St. Petersburg Amateur Radio Club
Minutes of Monthly Meeting for Friday, October 24, 2024
The meeting was called to order at 19:30
The club officers and board members in attendance were:
- AA2MF – Richie (President)
- AB4YI – Carol (Vice President)
- W7WMS – Will (Treasurer)
- KF4TYA – Bruce (Acting Secretary/Newsletter Editor)
- N4GD – Dee (Board Member/Repeater Maintenance Manager)
- KR4U – Dave (Club Station W4GAC Trustee)
- KI4UIP – John (Board Member)
All members introduced themselves
Nominations of Officers was discussed
Hal, N1EES who is the chair of the Nominations Committee gave a list of the Officers/Board Members/Trustees
• The current officers are interested in keeping their positions
• Bruce, KF4TYA (Acting Secretary) is intending to become the Club Secretary
• Tom, NY4I was nominated for President, thus President is the only contested office for this election.
• An election for the Club President to be held at the November 2024 meeting.
The presentation/program for this meeting was a detailed presentation on EchoLink. Ed, NZ1Q was the presenter for this program.
The presentation went for approximately 36 minutes and was accompanied by a Powerpoint Slideshow and a demonstration, and Ed answered members’ questions on operation, access, frequencies, etc..
The 50/50 Jackpot was drawn and the winners were awarded accordingly.
The Business portion of the meeting was called to order at 20:22
SPARC Fest is scheduled for Saturday,11/9/24 at Freedom Lake Park, in Pinellas Park from 8:00 – 12:00. For additional information contact Carol, AB4YI. There will also be VE Testing at the SPARC Fest for those who wish to get their license or get an upgrade.
Club Treasurer, Will, W7WMS gave the monthly Treasurer’s Report. He reported that the Club’s CD becomes due in November 2024 and is currently earning a 4.44% APY (Annual Percentage Yield). The membership approved the Treasurer’s Report by a majority vote.
Club Treasurer, Will, W7WMS in his Membership Report, reported that there are two new members and both were approved by a majority vote from the membership. Currently the membership stands at 130 members and greater than 50% of the membership are ARRL members as well. He further mentioned that greater than 50% of the membership must be ARRL members in order for the club to retain its ARRL affiliation.
Acting Club Secretary, Bruce, KF4TYA submitted the minutes for the September 2024 meeting. The minutes for that meeting were pending to be posted on the club’s website. Carol, AB4YI stated that all meeting minutes are posted with the exception of the September 2024 Meeting.
David, KR4U, Club Station – W4GAC Trustee – reported that there was no damage from Hurricane Helene and the antennas and equipment are working properly, thus no issues at this time.
Carol, AB4YI, Club Station – W4TA Trustee – reported that Contests’ contacts are stored on QRZ/Logbook of the World. The W4TA callsign is used for contesting/events (e.g.: Field Day). The W4GAC Callsign is used for (general purpose). It was further noted that none of the computers in the Club Station have logs for W4GAC.
Paul, KA4IOX – Events/Activities Coordinator – Paul introduced himself to the membership. He reported the following:
• N1MM logging software has the ability to open. Type callsign to log in RTTY mode. These contacts will show on the W4TA log.
• CQ Worldwide, scheduled for Sept. 24 was cancelled due to the storm
• ARRL Sweepstakes SSB, November 16 – November 17. There will be step-by-step instructions how to log contacts – N1MM puts files under docs folder
• Each contest has a specific log for that contest. A process needs to be set up for general contacts.
Pat, AAØO gave the results of the last VE Testing session on September 17, 2024. The results were as follows: One upgrade to General
Repeater Maintenance Manager, Dee, N4GD reported that the 220 MHz repeater was sent for repair and has been received back from those repairs. He reported that the preamp was replaced and hopes to get the repeater back online within the next week. He further reported a power reduction on the 220 MHz repeater to only 8 watts.
Dave, KR4U added that if you want to make contacts under your own callsign, bear in mind that those contacts are restricted to your current band privileges only. The Trustee is responsible for the correct operation of the club stations only.
Bruce, KF4TYA, SPARC Gap editor, mentioned that he plans to have the next newsletter completed for the November 2024 meeting. He had originally planned to have the newsletter completed by this month’s meeting, but was unable to do so because of the storm and power loss. Additionally, he mentioned that he is always looking for volunteers and article submissions.
New Business
There will be an election held next month for the contested office of Club President. The candidates are:
• Richie, AA2MF (incumbent)
• Tom, NY4I
The Business Meeting was adjourned at 20:54
73’s
Respectfully Submitted,
Bruce H. Solov, KF4TYA