Present at the meeting were
Gary Anger WyGFA
Larry Wilson W7IXZ
David Hoeflein W7EEX
Joel Hinshaw KD7JG
Steve Hendrix KA0DEK
Brent Linville KE7LXY
Jessee Hale KA7ISH
David Jensen W7DFJ
Nancy Wilson W7IYH
Ted Ivester N7NSL
Mike Orcutt KF7STP
Greg Walker KE7ZRV
Barbara Hicks KB7DRI
Graham Hicks W7PJS
Joseph Nolan KB7WDI
Brian Don KF7UED
The meeting started at 7:02PM. Gary Anger read the minutes from the February meeting. No changes.
Mike gave the Treasurer’s report. Last months funds were $2070.95. One new member paid his dues tonight raising the treasury to $2090.95.
With this new member, our membership level is now at 19.
Old business.
The potential new club repeater was the first topic. Ted has sent in paperwork to Yaesu to start the process of approval for the sale of the new repeater to the club. This repeater, Yaesu model DR1X may be sold to qualifying clubs for $500 through March 2015 after which the price might increase. Yaesu either approves or disapproves any potential purchaser for this special price. Ted expects to hear from Yaesu in the near term.
We discussed issues of ownership of the club repeater and the club callsign. Larry Wilson obtained a copy of the paperwork from the year 1991 that authorized the W4PJS repeater and callsign. Larry is working on the process to change ownership and to upgrade our repeater, going from analog only to analog and digital and dual band and changing the callsign to W7GRA.
We are to file annually to update the club repeater with ORRC, something that the club has not done for years. As such, the club could have lost use of the W7PJS repeater frequency. Fortunately, Larry has smoothed out that problem. The cost of filing that paperwork is $15 a year.
We did round-robin introductions of all present.
Ted then solicited questions and comments on the repeater situation, and requested input. Grande Ronde Hospital will allow us to place our repeater back in the hospital.
W7GRA now has ownership of W7PJS repeater, with Larry working on getting all the paperwork taken care of.
Field Day. We discussed possible locations, primarily the Union County Fair Grounds. As we brought up the topic of the Fair Grounds, Mike Orcutt informed us that according to one of the Fair officials, we should not have had to purchase insurance for our booth last year. Back to the Field Day, if we set up at the Fair Grounds, we have a cost of $35 a night per site if that site uses Fair Grounds electricity, or $25 a night per site otherwise. We discussed the potential use of the ARES trailer at Field Day.
7QP QSO Party. May 2&3. Ted encouraged participation and stated it is a good way to help overcome microphone fright, get on the air, and test one’s gear.
SEAPAC Ham Convention, June 5 – 7 2015 in Seaside Oregon. Lots of activity and opportunities to learn. Those desiring to go could think about carpooling. Steve Hendrix would like to set up a table and is hoping that perhaps somebody else may be interested in sharing the table with him at SEAPAC.
Union County Fair. As of the moment, the club has not decided to set up a booth or not. If we do decide to set up a booth, we need a volunteer to organize. Graham expressed concern on the cost, and Gary seconded that concern. The cost is outweighing the return.
Larry stated that maybe holding Technician and even General class license classes might have better success. We discussed those possibilities and tabled the topic for now.
Mike suggested that instead of the money going to set up a booth at the fair, that we use money to pay for the Field Day camping fee at the fair grounds, and use some money for advertising.
Graham moved that we do not set up a booth at the fair, and use our funds for other purposes instead. Jessee Hale seconded the motion, and recommended we think of other venues for setting up and getting exposure to the public. The motion was accepted. It was decided that the club will not participate at the Union County Fair this year.
Field Day is June 27 and 28.
We will not hold a Hamfest/Swapmeet this year either.
Annual BBQ. Ted solicited input and expression of desire to have a club BBQ. Steve Hendrix stated that Labor Day Monday is a good day to have a BBQ. Potential locations discussed were Minam State Park, or Hilgard. We decided to discuss further as the year progresses.
Fox Hunts. Is there interest? We discussed and agreed to hold 2 Fox Hunts this year. In our April meeting we will set a training day for Fox Hunting. Discussion followed on the the topics of training scenario ideas as well as various types of equipment.
ARES membership. Local ARES is requesting volunteers. Ted and David Jensen are points of contact. There will be a Simulated Emergency Training (SET) on April 25th from 0800 – 1700 at the EOC. Ted discussed the various modes of communication likely to be used during SET. There is another SET scheduled for October as well.
Club Insurance. ARRL specific insurance, Gary obtained a quote of $200 annual. We agreed we should shop other carriers.
K7OWG equipment. We are still awaiting word from Barb Larson on the status of Marc’s gear. A family member may want some of his gear. We have plenty of volunteers to help take out and take down whatever Barb will want removed.
Our By-laws still need to be modified, particularly concerning the day of the month on which the meeting are held, but we need to build into the wording flexibility on modifying the days. I.E., June 2015, the meeting will be held on the second Wednesday, 6/10/15 instead of on the third Wednesday due to Fire Dept scheduling.
New Business. In the past we talked about community involvement in activities such as parades. This year, on July 11th, there will be a Soap Box Derby event held in conjunction with the annual Crazy Days event. The organizer of the Soap Box Derby event, Ron Osterloh, has asked if we could provide communication support for the event. More information to follow.
Beginning at 8:07PM Joel Hinshaw gave a presentation on Electro-Magnetic Pulses (EMP). These are caused by nuclear detonation. Joel described the various types of EMPs and how to counter them, their effects on communication equipment and long wires such as power lines, etc. Very informative.
Following the presentation, Graham suggested that members of the club meet prior to each monthly meeting at the Number One China Buffet at 1800 for dinner. Number One is located next to the old Albertson’s store in La Grande.
The meeting adjourned at 8:33PM.
