Call to order – 7:00 p.m. on ZOOM meeting. The host will mute everyone
while reports are given. Please use the raise hand button to ask a question
or make a comment. Thank you.
GOD BLESS THE USA!!
Minutes of previous meeting on July 28, 2020___
Draft minutes on website. Motion to approve? Second?
All in favor say “aye.” Opposed, “no.”
Treasurer’s report. Erik Olmer W4EJO
Membership report. Joe McGee
Testing report. Jeff Stahl K4BH – Any news on when testing can start?
Corona Virus report – Jeff Stahl
Repeater report. Ricky Eaton KD4HGR
Webmaster report, if any. John invites us to submit articles for the blog.
Call for old business
We still have not heard when the hospital will be allowing our club to meet
yet so we will continue with Zoom meetings. As far as our quarterly dinners
and biannual picnics, they are on hold until the dust settles from the latest
rise in COVID-19 cases. It does not appear to be safe to meet in public with
groups larger than 10, masked or not.
Announcements
The Board would like to pursue getting a brick from the ARRL for ROY
KJ4EGN, SK. We will start taking donations this month and September.
We will join with the Palmetto ARC for that purpose.
I am taking names for the secretary position at this time due to the
unfortunate demise of Roy. You must have computer skills, time to
dedicate, the ability to be discreet with personal business matters and an
organizational ability. Anyone who is interested, please call Melanie
privately at 954-560-3706. You must have been a member in good
standing with the Club with up to date dues for at least one year. All
candidates will have the opportunity to make a case for their inclusion in
our list of choices. Thank you.
Hope Search is looking for issues of CQ Magazine for the months of March
through present for reading material. Please contact Melanie to pick up and
deliver to Hope. 954-560-3706
Kenny Hollenbeck has an announcement- SEFTN needs volunteer control
operators even if just for one day, etc.
Carol Sjursen has a ARESRACES Announcement. Need volunteers for
shelters.
Introduction of speaker Joe McGee, NX4T, will speak to us about the
HF radio the club purchased and has set up. Several of our best hams
have had a hand in the setting up of the system. Thank you to
everyone who lent a hand in the process.
QUESTIONS ABOUT TALK. HOST UNMUTE Members.
Thank the speaker.
“The chair will entertain a motion to adjourn.”
Amateur radio lost another one of the finest gentlemen to grace the hobby. Roy Neiman, KJ4EGN, went to be with the Lord today, August 12, 2020. He was quiet, humble and unassuming, gentle and the first to volunteer if needed. He was the first person to greet many of us with his outstretched hand as he shook it, smiled and introduced himself. He was a true gentleman ham, both on the radio and off. Roy served as Secretary for the Gold Coast Amateur Radio Association (GCARA) for many years. In addition to the GCARA, he also belonged to the Broward Amateur Radio Club (BARC), Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES), Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) and volunteered many years for the Winterfest Boat Parade. Roy also served as a Net Control Operator for the South East Florida Traffic Net Wednesday nights, and his absence will be noticed every week. Roy leaves behind several beloved children and his greatest love of 60 years, Vicki Neiman. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his lovely family and the many friends he made along his journey.
Rest in Peace Roy.
Melanie Fernandez, GCARA President
CALL TO ORDER:
The regular meeting of the Gold
Coast Amateur Radio Association, Inc., was called to order on Tuesday,
September 2019, at 7:37 pm in the Auditorium of Imperial Point Medical Center
by President Melanie Fernandez, KJ4VCT. A quorum was present. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, the 35
persons in attendance introduced themselves by first name, call sign, and city.
MINUTES: The Minutes of the July 29th meeting were approved as posted on the website.
REPORTS:
Treasurer
Ricki Witte, KJ4FSJ, gave the treasurer’s report
Membership
Joe McGee, NX4T, reported a total current membership of 79, of whom 63 have renewed for 2019. There are 16 life members and 52 are members of the ARRL.
Joe also gave a preview of our plans for Winter Field Day.
