Present were:
W7GFA GARY ANGER
KD7JG JOEL HINSHAW
W4PJS GRAHAM HICKS
N7NSL TED IVESTOR
KG7UAV MICHAEL ABERNATHY
KI7FXJ TYSON BROOKS
KD7DEM DON MAGEE
W7IXZ LARRY WILSON
W7IYA NANCY WILSON
The meeting began at 1910 with Ted bring the meeting to order.
Gary read the minutes of the February meeting. No changes.
Ted gave the Treasury report which Mike Orcutt had e-mailed out as he was unable to make the meeting. Treasurers report stated we have $2419.74 in the treasury.
We have 12 paid members for 2017 so far. If you have not yet paid, please do so.
Old business:
Fox Hunt. We held a fox hunt last Saturday with Gary, Tyson, and Mike Abernathy and family participating. We discussed the results and talked about the need to fabricate more accurate antennas as some we have produce erroneous bearings at best.
Ted and Tyson have removed the La Grande repeater from its location in the hospital in order to send out for an upgrade. The cost of shipping is $55 which Ted needs to get reimbursed.
The date of return of the repeater is undetermined. Ted will be out of town at the end of April so the reinstallation of the repeater may be delayed if it comes back in that time frame. Its upgrade will give the repeater WiresX capability.
Two weeks ago Tyson and Jason achieved their General Class license.
Seapac: Tyson plans to attend and encourages others to do so.
Next months meeting will be on the 4th Wednesday, or 26 April. Ted will send out confirmation to all.
We discussed the election of new officers for 2017. We decided that Mike Orcutt will remain as treasurer. Gary will remain secretary.
Discussion ventured into wondering why club membership has declined.
We got back to discussing officers and Joel volunteered to serve ONE year and One Year Onlly s president.
Joel recommended we put together an Elmer group and do some projects. Projects can be fun. We need to undertake some projects.
Joel proposed we work to help our hams learn and be able to operate different systems they’d like to use, i.e. cw, phone, wiresX, digital etc. We discussed more in-depth the various communication modes and the potential thrill of using those modes. We talked about getting together at club members shacks to experience those modes live.
Such a time to do this may be the upcoming 7QP which would allow contacts via the various modes. Larry proposed using two laptops and sending digital between them, not on RF but via cables, for practice and education.
Mike Abernathy said we could do same with all mode radios that he and Tyson have.
We discussed potentially doing a special event station that the public can witness. Joel recommended we plan to use various modes and be prepared ahead of time if we do ever set up a special event station.
Ted then volunteered to serve as Vice President for ONE year and One Year Only.
Tyson volunteered to get a club FaceBook site started.
We continued to discuss ways to revive interest in amateur radio in the community. We have numerous hams who obtained a license but are never heard on the air or attend meetings or come to events.
Ted has opened up his shack for hands-on experience using digital and maybe other modes with a date and time of Thursday 6 April 2017, 1800 or 6pm. His address is 2702 North Ash in La Grande, Oregon
Larry showed us some 1960s era ‘mobile’ equipment which he qualified as ‘primo’ at the time.
Ted discussed Novice Radio Roundup in which Larry recently took 4th place, using antique gear. For more information on the Roundup see Novice Rig Roundup 2017 website
Joel displayed and talked about a 2 meter beam he recently built.
The meeting adjourned at 8:57PM.
Submitted by W7GFA
