Saint Petersburg Amateur Radio Club – September 2018 – Meeting Notes
1930 – Meeting called to order – Bob Wanek – N2ESP, President
Pledge of Allegiance – Moment of Silence for Bob Merada, WB4MCF, SK
It was also reported that member Walt Pleasants, N4ELH, was in Largo Med. – no details at this time
Introductions – 2 guests followed by self-introductions of members
Minutes of August meeting and the Board of Directors meeting were reported (online) and accepted
Financial report was read by Treasurer Tom Wedding, AI4QP, and accepted
Our VP, Ed Erny, NZ1Q, has been in New Hampshire for a few months and reports it’s good to be back
Net Manager, Rick Niendorf, KK4WTE, read the August Net Report and it was accepted
Trustee Report: Dave Trewin, KR4U, reported that the SPARC Contest Team placed 2nd worldwide and in North America in the Multi-Op High Power (Single Receiver) category. This was the Makrothen RTTY contest, October 14-15, 2018.
Ron Hall, KP2N, our repeater trustee, ported that all repeaters were working well
Tom wedding, AI4QP, reported we had 2 new applications for membership
VE Report from Donn Davis, N4KII: during the last Club testing session, we had an upgrade to General, and at the W5YI session they had a new Technician (and one will be back next session)
Old Business – At the recent TARCFest, we sold equipment and got $277.
The annual Science Fair (downtown along the waterfront) – SPARC will not be attending this year due to SPARC activities around that period of time (see below) – we are cancelling this year.
We are coming up on the end of the year and it is Election time! The Nominating Committee is looking for some folks to step up to keep the Club going as well as it has been all these years. To nominate anyone, or if you would like to run for a position, contact Hal Chase, W1EES, to get the name(s) to the Committee. (Hal – email: hal6244@gmail.com) October – nominations & November – the election
New Business – SPARCFest 2018 – will be at Freedom Park – 10 November 2018 –
A few months ago we had a presentation on the U.S. Navy’s museum ship “American Victory” – in Tampa – Bob Wanek, N2ESP, President, was contacted asking if there are members who would like a tour (like maybe a bit more “behind the scenes” than normal) – let him know if you’re interested and we’ll see if we can get something set up
The BIG news – we must relocate – just down the hall from where we are – the shack will be larger, but we may need a meeting room at some other location. More details next month!
Following the short break: Our Feature entertainment for the evening was an excellent presentation by Ron Hall, KP2N, on the history of Heathkit. Ron worked there for many years and had several photos of the building over the years, as well as several stories on how many of the products were developed. Having someone who actually “lived it” made the presentation “come alive!”
2050 – Meeting adjourned.
Submitted by Hal Chase