The meeting was called to order at 19:30
The club officers and board members in attendance were:
- NY4I – Tom (President)
- AB4YI – Carol (Vice President)
- W7WMS – Will (Treasurer)
- K2BHS – Bruce (Secretary/Newsletter Editor)
- N4GD – Dee (Board Member/Repeater Maintenance Manager)
- KR4U – Dave (Club Station W4GAC Trustee)
- KI4UIP – John (Board Member)
- KO4CEE – Alex (Repeater Trustee)
First time attendees were recognized and introduced themselves
- Steven (no callsign at this time)
- Don – WDØNN (visiting from Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN)
- Glenn (no callsign at this time)
President, Tom, NY4I opened up the floor for any club member to report any significant achievements, awards and other notable accomplishments (e.g.: working rare DX, POTA activations, etc.)
The minutes from the January 2025 meeting were posted on the website and have been approved as distributed by a majority vote.
Vice President, Carol, AB4YI reported that the logs for W4TA were uploaded to QRZ.com
Club Treasurer, Will, W7WMS gave the monthly Treasurer’s Report. He reported the balances for the month. He also reported that we close to our minimum quantity to place an order for club shirts.
Secretary/SPARC Gap Editor, Bruce, K2BHS reported that the January 2025 meeting minutes are posted. He begun work on the first SPARC Gap Newsletter for 2025.
David, KR4U, Club Station – W4GAC Trustee – reported that the club is looking into replace/upgrade the equipment in the club station, while keeping one of the Yaesu rigs we already have. Possible replacement radios include the Elecraft K3 and the Icom IC-7610 to name a couple of possibilities. The fourth position in the station will allow people to bring their own radios. He also reported that a couple of the older, tube-type linear amplifiers (Heathkit & Ameritron) and four manual antenna tuners will be put up for sale.
Dee, N4GD reported that both the 2-meter and 440 repeaters are working at this time. The 220 MHz repeater is still down but is tentatively slated to be back online this month.
Pat, AAØO gave the VE Report for January 2025, citing that there were no applicants for that session. The VE session was subsequently cancelled for the month. Next VE Session is 2/18/25, with three applicants thus far.
Paul, KA4IOX – Events/Activities Coordinator, spoke about the NA QSO RTTY Contest from 2/22/25 @13:00 – 2/23/25 @ 01:00. He further stated that the sign-up sheet was now available and that anyone may come.
The next Executive Board Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, 2/22/25 @14:00
The After Holiday party is 2/23/25 @ 14:00 at Kristina’s Café in St. Petersburg, FL. Please RSVP to NY4I via email, so that a count can be provided to the restaurant.
Tom, W4CU resigned in December as a board member, thus creating an open Board Member position. The nominations were as follows:
- Dan “Nic” Nichols – KZØJ
Club Secretary, Bruce, K2BHS cast one vote. Dan Nichols, KZØJ is the new Board Member.
A motion was made to spend up to $100 for additional food expenses that were incurred during Winter Field Day. Motion was made by KA4IOX – Paul, seconded by K4HN – Mike. The motion passed by a majority.
Winter Field Day 2025 yielded a total 1305 contacts, breaking down as follows:
- 1100 phone/SSB
- Bruce – K2BHS finishing second in the top five with a total of 231 contacts on SSB
- 200 CW Contacts
- 5 digital Contacts
Florida QSO Party from 4/27/25 – 4/28/25, and will be using a Special Event Callsign, where the suffixes on these callsigns will spell PIRATES.
50/50 was drawn with a total jackpot of $19
This meeting’s program was a showcase of Homebrew Equipment. There were presentations from:
- Pat, AAØO – Rotator Controller
- Glenn, N4GRC – Antenna Grounding Switch/System
- Ryan, AF4O – Field Day Patch Panel
- Alex, KO4CEE – Hamlib Software
The Meeting was adjourned at 20:56
