General Membership Meeting Minutes February 10, 2014 The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Tom, K8TB. Secretary's Report: Minutes of the January 2014 meeting were accepted as published on the website. Treasurer's Report: General Fund: $5375.35 Membership: $386.76 Total: $5762.11 Treasurer's report was accepted as read. Opening Remarks: Tom encouraged the club to introduce themselves to any new members and/or attendees and make them feel welcome. Tom introduced Chuck, W8GCW as the HARC member of the month. Happy 80th birthday to Chuck; he has been licensed since 1950! Duane Rotman (American Red Cross) made an impromptu announcement reminding the club that the Red Cross would greatly appreciate HARC members' participation in Tulip Time operations. Chuck, W8GCW is still attempting to locate a folder containing documents including a newspaper article that featured him. If you've seen it, please let Chuck know, or contact secretary@hollandarc.org. Upcoming events: Programs: February: 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. Art is able to operate his home station while away via the Internet. 3/24 E.A.T.: Bryan, KD8LDX will demonstrate how to make a 1/4 wave vertical antenna. 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 Kent/Ottawa County Skywarn Training: Kent/Ottawa County Skywarn Training will be held at the Grandville High School, March 6, 2014 from 7:00pm to 10:00pm. 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 Please watch the reflector for carpooling arrangements. Many other local Skywarn training events are listed at http://www.crh.noaa.gov/grr/skywarn/training/ including: Muskegon County Saturday, March 8th, 2:00pm Muskegon Community College Room 1100 Stevenson Center 221 S. Quarterline Road Muskegon, MI 49442 Allegan/Barry Counties Saturday, March 15th, 2:00pm Luella Collins Community Center 419 126th Street Shelbyville, MI 49344 Technician License Class: Allegan County Amateur Radio Club has a technician license class starting next Wednesday, March 19th. It will be held every Wednesday night from 7:00pm to 8:00pm. Old Business: Tom has requested information regarding liability insurance rates from the ARRL, and has not yet received a response. 11 people have already signed up for our next Ham in a Day event. We will be marketing the event at the Kent/Ottawa Skywarn training, and we expect a good turnout. 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. 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. Club Repeater: New backup batteries for the North and South receive sites have arrived. The cables have been made and the batteries are charging. Tom, K8TB and Laryn, K8TVZ will install them. Laryn has repaired the North receive site. Windmill Event: Dave and Jim are looking for help getting equipment lined up for the windmill event. Ernie, W8EL offered to lend an antenna for this event. We may operate from our homes instead of Windmill Island. New Business: Field Day (http://www.arrl.org/field-day): This year’s Field Day event will be held on June 28th-29th, 2014. Tom asked for a volunteer to be the Field Day chairman. We will be looking for someone to take this role during the next month. If you are interested, please contact Tom, K8TB. Ernie will assist the chairman. Kim, N8KAL will cook. Marketing: Tom is working on marketing the club to Ottawa/Holland area hams that are not members of the club. Tom would like to post the names/calls of hams whose licenses are due to expire on the website each month, and send those hams a letter containing license renewal and club information. The business meeting was adjourned at 7:40pm, followed by a presentation by Laryn, K8TVZ on Skywarn and an instructional video on soldering PL-259 connectors. Submitted: Todd Boss, W8YHF Holland ARC Secretary secretary@hollandarc.org Please contact the Secretary with comments or corrections.