The U.S. Navy Blue Angels will headline the 2023 Fort Lauderdale Air Show this weekend on April 29-30 featuring the U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor Demo Team and an all-star lineup of military and civilian flight demonstrations.
Set on and over Fort Lauderdale beach, the weekend-long annual event is full of unbelievable aerial aerobatics guaranteed to make for a memorable time on our sandy shores.
Read Visit Lauderdale’s Everything You Need to Know About the Fort Lauderdale Air Show to learn more.
Gold Coast Amateur Radio Association Board Meeting Minutes
1) Call to Order
- Erik Olmer (W4EJO) called the meeting to order at 2:36 pm.. A quorum was present with five board members.
Members present: Melanie Fernandez (KJ4VCT), Ricki Witte (KJ4FSJ), Ben Echavarria (N7BBE), Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR), Tom Savoca (K9TJS), (K4BH)Dirk Basting (N4AN)
2) Secretary, Ben Echavarria N7BBE
- Approval of previous minutes
- Attendance taken for officers.
3) President’s Report, Erik Olmer W4EJO
- Summary of past events and activities
° Ham and Eggs
° Egg hunt/picnic
° MS Bike ride
4) Vice President, Ricki Witte KJ4FSJ
- POA for treasurer transition
5) Committee Reports:
- Field Day – W4EJO June 24 + 25 – Summer Field Day
° W4EJO is EC, Jeff Stahl (K4BH) is technical advisor, Ben Echavarria (N7BBE) is Safety Officer
° Recruitment for assistance in May will be priority
° Amateur Radio License Testing – Jeff Stahl K4BH - ° Broward ARES/RACES – Carol Sjursen KJ4AWB Races Chairman/Jeff Stahl K4BH ARES EC
6) Interim Treasurer Report, Erik Olmer W4EJO/ Dirk Basting N4AN
- Current checking balance as of 4/26/2023 $7,208.67
- Current stripe balance as of 4/23/2023 $0
- Cash on hand $67.00
- Membership:
Annual current – 38
Annual family – 4
Lifetime – 18 - Unpaid – 49
- Goal is 50% collection by July 1, 2023
- Review membership report distributed and talk to anyone who has “paid through” date in the past
- “Assume innocence”
7) Repeater Trustee, Ricky Eaton KD4HDR
- HF Station – Second dry run with Ricki in …April?
- Plan for N4ATL proposal of receiving station to add to JKV
- Antenna Adapter Kit/Analyzer – Eriik will bring to dinner
- Allstar integration for W4BUG repeaters
- New deployable repeater discussion
° Earmarked fundraiser – recognize people who donate (callsign printed on balloon)
8) Member at Large, Melanie Fernandez KJ4VCT
- Sunshine Committee – Report on any “good and welfare” topics about club membership
- Next Speakers:
- April 25 – Robert Molleda, NWS Hurricane Season Prep
- May 23 – Bob Heil, whatever he wants to talk about
- June 27 – Erik Olmer, Shelter Communications
- New Members and renewals since last general meeting
- KM4LVK – Luis Gesualdi, new member
KJ4FSH – Rhonda, renewal
W4LST – Gerald, renewal
NT4AL – Alan, renewal
- KM4LVK – Luis Gesualdi, new member
9) PIO, Tom Savoca K9TJS
- Shirt sales on webpage
- What worked well for picnic PR
- Discuss any PIO committee activity planned on or before the next general meeting
10) Old Business
- Banners – Pending, discuss in conjunction with inflatable helium baloon
- Business cards / QSL Cards – designs discussed, need to be finalized and ordered
- Shirts / Patches / Stickers
- Club event for tuning the Joe McGee dipole antenna
11) New Business
- Donation of Hustler 6-BTV + 12 M + 17M from Howard Robins W1HSR
° Need to arrange pickup / plan for antenna / storage - Consideration of Kenny Hollenbeck KE4NC and Sally Hollenbeck as lifetime members to recognize the contributions Kenny has made to the GCARA and as Net Manager for the SEFTN
- Consideration of Ricky Eaton KD4HGR and Ricki Witte KJ4FSJ as lifetime members for past service to GCARA Board and amateur radio community as a whole
ADJOURNMENT AT 4:07 PM
Minutes Submitted by Ben Echavarria (N7BBE)
Monthly Club ZOOM Meeting Tues, June 27, 7:30pm,
Zoom Room Opens Prior to Meeting for socializing.
Click this link to join our meeting – https://us02web.zoom.us
Meeting ID: 861 4515 0594
Passcode: 464119
Speaker: Erik Olmer
Subject: Shelter Communications
Monthly Club ZOOM Meeting Tues, June 27, 7:30pm
Zoom Room Opens Prior to Meeting for socializing.
