St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club
S.P.A.R.C.
Executive Board Meeting – 20 August 2024
| Office/Position | Name | Present | Absent |
| President | Rich Carello – AA2MF | X | |
| Vice-President | Carol De La Torre – AB4YI | Phone | |
| Treasurer | Will Scott – W7WMS | X | |
| Secretary – temp | Hal Chase – W1EES | X | |
| Past President | Pat Connelly – AA0O | X | |
| President Emeritus | Bob Wanek – N2ESP | X | |
| President Emeritus | Donn Davis – N4KII | X | |
| Membership | Hal Chase – W1EES | X | |
| Trustee – W4GAC | David Trewin – KR4U | X | |
| Trustee – W4TA | Carol De La Torre – AB4YI | Phone | |
| Trustee – Club repeaters + NET Manager | Billy Lockwood – KN4LUZ | X | |
| Board member – elected + Repeater maintenance | Dee Turner – N4GD | X | |
| Board member – elected | John Toth – KI4UIP | X | |
| Board member – elected + Contest coordinator | Tom Schaeffer – W4CU – resign
Paul Krahmer – KA4IOX – new |
X | |
| SPARC GAP Publisher | Bruce Solov – KF4TYA | X | |
| Webmaster | Zack Craig – KO4WPO | X |
Meetings are recorded to maintain a true and accurate record of minutes – both SPARC Club monthly meetings as well as Executive Board meetings are recorded. Long-term storage of the recordings will be determined later.
Meeting called to order – 5:06PM by Rich – AA2MF
Pledge of Allegiance
Standing Committee Reports:
Treasurer’s Report – Membership Report – Will – W7WMS – Financial status – OK – ARRL League affiliation – OK – 53% of SPARC members are ARRL members –
Radio Club Station Trustees – Dave – KR4U – Trustee of W4GAC – all working fine
Carol – AB4YI – Trustee of W4TA – all working fine
Repeater Station Trustees – Billy – KN4LUZ – Operations – No report
Dee Turner – N4GD – Maintenance – all working fine
SPARC GAP Publication – Bruce – KF4TYA – No report
Membership – Hal – W1EES – ARRL affiliation percentage okay
Refreshments – Felix – KI4TWQ – No report
SPARC Web redesigns – Carol – AB4YI – Work in progress
SPARC Email – Lou – KB4DSL – Work in progress
SPARC Slack – Carol – AB4YI – Very active
VE Testing – Pat – AA0O – no report
SPARCFest – Pat – AA0O – no report
Club Station Events Coordinator. Tom W4CU has resigned from this position. Keeping his club access keys to continue in the development of the station.
Paul KA4IOX has been appointed as the new Club Station Events Coordinator . A set of club access keys was issued. He provided a tentative list of station activities, asking for additional input from the Board. A sidebar meeting will be held at the next monthly meeting to review the Boards inputs.
Other business
Winter Field Day. Passably joining with the UPARC operation. Holding our own event outdoors. A location will need to be found. We will discuss this at the next monthly meeting.
Club Logo – the ARRL logo must be removed from the current SPARC logo. Modifying our current SPARC logo by replacing the ARRL logo with an outline of the state of Florida is being considered. Determining if the change can be done was assigned to Will W7WMS.
Club Bylaws review – The needed bylaws review is still agreed to be done. The 51% ARRL required membership is being monitored .
Call sign copy skill improvement sessions will be offered with the use of our 2-meter repeater. Voice Audio tapes will be played of call signs for copy with lists published on our web site for personal review to determine copy ability. Times of this program will be determined.
Contact local area high schools and trade school officials to establish a joint Ham Radio and related training programs for their students. Rich – AA2MF to talk to principals – (Dave – KR4U – mentioned that while SPARC was at the Salvation Army building, we were approached by group of parents of home-schooled students, and we gave a demo of ham radio to those interested. How to connect to this group?)
Provide VHF communications for public events – (Marathons – Road runners) – we discussed various events in the area. Determined Ham Radio shadowing of these activities is no longer needed with the use of cell phones.
Elections coming this fall – Rich reported he will be running again – Nomination committee?
Meeting Adjourned: 6:24pm