MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES – May 13, 2017
Stillwater Amateur Radio Association
1618 Pine Street West
Stillwater, Minnesota 55082
President: KCØOIO
The meeting was called to order at 9:05 AM.
Secretary’s Report: Steve KAØOBI
The general meeting minutes from the April 8, 2017 meeting are posted on the website. Please report any corrections to: Secretary@radioham.org
Treasurer’s Report: John N5JLZ (Not present)
Beginning Balance: 4/1/2017 $3,199.95
Income: $137.00
Expenses: $225.00
Ending Balance: 4/30/2017 $3,111.95 (Not including RBP income/expenses)
$17,997.52 (Including RBP income/expenses)
Education and Training: Bob WØGAF (Not present)
The spring training classes have been completed.
The VE exam session was held on April 27th at Boutwells. We have 3 new Technicians, 1 new General, and 1 new Extra class as a result.
Activities & Events: Dave WØOXB (Not present)
New Ham Night – May 18th starting at 6 PM at the Stillwater Library. We will be giving away 4 HT’s that evening. Depending on the weather, we may be operating from the rooftop. If the weather does not cooperate then we will either be in the Rivers Room or the Conference Room.
Radios in the Park – this activity will continue again this year at Valley View Park, Oak Park Heights.
The dates will be June 8th & 29th, July 20th, and August 31st from 5:30 to 8 PM. This is a great opportunity to get out in the field and see how other hams operate portable – experience different antennas and see new rigs in operation. We will also be testing the broadband ham net mesh network in preparation for Field Day.
Field Day – June 24th & 25th at the Autumn Hills Park adjacent to Boutwells. We will be operating as a 2A station with the SSB station located in the park building and CW station set up in a new screened tent 50 yards below the main building. Setup will begin at 9 AM on Saturday and the event will run from 1 to 9 PM. This will be an excellent opportunity to learn how to erect the ‘OXB’ special center-fed Zepp antenna that is utilized at all our events and found at many of the members’ home shacks.
This year we will have a special 25th anniversary dinner with grilled pork chops and grilled chicken prepared by Colin KEØIYN. Members and their guests are welcome. Please make a reservation before June 16th. Dinner will be $5 per person.
Field Day activities will continue on Sunday the 25th from 9 AM to 1 PM. There will be no set schedule for operators. If you see no one is manning a transceiver, just sit down and operate.
Remote Base Project (RBP): Pat WAØTDA
Both of the remote stations are currently operating OK.
All the radio gear that had been for sale on consignment at Radio City has been sold and the funds received. We are considering the sale of the following used items that we still have in inventory: Kenwood TS-570, Kenwood TS-480(200 watt), Elecraft K3 (10 watt), and a Flex 1500. The proceeds would be used to purchase a new Icom 7300 SDR transceiver that would be the start of updating our club equipment.
Newsletter & Website: Pat WAØTDA
The newsletter has been put to bed for the summer and will resume publication in the fall.
DX News: Mike NØODK
Midway Island KH4 & Kure Island KH7K were recently deleted from the DXCC listing. However, on March 31, 2017 the ARRL reversed that deletion and both entities are again included in the DXCC listing.
Check out www.ng3k.com and DXnews.com for DX & Contest Calendar information.
Program Schedule:
May: SDR: Icom IC-7300 and Flex 1500 Show & Tell – Doug N9TOW
Old Business:
The SARA Oval Sticker/Decals are on sale for $1 each or you can get a free one when you renew your annual membership ($20) for 2017.
New Business:
The 7:30 AM breakfasts that we have at Perkins just prior to our General Membership Meetings will be continued throughout the summer at the same time every 2nd Saturday of the month.
Good of Association:
SARA has a Facebook & Twitter account that many members may not know about.
50/50 Drawing – The total take was $54 with $27 going to the winner.
Program – SDR: ICOM 7300 & Flex 1500 – Doug N9TOW
Doug did an excellent job of explaining SDR in somewhat less technical terms. The advantages to this new type of transceiver are numerous – less components for a cleaner signal, price reduction in hardware, shorter time to market for newer equipment, adds more firmware for the money, plugs directly into a computer without the need for additional components, more flexibility when changing software versus hardware radios, ability to develop software fixes more quickly, and the capability to expand from the initial released version.
The SDR disadvantages are few – buggy software and front end de-sensing.
There were two ICOM 7300 transceivers on display and operating so we could get a real feel for the ease of operating and how the touch screen and menus work. The relative small size (9”x9”x4” & 10 lb weight) of the ICOM 7300 is impressive considering how well it performs. There seem to be at least 10 club members who currently have this radio and most are very satisfied with how it performs relative to the modest $1,300 purchase price.
The Flex 1500 differs significantly as an SDR since it requires a late model computer to operate it.
The program and meeting concluded at 11:09 AM.
Meeting attendance: 27