The meeting was called to order President Bryan Stephens, KG4UPR, at 7:05 pm, Friday, March 16, 2012, at the Leesburg Holy Trinity Lutheran Church at 605 West Market Street, Leesburg, VA. Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Visitor Welcomed: Cedric Kron, WA2FTV, Sterling, VA., Phone: 703-430-3722.

Elected Officers Present:

President, Bryan Stephens, KG4UPR
Vice President, Henry Weidman, K2BFY
Treasurer, Denny Boehler, KF4TJI
Secretary, Norm Styer, AI2C

Attendees:

Carol Boehler, KF4TJJ
Denny Boehler, KF4TJI
Henry Weidman, K2BFY
Cedric Kron, WA2FTV
Jay Ives, KI4TXP
Bryan Stephens, KG4UPR
David Wendland, KE4OKY
Dodson Brown, AJ4EY
Marcia Brown, KJ4GYH
Eric Carlson, AJ4LN
Dave Putman, KE4S
Merc Skaggs, N4TGA
Luther Guise, K5NOB
Jeff Crawford, K0ZR
Frank Gentges, K0BRA
John Unger, W4AU
Norm Styer, AI2C
Chris Painter, KB3RUR
Gary Quinn, NC4S
John Westerman, WB5ODJ
Paul Dluehosh, N4PD
Nancy Dluehosh, N1NCY

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

O Bryan - KG4UPR announced that the program that follows the meeting tonight will be about the Virginia QSO Party with John - W4AU and Henry - K2BFY having presentations and Denny - KF4TJI has some handouts.

O LARG 2012 Calendars are available from Denny Boehler, KF4TJI, for $5.00. All proceeds go to the LARG.

O LARG cloth patches are available from Denny Boehler, KF4TJI. All proceeds go to the LARG.

O Bryan - KG4UPR announced since last month when Judith Wodynski - K4LEK talked about Morven Park holding Governor's Country Fair Day on June 10, 2012, Jay Ives - KI4TXP has agreed to establish and lead a special event radio station for this celebration. Look for Jay to have some announcements in the weeks ahead.

Monthly Meeting Scheduling. Bryan - KG4UPR indicated that it has come to our attention that some of our third Saturday of the month meetings occur during some significant operating, contest, and other events like hamfests; and further, we should consider some changes. Norm - AI2C introduced his effort to establish a calendar of events for 2012 for the LARG activities including mayor ARRL sponsored contests. See Appendix 1. After this detailed review he found a couple months where changes would benefit. He made a motion, seconded by Dave - KE4S:

To move the March meeting to avoid the conflict with the Virginia QSO Party which now starts at 1000 hours on Saturday morning; the revised March meeting could be on the Friday night prior to the Virginia QSO Party as is happening for this meeting; further, it was moved to change the May meeting date to avoid the Dayton Hamvention; a change to an earlier Saturday would be necessary.

During Discussion, Paul - N4PD thought it was not necessary to change the May meeting just for the Dayton Convention; only about 4 or 5 members present indicated they regularly attend Dayton. Norm - AI2C indicated we could all go to Dayton and hold our May meeting there.

A Friendly Motion by John - W4AU that was seconded by Gary- NC4S was made:

To reschedule the March meeting to the Friday before the Virginia QSO Party and to do nothing about changing the May meeting for Dayton Hamvention.

The Friendly Motion carried on voice-show-of-hand vote.

The Main-Original Motion with modification carried on voice-show-of-hands vote.

2012 Schedule & Calendar of Events. Bryan - KG4UPR indicated that Norm - AI2C had done a fine job laying out the schedule for 2012. See Appendix 1. Bryan and Norm discussed the key events including the public service support operations and all the radio contests that LARG and its members participate in. Norm also indicated he included listing of staff and committee members for most all events and once the organization for 2012 is more complete then this schedule and the organization chart (See Appendix 2) will be posted to K4LRG.ORG Internet Site.

Sale of Radio Parts. Gary - NC4S announced he had brought several boxes of radio parts that are available for a small fee. After the meeting members are invited to pick over the pile of parts and give your donation to Denny, our Treasurer.

Sale of Equipment. Dave - KE4OKY indicated he had some radio equipment form a ham estate on a table; proceeds would go to the LARG.

