General Meeting Minutes of Lake Amateur Radio Association October 21, 2017
Meeting was called to order by Vice President W4ALRat 10:00 AM
Club recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
Introduction of members and guests:
Monthly Service Honor Roll: Dean KM4QMB ournew yard bird keeps the grounds looking nice.
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS:
1st reading.Steve, AC4KN
2nd reading. None
TREASURER’S REPORT:Was posted on the wall. Motion submitted for acceptance of the report, seconded and accepted. The following balances were reported for September 2017, Sun Trust checking$1,087.97;Sun Trust Savings,$1,001.32;SKFund, $1,796.44;Investment Account, $17,863.82;Petty Cash, $20.00;Pay Pal, $82.08
SECRETARY’S REPORT:Was posted on the wall as well as emailed to all members; Motion submitted for acceptance of the report, seconded and accepted.
ENGINEERS REPORT:See attached from Fred, NF2F. Gordon, W9KC reported that there might be some static on the N4FLA 147.255 repeater at times; also a carrier comes on goes at times on the input.
ARES: W4ALR- The net operates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on N4FLA, 147.255 at 7:00 PM, and Packet on 145.01. All are welcome to join us. As always more volunteers are needed for the shelters. See John WB4HV for details on being vetted by the county.Radios in the trailer will be upgraded by the county in the near future. Reminder of simplex net on the 3rd. Monday of the month on 147.420 MHz. Al W4ALR reported that we had a good showing at the shelters during hurricane Irma. Biggest problem was relief operators and we are looking for more help in the ARES program. Strait, KT4YA reported working the simplex net from Sugar Loaf Mtn. and had a good turnout with 26 check-ins.Al W4ALR, reminded everyone to be aware of the ARES frequency plan, and to have those programmed in your radio. This can be obtained on K4FC.org. Gordon W9KC would like to hold an “After Action” plan soon with ICS-100. Further info on this will be coming via the reflector. Strait KT4YA reported that he was stepping down from his position of NFL SEC.
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE: Don K3DRS. Don reports that 667service hours were recorded forSeptember 2017. 3361hours have been recorded for the year 2017. Don again reminded everyone to keep track and report their hours of club activity so it can be reported to the county HR department. Once your total hours reaches 150 for the year, you are invited to receive a citation from the Lake County Commissioners. Only those members that have taken the required Incident Command System courses and have been vetted by Lake County, and receives a badge, have their volunteer service hours recorded. See John WB4HV for an application. Sometime in the future we will have a class on the ICS100 200 and 700 tests.
SKCommittee- John WB4HV advised members that stickers are available to put on your equipment in case you become a silent key.
New equipment is available and can be seen by going to the website k4fc.org. SK will have a table at the tailgate.
QCWA - The QCWA calls a net every Tuesday evening at 7:30 PM on the 147.000 repeater. The net also utilizes Echolink,K4FC-R, for their members to be included in the net. QCWA. Luncheon is at 11:30am today at the Olive Garden in Leesburg. Mike K9SSL reported that he has been elected a Director of QCWA.5 of our members are currently on the QCWA cruise. Today we are in St. Johns, Antigua.
DX and CONTESTING:
You can find the current contests by looking at the ARRL website/contests
Does anyone have any recent DX contacts of interest?15 Meters has been opening.
OLD BUSINESS:
The LARA Monthly Lunch is set for the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 11:00 AM time in the meeting room of the Golden Corral Highway 441, Eustis. 14 were at this month’s luncheon.
CLUB APPAREL- Any questions please see Frank KK4MBX - we now also have a T-shirt vendor separate from Striking Effects. Frank will take orders for new T-shirts
IRLP - The IRLP station (NODE) is on the air.Reminder that there is a Tech net every Tuesday at 8:00pm on the 9050 reflector.
WEBSITE -As always if you have questions regarding the K4FC.org website, please contact me or any other board member.Ed N4ZIV is the webmaster.
