General Membership Meeting Minutes January 13, 2014 The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Tom, K8TB. Tom thanked Ike, K8EMU for his 2 years as president. Secretary's Report: Minutes of the January 9th, 2014 Board Meeting were read by Todd, W8YHF and subsequently accepted. Minutes of the December 9th, 2013 meeting were accepted as published on the website. Treasurer's Report: General Fund: $5286.24 Membership: $286.76 Total: $5573.00 Treasurer's report was accepted as read. Upcoming events: Programs: January: No E.A.T. meeting this month. February: 2/10 Monthly Meeting: Laryn, K8TVZ will give a presentation on Skywarn. 2/24 E.A.T.: "Bring & Brag." Bring along a cool project or piece of gear and show it off! March: 3/10 Monthly Meeting: Art, K0TWB will present his briefcase-sized remote rig control system. HARC Holiday Dinner: The HARC "Post-Festivus" Christmas Party will take place on Monday, January 20th at 6pm. It will be held at the same location as last year: the Grand King Buffet, located at the corner of 24th St. and Waverly Blvd. in Holland. All are invited; you do not have to be a club member to attend. The club has negotiated a flat rate of $10 per person, which includes meal, drink, tax, and tip. We have reserved an area in the back of the restaurant. ARRL Centennial QSO Party: From the ARRL Website (http://www.arrl.org/centennial-qso-party): "The ARRL Centennial QSO Party is a year-long operating event that celebrates hams making contacts. In the end you will have accumulated points, worked new stations and made new friends all over the world. The Centennial QSO Party is made-up of two main activities: (1) W1AW operating portable in each state and most territories; and (2) The Centennial Points Challenge which is the accumulation of points from qualifying contacts made throughout 2014. To have a score listed online in the Points Challenge competition, logs must be submitted through the Logbook of the World (LoTW) system. W1AW will be on the air from every state and most territories, and it will be easy to work WAS working only W1AW portable operations. This is the first ARRL-sponsored operating event where every member is worth at least one point, so work as many points as you can during 2014! Earn awards based upon points, working all states or working W1AW portable in every state and territory. This is an on-the-air event like no other." The W1AW/8 contact for Michigan is Randy Hatt, AA8R. Michigan's slots begin on 2/19/2014 and 10/15/2014. The full schedule is available at http://www.arrl.org/files/file/On%20the%20Air/W1AW_2014_sked.pdf ARRL VHF Contest: The ARRL is holding its January VHF contest this weekend, January 18-20, 2014. More information is available at: http://www.arrl.org/january-vhf Kent/Ottawa County Skywarn Training: Kent/Ottawa County Skywarn Training will be held at the Grandville High School, March 6, 2014 from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM. We will be promoting HARC to non-hams in Ottawa County at this event. Registration: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/severe-weather-spotter-training-2014-registration-8334301119?aff=erelexporg Old Business: We will wait to install the antenna pulley on the tower at the Red Cross building until March when the weather improves and the bucket truck is in town. New backup batteries for the North and South receive sites have arrived. Tom, K8TB and Laryn, K8TVZ will install them. The migration from Yahoo Groups to the email list software is on hold until we can resolve an issue that is preventing us from publishing the archives. Windmill Event: Dave, WA8RSA is having trouble getting a response from the organizers of the windmill event. Discussed using our club call (K8DAA) vs. a special event call (e.g. W8T). Dave will apply for the special event callsign. Discussed operating from our homes vs. Windmill Island. The club should firm this up by March, and we may form a working group to prepare for the event. New Business: Bryan has a request from the members for someone that can give a presentation on Logbook of the World (http://www.arrl.org/logbook-of-the-world). Ham of the Year Award: Dave, WA8RSA and Jim, KC8KE presented the Ham of the Year award. This year's award was won by Bryan, KD8LDX. The club commended Bryan for his work on our Field Day and Ham in a Day events. The business meeting was adjourned at 7:30pm, followed by a presentation by Jason Veenstra, KD8QNX on Software Defined Radios (SDR). Submitted: Todd Boss, W8YHF Holland ARC Secretary secretary@hollandarc.org Please contact the Secretary with comments or corrections.