Training Expense Receipts. Denny - KF4TJJ indicated we had received $225.00 from the VEC Team for the two training/examination sessions that had been conducted this past winter. This is part of the Examination Fee collected at these VEC Sessions.

Guard Training. Jay Greeley - KI4UTB discussed recent training and testing including efforts to support the local US Army Guard unit which is preparing some-twenty SATCOM/VH/UHF Units for some forthcoming missions. Gary - NC4S suggested we invite these new folks to participate in our June Field Day. Jay also discussed the role of Virginia Defense Force during the January 2013 Presidential Inauguration.

ARRL's Teacher's Wireless Institute. Chris Painter - KB3RUR indicated that his son-in-law, a teacher outside the city of Pittsburgh, PA., was involved with an additional school of excellence for students to learn advanced math and science. Chris suggested the ARRL's Teacher's Wireless Institute and has received inquiries from the principal; plans are that several teacher will attend summer training sessions.

February Monthly Minutes. The minutes for the February 2012 Monthly Meeting were posted to the K4LRG.ORG Internet Site. A motion by Rick Miller - AI1V and seconded by Gary Quinn - NC4S to approve the minutes as posted was pass by voice vote.

March Treasurer's Report. Denny - KF4TJI reported the status of the treasury; current balance is $2945.46. No change to the Emergency or Balloon Funds. See Treasurer's Reports at Members Only at K4LRG.ORG. His report was approved without exception.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Committee Structure & Activities. Bryan indicated we were still firming up the committee structure and if anyone is interested in serving please talk to him or one of the officers or committee chairmen. He noted that Jay Ives - KI4TXP would be travelling a lot this year and we would need a new chairman for the Public Service Committee. Jay had nothing special to report for meeting. Gary - NC4S indicated he would be finishing the rules for the LARG 2012 Marathon Contest; he would put them out on the QST de K4LRG Reflector and also provide them to Norm - AI2C for posting to the K4RG.ORG Internet Site.

LARG Award Committee. Norm - AI2C reported work in proceeding. The display in the rear shows current approach for the "The Chase - Hunt Loudoun" Award. He indicated he had recently purchased an additional $1500.00 of software from Adobe and it will help lay out the certificates. The new software will also help fixed iPad navigation tags throughout K4LRG.ORG. It was indicated that it was best to hold an Awards Committee meeting before the end of April. Current members are Norm, Rick - AI1V, John - W4AU, Gary - NC4S, Denny - Boehler- KF4TJI, and Bill Fenn- N4TS.

Contest Committee. John Unger - W4AU reported on upcoming contests.

LARG Legislative Affairs Committee. Rick Miller - AI1V outlined the activities of the Legislative Affairs Committee. Tom Dawson - WB3AKD was one of the original members but is currently occupied with other duties. The other members are Norm - AI2C who will birddog Commonwealth activity and Chris Patton - W3CUM who will focus on national and some technical stuff. All members are encouraged to subscribe to the ARRL Legislative Affairs Newsletter. Risk described the new 60-Meter assignment package; remember these are center of emission frequency assignments not necessarily your dial reading. Rick said he would put together an article on 60-Meters. Rick reported that the ARRL is looking for input on use of the 900-MHz and the 3.5-GHz bands. Finally, Rick reported it looks like LightSquare is gone except for the lawsuit settlements.

YLs Committee. Nancy - N1NCY had nothing to report.

LARG Quartermaster. Bryan introduced the new position of Quartermaster. The goal is to locate and inventory equipment distributed throughout the LARG. Gary Quinn - NC4S volunteered to create the initial list. Some assets need specific care, like the tower trailer. The list will be discussed at a future meeting. Holiday Party Committee. There is a vacancy for chairing this committee. John - W4AU indicated it wasn't too early to reserve the date for this year. Nancy - N1NCY supported the creation of a committee and her and Marcy Brown - KJ4GYH said they would assist.

Interference - Elmering Committee. This committee is called out in the constitution and specifies three members but the tradition role of solving interference issues has changed but there is a wider role in Article 6 to support members services. In general, the focus would be to help members establish, build and operate their stations. The goal is to "refocus" the Interference Committee to more of an "Elmering Committee." It could also act as a clearing house to link up folks to get them on the air. It is just an idea right now but several folks - Jay- KI4TXP and Luther Guise - K5NOB - have indicated they are willing to help. The concept is to pick up where the Education - Training Committee leaves off and pick up with new amateurs as they begin to build their station. Bryan is looking for further input and those interested in participation.

