The meeting was called to order by President Boyd, N5CTI at 8:40am. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by the 22 members present.

 

The minutes of the April meeting were approved as read by Secretary, Randy, W4XJ.

 

Treasurer, Gary, NC4S, reported that a video projector had been purchased for the club. Also, he received a Thank You letter from the Foundation for Amateur Radio for our contribution.

 

Committee Reports

 

Training - Denny, KF4TJI, reported that the General Class concluded the previous week. Thank you's were offered to all who participated as instructors. He also indicated that information on an Extra class would be forthcoming.

 

Emergency/Public Service - Tom, WB3AKD, reported that the Vertex 06 exercise was successful. Carol, KF4TJJ, worked with him at the Loudoun EOC. This was their first exposure to Web EOC in action. Jeff, KE5APC and John, W4AU assisted with setup. Tom reported that they had good HF communications with Richmond despite solar conditions.

The Wi-Fi exercise on May 6 was fairly successful, with links from Leesburg to two relay site. Dave, K4ARP; Denny, KF4TJI, and Dave, KE4S participated.

Tom also thanked those who participated in the March of Dimes Walk-a-thon.

The Loudoun Exercise is scheduled to take place on Friday, June 16 from 9am-3pm and Amateur Radio will be included. This will be a weather-related event. We will need two shifts for the EOC. Tom related that this will be another opportunity for exposure to WebEOC, which is now a critical component to Emergency Management. WebEOC training is scheduled to be held on May 30^th. He also mentioned that NIMS training will also be offered in evening classes.

 

Balloon - Tom, WB3AKD, talked about the April Fox Hunt, indicating that we experienced mixed results. One key reminder experienced that we need to remember for future balloon launches was how short-range communications can be once a payload is on the ground. This limits the transmitting footprint to around 3/4-mile.

 

Discussion was held concerning the need for purchasing 500 feet of 9913 coax for emergency service. Tom, WB3AKD, made a motion that we allocate $300 for the purchase, which was seconded by Chris, KT9N. The motion carried. In order to make this bulk purchase more advantageous, club members were encouraged to place additional orders with Tom to reduce costs.

 

Interference - It was reported that the voice announcement on 144.39 APRS was still being hunted.

 

Contests - Norm, AI2C presented Up and Comer Awards to those Amateurs in the Club who had participated in the Virginia QSO party for the first time or first time under a new call sign. The Secretary neglected to record the callsigns of the recipients since he was one of them and completely forgot about it.

 

Field Day - Jeff, KE5APC, gave an update on Field Day 2006 as follows:

• We are confirmed again for Banshee Reeks. A walk-through is scheduled to immediately follow today's meeting.
• Updates on activities are posted on the website in the Field Day Section.
• Bill, K8SYH, was appointed as Safety Captain during the meeting.
• We still need an operator and rig for Talk-in at the site.
• Questions and Comments were entertained -
• The idea of WiFi networking for logging purposes was proposed for future Field Days.
• Suggestions for alternative logging programs was also offered.
• Antenna setup was scheduled for 1600 EDT on Friday with tear-down at 1400 EDT Sunday.

 

New Business

 

President Boyd, N5CTI reported that our new ARRL Section Manager, Glen Sage, has been invited to visit LARG at our October meeting. It was suggested that other clubs in the area be invited to attend. A larger meeting space may be needed if this is accomplished.

 

Allon, KE4FYL, reminded the club that Public Safety Day was being held in Purcellville today from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the old IGA parking lot.

 

Tom, WB3AKD, announced that the WiFi meeting scheduled for this afternoon at the Rusk Library is cancelled.

 

The decision was made to postpone the FISTS presentation that was scheduled to be made by Gary, NC4S and the meeting was adjourned at 10:00am.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Randy Sly, W4XJ

Secretary