1) Call to Order

Erik Olmer (W4EJO) called the meeting to order at 14:39 hours on February 26, 2023. A quorom is present with five (5)
board members.

Members present: Erik Olmer (W4EJO), Melanie Fernandez (KJ4VCT), Ricki Witte (KJ4FSJ), Ben Echavarria (N7BBE), Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR), Tom Savoca (K9TJS)

Robert Ligum (KN4WII) Treasurer had submitted his resignation. Erik Olmer will fill in as interim Treasurer.

2) Secretary – Ben Echavarria (N7BBE)

• Approval of previous minutes.
• Attendance taken of officers.

3) Presidents Report – Erik Olmer (W4EJO)

• Speaker schedule
  • March 28 – Joe Garcia (N1JQ) W1AW Trustee, will give a virtual tour of the W1AW Station.
  • April 25 – Robert Molleda of the NWS Hurricane Season Prep
  • May 23 – Bob Heil, will give a talk on various subjects.

• Other future events:

• April 8 – Picnic at Vista View Park in Davie
  • Need Fox Hunt Equipment and skilled operators.
  • Empty plastic eggs
  • Candy
  • We are making it a “free event” minimal picnic food, emphasize showing off amateur radio equipment and skills.
  • “Donate to GCARA” QR code hung around the pavilion.
  • Networks needed to advertise event to public.
  • 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 answer the questions about amateur radio located inside the eggs. (bonus points)

• April 15 & 16 – MS BIKE RIDE
  • Need volunteers to sign up on our web sight for this event.

• June 24 & 25 – Summer Field Day
  • • IC will be picked 3/1/2023.
  • • Ben E (N7BBE) will be the Safety Officer “one more time”, so we need a deputy.\

• July 18 10:30am – library Presentation at Century Plaza Library in Deerfield Beach.

4) Vice President Ricki Witte (KJ4FSJ)

• Committee Reports:

• MS BIKE RIDE – N7BBE is Bike Ride Chairman
  • April 15 & 16
  • Need to enroll communicators.
    
• Winter Field Day – W4EJO
• Testing – K4BH
• Broward ARES/RACES – KJ4AWB Races chairman/K4BH ARES EC

5) Interim Treasurer, Erik Olmer (W4EJO)

• Current checking balance as of 2/26/2023 – $8126.29
• Current stripe balance as of 2/26/2023 – $0
• Cash on hand – $67.00

• WFD Cash Donations – $40.00
• WFD Online Donations – $540.00
• WFD Expenses – $573.64
• WFD REVENUE/loss – +$6.38

6) Repeater Trustee – Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR)

• HF Station – Second dry run with Ricki in March
• Discuss NT4AL proposal of receiving station to add to JKV
• Antenna Analyzer – Will be shipped with W4EJO done with project

7) 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

• 2/26/2023 – Wings Plus 7:00 pm
• 2/28/2023 – GCARA General Meeting
• 3/18/2023 – Skywarn
• 3/26/2023 – Next Dinner

• New members and renewals since last general meeting
  • N4QZB, N4BUG, K4RU, KC2DEX, K4ADD, N2HYD, KG4SLH

8) 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

9) Old Business

• Joe Ruby Brick – In the works
• Banners – PIO Committee will be asked to submit proposal by March
• Vests – Need to be ordered

10) New Business

• Money Minder Invoice $238.00 due
• Consideration of club business cards and QSL cards
• Consideration of dues forgiveness $23.00 to Kenny and his wife for family membership in consideration of the multiple ways Kenny helps the GCARA via the SEFTN
• Consideration of purchase of antenna adapter kit
  • https://powerwerx.com/30-piece-rf-adapter-kit?gclid=Cj0KCQiAo-yfbhDARlsANr56g4u03q2lf8dF99HR8eqo0LfVVYHosskEzQXNdQOgUpdbnKc2Lh-m8UaArlmEALw wcB
  • To be kept with antenna analyzer guaranteeing that we can mate the tool to any system, and to serve for emergency adapters needed at events such as field day, or during actual communications disasters

• Will monitor for interest in Treasurer position, will name nominating committee if no one expresses interest, hold special election March 2023

Adjournment

We are looking for volunteers on 4/15/23 and 4/16/23 to serve as communicators.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HELPING
PLEASE CALL (754) 444 1187 OR EMAIL PRESIDENT@W4BUG.ORG

New information will be forthcoming as the event unfolds.

