GNARC 9-11-2024 Meeting Minutes.

Westport Library.
Meeting was called to order by Hugo – AA1XV at 7:35 PM.

Attending:
Steve W1SMS, Paul W1PPL, David N1DPD treasurer, Hugo AA1XV president, Jim KC1FB, Martin K1MGD vice president, Tom KB1FBX vice president.

The meeting notes of the last meeting were approved.

Old Business:

Don Hudson SK. Estate donated equipment to club and family, in addition donated funds.

Treasurer’s report. The picnic cost, approximately $800, the club sec. is unsure if the gift card to the party host, is included in the $800.

Discussed at meeting: Christmas party, various options reviewed.

The repeater at the hospital is to be inspected, visit to be announced.

Club trailer at FD has to be moved. Perhaps to Fairfield Ave FD. Trailer contents to be cataloged.

Mike N1PLH is believed to have some club equipment at his house.

Hugo would like to sell extra “stuff” at Oct 13 Nutmeg Ham show. He could use another ham to attend show and help with tag sale area.

Next meeting Oct. 8,2024 at Westport Library 7:30 PM.

Submitted by Tom R. KB1FBX

We’ve been closely monitoring the weather forecast over the past few days, and the chances of rain are high, with a 50/50 chance of getting wet and sticky. As a result, we’ve decided to postpone the picnic to next Sunday, August 25, at 1 PM.

If you’d like to update your attendance, side dishes, or the number of guests in your party, please let us know by using the link you were originally sent or by email.

No need to reconfirm or take any further action if your plans remain the same.

We hope to see you all there for a sunny and pleasant afternoon on Sunday, August 25, at 1 PM.

Best regards,

Hugo W. Catta – AA1XV
President, Greater Norwalk Amateur Radio Corporation

July 17, 2024.

Westport Library
The meeting was called to order by Hugo – AA1XV at 7:35PM.

Attendance:
N1DPD, treasurer; K1MGD, vice president; AA1XV, president; W1PPL, WG1HM, K1WYQ, W1SMS, K1ARF.

Treasurer’s Report:
The club is solvent. Sixty two paying members reported so far this year. Treasurer presented expenses for the new repeater and accessories.

Previous meeting minutes:
Held on June 12 were reviewed and two corrections approved:
– Typo:  W1DPD, should read: N1DPD.
– Under new business, it should be noted that Jon, AI1V, took over as the permanent webmaster, not temporary. There was a misinterpretation by the board.
After these corrections, the minutes were approved.

Old Business:
A progress report on the new 2M repeater was presented by Steve, W1SMS and Paul, W1PPL. In the next weeks, The new Yaesu Fusion repeater and antenna will be field tested. A controller provided by AI1V will be incorporated into the system.

New Business:
A few words were expressed by several members on the passing of Don Hudson, KA1TZR, his long time work and influence in the life of GNARC. Marty K1MGD will provide Don’s information to the ARRL in order to include him in the Silent Keys section of QST.

N1DPD, K1RF and K1MGD commented on the Field Day participation at the Westport Astronomical Society, this year.

The ARRL grants offered to clubs were discussed. There will be no action taken.

Announcement:
This year, like in the past, many will gather for the summer picnic. To that end, we will be contacting the generous member who has lent the house and their time for us to enjoy this tradition. It will be on August 18th and we will provide the time and location very soon.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM by AA1XV, who is submitting these minutes.

Hugo W. Catta – President
Greater Norwalk Amateur Radio Corporation

Monthly Members Meeting
June 12, 2024 – Meeting Minutes

This month we were unable to secure a room at the Comstock Center of Wilton. A virtual meeting was held.

Called to order by the president, Hugo AA1XV, at 1930 hours.

Attending: Officer members – Hugo AA1XV, President; Dave N1DPD, Treasurer. Other members and guests in attendance: Pete, KC1PWH; Paul, W1PPL; Jon, AI1V; Toy, K1WYQ; Steve, W1SMS; Dan (callsign?); Jim, KC1FB; Steve, K1RF; Johnny,W1DYN; Andre,W2ART.

Treasurer’s report: Our club is solvent. No changes since last meeting. No new paid members nor new expenses.

Committee Reports:A committee previously appointed on the matter of club assets, credentials, and technological evaluation of the repeaters and GNARC licenses and coordination, integrated by Steve W1SMS, Paul W1PPL, and Peter KC1PWH, presented a report on the current state of GNARC’s repeaters. This is a first step towards ensuring continuous availability of VHF communication by creating enough redundancy to address power loss, hardware failure, site inaccessibility, or any other unforeseen situation.

Peter KC1PWH put forward a motion for the Board of Directors (B.O.D.) to consider, and if adopted, authorize the expenditure of funds to cover the purchase of a new Yaesu Fusion repeater, a new collinear antenna, and other necessary hardware complemented with donated material to be installed at the Norwalk Hospital.

Subsequent steps for the broader scope of this committee will include:

• Installing an Echolink node
• Securing access to the current 2-meter repeater site
• Creating necessary maintenance documentation
• Ensuring rights to access the locations of the equipment
• Assuring the club’s rights over these locations.

Old Business:

Johnny, W1DYN, and Dave, W1DPD, provided a brief overview of the Bloomin Metric Bike race held this past month. Firstly, there were no injuries or accidents among the participants. However, it was noted that some areas on the route do not have reliable cell phone coverage, highlighting the convenience and reliability of radio communications to support the event.

New Business:

Toy, K1WYQ, expressed concern about the gnarc.org website. His concerns included outdated information and the vulnerability of membership email addresses to spam and exploitation by malicious actors. In this vein, I’d like to ask again for help: We’d like to have a permanent webmaster or someone willing to take care of our webpage on a more permanent basis.” Jon, AI1V, stepped in to help when Paul, W1IP, stepped down as webmaster after many years of dedicated service, for which we are very grateful. We are looking for volunteers who can dedicate a few hours a month to keep the website current and secure. If you are interested, please step forward and let us know.

Announcements:

This June 22 and 23 is the annual ARRL Field Day. GNARC will not participate as a club, but some members will join the event at the Westport Astronomical Society, collaborating with two other clubs. Setup will be on Friday, June 21st. If you want to reserve an operation slot, please visit: Field Day Signup Form.

The meeting was adjourned at 2100 hours.

We will be holding a VE session on Saturday August 17 at 10am at the
Norwalk Public Library
One Belden Ave
Norwalk CT 06850

VEs needed

We passed four (4) new Technician class hams at our session on May 11

Steve K1RF gave a very interesting presentation of the design and building of 80-10 meter delta loops. Please click here to view. Thank you Steve.