Martin County

Amateur Radio Association

AREC 101 Class report, Skywarn classes, Clubhouse discussion

Martin County Amateur Radio Association
Meeting Minutes July 22, 2010


I.    Call to order
Doug W4DAS Shields, President, called to order the regular meeting of the Martin County Amateur Radio Association at 7:02PM in the meeting room at 777 SE Salerno Road, Stuart, FL.

 

II.    Roll call
A sign-up sheet was passed around and indicated about 18 attendees.

 

III.    Approval of minutes from last meeting
Minutes from the last meeting were posted on the club website with hard copies available at the meeting. A motion to approve the minutes was made by Tom B. Minutes approved.

 

IV.    Treasurer Report
Report was given by Steve M. and indicated that $235.32 (budgeted $250.00) was spent on food supplies used at the Annual Field Day exercise at Sandsprit Park. The 147.060 repeater’s monthly phone bill was also paid.

 

V.    Old business
A.    Monday Night’s Net Control Schedule. (NCS) Week#1 Mike-KJ4TQA, Week #2 Doug-W4DAS, Week #3 Pete-K4PJD, Week #4 Ray J-KI4RHL, Week #5 (as needed) Ron-KD4PQQ. Anyone interested in acting as net control on a Monday Night Net (friendly discussion and traders net) is encouraged to contact Ray J-KI4RHL. It is actually fun and all that is needed to be a NCS is a 2m radio that can hit the MCARA repeater. Newly licensed Hams, visitors including mobile or marine operators, and club members are encouraged to check in every Monday night at 1900 hrs. (8PM) on the 147.060 repeater. Volunteers and check-ins are needed to keep this important weekly Net going strong.
B.    Everyone was invited and reminded of the local Skywarn Wingdings social at 5:00PM at Perkins, US1 in Stuart. The purpose is to have some fun and to discuss weather related topics. The event is held monthly (1st Thursday of every month) and all are welcome. Contact Ron KD4PQQ for information.
C.    The next opportunity to become “basic” level trained or recertified as a Nation Weather Service (NWS) Skywarn Spotter will be on August 21th at the MC EOC. A current Skywarn ID card would show your county and a number (example=MAR001), and certification is for 24 months. There have been significant changes in what weather conditions now need to be reported to the NWS so this is a good time to join this important group, learn the changes, what to report, as well as what not to report, and get a new Spotter number.  You are encouraged to attend even if you are current as the class material is constantly updated for our area. You do not need sophisticated equipment to be a certified Spotter, in fact your eyes and ears are the most important things. Spotters are encouraged to monitor the local repeaters and their severe weather alert radios, but do not need to report “trivial or clear” weather events. After checking in we should try to keep transmissions short and keep the repeaters free for any emergency traffic when a formal net is announced. Please see NWS.gov Melbourne website for Skywarn Spotters, or see the Martin County Skywarn website.  Contact David KE4UEI, Ron KD4PQQ, or Ray J KI4RHL for details.
D.    9 volunteers successfully completed the two Saturday ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications course (AREC-101) in July at the Martin County (EOC) Safety Complex. The books cost $19 and the testing fee was paid via the Russ-AI7Q Training Fund. See the ARRL and FEMA websites for online courses. Some courses are free and can be done from home.
E.    A reminder was also relayed that the Martin County ARES/RACES holds its monthly meeting on the second Thursday of the each month at the EOC with regularly scheduled nets each Thursday night (except for their 2nd Thursday of the month meeting nights). Next meeting is August 12th at 7:30PM. See the wx4mc.org website for details.
F.    All were encouraged to visit the ARRL website to see the numerous special events going on in the area and around the globe. It was suggested that you visit neighboring clubs in the Palm Beach, Okeechobee, and St. Lucie Counties if you are ready for a license upgrade or VE test. Please support the many Hamfests during the year.  For example, these Hamfests are currently scheduled: Aug.14th at IRSC in Fort Pierce & Huntsville, Oct-Melbourne, Nov-Boca/Delray Club & Okeechobee, Dec-Tampa/Palmetto, and Ft. Myers. Next year 2011 starts out in Feb-Orlando and our own MCARA BIG HAMFEST in March. When you visit other clubs or attend Hamfests please take notes for new ideas we could incorporate into our Hamfest and please promote our event to others. We also will need club members to promote MCARA events when on-the-air and at Hamfests whenever possible.
G.    The Club’s QSL Card design contest was extended until the August meeting. The special event station set up at Camp Murphy (Jonathan Dickinson State Park) was a success and QSL cards are rolling in so we need to send out QSL cards and certificates. We are offering a club member $50 for the “winning best design” of a new MCARA QSL card. Guidelines are on the MCARA website and QSL post card designs may be:
1.    Single or double sided.
2.    Preferably contain reference to some aspect of unique county of Florida (Martin)     and/or amateur radio in general.
3.    Single color, 4 colors, or full color.
4.    The Call sign K4ZK should be easily readable from a distance of several feet.
5.    Should contain normal amount of contact exchange information and room for a short note. E.G. RST, frequency, etc.
6.    Should have the following contact info: Martin County Amateur Radio Association, PO Box 1901, Stuart FL, 34995.  http://www.mcaraweb.com
 