Egg Hunts/Fox Hunt every hour 10AM – 5PM
Vista View Park – Shelter 1

“The Only Egg Hunt In America With Kids, K9’s and Radio Direction Finding”

Bring the kids for a FREE* event guaranteed to be fun and educational

Egg hunt = something people immediately recognize and kids might be interested in. The fact that we mix a fox hunt into it as a radio club is what makes our egg hunt unique.

Fox hunt = an activity unique to amateur radio where people use radio equipment to locate a hidden transmitter. Radio location goes well beyond amateur radio, but hams do “fox hunts” for fun. Fox Hunts are sometimes part of Civil Air Patrol looking for transponders on downed aircraft. A fox hunt is part of our egg hunt event.

We are planning: Picnic – Show and Tell – NET Control review – Fox Hunt

Park info: Phone: 954.357.8898 Email: VistaViewPark@Broward.org

At 65 feet above sea level, this park’s hilltop is the highest manmade elevation in Broward County, popular with competitive bicyclists, paragliders, and horseback riders, not to mention picnickers and, every Fourth of July, people looking to see fireworks.

Meeting starts at 7:30pm, Zoom Room Opens Prior to Meeting for socializing.

Join Zoom Meeting

Click this link to join our meeting – https://us02web.zoom.us

Meeting ID: 861 4515 0594
Passcode: 464119

Speaker: Joe Carcia (NJ1Q)

March is now booked with W1AW station trustee for a virtual tour of the station.

About Joe:

I’ve been licensed since 1979. Got my Novice – KA1DBK – when I started high school. Went for my General in 1980. And I got my Extra back in 1983. I kept my Novice call throughout the years. I got my current callsign – NJ1Q – in 1987. My friend and I usually hung out around the bottom of 40 meters CW, chasing DX. Far too many times, my callsign was busted since hams heard the “K” at the end and thought I signed it back over to them. After that, I opted to change my call. It’s what the FCC gave me.

I attended the Samuel I. Ward School of Electronics located at the University of Hartford. In September 1984, I began working at the ARRL as a grunt in the QSL Service. The rest is history.

About W1AW:

The Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station is known the world over for its on air Morse code practice sessions and news bulletins. On February 17, 1936, Hiram Percy Maxim, “The Old Man,” cofounder of the League and its president from the start 22 years earlier, died suddenly at age 66. Later that year, a devastating flood struck New England, and the headquarters station, W1MK, located at Hartford’s Brainard Field, near the Connecticut River, was destroyed.

More info: https://www.arrl.org/inside-w1aw

Join us for Dinner March 26, 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

Come to one of the world’s largest hamfest, where we pride ourselves on delivering a high-quality event to our attendees. Join us February 10-12, 2023 in beautiful Orlando, Florida for HamCation 2023.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO on HamCation 2023

THIS CLASS IS FULL, PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR THE NEXT SCHEDULED CLASS!

SKYWARN is a program developed and taught by National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists and consists of trained weather spotters who report severe and hazardous weather to help in the weather warning process.

SKYWARN Spotter reports provide vital “ground truth” to the National Weather Service.

The information Spotters provide immensely helps the NWS Forecasters make better/more informed forecasts and helps them to warn others of impending dangers or hazards.

A SKYWARN class will be held on Saturday, March 18, 2023 from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM at the Broward County Emergency Operations Center, 201 NW 84 Ave., Plantation, FL 33324.

Anyone interested in public safety and communications during extreme weather events is welcome to attend.

There is no cost to attend this training, however, you MUST pre-register for the class. To register, you are required to email your Full Name, Address, eMail and phone number to Carol Sjursen, Broward County SKYWARN Coordinator at CarolSjursen@gmail.com.

#SKYWARN

CQ CQ CQ Calling all hungry hams!

We just completed our first Winter Field Day in 1 and a half years, thanks to unseasonably cold weather and COVID restrictions in 2021, and 2022. We are so grateful that a few hams with culinary expertise stepped up to the “plate” (pun intended) and offered their gracious services to the WFD Canteen.

We wish to thank Gerald (Jerry) Deitch W4LST, Erik Olmer W4EJO, and Melanie Fernandez KJ4VCT for a most pleasant and “fruitful” shopping excursion on Friday the 27 th which provided the much desired food for the hungry, hungry hams. We bought thick, succulent burgers, tasty Nathan’s Hot Dogs and Primo sweet and hot sausages, along with Potato Salad, and assorted beverages, cookies and snacks for mass consumption. On Saturday, we were joined by the beautiful Joanna Cummings N2QFT and her helpful mate James (Dick) Cummings KD2DXQ as well as again, Jerry Deitch W4LST who helped bring the goodies and set up the breakfast bar and coffee table. (A shout out and thanks to Carol Sjursen KJ4AWB who provided and donated her Corey coffee maker to the club for a supply of never ending hot coffee. Thanks Carol.)