Volunteer Examiners
Jeff Stahl, K4BH, reported five persons had taken licensing tests all five passed.
Repeater Trustee
Ricky Eaton, KD4HGR stated that the 146.610 Repeater is working well. He and Eric decided to wait until after Hurricane season to install the new Antenna. The strange noise on the Repeater has fortunately gone away.
Webmaster Report
John Cole invited members to send articles for the “Blog.” Prepare them in Word, Ariel,14 pt.
Carol Sjursen thanked everyone that manned the shelters for Dorian. Erik presented those persons with symbolic Turtles as a thank you.
The Boat Parade is December 14th this year.
The 50/50 raffle was won by Al Nevares, N4ACN, who donated it back to the club.
October 12th will be our last Quarterly dinner at Wings Plus. Please plan to attend.
Kenny KE4NC asked for volunteers to conduct the SEFTN.
November 2nd is the date for our combined picnic at Vista View Park. $10.00 food donation is suggested.
PROGRAM: Mike Samokiszyn KF4ZYN gave a very informative presentation on the details of DMR radio setup and programming. He emphasized the ease of setting up and using the new system.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting adjourned at 9:07 pm.
Respectfully submitted by Roy Neiman, KJ4EGN, Secretary.
Call to Order: 7:35 PM
President Melanie Fernandez, KJ4VCT, called the meeting to order and lead the members in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Roll Call:
Roll call of the entire membership present was given. Thirty Four (34) people were in attendance.
Minutes of the Previous Meeting on July 23, 2019 were approved as they appeared on the website.
Treasurer’s Report:
Ricki gave the Treasure’s Report
Membership Report:
Joe stated that we now have 86 members and 16 life members
Testing Report:
One tech tested and passed.
Repeater Report:
Ricky Eaton, KD4HGR, TRUSTEE said that he needs a method of transportation, for the new Antenna, as it is 26ft. long. Kenny has a trailer that should suffice. It will be installed soon as he and Eric have a crew to assist pulling it up outside the building. The Boca Repeater is fine. The 442.500 Repeater is working exceptionally well. Dirk has the active Fusion system on his building. Ricky also stated that we have no backup for the 146.610 Repeater at this time.
Webmaster Report:
John Cole, N1QFH is on vacation, so no report is expected until September.
Annnouncements:
Barry Porter is coming home and will have home therapy. Jeff Beals has improved and we were happy to see him at the meeting.
Carol Sjursen mentioned that the Class on August 3rd and 4th yielded 24 new hams. She also announced that the Boat Parade will be on December 14th.
Also, there is to be another class on September 9th in Naples, FL.
Jeff Stahl has sold the antenna that he donated. Ricky will sell the other equipment that we have, or it may be auctioned off at a monthly meeting.
We’re hoping to plan another picnic at Vista View on November 2nd. If interested, contact Melanie.
October 12th will be our last quarterly dinner for the year at Wings Plus.
Jim Schilling KG4JSG stopped by and asked for our vote for ARRL Vice Director.
Jeff Stahl is also running for that office. Ballots should arrive around October 3rd.
Ralph Tullo mentioned that the SAR Net’s future is looking better, after so many Hams sent their appeals to maintain it.
50/50 Raffle: Was won by Jeff Ronner W4AEQ. He donated it back to the club.
SPEAKER:
Jeff Stahl gave a presentation regarding how to deal with the stress of being a volunteer in emergency situations. Also, one should get professional help after the emergency, if needed.
After Jeff’s presentation, Mike Wolfe showed some Field Day Pictures.
The speaker was thanked and the meeting was adjourned at 9:09PM.
Respectfully submitted by Secretary Roy Neiman KJ4EGN
The next two months will be the busiest months in a long time. Our Spring Picnic was the last outdoor meeting for our group and it went very well for many of us who chose to go and participate. Safety Fest in Margate hosted by CERT was also a lively affair with much to see and do and many friends to make contact with. Facebook has a lot of pictures of both events so you can check it out if you missed it.
