Randy Jordan (KC0UKB) club secretary brought the meeting to order at 18:02. 13 people were in attendance.
Rob gave a report about the VE Session. 4 people tested and 3 passed. One test taker was present for the general meeting.
Randy gave the Treasurers and Technical report as the other officers had prior commitments were unable to attend the meeting. Randy also answered questions about those reports. Both reports are attached at the bottom of the minutes.
Randy asked if the hamfest committee had updates and Larry (WA0JZK) gave a report.
Randy also gave a report from James about plans for Field Day this year and it is attached below.
Since there was no formal program for the meeting in May, and Field Day planning would be continued in June, Randy asked the members present to discuss various radio related projects they were involved in, or any recent ARRL contests they had participated in. There was also a wonderful discussion about an dipole antenna installation and the best way to accomplish the project. The meeting formally adjourned at 19:02, but the discussions continued for a time afterwards.
Technical updates: James (KB0NHX)
They are completing remodeling of the Cox South Hospital. The 224.280 repeater is currently shut off, and the 442.425 will be shut off when they get to that repeater antenna. We are getting to replace our 3 dB gain fiberglass antenna with a DB224JJ antenna. It has a MUCH better return loss, and has 6 dBd of gain instead of 3. The return loss is ridiculously good on the DB224JJ antenna (32 on TX, >35 on RX), whereas the current antenna is 9 dB on transmit and 14 dB on receive. The duplexers will also be returned and the 220 repeater should be greatly improved. Another plus is we are moving the interference source, the 72.xxx MHz time clock to the OTHER end of the penthouse, about 80' away vs the 10' away it is now. I (James) HOPE this will allow us to remove the 4 cavity filter from receive line as well. We may also be able to replace the DB408 6 dBd gain antenna on the 442.425 with a 9 dBd gain DB420. We are working out details on that, too.
We are also preparing to stage the antennas for the Branson 146.655 at the site. Verizon submitted final plans to the City of Branson this week, and they are waiting to hear back from the water tower manufacturer to see if they give final approval to move forward. Jeremy's predicting an August or September installation.
Club trailer update: James (KB0NHX)
James Adkins, Jim Adkins, Bill Kastler, Jim Nicoll and Larry Grinstead worked at Andrew's house for the antenna installation grant. We got the flagpole antenna base dug and the concrete poured and the base plumbed. Next trip we will be putting the antenna together, running the ground radio field, and routing coax and ground rod cable to the antenna and setting some ground rods. We hope to be able to do this in a couple of weeks. Andrew upped our grant to $3,000 for the trailer, and we will be putting an Ashley Furniture Superstore decal, and other sponsors, probably on the back doors. Kent Doucey, Garry Williams, Jim Adkins & James Adkins met with Bill at Sutter Trailer and ordered the club trailer. We made several "changes" to the basic trailer package we added 6" to the height of the trailer, for a total height of 7 feet, that cost $250. We also added a nonpowered roof vent in addition to the AC unit so we have a way to get air flow in case it's not hot enough for the AC or if the AC quits, that added $50 to the cost. We also moved the driver door 6" toward the back of the trailer, a cost of $45.00. We added a 30" X 30" sliding window to the door, with a screen, so we can have walk up traffic at bike rides without them entering the shelter that cost $175.00. Lastly, we added an outside outlet, which is a GFI, which added $20.00 Total additions are $540, with total cost of the trailer, delivered, at $6910.00.
We will be adding a divider wall between the storage area and the front, insulating the walls, adding carpet to the walls for acoustics, running all the electrical, installing the countertops and running all the coax cable and DC wiring. There is still a LOT to do. We are hoping to have the necessary funds to do all we'd like to. By cutting out the insulation alone, we are saving cost to $1,000 by doing that ourselves! We had hoped to be able to just buy the trailer with all the aforementioned stuff done, but the budget wouldn't allow and we didn't feel that the overwhelming cost that we were being good stewards of the money donated toward the project. The trailer should be delivered to us in 6-8 weeks, and we plan on using it for the Tour de Bass bike ride this year.
Field Day: James (KB0NHX)
Field Day will be at High Pointe Elementary, and we will be utilizing the MSHP's White Spartan mobile command center with the 70' pneumatic mast. We are working out details on portable toilet facilities and lifts for the antennas. Kent Doucey, N0IRM, will be laying out the plans and we will need folks to help setup, tear down and operate for the event LOTS of people. WE would like to see everyone involved in some way, shape or form after all, it is fun!!!!!!!!!!! There will be NO tent this year, just the Spartan with 3 operating positions. Setup will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 27th and tear down at noon June 28th. We are planning on having 3 HF stations going and have CW, Voice & digital modes available along with a 6meter station. Invite everyone to come out and enjoy Field Day this year, we are going to have a blast practicing our emergency communications setup skills and tallying the most points we can while operating.
Treasurer's Report: Jeff (KB0WVT)
NARC Main Account
Debits:
$1000 Trailer Deposit
$75.00 Square One Communications - SMLRS Logo
$2.00 PayPal Fees
Debit Total $1077.00
Credits:
Dues - $50.22
Bass Pro $1,500 (Trailer)
Mercy $1,500 (Trailer)
Credit Total $3050.22
Ending Balance: $8526.42 with $30 in petty cash
Hamfest
Beginning Balance $2161.26
Debits
$100.00 Nixa Event Center Deposit
Debit Total $100.00
Credits
Credit Total $0
Ending balance $2,061.79