There was a discussion of inviting new amateurs and those attending our training classes to participate in our activities. There were suggestions to have available the LARG Code Card, the K4LRG QSL Card, the LARG business card and the LARG brochure.

Emergency Service Committee. The chairman for this committee is open. Those interested should speak to Bryan. Gary - NC4S and Bill - W3EMH are Assistant ARES EC's for Loudoun County and Tom Dawson - WB3AKD, Loudoun County ARES EC, continues to liaison with the County EOC and EC staff. Gary- NC4S indicated that it may be that Tom - WB3AKD may not have time to support all activities and if someone is interested in assisting or even becoming the EC then they should speak with Tom Dawson.

Public Service Committee. The chairman position is open. Other members include Jay - KI4TXP, John - WB5ODJ, and Gary - NC4S.

Programs. Henry - K2BFY, our Vice-President by assigned duties, is responsible for this activity. Anyone with ideas for programs should contact him at [email protected].

LARG NET REPORTS

Sunday Night FM Net. Bryan - KG4UPR indicated that the NCS Duty Roster that runs through June is posted to the Announcement Section of K4LRG.ORG.

Sunday Digital Watering Hole. Bryan - KG4UPR discussed suggestions to do MT-63 Digital Mode and also starting a bulletin. Rick reported the Fairfax Group is doing a lot of digital stuff with MT-63 and digital photos with Easy Pal. Rick will try some stuff on Sundays in a couple weeks. There was a discussion about speeding up Olivia Mode by going to 500/4.

Tuesday Night CW Net. Bill Buchholz - K8SYH continues as net manager. John - W4AU provided a report and noted 5 stations a week or so ago including DX from New Jersey.

Thursday Night HF SSB Net. Norm - AI2C made a detailed report indicating record setting numbers. A summary of 2011 activity was presented. Also, the first quarter, 2012, was presented. See Appendix 3, 2011 Activity and Appendix 4, 2012, First Quarter, 2012. The 2011 Summary Activity Report was added to the archives at:

http://history.k4lrg.org/Announcements/LARG_Master_Net_Check-In_Rosters.html

Monday YL Net. Nancy - N1NCY reported the net is moving along. She takes NCS on the first Monday of the month and Marcy - KJ4GYH, or others handles other nights. The YLs are looking for more YLs t join; please, pass the word about our YL Net.

REPEATER REPORTS

W4DLS Repeater. Frank - K0BRA provided a detailed technical assessment of the filtering and suggested that it may be sharply tuned for the stability that can be maintained.

WA4TXE Repeater. Dave- WA4TXE was not present. No report.

OLD BUSINESS

FIELD DAY

Gary Quinn - NC4S was introduced as the 2012 Field Day Committee Chairman. We are looking to get to number 8 or 9 this year. We are returning to the Westerman Farm for 2012. Jay Ives - KI4TXP and Chris Painter - KB3RUR will serve as Assistant Field Day Chairman. Also, John - WB5ODJ volunteered to be the N1MM Logging Program Captain since Rick - AI1V will be travelling. Gary will schedule the initial FD CMTE meeting in a couple of weeks.

NEW BUSINESS None

A motion was made and seconded to close the meeting. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 8:17 pm.

MARCH 2012 PROGRAM. Henry - K2BFY presented the Virginia QSO Party for 2012. He discussed the new times and the format for submitting logs. John - W4AU presented a proposed operating schedule based on the new operating times and projected high frequency radio propagation forecast. Members discussed their planned activities and wished each other good luck.

The group left the meeting site around 9:15 pm.

Respectfully Submitted, Norm Styer - AI2C, Secretary

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS:

Appendix 1, LARG 2012 Activity Calendar
Appendix 2, LARG 2012 Organization Chart
Appendix 3, LARG 2011 Thursday Night HF Net Summary
Appendix 4, LARG 1st Quarter, 2012 Thursday Night HF Net Report


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A reminder to all about Holy Trinity's inclement weather policy: if Loudoun County Schools are closed (or would be if it were a school day), all activities at the church are cancelled - this includes outside groups. This policy allows for parking lot clearing so snow is not packed down; and it is also a safety issue.