Steve Hendrix called the meeting to order at 1902 at which time members recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
Gary Anger read the minutes of the last meeting in the absence of the Secretary. Members present approved the minutes of the July meeting.
Mike Orcutt reported a new family membership of Jeffrey and Michele Cooper, KG7YUX and KF6KMI. The Coopers reside in Haines, OR. Welcome.
With their membership being paid, our Treasury is now at $2456.20.
First subject discussed was the fox-hunt of August 20th. Ted asked Gary of his thoughts, which Gary provided. Steve proposes putting a one hour limit on the search for each fox, then having a new fox start. This is largely due to so many erroneous bearings on the transmissions, possibly due in part to short antennas on the hand-helds and also due to terrain features i.e. mountains. Steve proposes using a better quality, permanent antenna with better and more consistent propagation. The local hills and even metallic fences may be (re)propagating our fox’s signals in erroneous fashions. Discussion of what type of antenna to build for the fox to use ensued.
Conversation drifted into the topic of the BBQ which is on Monday, 5 September beginning at 1300 chez Joel & Gail Hinshaw at 210 Main street, Summerville. Everybody is asked to bring a side dish and/or a dessert.
We agreed to hold another fox hunt on September 24th beginning at 1000. Check in will be on the La Grande Repeater, 146.980, or use the fox frequency of 146.550. We agreed we may all meet at one location and choose a fox and begin the hunt.
The next topic was that of a weekly net on the La Grande repeater. Tim Wong had proposed the net initially, so he volunteered to be the first net control operator/host. Tim mentioned he likes the manner in which the net in Federal Way is operated, not stringent but more informal. Steve opined that we begin our weekly net on 9/4/2016, the evening before the above-mentioned BBQ, at 1900 and that each Sunday night we hold that net on the .980 (La Grande) repeater. Larry cautioned that we might time out the repeater on long transmissions so why not use simplex since most of the Grande Ronde Valley hams would be able to talk on simplex. Gary bellowed that we should mindful of the time limit on the repeater and why have a repeater if we don’t use it. It was recognized that Baker County cannot even hit the La Grande repeater so it was decided to use the Mount Fanny repeater, on 147.260, the ARRG repeater, which uses a tone of 103.5. Camber said he had ideas for weekly topic ideas to discuss during the net.
Steve informed us he has mounted an antenna on his Buick which he said we should take a look at after the meeting. It is a Larsen dual-band on-glass antenna and he described the proper way to adhere the components to a car window.
Ted thought we could offer the ARRG to pay for half the cost of a new repeater on Mount Fanny, a Fusion repeater. This would cost the club about $300. Ted said he would contact the ARRG about this and get us information by next month’s meeting.
Gary mentioned our club insurance will be due by 12/1/2016 for another year.
Ted did a dog and pony show on baluns and ununs. He stated there will be a balun/unun building party to follow.
Steve has a spare power supply for $20, and Astron 12 amp 12 volt iron core model, good for HF mobile and base stations.
Steve reported that on August 21, 2017 there will be a total solar eclipse which will travel the entire width of the continental U.S. starting at Lincoln City OR and exiting in South Carolina.
Lime Hill down toward Ontario will be dead center of the eclipse path. If you travel to see the eclipse be well prepared with supplies and good tires. You can go up Lookout Mountain to reach a good altitude for viewing.
Just as the meeting adjourned at 2023, Graham reported the Julian Pridmore Brown (KK7JX I believe) has earned his Captain rank with his employer, Southwest Airlines.
Present at the meeting were:
W7GFA Gary Anger
BH1CVG Tim Wong
KI7FXJ Tyson Brooks
W7IYA Nancy Wilson
W4PJS Graham Hicks
KD7CEM Don Magee
KB7WDI Joe Nolan
N7NSL Ted Ivester
W7IXZ Larry Wilson
KF7STP Mike Orcutt
KB7RGX Camber Bybee
Ka0DEK Steve Hendrix
submitted by Gary Anger, W7GFA