STORAGE CONTAINER –Roof repair to be scheduled possibly in January.
SARNET: A new node for the SARnet system is in the Clermont area.That frequency is 444.975 + 103.5. The repeater is on the air now. The repeater is now linked to the SARnet Statewide system yet.The SARnet had heavy traffic during the hurricane, especially farther south.
TAILGATE- 1st Saturday in November. Dave, NP2MR and Frank KK4MBX, will co-chair the event this year. It will be held again at the Institute of Public Safety in Tavares. More information can be found on our Facebook page and K4FC.org Gate open at 6:30am for sellers and 7:30am for buyers.
NEW BUSINESS:
The 40/80 meter dipole antenna that came down during IRMA is back up.
The backup generator did not start due to a dead battery during a commercial power failure during Hurricane IRMA. A new battery was purchased and a battery charger. The generator is scheduled now to exercise itself Friday mornings at 10:00 AM
We purchased a newer and better camera surveillance system. Wehave received delivery of the equipment and Gordon W9KC, Fred NF2F and Jay N4KXOhave been working on getting it all set up. IRMA slowed down the project a bit.Recently we had a DVR failure with the camera surveillance system. Fred NF2F is working on a warranty replacement.
The KJ4TJD DSTAR repeater is back on the air.
Our communications trailer is in Umatilla in support of JOTA for the BSA group there. NF2F and Bill KN4BIT will be manning the trailer after today's meeting. Any other members wanting to help are welcomed.
Steve KT4Q is giving a presentation this weekend at the Graceway Church on Radio Road in support of JOTA for the Scout group sponsored by that church. (Pending)
Per our bylaws Article VII - Any qualified member that would like to run for any office should notify the Secretary () prior to the November meeting. At this point all the present incumbents are running for their current positions. One exception is Strait KT4YA who is stepping down from his Directors position. Nominations from the floor will be taken during the November meeting. Nominations will not be accepted after the November meeting. The LARA election will be during the December meeting Saturday December 9th. Historically the December meeting is moved up one week because of the Christmas holidays.
The annual LARA Christmas dinner will be Friday December 8th. As in the past the dinner will be held in the Lakes of Mount Dora Clubhouse. By board action, the dinner will not be subsidized by the LARA Treasury this year. Costs for the dinner this year will be $18.00 for turkey and $22.00 for prime rib. And as always the dinner will be catered.
The LARA board is looking into several fund raising projects. Your input is always welcomed. Contact any board member with your ideas.
I'd like to replace two of these office style chairs. If you have one you'd like to donate, we'd be happy to accept it. If not, we will have to purchase them.
SUNSHINE REPORT: Carl K8BBT reported that Garret, a former member, wife passed away.
Does anyone have anything for the good of the order?
A by law wording change approved by the board at their last meeting was presented to the membership for a vote.
ARTICLE VII—Election of Officers and Directors
1. Any qualified member that would like to run for any office should notify the
Secretary prior to the November meeting.
Change should to shall.
Motion made and seconded and approved by the membership.
Al W4ALR mentioned that the door know needs to be fixed at the entrance to the building as it is very hard to turn.
This month 21members andvisitors were present.
The $8.00 50/50 drawing was won by N2RXD and donated back to the club.
Meeting adjourned at: 11:00AM
Submitted bySecretary, Emil WA2UPK.
Engineer’s Report for October 12, 2017
De NF2F
Royal Harbor UHF – Up and running on analog.
N4FLA/147.255 – W4ALR, W9KC
K4FC/147.000 – Up and running. Echo Link being worked on by K3NON, Analog and P25.
K4FC/442.900 – The repeater is back in service with IRLP.
Camera System – Board members trained by Gordon Williamson in camera viewing and operation
The dipole came down in the recent hurricane. It was fixed.
Thanks to Lenny, Kd4mbn for installing a new battery and float charger in the club house generator.
Respectfully Submitted,
NF2F
Frederick E. Fitte