August 2021 Monthly Meeting Minutes

date
2021-08-21
convened
09:43
adjourned
10:37

Officers

  • President: Phil Gates (N5ZKF) present
  • Vice President: Rick Pfeil (W4RDP) absent
  • Secretary: Matthew Barry (KG5LYE) present
  • Treasurer: Lorna Flansburg (KI5FIZ) present

Attendees (26)

  • Marty Nau (W5MHN)
  • Lee Lance (KK5QO)
  • Ron Hambric (N5SBN)
  • Garrett Martin (W5HVS)
  • Leslie Lutz
  • Harold Turbyfill (KG5SDG)
  • Jim Laird (KF5YY)
  • Jim Hanks Jr. (W5CYN)
  • Jace Nelson (KE0MXN)
  • Alex Olah (KI5BVJ)
  • Bill Preston (KZ3G)
  • Dick Zimmer (W5DZ)
  • Joe Napoli (KG5SDF)
  • Murl Webster (K0GPJ)
  • Lalana Webster (KE0AKL)
  • Adam Keller
  • Ginger Mikeska
  • Lauren Mikeska
  • Vic Pears (KX8V)
  • Gerald Golub (W5VUI)
  • Connor Farrell (WG1GEM)
  • Wayne Pecena (N1WP)
  • Don Hutchcraft (KE5ADX)
  • Matthew Barry (KG5LYE)
  • Lorna Flansburg (KI5FIZ)
  • Phil Gates (N5ZKF)

Officer Reports

President Phil Gates (N5ZKF)

  • FCC has removed Amateur Radio service exemption for RF safety
  • ARRL has made an online calculator to help with this

New Repeater Antenna

  • New antenna has resolved the noise issue we were having
  • Thanks to the very generous donations by WA5JOT and Dick Zimmer (W5DZ) to cover the new antenna, transportation, and installation
  • CTCSS code has been enabled on output, but not currently not transmitting with CW ID on repeater
  • IF you have tone squelch enabled on your receiver, then you won’t hear the CW ID

Club Build Kit

  • ID timer “kit build” project demoed by Dick Zimmer (W5DZ)
  • Doodle poll sent out; reply if you’re interested

Club History

  • Lorna Flansburg (KI5FIZ) has been doing some historical research
  • 1954-09-09 was original founding date of the club

Bryan 150th Celebration

  • City is collecting stories and memorabilia
  • Will be burying a time capsule
  • Celebration in November at Bryan High School
  • Could the Bryan Amateur Radio Club be a part?
    • we’d like to put up a special event station
      • special 1×1 callsign or use club callsign?
        • club callsign seems more appropriate for affiliation with Bryan
      • basically a lot like Field Day
      • We can do multiple events (since this celebration will be an ongoing thing)
        • maybe some local simplex HT or D-STAR operations; not full-blown HF
      • Note: there will also be 9/11 special event stations
    • organizer is interested, but are unfamiliar with Amateur Radio
    • wants to list us as a “partner” on the website
    • stay tuned for more details for events in the fall
      • plans are still evolving

Field Day Committee

  • Please consider serving to help coordinate next Field Day
  • If interested, please get in touch with us by November
  • We want to establish the committee by December to give plenty of time for planning

Club Branding / Logos

  • Thanks to all who submitted proposals
  • Please put your callsign next to the ones you like (can have more than one)

Ham Club Online

  • Officers have been evaluating this service
  • Club membership administration tool
    • allow members to manage profiles, dues payment, etc.
  • Not a replacement for club website
    • currently managed by Gerald Golub (W5VUI)

Club Website Capabilities

Gerald Golub (W5VUI)

  • club WordPress website already has much of this functionality
    • members are already able to log in and manage their own profile and contact info
    • online dues payment through PayPal can also be added
  • was planning to give presentation to demonstrate the site’s abilities prior to COVID lockdown
    • schedule for after future meeting

Side-Note: Cybersecurity

Gerald Golub (W5VUI)

  • Club logins have been targeted in the past and continue to be targeted
    • additional security measures added after 2017-05-06 incident to report logins
    • there were a record number of failed login attempts from Russia last month: >24,000
    • successful logins actively monitored to make sure they come from TX
      • any suspicious activity would be intercepted
  • There have been some phishing attacks (emails) sent directly to club members
  • The club will never ask you directly (through email) for money, credentials, or personal info!

Vice-President Rick Pfeil (W4RDP)

on the road today

Treasurer Lorna Flansburg (KI5FIZ)

Bank Account

  • Starting balance $6,602.30
  • Total income: $1,911.75
    • membership dues
    • Field Day refund from College Station
    • donations for antenna replacement
  • Disbursements: $1,696.75
    • tower jack
    • skyline communications
  • Ending balance: $6,817.30

Reminders

  • ARRL membership can be renewed through the club
    • we make $2 per membership

Historical Research

  • Lots of fascinating research
  • All the way through 1965; some highlights:
    • Field Day at Coulter Field
    • Emergency Communications between Bryan and College Station
    • 1961 OSCAR satellite launch
    • Soliciting for paid operator help
      • Note: paid use of amateur radio is very rare, usually not legal
  • Written notes from Henry Menefee (W5RAS)

Secretary Matthew Barry (KG5LYE)

  • Short on time; will forego reading minutes
  • Last month’s minutes will be sent out with current month’s minutes
    • if you have any corrections, please let me know

Other Business

VE Session This Morning

  • 5 candidates
    • all received Technician
    • attempted General
  • Next test session will be before October meeting

EMCOMM

  • There are almost 700 amateur radio operators in the Brazos valley
  • Pete Sessions would like

Health and Welfare / Good of the Order

Closing

  • Motion to adjourn by Gerald Golub (W5VUI)
    • Seconded by Vic Pears (KX8V)
    • passes unanimously

Presentation

Ron Hambric (N5SBN) on Winlink

August Meeting

Next Meeting: 2021-09-18 09:30, location TBD

Permanent link to this article: https://www.bryanarc.org/august-2021-monthly-meeting-minutes/