The meeting was called to order at 8:35 a.m. on Saturday,February 21, 2004, by President Dale, K3CN, who then led us in the Pledge of Allegiance with 33 people attending. Dale commended the LARG Committee Chairs on their hard work to keep the club viable and functioning.

Gary, NC4S, reported for Tom, WB3AKD, our ARES representative for Loudoun County, on the preparations for the emergency drill to be held at Dulles Airport on May 8. Gary described the scenario for the drill and said that it would require approximately 30 amateur radio operators from the club to cover all the communications requirements. The drill would take up approximately the entire day, starting early in the morning.

Tom, NA4MA, has volunteered to lead LARG's FD efforts this year. Tom is looking for a site with better access to the general public than our past few sites have had. He is planning to emphasize using battery power for all the stations, if possible, and using a quiet generator if that is an option. Tom needs good ideas for a suitable site.

Bill, WF1L, reported that the Spring Technician license training sessions were scheduled to begin on February 27. He has most of the teaching assignments covered but is still looking for "special interest" speakers to give short talks before the official classes begin.

John, W4AU, reported for the Contesting Committee and reminded LARG members that the Virginia QSO Party was coming up the weekend of March 20-21. The VAQP starts at 1300 EST and goes until 2100 EST on Sunday night. We will have a final coordination session at the March LARG meeting, which is also on March 20.

Gary, NC4S, motivated those attending to get involved in a new club construction project. Gary said that a number of "Rock Mite" QRP transceivers, which were the last club project, had been made and some people had even made their first QSO's with these tiny rigs. After a vote of possible projects, it was decided to construct a Watt/SWR meter kit made by TenTec. These meters cover HF and VHF frequencies and would make a good project. It was decided to let each person interested in this project purchase his or her kit directly, since there was no discount for a group buy. We will decide when to begin this project at the next club meeting.

Evan, KQ4CI, volunteered to be the club's Repeater Committee Chairman since Dave, KG4KZZ, has had to step down from that position.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 a.m.

John Unger - W4AU, Secretary

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