The meeting was called to order by President Bryan Stephens, KG4UPR, at 8:41 am, Saturday, June 16,, 2012, at the Leesburg Holy Trinity Lutheran Church at 605 West Market Street, Leesburg, VA. Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Visitor: Nycole, XYL of Chris - W3CUM, serving as the 2012 Field Day Food Captain

Elected Officers Present:
President, Bryan Stephens, KG4UPR
Secretary, Norm Styer, AI2C
Treasurer, Denny Boehler, KF4TJI

Attendees:

Norm Styer, AI2C
Jay Ives, KI4TXP
Merc Skaggs, N4TGA
Dave Putman, KE4S
Bryan Stephens, KG4UPR
Mark Gillam, K4MDG
David Boltson, WA4TXE
Carol Boehler, KF4TJJ
Denny Boehler, KF4TJI
Bill Robbins, KJ4VTH
Bob Geisler, N4RPG
John Unger, W4AU
Paul Dluehosh, N4PD
Jeff Crawford, K0ZR
Ken Sullivan, KJ4GYL
John Shell, K3US
Jeff Slusher, KE5APC
Marcy Brown, KJ4GYH
Dodson Brown, AJ4EY
Steve Green, KS1G
Chris Patton, W3CUM
Nycole Patton
Dave Wendland, KE4OKY
Gene May, WB8WKU

General Announcements

SPECIAL RECOGNIZATION: ARRL A-1 OPERATOR CLUB. Bryan, KG4UPR, announced that two club members, John Unger - W4AU and Norm Styer - AI2C, were nominated and accepted into the extremely elite ARRL A-1 Operator Club. Nominations are based on the following ARRL guidelines:

"1.General considerations. Transmissions stable, well filtered, and occupying the minimum required bandwidth. On voice, clarity of speech, brevity, uses appropriate words and good grammar. On digital modes, clean tones and appropriate operating-frequency selection. On CW, proper character formation and spacing with appropriate speeds (high-speed ability is not a consideration).

2. Procedure. Always listens before transmitting. Appropriately short CQs, avoidance of unnecessary repetition, use of proper procedures and abbreviations recommended by ARRL, avoidance of common inanities in making contacts. When operating a message forwarding system, make sure that traffic is routed to its destination.

3. Judgment and courtesy. Courteous, and considerate of the other operator's point of view. Takes every opportunity to assist others, especially beginners. Patient and helpful at all times, and never knowingly operates in such a way as to lessen the pleasure of others.

4. Copying ability. This applies to all modes, for there is a knack to passing information through such difficulties as interference from other stations (QRM), atmospheric noises (QRN), fading (QSB), etc."

O   2012 Field Day Shirts & Pins are in. Pick yours up from Denny, KF4TJI.

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

O   Dave, KE4S, reported his XYL Nancy was in a serious accident and is just starting to recover.

O   John, W4AU, reported Mark, K4MDG, a returning member, has signed up to operate the GOTA Station.

O   Dave, KE4S, reported he still has a lot of equipment for sale from the estate of Joe, W2BHK.

May 2012 Secretary's Report. The minutes for the May 2012 Monthly Meeting were written by Bryan, KG4UPR, and posted to the K4LRG.ORG Internet Site by Norm Styer - AI2C. A motion by Jay, KI4TXP and seconded by Chris - W3CUM to approve the minutes as posted was passed by voice vote.

April Treasurer's Report. Denny Boehler - KF4TJI reported the status of the treasury. See Treasurer's Reports at Members Only at K4LRG.ORG. A motion to approve the Treasurer's Report made by Ken, KJ4GYL and seconded by Jay - KI4TXP was passed by voice vote.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Public Service Committee. Jay Ives, KI4TXP reported on the successful public relations operation at Morven Park for Governor's Day on June 10 and thanked Dave - KE4OKY, Bryan - KG4UPR, and Dave - W1LEK for their assistance in operating K4LRG. Jay reported about 15 folks stopped by the station and showed interests in our operation. K4LRG operated on voice on the 40, 20 and 15 meter bands and well as 2-Meters FM.

