DADE RADIO CLUB NOVEMBER 10, 2008 MINUTES OF MEETING

PRESIDENT: JOHN VECCHIO (KF4ACN) (NOT PRESENT)
VICE PRESIDENT: ROBERT CRUZ (KE4MCL)
CORPORATE SECRETARY: JOANNE CARBANA (KG4GKU)
TREASURER: ESTHER SANCHEZ (KI40TX)
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: VIRGIL SALISBURY (K4VSC)

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

SAME HARTE (KQ4MR) (NOT PRESENT)
CARL JAGIELSKI (KA4HLO) (NOT PRESENT)
ANDY PICHS (N3PI)
CAESAR CARBANA (KG4BZA)
RAY VAUGHAN (KD4BBM)

WEB SITE: http:/www.daderadioclub.org

Meeting was called to order at 19:55 with 17 present.

John was not present tonight and Robert presided over the meeting. Robert welcomed everyone to the meeting. The meeting was not broadcast live on the air tonight from the EOC. Testing was being conducted in the other room.

There was no microphone but everyone took turns and stated their name and call sign. Robert welcomed everyone again. We do not have a guest speaker tonight.
Repeater update:

Merritt spoke about the 147.000. It is broken. John is building a new one. He submitted the paperwork on the tower and has not heard anything back yet.

Robert spoke about the 220.000. Not working. The repeater needs a home. Brian has a connection with UM and will get back with Robert.

Ray was not present yet. Those that were present advised that the 146.760 is not working well.

Carl was not present to speak about the 444.200.

Old Business:

Steve spoke about the Ham trailer, nothing new. The batteries are out. Still working on it. Will advise when we need to get a work party together to finish it.

Regarding the EOC situation, Brian advised that there is no change. Every time there is supposed to be a meeting, it is cancelled or rescheduled. The meeting is to be with Rick Butler, Philippe, Andy, John Vecchio, Eddie, Robert and Brian.

Robert asked about any other old business and there was none.

New Business:

Robert is scanning the old pictures and articles that he received from Evelyn from when the club started. He is scanning them in high resolution. Rae is to create a history section. Ray showed us some of the pictures that were scanned in by Robert and put on the website.

Steve made a motion that all new members from November forward are covered for their dues through 2009, seconded by Merritt. A vote was taken and the motion passed.

Robert spoke about having a Holiday picnic instead of a Holiday dinner since we are having some problems here. He suggested a BBQ at Greynolds Park in North Miami for Saturday, December 27, 2008 – the Saturday after Christmas. He will discuss it with John and will advise at the next meeting the details and the cost.

Robert then spoke about purchasing new books from the ARRL for the club library. Ray questioned if we really need to purchase books since you can look things up on line. Robert said that he has received calls from other Hams and it was easier to look it up in a book. Philippe advised that all books come with a CD. A Motion was made by Caesar to spend up to $150.00 to purchase new ARRL books for the club library, seconded by Philippe. A vote was taken and the motion passed.

It was also discussed that we should contact the ARRL to see if they can put a book in each school for students to get interested in Ham radio.

Robert advised that on 2 meter simplex, he spoke to Naples using a J-pole up 12 feet and 50 watts on 146.58 and 146.56.

Brian is looking for the club’s Disaster Communication banners that were in the trailer. Robert said that he believes that they are behind the door at Jeff’s house.

Brian also announced that the Red Cross needs Amateur Radio Operations for disasters. If anyone is interested in volunteering, let Brian know.

Brian also advised that the DCAT team needs a new meeting location. If anyone has a place in mind, please let Brian know. It is once a month and would like it to be somewhere in central Dade County and possible a place to do training. Robert suggested Wednesday nights at the Planetarium may be a possibility. He will let Brian know.

Esther spoke about club tee shirts. They would be white with the Dade Radio Club logo. She will advise at the next meeting as to price.

Robert then spoke about the website – Instructables.com. It is all about how to build things. You can create an account for free. It takes you step by step. How to build antennas, J-poles, etc. Robert will create it with a password and speak to Ernesto. If anyone has any material that they are interested in submitting, see Robert.

Ray gave a demonstration regarding NASCAR coming up this weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. He got a web cam from Best Buy and used trackcamera.com and put it on the web. We watched how the track got ready for the race. He also uses photolapse 3 which is free software.

Merritt showed us his front yard that he could access from the web.

Robert gave a Hamfest update. We lost about $1,023.00. For a new date and new venue, it was not bad. For the first time he received emails thanking him and the club. Nice things were being said by the attendees. We had happy vendors. It was worthwhile having the show. The Civil Air Patrol kids on Saturday did an excellent job – above the call of duty. The Shriners were also happy with us. He does not know if the show will happen next year because of lack of volunteers. He is not going to run it again unless someone signs up and commits. Esther and Robert did 90% of the work. You need to find out a date that doesn’t conflict with some other event; pick a location, do the advertising, meet with people, etc. It is a lot of work and unless he gets some help, he is not doing it again. The Spanish clubs supported the show quite a bit. Ray said that he went on Craigslist online and checked for the availability of a location and the place that came up with the same place that we just had the Hamfest – 1480 North River Drive. Robert said he does not know what is going to happen because the building has a for sale sign. Virgil stated that he believes the venue will still be there next year. Robert will talk to them and maybe have it the same date as the Melborne show. Virgil stated that it has been 20 months since we had a Hamfest and there was a lot of networking going on. He said that we need enough snacks to feed everyone next time.

Dave came into the meeting room and announced that we have 3 new Hams and 1 upgrade. Congratulations to Arlene Fernandez (Technician); Nelson Barraza (Technician); Guzman Baeza (Technician) and Chris Hammon (General).

Robert asked if there was any other new business.

With no other business, Robert thanked everyone for coming. A Motion to close the meeting was made by Caesar, seconded by Brian. Voted and passed.

The DRC meeting was adjourned at 20:55.

Joanne Carbana
KG4GKU