Melanie Fernandez KJ4VCT manned the grill the first part of the morning for lunch prep and was joined with Joanna Cummings N2QFT who carried on the grilling while Melanie went to pick up Rhonda Pitone KJ4FSH and Hope Smith WB3ANE, who needed transport to the event. We were a well-oiled, compatible crew, who saw to it that all were fed, including some unexpected guests who happened along.

Ricki Witte KJ4FSJ , our Hospitality Chair, also brought her dynamite chili, and helped hostess our event as well as keep track of welcoming people who came to play and visit and learn. Jerry W4LST brought his homemade Beef Stew for the dinner portion and Melanie Fernandez KJ4VCT provided Italian Meatballs for lunch.

The gorgeous weather provided a beautiful backdrop to our WFD efforts and made the grilling a delight as opposed to our hot JUNE field days. We are looking forward to the June FD and invite any of those who love being in the kitchen to join us for the fun and festivity of taking care of others. Your service is needed and much appreciated as many hands make light work. There is a job for any who choose to help in setting up, cooking, serving or breaking down. Thank you GCARA for being the most welcoming club I have ever had the pleasure of belonging to!

Till June………….
Melanie

Our board set out to achieve 6 things this year:

1. Set up / breakdown an amateur radio field station category 3O, limited to 100 watts

… in the rain! Thanks to our setup team, the success of the operation provides a measurable testament to your achievement. 

Left to right Setup Manager Al Lisler NT4AL, Erik Olmer W4EJO, Digital Station Manager Rick Eaton KD4HGR, Forrest Smorag KA4JHM, Bill Mercer KE8TPU, Safety Manager Ben Echavarria N7BBE, Phone Station Manager Halfmoon Silva AJ4JG, CW Station Manager / Operator MVP Dan Vasilca AI4WW.

2. Successfully make multiple contacts on all bands using CW, phone and digital modes

… “Aloha!” 

Robert Ligum (KN4WII)made a SSB contact with Hawaii on 10 Meters, as an excellent start to our weekend… and from there we got almost a complete clean sweep working all bands and modes that we set out to work.  

Satellite Manager Jan Welten (KK3W) made satellite contacts look easy with his home brew tracking system.  

CW Station Manager / Operator MVP Dan Vasilca AI4WW did his thing! Huge shout out to Dan for his efforts handling the entire CW station planning, setup and operation and for all of the contacts he made!  

Digital Station Manager – Rick Eaton KD4HGRalso did his thing!  Rick had some equipment problems to troubleshoot, but he was prepared and was part of the setup, overnight and breakdown crews! 

3. Correctly log the designated exchanges during the operational period

Thanks to Dan (AI4WW) and Rick (KD4HGR) for getting the computers setup ahead of time and to everyone who pitched in helping log on the SSB station.  

4. Ensure event is enjoyable to club members and guests

We got Hope on the air, again!

Did I mention Liggy worked Hawaii!!!

SSB Setup Manager Al Lisler (NT4AL) gave a great presentation about a SDR receiving system he is looking to donate for the club’s use. We were excited for Al to participate in this event as his first one on American soil and the first one as an American citizen. Please welcome your new countryman when you see him.  

#5 Provide food for guests 

Melanie (KJ4VCT) and Gerry (W4LST) … also did their thing, and newcomer Jo Cummings (N2QFT) contributed substantially to the event.

5. Use event to expand awareness of amateur radio

Thanks to Carol for all of her efforts coordinating with her contacts within Broward County to get the pavilion donated to us for the event.  She worked on the PIO committee and helped with the social media leading up to and covering the event including working with Tom photographing the event.

Tom Savoca (K9TJS) was too humble to take a photo of himself, but because of Tom, I was able to give the high school student at our event our Instagram information, and he’s going to help keep his whole family updated about our events in the future now.

The PIO committee also received media coverage from Margate Talk.

These photos and anecdotes scratch the surface demonstrating the fruits of hard work that our members put into planning and executing the event.  Thanks again to everyone, and now we move onward to Summer Field Day!

73, 

Erik, W4EJO