W7GRA meeting of 10/30/2014
Meeting commenced at 1904.
Reviewed last months minutes. One correction, Mr Walden is a congressman, not a senator.
Treasurers report: $1,830.95 in the treasury
Membership: 18, with one already paid up for 2015
New club Trustee is Gary Anger, W7GFA, relieving Larry Wilson W7IXZ. Gary has received the new club license.
Officers of the club are to remember to check FCC and ARRL websites to ensure accuracy of club status. Mike Orcott, KF7STP will check via QRZ.com, as that website is updated from the FCC website.
Ted Ivestor N7NSL resurrected the idea of an antenna building project that we have discussed for months but never organized. He offered up his garage. Idea is to build dipole antennas, most likely 40-meter dipoles. He has the necessary wire, insulators and connectors. Anybody building an antenna during this project will have to provide his/her own coax.
Dave Jensen W7DFJ handed out copies of the inventory of equipment in the ARES Trailer (Office of Emergency Management (OEM)) trailer. He pointed out that OEM purchased the equipment and that ARES is responsible for the technical aspects of its use and equipment.
We has discussed the potential uses by the club of this trailer last meeting.
New Business
For the Christmas gathering, Jeff Crews would prefer a Thursday, preferably early in December 2014. Date and Time to be determined. Ted will send out e-mails for input and information. Graham Hicks W4PJS stated he would provide a charcoal-broiled turkey. In the e-mails we can state who will bring what for side dishes and desserts.
Ted stated he would have at least one item for auction at the above-mentioned gathering and welcomed others to bring in items for auction.
We discussed having dedicated logging computers for Field Day and the County Fair. Ted has one that he will donate. Graham also. So we have two laptops for logging, and both have wireless capability. Ted would like to have a volunteer to take charge of the computers, somebody who is computer savvy.
Dave Jensen is the ARES Acting Emergency Coordinator for Union County since Jeff Crews has stepped down. Dave would like to hear from those who are interested in being ARES members.
There will be an ARES exercise on 11/22/2014 using the OEM trailer. Dave wants to get some volunteers and get them trained up. He stated there will likely be a meeting for this event about two weeks prior to the exercise and that some entities will begin gearing up as soon as early November.
We again discussed the possibility of using the OEM trailer for Field Day, and discussed possible sites such as the Union County Fair Grounds.
Ted would like to get some volunteers for a ‘Field Day Team’, whose mission would be to discuss potential locations and think on other ideas for Field Day. Ted, Dave, and Chris Noyes KG7CEL all volunteered.
We also discussed potential participation in the Get On The Air (GOTA) event. No decisions yet but will discuss further.
We again discussed getting insurance for the club to cover our events. Graham stated he will take up the subject with a local property and casualty insurance agent and compare what ARRL provides and costs versus what we may be able to find in the open market.
We discussed the possibility of building some additional antennas for the OEM trailer, likely HF antennas.
Following new business discussions, Steve Hendrix KA0DEK gave a tremendous presentation on the history of, and his involvement with, two vessels. One, LCI-73, a WWII US Navy vessel which was an Infantry Landing Craft, and the other, a 1926-era US Coast Guard vessel, the ALERT, previously used for enforcement of Prohibition laws. He discussed their missions and activities while commissioned, as well as their history after decommissioning and joining the civilian world. Steve had an excellent powerpoint presentation, with numerous photos highlighting their electronics and radio equipment.
Those not present at Thursday’s meeting missed a great show.
For information on the LCI-713 and related WWII history, see website amphibiousforces.org.
For information on the Cutter ALERT see website oldcutteralert.com
The meeting adjourned at 2023.
Reminder, no more club meetings for the remainder of the calendar year. We will pick up again in January 2015.
Christmas get-together date/time yet to be determined.
