1) Call to Order
- Erik Olmer (W4EJO) called to order on ZOOM the Gold Coast Amateur Radio Association’s regular meeting at 7:31 pm on June 27, 2023 A quorum was present with 9 members (see Appendix A).
- Greetings, Introductions of Board Members, Members and Guests.
2) Secretary’s Report – Ben Echavarria (N7BBE)
- Ben Echavarria (N7BBE) motioned to approve the minutes from May
- Attendance was taken for officers, members and guests
3) President Report
- PSA – Boca Raton Radio Club provides service to other hams and the community
- Boca Club has events where the public is invited and feed at no charge
- They help amateur radio operators with radio problems and repairs at no charge
- They are now in need of a new Air Conditioner at their Club House and are in
- Need of Donations. The replacement cost is about $6,000.00.
- For Social club events, Home Radio Shacks can be visited.
- Winter Field Day is in 6 months, we need someone to plan and oversee the event.
4) Vice President – Ricki Witte (KJ4FSJ)
- Committee Reports
- Testing – Jeff Stahl (K4BH) We had no candidates this time.
- Third Saturday every month at 10:00 am at 1st Christian Church of Wilton Manors
- Broward ARES/RACES – Carol Sjursen (KJ4AWB) chairman
- We still need Shelter Operators, please volunteer
- ARES EC – Jeff Stahl (K4BH)
- Field Day IC – Erik Olmer (W4EJO)
- High level summary, more detail in July
- Objective – Get Hope on the air (Successful)
- Everyone had fun
- Band conditions were dubious at best.
- Setting up stations – Could use more volunteers, we did set up class 3A station for
- CW – Digital – SSB (club station, experienced/active operators)
- Purpose – To develop skills to meet the challenges in Emergency Preparadness
- Acquaint the general public with the capability of Amateur Radio
- Explained to non-amateur people with active demo’s
- We had no satellite contact
- W1AW bulletin was copied
- Ran the SEFTN net and passed messages
5) Treasurer – Dirk Basting (N4AN)
- Current checking balance (as of 6/27/2023) $8,192.18
- Current stripe balance (as of 5/20/2023) $67.00
- Cash on hand $0
- Membership:
- Annual Current – 49
- Annual Family – 4
- Lifetime – 25
- Unpaid – 30
6) Repeater Report – Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR)
- Board will agree to entire vision of club hardware by August, auction/sell Surplus equipment and purchase equipment needed to complete vision of hardware
- Talk to Ricky Eaton (KD4HDR) if you have ideas for the clubs hardware (repeaters, HF remote station, Dstar?. Deployable repeater, winlink node, etc.)
- Linking Repeaters for public service emergencies remotely and thru internet
- Put Allstar Link on the 440 Repeater
- We own five (5) repeaters, what can we do to make it better?
7) Member at Large – Melanie Fernandez (KJ4VCT)
- Sunshine Committee – Report on any “good and welfare” topics about
- Club membership
- Prayers for wives of Barry Gardner (K04FBU0) and Ricky Eaton (KD4HGR) Both post surgery
- Deanne Navares wife of Alberto Navares (N4ACN) passed away a week before Field day, Her request is that donations should be made to St. Judes Children’s Hospital in her name.
- July 18 – Library presentation at 10:30am at the Century Plaza Branch Library in Deerfield Beach it will be about the History of Radio compared to the Hobby of Amateur Radio today.
- Next speaker
- July 25 Bob Heil will be here
- Aug 22 – Club Hardware Vision
- Sep 26 – USS Hornet Museum Amateur Radio Club
- Next club dinner July 23 at Wings Plus
- 14 Renewals and 1 New Member (Robert White)
8) PIO Report – Tom Savoca (K94TJS)
- Posted pictures of our Field Day on Facebook
9) Old Business
- None
10) New Business:
- None
11) Announcements:
- The annual 13 Colonies Special Event July 1, 9:00 am to July 7 Midnight
- MFJ Analyzer is on its way back from repair
- Club may be in need of a new President for next year
12) Adjournment
- Adjournment at 8:45 pm for program speaker
Program – Speaker Erik Olmer (W4EJO) Shelter Communications
APPENDIX –A- Board Members
Erik Olmer-President, Ricki Witte-Vice President, Ben Echavarria-Secretary, Tom Savoca-PIO, Dirk Basting-Treasurer, Melanie Fernandez-Member at Large, Ricky Eaton-Repeater Trustee
Members:
Joe McGee NX4T
Robert White WB4TNV
Bill Mercer KE8TPU
Carol Sjursen KJ4AWB
Jeff Stahl K4BH
Paul Passman WBOBBC
Aurora Figueiredo WD4AGF
Mike Wolfe K2HXC
Robert Ligum KN4WII
Guests:
Sylvan Pierre KBIEFW