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October 2019 Meeting Minutes

UPARC Meeting Minutes October 5, 2019

Alan Streitman W4UB called the meeting to order at 9:59 am at Fire Station 65 in Palm Harbor.

Alan Streitman W4UB reviewed the Club’s goals and core values.

The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Bud Nocera WO4K.

Alan Streitman W4UB presented the Agenda overview.

The Club Board members and meeting attendees were introduced.

Reports

Secretary’s Report – Jeff deGrasse K4JJD presented the September minutes report that was compiled by Steve Foy N4FOY during Jeff;s absence. The September 7, 2019 Meeting Minutes were posted on the Forum. Jason Esterline N4BOZ moved to approve the meeting minutes, Bud Nocera WO4K seconded the motion, and the motion was passed.
Treasurer’s Report – Alan Streitman W4UB presented the report for Glenn Panazzolo N4ESU.  There about 60 current members. The total balance is currently $3,574.60.  Jeff deGrasse K4JJD moved to approve the Treasurer’s Report, Mike Branda K4HN seconded the motion, and the motion was passed.
Committees
Technical – Alan Streitman W4UB reported that the repeater was running well but that there has been noise. Mike Branda K4HN reported experiencing noise the night before the meeting. Alan Streitman W4UB suggested checking out the SWR.
HamWan – Alan Streitman W4UB stated the antenna equipment has successfully installed on September 29 and that it was possible to view a photo on the Forum.  The data rate is close to DSL which is a function of signal level. We are at -80 DB and were hoping for -70DB.  There is further controller work needed. After the meeting, a cat 6 cable is to be threaded into the equipment room. Antenna grounding and surge protection will be installed today too.
Club Net Status – Alan Streitman W4UB reported for Glenn Panazzolo N4ESU.   There were 4 nets for a total of 56 check-ins. A call for more net controllers was issued.
VE Testing – Mike Branda K4HN reported 8 candidates resulted in 6 submissions from the recent training class. There were 2 candidates and 1 submission at the pre meeting testing session
Communications – Jason Esterline N4BOZ stated that the Club website http://uparc.org/  is now fully functional. He reviewed how one may self-register as a Forum user and how new members are added to the email list to sign up for text messaging.  He asked the group if message levels were proper.
ARRL Winter Field Day – Jason Esterline N4BOZ made a call for Field Day committee member volunteers.
Social and Events – Jack Kinney N4KIN stated the Breakfast Social will be at Bob Evan’s on October 26 at 9:00 am. The UPARC in the Park is scheduled for October 19 and participants should bring their lunches. The Scouts are invited to attend. On November 2, the annual election of officers will take place at Howard Park pavilion #2. Jack is volunteering and more are needed.
Youth and Community Outreach – Steve Foy N4FOY reported that for various reasons the Tarpon Springs troop will not be able to attend the UPARC in the Park / JOTA event but he hopes to involve new troops with parent participation.  Steve has completed the third ham license training class. This resulted in 7 new licensed hams.
Club Incorporation – Ken Scaggs WQ3V reported no change in status.
Nominating Committee – Ken Scaggs WQ3V announced that the committee’s nominations are Alan Streitman W4UB for president, Jason Esterline N4BOZ for vice president, Jeff deGrasse K4JJD for treasurer, Steve Foy N4FOY for secretary, and Glenn Panazzolo N4ESU for member at large.  Alan Streitman W4UB made a call for any new nominations from the attendees.  There were no further nominations raised at that time.

Old Business -Nothing reported.
New Business- Steve Foy N4FOY expressed a desire to see graphs representing our reporting data over a period of time rather than just the monthly data snapshot.  This would enable us to realize the data trends more clearly.
Upcoming Events – Mike Branda K4HN reminded us of the SPARCFest on November 9 at Freedom Lake Park. Mike stated that the monthly VE Testing will take place at the Fire Station next month as usual while the Club meeting will take place at Howard Park.  The next meeting will be the Election Picnic on November 2 at Howard Park.

Alan Streitman W4UB discussed the plans for the future presentations.
The was brief mention of training over the air consisting of radio contact call sign logging practice session that would be held on the repeater. Simulated contacts could be recorded using variable playback speed to challenge the user.

Technical Presentation – Jeff deGrasse K4JJD gave the Club a presentation title ‘Space Communication’ which described the past and the future of communication in space.

Jason Esterline N4BOZ reminded the Club that one may text UPARC to 84483 to receive CLUB text alerts.
Jason Esterline N4BOZ conducted a 50/50 raffle.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:15.

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