August 17, 2002
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LARG Monthly Meeting August 17, 2002 |
| A meeting of the Loudoun Amateur Radio Group was held August 17, 2002 at the Leesburg Public Safety Building on Plaza Street. President Mark Gillam, N3GMW, called the meeting to order at 8:35 a.m. He then led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. The minutes of the June meeting were approved as read. The report of Treasurer Tom Garasic, NA4MA, was also approved as presented. Mark asked all for introductions. A half dozen visitors were among the 34 people present. Committee Reports Training - Bill Buchholz, K8SYH, announced a class for Technician licensing to begin Tuesday, September 10 and to continue on Thursdays for the next ten weeks at Leesburg's Balch Library. The syllabus is posted on the web site. Instructors are needed. Contest - Mark reported total points submitted for LARG's 2002 Field Day efforts as 9,046. Repeater - Dave Putman, KG4KZZ, said he'd heard nothing in the past four weeks about the status of the repeater equipment the club agreed to purchase from Oregon. The check sent to TMARC had not yet cleared nor anything been heard from that organization. Tom Dawson, WB3AKD, noted that engineering studies, including models correlating contours to signal strengths, need to be done. Web Site - Norm Styer, AI2C, is now maintaining the club roster. Of 96 names on the list, about 50 have paid dues for 2002. Name and call sign are all that is listed in public domain; all other info is in "member's only" section. Balloon - A committee meeting was held July 31 at the Purcellville Library to review the successful mission on July 20 and to plan future actions. An ATV payload will not be ready before spring 2003. A motion was approved to set the next launch for October 5, 2002, with a payload to include three still cameras. A motion to increase the Balloon Committee allocation by $200 was also approved. Public Service - Norm, AI2C, is organizing a demonstration for the Bealton Flying Circus Boy Scout event on September 7th. Look for more info about this on the LARG web site. Julie Belindo, KG4RKI, introduced Red Cross representatives Yvette Castro-Green, KG4LVT, and Jay Greeley (Army 16161) in the discussion of LARG's involvement in the 2002 Reston Century Bike Rides across Loudoun County to benefit the Loudoun Chapter of the American Red Cross on Sunday, August 25th. This is an excellent event for LARG's practice of emergency communications. Old Business In discussing emergency communication skills, Julie distributed a handout downloaded 8/16 from the ARRL bulletins site on EC training. Tom, WB3AKD, suggested listening to the training net at 7:30 every evening on 147.30 MHz (and writing down what you hear). Paul Dluehosh, N4PD, noted that EC information is covered in the ARRL Operating Manual and can also be downloaded from the ARRL web site. New Business Allon Stern, KE4FYL, asked all interested in a group order for power poles to see him after the meeting. Bill, K8SYH, requested at least one volunteer to help Bettianne plan for this year's Holiday Party. Nancy Dluehosh, KE4RTP, offered to assist. The September meeting (9/21/02) will be held at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. This is the fourth time this year the Public Safety Building room has been unavailable for LARG's monthly meeting date due to police need for the space. While it was agreed that LARG should maintain some contact with the Leesburg Police, it is important to have a consistent meeting location. A motion was approved to hold LARG meetings in the church's fellowship hall the third Saturday of each month (except December) from September 21, 2002 through August 2003. The meeting was adjourned at 10:42 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Carol L. Boehler, KF4TJJ Secretary NNNN |