The meeting was called to order by President Jack McGowan AD67NK at 19:00 who welcomed the thirty-nine attendees.
Joe Pinter KK7DB, a returning member, and Stan a visitor were introduced.
Don Doehring K7DOD announced the results of the election from the December meeting as follows: President, Jack McGowan AD7NK Vice President, Ron Phillips AA7RP Treasure, Bob Call KE7SBQ Secretary, Don Doehring K7DOD
Our antenna on Elephant Head was destroyed during a December windstorm and has been replaced. The 27 and 29 repeaters currently are not linked but will be in the near future. If you want to use the club’s remotely controlled IC-707 you will need an account. Contact Ron Phillips or click on “Contacts” on the GVARC website.
Lloyd announced that the Continental School Robotics Team placed second in the state competition. This is an outstanding achievement when you consider that these middle school kids were competing against 18 teams from high schools around the state. The efforts of Ken Van Horn KE7VTW have produced these winning results. Thanks Ken. Interest in the Continental Radio Club remains high with thirty-two students participating. We presently have 27 AM/FM radio kits under construction. Ted N7SX continues to teach basic electronics and recently covered transistors. On January 28th, the students toured the Titan Missile Museum. Our tour guide was George AD7DH.
Lloyd started a Tech. class on Sunday, January 17th at 2 p.m. here at the SAV. There will be five two-hour sessions of instruction on consecutive Sundays and we have completed two sessions. Unfortunately, we have only three persons in the class, all adults. The VE exam is scheduled for February 21st at 2 P.M. at SAV and is open to anyone who would like to take any level of examination. Call Lloyd at 648-2834 to let him know you are coming.
Since April 2009 our website has had 3,877 hits with most coming from the U.S and U.K. During the past month we have had 651 hits of which 514 were unique. They came from 29 countries with most from the U.S. followed by Italy and Poland.
In the future, the Secretary will send an email to the members notifying them that the current newsletter is available on the club’s website. We will mail copies to members who do not use the Internet.
President Jack AD7NK, began a discussion about the club, namely, our current status and where we are headed. He asked members to think about the mission and goals of the GVARC. The discussion led to consideration of our relationship with the SAV, how it could be improved, and also RACES, ARES, CERT, and first responders in general. One suggestion was a transmitter hunt and our guest speaker, Miguel Enriquez KD7RPP, volunteered to chair a committee to develop a transmitter hunt. Lloyd Miller N7GV and Gene Schouweiler W0KAD volunteered to serve on the committee.
Jack also announced that the December Banquet will be held at the Elks Club this year and also that Rudy Sweisfurth N3EBG can make stickers suitable for auto bumpers or back windows that display a call sign, the club logo, and repeater frequencies. The cost is $5 and a signup sheet was passed around.
The guest speaker was Miguel Enriquez KD7RPP from Pueblo High School in Tucson. He is one of three ARRL-sponsored instructors who travel the country holding Teacher Institutes, training them to teach wireless technology at the high school level. He spoke of the progress at Pueblo High and their goals of developing, constructing, and launching a cube satellite by 2019 and hopefully sooner. There was a cube satellite simulator on display. His presentation was very enjoyable and well received. Afterward, several members were heard to say that they wished they had had a teacher like Miguel.
If you haven’t paid your dues, they are passed due and you will be taken off the roster.
Our next meeting will be on February 10th. The meeting was adjourned at 20:20.
All the data that were asked for on the back of the club membership form has finally been entered into a database. There are several members that forgot to fill the backside out.
We are in the process of rewriting the Newcomers Pamphlet and updating it from the 1995 edition. This will give us all some needed info on who we (as a club) are.
We need to get individuals to volunteer for several committees that have been vacant. They will be discussed at the next meeting.
The Continental School Radio Club will be giving a live demonstration on robotics at the next meeting. It will start at 7 P.M. sharp (first thing on the agenda) so participants can get home early.
Everyone who ordered a window/bumper sticker can pick it up at the next meeting.
Thanks,
Jack McGowan AD7NK