1)  Call to Order

Melanie Fernandez (KJ4VCT)called to order the Gold Coast Amateur Radio Association’s regular meeting at 19:33 EDT (23:33 UTC) on August 24, 2021, over ZOOM. A quorum was present with 15 members.

2)  Pledge of Allegiance

3)  Secretary’s Report – Charlie Artner (KN4VDW)

Charlie Artner (KN4VDW) made a motion to approve Minutes from September 28, 2021. Joh Cole (N1QFH) second. Minutes accepted without objection.

4)  Treasurer’s Report – Erik Olmer (W4EJO)

We have one new member David Pomerantz (KO4DKN), and three renewals; Jeff Stahl (K4BH), Mitchell Rudin (), and Bruce Ratoff ().

Dues this month                                                $ 120.00 +
Service Charges from the bank                           $ 4.00 –
Web hosting totaled                                           $ 20.00 –
PayPal Fees                                                       $ 5.44 –

Balances

PayPal                                                              $ 229.80 +
Checking                                                          $8,728.62 +

John Cole (N1QHF) requested a copy of the current Treasurer’s Report

5)  VE Status Report – Jeff Stahl (K4BH)

Jeff Stahl (K4BH) has not contacted Coral Springs Parks for availability for their facilities yet. He will attempt to give this some attention tomorrow (10/27/2021).

Jeff Stahl (K4BH) picked up the donated HAM gear for the school, which will allow us to assist the school in setting up an Amateur Radio Club

6)  Repeater Report – Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR)

Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR) reported that the noise is still present from time to time. He made some improvements regarding the equipment ground. If the reaper has to be shipped out for repairs, Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR) will use the spare YAESU when the repeater is with ICOM.

Multiple people have approached Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR) to turn back on the PL Tone. He explained that this would not prevent the noise from transmitting when somebody keys up. That means if a station with a low-powered HT would key up, that station would still not be heard because of the noise.

We still have to track down which component in the repeater system is causing the issue. It is either the amplifier or the radio. If it is the radio, Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR) will have to replace the repeater with the Fusion Repeater while the ICOM repeater is in repair. The CAT controller will not be connected during this time.

All other repeaters are running well. Jerry Deitch (W4LST) donated an AC for the repeater room. Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR) is still waiting for the OK from JKV maintenance to install the AC

7)  Web Admin Report – Charlie Artner (KN4VDW)

Charlie Artner (KN4VDW) added the club to the Amazon Smile Program and provided a link for public access to shop on Amazon Smile and make the GCARA the selected non-profit organization.

To shop using the smile program, Amazon customers will have to use the link https://smile.amazon.com.

The events page has also been improved to make it easier to navigate and more transparent as far as the title and description of the events.

The RSVP form has been added to the Club Dinner event on our Events Page.

All meetings will have the ZOOM information within the Event for future Club meetings.

8)  Announcements

a)    Nominaing Committee

Barry Porter (KB1PA) will present the slate for the November election. As of now, all seated persons on the executive committee wish to retain their seats.

Following members are nominated:

President                              Melanie Fernandez (KJ4VCT)
Vice-President                     Joe McGee (NX4T)
Treasurer                              Erik Olmer (W4EJO)
Secretary/PIO                      Charlie Artner (KN4VDW)
Director/Parliamentarian      Jeff Stahl (K4BH)
Director/PIO                        Mike Wolf (K2HXC)
Trustee                                 Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR)

If anybody wants to run for any of these offices, please contact Barry Porter (KB1PA) at barryp13@mac.com.

b)   HF Station – Joe McGee (NX4T)

Joe McGee (NX4T) installed a cable provided by Al Flapan (AF4FA), which now allows users of the remote station to tune the radio with a “Tune” button instead of switching to AM to tune manually. There is no need for changing to AM anymore to tune the radio.

c)    Badges

Charlie Artner (KN4VDW) will post a form on the website to allow members to order badges with their name and call sign. The order will be sent to Charlie Artner (KN4VDW), who will distribute the tags.

The name tags are from edco.com. EDCO is partnering with us to print our magnetic name tags.

d)   Shirts

Melanie Fernandez (KJ4VCT) will contact Mike Wolf (K2HXC) to work out the procedure for ordering shirts.

e)    Sunshine Committee

Hope Smith (WB3ANE) is now on the Sunshine Committee. If you need cards to wish somebody well or for other occasions, please get in touch with Hope Smith (WB3ANE) or Melanie Fernandez (KJ4VCT).

9)  Speaker: John Quarquesso (KE4JQ)

John Quarquesso (KE4JQ) talked to the club about experiences and upcoming projects with the boy scouts.

10)       Adjournment

Melanie Fernandez (KJ4VCT)adjourned the meeting at 20:49 EDT (00:49 UTC).