Click this link to join our meeting – https://us02web.zoom.us
Meeting ID: 861 4515 0594
Passcode: 464119
Speaker: Erik Olmer (W4EJO)
Subject: Shelter Communications
Monthly Club ZOOM Meeting Tues, April 25, 7:30pm, Zoom Room Opens Prior to Meeting for socializing.
Click this link to join our meeting – https://us02web.zoom.us
Meeting ID: 861 4515 0594
Passcode: 464119
Speaker: Robert Molleda
Subject: Hurricane Lecture
Robert Molleda is the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s Miami/South Florida Forecast Office. He is a native of Miami and lives in South Florida.
Robert’s career has taken him through many South Florida tropical cyclones, from Category 5 Hurricane Andrew in 1992 to the record-breaking 2005 and 2020 hurricane seasons.
source:https://www.weather.gov/media/mfl/Bios/MolledaBio_Webpage.pdf
Greetings from Melanie KJ4VCT! Happy Holidays to all of our GCARA Members and Friends! I am happy to announce that our Free Picnic was an “awesome” (per Em’s sister, one of our many young guests, expressed) and successful endeavor by our club. We had a fun, entertaining and physical egg hunt at Vista View Park on Saturday, April 8, 2023. We “Let the Dogs Out” first, each finding eggs with treats hidden in them and challenging owners and guests with a fun filled activity. We have Tom Savoca K9TJS, to thank for the huge animal response to our picnic invitation. Tom supports the club website and is our valuable PIO. His many contributions have afforded us more coverage of our club events and established many new sources of exposure. He is a friend to many, and we are enjoying his delightful attitude and many contributions to our club and community thus far. Thanks Tom.
Click here for more club picnic pictures!
Then, with children chomping at the bit to get their share of eggs and prizes, we let the kids go at it. The first object of the egg hunt was to have fun while learning about amateur radio. Second, the children needed to compete to find the most eggs in three different areas of the park. And third, our little guests and presumably future hams, had to find the Bonus eggs with the questions for Ricki Witte KJ4FSH, our HAM, to answer. Much to our delight and surprise, one little boy (6th grader I believe), had the exact answer to the question faster than our ham! I asked him how he knew the answer and he told me he got it wrong on his test at school and as a result would never forget the correct answer. I say BRAVO!!! Never give up and always learn from mistakes.
Michael Wolf K2HXC was a wonderful helper in our food department, cooking up tasty burgers and hot dogs for the hungry crowd. Our Michael is truly appreciated for his can do attitude and cheerful behavior while dishing up the food to us. Thank you, Mike, for all you do for the club and Hope Smith WB3ANE. She is having the time of her life attending activities that were previously hard for her to do within her network of friends. Mike has taken his time to help Hope go to parks to make contacts on his HF radio. I consider people heros who add quality of life to others. Thank you Mike.
Another hero of mine is Jerry Deitch W4LST. Not only does he support Ham radio on the evening TRAFFIC NET at 6 pm by taking all of those messages being sent, he, too has been transportation for Hope Smith WB3ANE, to events. To add frosting on the cake, Jerry has been a whole-hearted supporter of GCARA and has housed all of our Field Day supplies and been very instrumental in shopping for food with Melanie and Erik and Ricki. The amount of labor, time and thoughtfulness that goes into that, is a very appreciated by his peers and all of our guests. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Jerry, for your loyalty to the project and being there to share your volunteer spirit with our club for as many years as you have dutifully done so. Thank you, sir, for the kindness of your spirit and the largeness of your heart. The rest of us could not have pulled it off without your help.
In closing, I hope all who attended had as much fun as we Hams had in getting together. We, under the visionary thinking of Erik Olmer, W4EJO, our truly fearless leader and host to all of our future events, is very forward thinking and is a great problem solver. He is a God-send to our club and I hope people realize that his volunteerism covers many activities in communication, disaster relief, animal rescue, and special events in the community.
Thank you, Erik, for all you do as a volunteer, a leader and a friend to the community.
73,
Melanie KJ4VCT
Join us for Dinner April 23, 2023 7pm at Wings Plus
PLEASE RSVP using the form below so we can let the restaurant know roughly how many people are coming.
You do not have to be a member or a HAM operator to join our monthly club dinner!
