Ron Gross, AD7FV called the meeting to order and welcomed the 37 attendees.
A new member, Ron McAfee, N0VVH was introduced.
President’s Column- October, with its cooler temperatures (hopefully), is upon us. Monsoon season, which now officially starts on 15 June, officially ended on 30 September, but parts of our area managed to see a bit more rain early in the month. October means that we have only two more GVARC meetings before the Christmas Banquet. We’ll be bringing you details on the banquet soon.
We recognize that Christmas means different things to different people, and that there are a number of traditions represented among our membership. Again this year I invite anyone who so wishes to present a song, a reading, or a short poem that expresses the meaning of this time of year to you. We are hoping that this portion of the program will prove to be moving as well as entertaining.
We will also have our annual elections after the banquet. Nominees for this year will be announced at the November GVARC meeting on 11 November.
Carolyn also announced that she will be making green and SAV badges.
Let her know if you need one.
Ron reminded members that all three repeaters now require a PL-107.2 sub-tone. A GAP TitanDX antenna is installed on the roof and connected to the IC-707 rig, a simpler, easy-to-use, transceiver. The SWR of all bands have been checked using a sophisticated network analyzer that Jim Cooper, AD7KT made available. The antenna is working well on all bands and has been used by the Snowbird Net. Ron said that the IC-707 will be connected to the internet in the next few weeks. If all goes well he may be able to demonstrate a remote connection at the next meeting. The FT-1000 and amp are still available.
This is the month the school Radio Club activities begin. The robotics group has had their first meeting. They are learning about this year's game and what they need to do to build a robot to participate. Each year has an entirely different game so you can't use last year's robot. The regular Radio Club and the radio controlled airplane club will start on Thursday, October 29th. With several new volunteers and the return of last year’s volunteers, we look forward to a good year with the students.
Lloyd, N7GV will be offering a class for Technician Class licenses beginning October 13th and ending November 17th.
Jon reported during the past 30 days, there have been 365 hits from 21 countries on the club’s website. The top three countries are: U.S, Canada, and the U.K. The discone antenna page is the most popular.
Ron Gross, AD7FY led a discussion of nets. The club currently has three nets. The Ice Cream Net meets Thursdays at 18:30 on 145.290. The Oatmeal Net meets Tuesdays at 900 on 145.290. And, the Snowbird Net meets Wednesdays at 1300 on 14.242. Additional nets that are available and new nets that could be sponsored by the club were discussed.
Ron, AD7FV also summarized the calendar for the rest of the year:
The White Elephant Parade will be held on Saturday, 24 October this year instead of on the last Saturday in October as in past years. Traditionally, GVARC members have been stationed at various locations along the parade route in order to alert parade officials to possible problems as well as to provide emergency communications. On several occasions this has resulted in life-saving actions.
This year’s GVARC participation is headed up by Bob Call, KE7SBQ. So far, he has 20 people signed up, but still needs a few more. Volunteers must be at the SAV building at 07:00 hrs on 24 October for briefing and post assignments. Safety vests will be provided at the briefing. Please be sure to bring water and a snack, as some posts don’t get finished until around noon. Thank you to all volunteers for continuing to provide this important community service.
Ken Hofstra, WX9G, made a very enjoyable, informative, well-illustrated, presentation about naval Signals Intelligence – Communications Intelligence relating back to WWII in the Pacific, Korea, and Viet Nam where he served in that capacity. The talk was followed by numerous questions and comments.
The meeting was adjourned at 2035.
Ron Phillips, AA7RP, will do a two part presentation at the October GVARC meeting. The first part will be on some low cost options for getting on two meters and/or 440 MHz. During the second part of his presentation he will explain how Ham Radio Deluxe can be used to connect to the new, simple HF rig in the club station.
The next meeting will be October 14th at 1900 hours in the SAV building behind the library. Hope to see you there.