Business Meeting August 18, 2022
John Zietlow K9WIC President called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM.
Attendees:
|
Virtual Attendees:
| Pierre Berube K9EYE
Steve KD9UDL |
Lou N9LTW | Steve Karson AC9EM |
Secretary’s Report:
Cliff Sowka K9QD: John Zietlow K9WICmoved to approve the July Minutes as published in the Radio Hill Gazette with the following revision: Due to a miscommunication and timing of the SARC Picnic, the club President canceled the August Business Meeting. Dennis C. Calvey KD9HIK seconded. So Moved.
Treasurer’s Report:
Barry Friedman K9FMB provided this report:
Month: August 2022
Checkbook Balance 30-Jun $6,906.31
INCOME MEMO $ 90.00
Deposit 7-Jul Dues Kocourek $ 20.00
Deposit 7-Jul Dues Friedman $ 25.00
Deposit 7-Jul Dues Berube $ 20.00
Deposit 7-Jul Dues Kazlo $ 25.00
DISBURSEMENTS MEMO $ 846.20
ACH 6-Jul AT&T DSL $ 62.82
Chk 1266 6-Jul Glowacki Field Day $ 10.42
Chk 1267 6-Jul Brewer Field Day $ 73.77
Chk 1268 6-Jul Sowka Field Day $ 258.64
Chk 1269 6-Jul Friedman Field Day $ 258.55
Chk 1270 7-Jul USPS PO Box $ 182.00
Deposit not included
Account Balance 31-Jul Bank Statement $6,150.11
Checks Outstanding
Adjusted balance $6,150.11
31-Jul Checkbook balance $6,150.11
Petty Cash 31-Jul $ 201.00
PayPal 31-Jul held hostage by PayPal $1,425.98
+petty cash – special Accts Funds Avail $6,351.11
83 paid members
Ed Lishka AC9SD moved to approve, Steve Karson AC9EM seconded. So Moved.
Public Service:
Rob Glowacki N9MVO not present.
EMCOMM:
John Zietlow K9WIC reported a fall Simulated Emergency Test is planned to occur September 9th and 10th. Details to follow.
John would like to organize a Coverage Survey for our repeater to determine limits of reliable access. Will need member’s participation to help identify the fringe area boundaries.
For our annual ChicagoLand Marathon operations, there could be the possibility of our team using simplex to a centroid installation and then subsequent relay to Command.
Repeaters:
Rob Glowacki N9MVO not present. Wet weather/windy day static on the 2M Machine remains a challenge. Wires-X installation at the Barrington Road site requires a software tweak. 440 PC locks-up and we need to shield from Windows updates corrupting operations.
John Zietlow K9WIC indicated our Repeater Committee needs to craft a plan to correct the 2M antenna weakness; going to be difficult because the performance degradation is sporadic.
Additionally, the 440 machine’s linear and bottles need test/alignment.
Construction Project (CP):
Cliff Sowka K9QD announced CP meetings return in September. Surplus equipment storage on the south wall has been cleared. Some consumables purchases have been secured at several hamfests. Connectors, Copper Grounding Plate, Mueller alligator clips for assembling real test leads, and even some RG8 for making jumpers are ready. Still looking for real Pb-solder, hand tools, freeze spray, and would like to obtain a small vice that we can clamp to a table. Belvidere Hamfest will be a good venue (this is the last Hamfest for the year) for continued search.
Remaining surplus radios on the north storage wall will be sold at Belvidere. Leo Ribordy N9NBH moved to authorize Cliff’s effort to market them. John Douglas KD9KSH seconded. So Moved.
CP Antenna: Dennis C. Calvey KD9HIK has been working with the Park District to continue our effort of installing a usable antenna with access in the basement. In the past, SARC had a VHF/UHF antenna mounted on the fascia of the Tennis Plus Club (TPC).
The Schaumburg Park District (SPD) rooftop renovations are almost finished. SARC would provide materials and Schaumburg Park District employees would affect the installation after rooftop HVAC upgrades are completed.
DRAFT Material list:
| Quantity | DESCRIPTION | Unit Cost | Extension |
| 1 | VHF / UHF Antenna – DONATED | $ – | $ – |
| 200 | Feet Type 1318 Coax cable @ ~ $1.40 / ft | $ 1.40 | $ 280.00 |
| 8 | Eight RF Connectors @ ~ $8.00 each- obtained @ Peotone | $ 8.00 | $ 20.00 |
| 2 | Two lightning / surge protectors @ ~$91.00 ea. | $ 91.00 | $ 182.00 |
| 1 | One surge protector mounting plate- obtained @ Peotone | $ 76.00 | $ 20.00 |
| 2 | Two 10 ft 2″ Schedule 40 PVC pipe @ ~ $ 31.00 ea. | $ 31.00 | $ 62.00 |
| 1 | One 2″ weather head @ ~ $8.25 | $ 8.25 | $ 8.25 |
| 1 | 10 ft. 6 AWG copper cable – DONATED | $ – | $ – |
| 1 | Misc. Hardware & Fittings | $ 100.00 | $ 100.00 |
| 1 | HF Antenna (Not in Scope at this time) | $ – | $ – |
| SHIPPING & HANDLING (8%) | $ 61.78 | ||
| SALES TAX (10 %) | $ 77.23 | ||
| TOTAL | $ 911.26 |
VE Testing:
FCC Test Candidate demand has waned substantially.
Nets:
Barry Friedman K9FMB continues to search for a consistent host for the second Tuesday TechNet.
Radio Hill Gazette RHG:
Mike K9KMV No Report.
Membership:
No Report.
Publicity:
Dennis C. Calvey KD9HIK reported the following:
- Information about Technician Class submitted to ARRL website. Publication confirmed
- Information about Technician Class submitted to Daily Herald as Article and Calendar Event.
- Second email request to Schaumburg Park District requesting meeting about Tennis Plus antenna project sent.
- Leo and Rob assisted Bert cleaning up excess materials stored in the basement of Tennis Plus
- sarc-bd Google Group is out of date, includes persons no longer on SARC BoD and SKs.
Social:
John Douglas KD9KSH reported our July Picnic went well; about 30 attendees. Many club members assisted with the picnic in one way or another and his appreciation goes out to all the members of SARC.
Special Events Committee:
No report.
Education:
Leo Ribordy N9NBH reports an apparent software glitch at the Library District concerning our class-registration progress has been fixed.
Programs:
John Zietlow K9WIC presented Grounding: both Power and Radio Frequency (RF). What is Ground? Why Ground? Equipment Ground and NEC discussion with calculations explaining how induced RF appears on our equipment.
Old Business:
Board of Directors previously approved and communicated a dues increase for next fiscal year. The action created much discussion on our repeater recently. The July meeting minutes were reviewed tonight and the group understood both the necessity and reasoning for the action.
New Business:
Discussed Winter Field Day and potential venue to promote public awareness with favorable venue that allows demonstration, education, and participation.
Nominating Committee formation is required shortly because our Officer Candidate List needs to be published 30-days prior to the November Election / Annual Meeting.
Roberto Beltramelli WA9E has been able to enlist the help of a local antenna expert to help us evaluate the 2M Machine’s sporadic static.
Roberto indicated our Fusion capability has resulted in several new hams participating with our group.
PC controller for the 440 Machine experienced lock-up possibly due to automatic Windows updates; we’ll need configure-change to prevent automatic updates.
Adjourn: 8:38 PM.
Submitted August 19, 2022. Cliff Sowka K9QD Secretary