Location:
Wings Plus
9880 W Sample Rd
Coral Springs, FL 33065
Club Dinner RSVP
Gold Coast Amateur Radio Association Board Meeting Minutes
President, Erik Olmer W4EJO
- Call to order
- Greeting
Secretary, Ben Echavarria N7BBE
- Approval of previous min’s
- Attendance taken for officers, and guests
President Report, Erik Olmer W4EJO
- Speaker schedule:
o March 28– Joe Carcia N1JQ (W1AW trustee), will give virtual tour of station
o April 25 – Robert Molleda, NWS Hurricane Season Prep
o May 23 – Bog Heil, whatever he wants to talk about
o June 27 – Erik Olmer, Shelter Communications - Other future events:
o April 8 – Picnic at Vista View Park Needs:
▪ Foxhunt equipment / skills
▪ Empty eggs
▪ Candy
▪ “Donate to GCARA” QR code hung around pavilion
▪ Networks to advertise to kids
▪ Need “teams” to register
▪ Egg hunt teams will include kids, adult guardian(s) and at least one ham to help with fox hunting and to try to answer questions about amateur radio located inside the eggs (bonus points).
▪ Tom added a K9 team to the hunt!
“The only egg hunt in Broward County to have kids, K9s and radio finding equipment.”
o April 15 + 16 – MS Bike Ride
▪ Need to solicit volunteers, webpage already has functionality
o June 24 + 25 – Summer Field Day
▪ W4EJO is EC
▪ Jeff Stahl is Technical Advisor
▪ Ben, N7BBE is Safety Officer “one more time” so we need a deputy
o July 18 10:30AM – Library Presentation
Vice President, Ricki Witte KJ4FSJ
- Committee Reports:
o MS Bike Ride – N7BBE Bike Ride Chairman
▪ 4/15 + 4/16
▪ Need to solicit communicators
o Winter Field Day – W4EJO
o Testing – K4BH
o Broward ARES/RACES – KJ4AWB Races Chairman / K4BH
ARES EC
Interim Treasurer, Erik Olmer W4EJO
- Current checking balance (as of 3/26/2023): $7,6111.85
- Current stripe balance (as of 2/26/2023): $0
- Cash on hand: $67
Repeater Trustee, Ricky Eaton KD4HGR - HF Station – Second dry run with Ricki in… April?
- Plan for visit with NT4AL proposal of receiving station to add to JKV
- Antenna adapter kit – In our possession now
- Antenna analyzer – still with W4EJO, needs to be shipped for repair
Member at Large, Melanie Fernandez KJ4VCT
- Sunshine Committee – Report on any “good and welfare” topics about
club membership - Events scheduled on or before next month’s general meeting
o 3/26/2023 – Next dinner
o 4/2/2023 – 10AM “Ham and Eggs” dying eggs with Hope and Melanie
o 4/8/2023 – Picnic / Egg Hunt
o 4/15/2023 – 4/16/2023 – MS Bike Ride
o 4/23/2023 – Next Club Dinner
o 4/25/2023 – Next Club Meeting – Robert Molleda - New members and renewals since last general meeting
o Carol, KJ4AWB renewal
o Dave, KB4ICU renewal
PIO, Tom Savoca K9TJS
- Report on any web page updates
- Summarize past month committee activity on social media and other forums
- Discuss any PIO committee activity planned on or before the next general meeting
Old Business:
- Joe Ruby Brick – Check with request sent
- Banners – Pending, no urgency
- Vests – Delivered
- Business cards / QSL Cards – designs discussed, need to be finalized
and ordered - Dirk has announced interest in being elected as treasurer, no other
qualified candidates reached out.
New Business:
- Shirts / Patches / Stickers
o Offer style with and without pocket
o Stickers and patches can have large margin of donation included vs. low price
o Tom / Ben will finalize details of order
- Plan club event to tune Joe McGee’s fan dipole?
Announcements:
Adjournment
We will be offering a ham radio licensing course beginning March 24th. The class itself will be virtual, however, the FCC testing session will be in-person. There is no charge to take the class, however, the testing fee is $15.00 payable when you take the test.
Classes will be held on Friday evenings from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on the following dates: March 24 and 31; April 7, 21 and 28; May 5. In-Person Testing will be on Tuesday, May 9. Although we encourage you to attend each class to learn the material, classes are not mandatory.
We will be working out of the book by Gordon West – 2022-2026 Technician Class FCC Element 2 Amateur Radio License Preparation. You can order it online prior to the class. This book contains the entire question pool and has all of the possible questions you might see on your 35 question exam.
Classes will be held via Zoom and those who register for the class will be sent the Zoom information for each class.
To register CLICK HERE to send me an email with your full name, email address and cell phone number.
You can download the flyer here which has all of the pertinent information.
Hope you will be able to join us for this advanced training!
Carol
