Meeting was called to order by President Ron AD7FV at 7:00 PM.
The only guest (no new members) was introduced. He is the grandson of Lloyd N7GV and Carolyn AB7KC.
Threasurers Report:
Technical Report:
Ron AA7RP reports there was nothing to report. All is working very well at this time.
Education:
Lloyd N7GV indicated there were to be 4 more session at Continental School.
8 students started the modle airplane project with 5 finishing.
These 5 will be flying very soon.
There will be no more license exams this before we return from summer break, but if you are interested in getting tested there are places in Tucson to do so.
Spring Picnic:
Sharon KA9GPV has been working on the picnic along with Bill N9CHN (our chef).
Picnic will be in Madera Canyon tomorrow and will be fun.
Website:
Jon AD7GS indicated there were a lot of hits in January, fewer in February, and then back up in March (around 9000 hits).
There were 265 hits on the Discone section, 106 on Comments, 96 on Events, 79 on Technical, and 78 on Calendar.
New Business:
Ron AD7FV talked about the sale on a 100' tower in Phoenix and gave information on how to find it.
He also reported that Gene W0KAD built a picnic table which is at the discone site at the Titan Missle location.
Jack AD7NK provided the labor and material to tie the table down so it doesn't walk away.
Club shirts and hats are available to anyone that would like them.
Lloyd N7GV has an MFJ HF transceiver that will be for sale as soon as he gets it checked out.
He also has some CW equipment (2 code machines and a paddle).
Also he has a very nice work bench and book case plus a 4X4 framed peg board.
Contact Lloyd for these items.
Ron AD7FV gave a power point presention on Fox Hunting in general and more information about our upcoming Fox Hunt. It was all very intereting and should be a lot of fun. The hunt is to take place 4/20/08 starting at 2:00 PM at the SAV.
The meeting was ajourned a little before 8:00 PM.
The last Radio Club meeting for the school year was a party on April 30. It was well attended, as parties usually are. Summarizing the year: In the electronics group, we started with 15 students and lost 4 to sports after the first of the year. They built a total of 15 beginning level Christmas trees, 6 advanced Christmas trees, 11 flashlights, 11 AM/FM radios, 4 digital clocks, and 2 radio controlled race cars. In the returning group, we started with 9 students. Two dropped out, one due to sports and and one due to transportation problems. Of the remaining 7, all have completed their radio controlled airplanes. One has soloed and the others will solo as soon as we get some calm flying days. Five of our students will be moving on to high school next year.
The plan for next year is as follows: Limit the electronics group to 20 students as we have done in the past. Limit the radio controlled airplane group to 12 students. Next year could be a very busy time. None of this could be done without the help of the volunteers. This year there were 20 people who volunteered to help work the program. If you have ever built an electronic kit or assembled or flown a model airplane, your help is especially needed.
We held an off campus tech school with 5 students attending. Two of the 5 earned their tech licenses. We plan to do better next year.
The Green Valley Amateur Radio Club held it's first annual transmitter hunt on April 20, 2008. Ten vehicles and over 20 people took part. It was a fun event and the first hunt for most participants. Every car had their own story as to how they succeeded or why they didn't. Only 5 of the ten cars were successful in the 2 hour time period. The winner was Mike Bass, WA9TKK, who found it in 22 minutes. Not to take anything away from Mike, but he works for Verizon and part of his job is to track down radio interferrence. Mike set the goal for the rest of us to shoot for on the next hunt.
Dave and Susan Sader, AB7VE & KC7TAC, hid the transmitter and had a ball watching hunters go back and forth just missing the antenna which was in a tree. The polarization was horizontal because that was the only way the dipole would stay without falling out of the tree. The audio was from a small CD player with a one hour recording which announced the call every ten minutes, told stories, had train, car, and gun shots sound effects and generally tried to entertain and irritate the hunters. We all gathered at Carl Jrs. afterwards for supper. If you weren't there, you missed a fun time, ask anyone who was.
Most of us have heard of the so-called “Organizational Life Cycle.” Depending on which source one reads, there are anywhere from three to ten stages to the cycle. J.J. Cribben1 has defined the stages—which, by the way, apply to all organizations, from churches to businesses to clubs—as follows:
Adapted from J.J. Cribben, LEADERSHIP and Kimberly and Miles, The Organizational Life.
We also might call Conception and Infancy “The Infant Stage,” Puberty and Young Adulthood “The Growing Stage,” Adulthood “The Prime Stage,” Late Adulthood “The Aging Stage,” and Old Age “The Dying Stage.”
The question I keep asking myself is, “In which stage is GVARC?” I’ve only been in the club since 2005, so I know little of its background and history. However, I do know at least some of what the club has been doing during these last three years: informative presentations at club meetings, special events, Field Day, amateur radio license classes, VE sessions, weekly nets, Continental School outreach, repeater interconnection, fox hunt equipment-building seminars, Fox Hunt, Web site, picnics, White Elephant Parade participation, Titan II Missile Museum operating station, club shirts, etc., etc.
So, in which stage DO WE find GVARC? Between “Adulthood” and “Late Adulthood”? Between “Prime” and “Aging”? Many of you know the club better than I, so you be the judge.
Our former president, Gene Schouweiler, W0KAD, worked hard to keep GVARC moving forward, as have a growing number of other people. We need not only to continue that work, but to expand it as well. For example, club meetings have historically run from October to May each year. That was fine when many people returned to homes in other places during the summer months. Now however, many club members live in the Green Valley area full-time. Why not at least have a June meeting so that we can discuss issues related to Field Day, which occurs the last weekend in June?
Also, the Radio Society of Tucson has expressed an interest in having some joint events with our club. It sounds to me like a great idea. They have quite a few members who are highly interested in some of the more technical aspects of ham radio. It’s always fun to expand our horizons and learn new things.
In addition, the Titan II Missile Museum has decided to stay open until 2100 on the following days: 17 May, 21 June, 19 July, 16 August, 13 September, and 11 October. Since the museum has benefited from our involvement with the discone antenna, Museum Director Yvonne Morris has suggested that we might put together a couple of special events that would run into the evening on the September and October dates. Something to think about…
Remember, only WE can decide if and how our club keeps moving forward. The six greatest words of doom to any organization are, “We’ve NEVER done it that way!” Maybe we haven’t, but maybe it’s time we start.
73,
Ron Gross AD7FV