H.    A quartermaster committee was set up and is working on developing a "wish list" of items that the club might consider building and/or purchasing. It was suggested that the list should include basic things like antennas (vertical & dipoles), push-up poles, tree launcher, radio power supply, power pole for distribution, possible basic solar panel, etc. The goal is to better our chances of making contacts and to have this basic equipment on-hand for club events since this seemed to be a weak area of concern. The team consists of Steve M., Bill L. Charlie Koch, and Jeff Beals-WA4AW.
I.    Club House- Ongoing discussion on a possible club facility for a K4ZK radio station and club events. The County owned and abandoned facility on County Line Road is being looked at as a possibility. Costs, security, and building maintenance (lawns, water, insurance etc.) and drive time were of concern to some members. We will revisit this topic at the August meeting.
J.    The special event station set up at Camp Murphy (Jonathan Dickinson State Park) was a success and is still being talked about. Bill- N4BKT is working on an additional article for a magazine.

VI.    New Business
A.    New 2010 NOAA Weather and Skywarn handouts were displayed and made available. Everyone was reminded to buy a Weather Alert Radio with county S.A.M.E alert code capabilities and to keep the radios on especially at night when severe tornado type storms can cause sudden damage. We are heading into a historically active time of the year for hurricanes, so be prepared.
B.    Riders and drivers were encouraged to car pool if going to the Huntsville Hamfest or any other event to save some fuel and assist non-driving members.
C.    There was a brief discussion on local towers from comments made at the County/School budget workshop meeting. The AT&T tower near the South Fork High School off I95 was mentioned as possibly being available as a club antenna site. Tower is very old.
D.    Special events: K2BSA Boy Scouts, W9IMS Indy Races, Route 66, 13 Original Colonies Certificate.

 

VII.    Agenda/Presentations to assist newcomers into the hobby in determining what kind of radio to buy, and what others were using, we went around the room and heard that the following radios were being used:  ATLAS 210 (1970 circa), FLEX1500 Software Defined radio, IC746 PRO, Yaesu 857D, Various 2M/400 HT’s, Yaesu 897D, ICOM PRO3, ICOM 7000, KENWOOD 690, KENWOOD TS2000, SWAN, TENTEC Orion, FT450AT, FT897, and a wide mix of homebrew or commercial antennas. Understand what you need, what your budget is, what you are buying (whether new or used), if unsure-seek guidance from those that know, and get on the air ASAP.

 

VIII.    Adjournment
Doug W4DAS adjourned the meeting at 8:58 PM.
Next meeting is scheduled for August 26th at 7:00PM with a mini swap shop set up at 6:30 PM to buy, sell, or trade ham radio related items. (4th Thursday of the month)
Minutes respectfully submitted by: Ray KI4RHL Jaworski, Secretary
Minutes to be approved on August 26, 2010 by _____________and ____________.  

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