At our last GCARA BOARD MEETING on May 4, 2019, we met to discuss replacing the old commercial antenna for the repeater on the John Knox building. Although we put it to good use for many years, it was not the proper frequency nor was it for a 2meter repeater. It was putting a high SWR back into our equipment and ran the risk of damaging our brand new equipment up there at Cassels Tower. Through the diligent research of Ricky Eaton, Eric Rodriguez, Joe McGee and Jeff Stahl, it was decided that the old commercial antenna could not be tuned or modified without some taking apart and welding and even then it may not have been suitable. It was indeed a frustrating conundrum for experienced hams who can homebrew/fix anything and make it work. After a lengthy bit of experimenting and talking and looking into other possibilities, we have all agreed that purchasing a new antenna, one that is built precisely for our unit and is wind resistant to 195 MPH winds, is the best option available tous now. While it comes with a hefty price of about $1200.00, we are trying to get a discount, have sold some equipment donated back to the club by Dirk Basting and have some small anonymous donations that can be made available towards the purchase. We feel that these donations have come at a much needed time and we should make them work for us. It is hoped that with all brand new equipment, our repeater should last another 15-20 years without major problems. When you see Eric Rodriguez and Ricky Eaton, please tell them how grateful and appreciative you are. These gentlemen have put many long hours into problem solving and workmanship into keeping us on the air. Special thanks also to Joe McGee and Jeff Stahl who did a wonderful job of researching and explaining and asking appropriate questions so the Board could make the best decision for the club.
Now there is a noise problem at JKV which is occurring at certain parts of the day and is not associated with our equipment , nor is it malicious in nature. Apparently, some entity is using something that when in use, causes a “motor-boating” sound that crosses several frequencies and interferes with our club transmission. Several of the same above named angels at our service are trying to isolate and identify the source so we can alleviate the problem. We hope to clear this up soon and I invite everyone’s patience for the process.
Also at the May Board Meeting, we had the guidance of Ricki Witte, our Treasurer in re-writing the Articles of Incorporation for our club. The older Articles were not only full of information no longer viable, there was no current living person associated with it. Ricki did a fantastic job and there were minimal changes made with a unanimous outcome. These articles will be sent out in Mail Chimp and voted on at the next general meeting by affirmation. Please read and be ready to ask questions if you have any. Thank you RIcki for all of your due diligence and the great use of your paralegal mind and precious time.
Our May meeting will include speakers from the club who will let us know all of the plans for Field Day in June. Hopefully, we will hear from Dan Vasilca on CW and N1MM as well as Ricky Eaton and Jeff Stahl on Digital and supportive radios for the event. We are eagerly looking forward to the practice of emergency transmission by amateur radio on emergency power. We will use the practice to as accurately perform as we would have to in an emergency. I sincerely hope to see a lot of you there to cheer us on if you cannot directly operate. It is always fun and rewarding for all of the participants and every year it gets better and better. Thank you for considering to stop by and taking a look at what we are up to.
Ricky Eaton has found a voter system that is self contained and may be useful to helping get our remote sites operable again. He will be working on that procurement and we will hear a report from him at our meeting all about it.
Michael Wolf and Erik Olmer will be getting the publicity out for Field Day, each in different areas. Mike Wolf has also kindly taken on responsibility for making a slide show for us of all the Field Day pictures, once they are obtained. He asks that everyone kindly email the pictures they take on Field Day to him at K2HXC@comcast.net. He prefers an email over texting because the conversion to slide show is quicker for him with emailed pictures. We appreciate all of the pix you send.
All of us on the Board appreciate all of your efforts to attend meetings,picnics and dinners, to volunteer for the many jobs that are available, such as shelters in hurricane season, net controls of the various NETs like SEFTN, etc. and the cross-clubbing you do to show your support for amateur radio. This network is vital for all of us and encourages the growth and exposure of the ham radio hobby in general. Thanks for all that you do to make our club special.
