a tour/rundown of Field Day, please come out on Saturday morning (6/27) for a walkthrough!
We will tape up the band switches so nobody can change the bands of the rigs once they’re placed on the bands. Too many times damage has been caused by operators who change bands without consulting those in charge. There should be no reason for operators to change bands anyway, so don’t do it!
Meeting adjourned at 8:41.
