Minutes of the Mid-MO Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Jefferson City, MO Meeting of: March 12, 2009 Called to order by: President Mike Miller (WAØZOG) In attendance: AF6GT, K9ZTV, KC7ARR, KAØZIY, KCØLZG, KCØUZA, KDØAJF, KDØBPP, KDØDAM, KDØDDY, KDØFAS, KDØGRM, KDØGRV, KDØGRY, KDØGRZ, KDØY, KIØY, KMØS, NØBIV, NØDIL, NØKSF, NØQOI, NØTKN, NØTWR, NØVAU, NØZH, NMØX, W4RK, WA2KBZ, WAØZOG, WBØAQV, WBØKXP, WBØPZR, WBØS, Christa Brooks, Jacob Williams, Paul Williams Previous Meeting Minutes (presented & approved): Secretary-Treasurer’s Report: Current Bank Balance: $7,048.16 The new MMARC Membership form was uploaded to the website, but the fill-in .pdf form is very large. Another fill-in form in MS Word will be investigated and if that causes problems, non fill-in forms in both Word and .pdf will be used instead. The forms will continue to be available at each meeting. The forms can be mailed to the Secretary-Treasurer or turned in to an officer at a club meeting or event. Old business 2-meter net report: Feb 18 WØESE No report Feb 25 KAØI 16 Mar 4 W4RK 16 (w/ 1 on emergency power) Mar 11 W4RK 20 2-meter net controllers: Mar 18 WA2KBZ Mar 25 KAØI Apr 1 NØZH Apr 8 NØKSF 2-meter Repeater report: No changes from last month although the warmer weather is helping the situation. Digipeater report: NØSS has located a replacement radio. NØKSF currently has it and testing is being done. Missouri Emergency Packet Network (MEPN): Channel 2 is still on the air. However, Roger Volk, KØGOB, has successfully connected to the Centralia node from St. Louis. Emergency Coordinator's report: NØVAU reported online courses for Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 emergency communications classes are available. Examiners are needed in this area. Four to five people have already applied to be examiners. No changes in the antenna situation at the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) were noted. CW Class: The Slow Speed class is continuing. There are currently about 6-7 students each week. Everyone is having fun. New students are still welcome to attend. This class meets after breakfast at 9am. The Advanced Class is continuing as well with participants also having fun and sometimes actually work on code practice. This class meets before breakfast at 6:45am. Both classes meet every Saturday morning at Mel’s Country Café. Department of Health & Senior Services (DHSS) Class: The class has finished and the following testing session yielded 15 new licenses including 2 new Generals. Storm Spotting Class: Several members attended the various classes NØVAU has three Skywarn bumper stickers for certified storm spotters available for $5 each. Mayor’s Run for Reading: Nothing new to report. Event will be held on Saturday, April 25th from 8am to 10am. Training Committee: KMØS reported that the first Training Committee meeting was held during the Chili Cook-off. The General upgrade classes will begin to meet on Thursday nights beginning March 26th. Sessions will continue through the end of May with the exception of club meeting nights. The start times will be somewhere between 6:30 to 7:00PM with a firm start time to be determined. The location for the classes will be at the Department of Health, 930 Wildwood Drive, Jefferson City, MO 65109 in the Maple Conference Room. Expenses involved will be the purchase of the General Class License Manual ($19), General Class Q&A Manual ($14), or both for $33. Also, the cost to take the exam will be $15 payable at the testing session. Currently about a dozen people are confirmed to take the course with another 6-10 people interested. The classes will consist of 9 sessions lasting roughly 2 to 2-1/2 hours each. Of the 9 sessions, one will be a review/practice exam session, and the actual exam session. In addition to these, there will be a couple Saturday hands on sessions lasting a couple hours. NØSS sent out an email asking for instructors and got a couple responses. If anyone else would like to assist, please contact KMØS via email at km0s@earthlink.net. Classes to upgrade to Extra will be planned for later this Fall after school begins. Also, plans for another VE instructor class next Spring will be discussed in the future. Chili Cook-off: The 9th Annual MMARC Chili Cook-off was a big success with lots of members in attendance. Several new members were able to take a tour of Tom’s shack. New business Donations: WA2KBZ brought in a few items consisting of a couple soldering irons, QST magazines, and a transistor handbook to be donated to anyone interested. VE Program: WBØS reported that since he took over as VE liaison, the number of VE’s in the club has gone from around 15 to 23. More VE’s are always welcome. As a thank-you to our members who serve as VE’s, Jack noted that the ARRL has VE patches for sale at $5 each and suggested that the club think about purchasing patches for these individuals. NØTKN moved that the club purchase 30 patches for this purpose and K9ZTV seconded. Motion carried. WBØS also suggested that a section in the meeting be set aside for a monthly VE Program Report so everyone is kept informed of any updates and the idea was well received. Field Day: Field Day will be held on June 27th and 28th. NØVAU reported that two vehicles have been reserved and are currently awaiting confirmation. The next item is staffing. Anyone who would like to be a captain of a station (SSB, CW, GOTA, VHF, and possibly Digital) please let Mark know. The captain of a particular station will be responsible for scheduling operators, setting up the station, overseeing operations, etc. Announcements: Please keep Dave Bagge in your prayers after he suffered a 35’ fall from a climbing wall. Also please keep Karl Schulte in your prayers for suffering a couple of heart attacks. The club wishes both of these individuals back to good health very soon! AF6GT showed a copy of Scientific American which published an article on the world’s smallest radio. KDØGRY expressed interest in finding some HF operating equipment. Christa Brooks is also looking for equipment. NØSS still has some equipment available from an estate sale. Presentation: None Respectfully submitted: Mark Eberle (KIØY), Secretary-Treasurer. Visit the MMARC web page at: http://www.mmccs.com/mmarc ?? ?? ?? ??