FIELD DAY Committee. FD Committee members discussed the following:

O   Jay - KI4TXP ask that more members sign up to operate.

O   Nycole indicated that only 16 or so had signed up to attend and bring food for the Saturday night dinner. She encouraged all to sign on to the invitation site and indicate what meals you will bring.

O   Jay - KI4UTB would handle the Sunday morning breakfast.

O   John - W4AU asked that folks look at the "Big Board" on K4LRG.ORG and sign up to operate.

O   It was agreed to take Norm's shelter to the site on Tuesday morning. We meet at the barn at 9 am.

O   Everyone was reminded that Friday Night Set-Up starts at 1400 hours. We have a big job with seven towers to erected.

O   And, everyone was reminded that Take-Down begins at 1400 hours on Sunday afternoon. Plenty of extra hands would be greatly appreciated.

O   Talk-In is on 146.700 MHz - WA4TXE/R and on 147.480 MHz on site.

Balloon Committee. No report.

Training Committee. John Shell - K3US discussed the possibility of teaching "How To Operate Field Day." It was suggested that committee also focus on recruiting new members.

Contest Committee. John Unger - W4AU discussed the 160-Meter Stew Perry Contest schedule for the current weekend and its unique scoring system. Also, it was mentioned that the All Asian Contest was this weekend. You give an RST and your age.

Awards Committee. Norm -Styer - AI2C reported he was continuing to work on new cameras and photographs of Loudoun for the "The Chase" Award. He also discussed how his new Sony Hand Cam Video camera will handle 1080i formats directly to You Tube then imbed the on-line file into an Internet Site.

LARG Legislative Affairs Committee. It was noted that the new FCC commissioner took the Tech Exam. Gene May - WA8WKU reported he is working with his local home owners association on ways to update their rules to permit amateur radio antennas and stations. Chris Patton - W3CUM reported that Virginia Commonwealth legislative members were drafting some new or revised rules for amateur radio stations in communities with home owners associations or other restrictions. Chris also mentioned that operating in emergency, traffic handling and public service nets from your home helps to encourage communities to accept your antenna requirements.

Elmering Committee. Bryan discussed this new committee that's replacing the Interference Committee

YL Committee. Nothing to report by Carol - KF4TJJ.

Emergency Service Committee. No report. The chairman for this committee is open.

Program Committee. Bryan - KG4UPR indicated he had some videos lined up and a separate program on satellite communications.

LARG NET REPORTS

Sunday Night FM Net. Bryan (KG4UPR) reported good participation with approximately 10 stations joining most Sunday nights. A new NCS Duty Roster will be published this month.

Sunday Digital Watering Hole. Bryan (KG4UPR) reported a recent lull in activity for the digital net.

Tuesday Night CW Net. John - W4AU reported good activity by K0ZR, N4PD, K8SYH and W4AU. All are welcomed to join in and the net will slow down to accommodate your speed.

Thursday Night HF SSB Net. See report below by Norm - AI2C:

Monday YL Net. It was reported the net still is still going but attendance is low.

REPEATER REPORTS

W4DLS Repeater. Continues to have a long squelch tail.

WA4TXE Repeater. Dave Boltson - WA4TXE reported he had a new receiver and a 20-foot station master antenna for deployment. He also is working on an Internet connection for the main site in Leesburg. to support emergency services. The Sterling Remote is not active because of signal mixing with the Purcellville Remote signal. He also has acquired a replacement for the UHF repeater.

OLD BUSINESS  None.

NEW BUSINESS 

O  John Shell, K3US, suggested a QSLcard size card for Field Day visitors and GOTA operators.

O  Denny, KF4TJI, mentioned that the Field Day t-Shirt and Pin order to ARRL had been ordered as a the convenience for members and all agreed that no motion to authorize payment was required.


JUNE 2012 PROGRAM. None.

The meeting adjourned at 10:00 am.

Respectfully Submitted,

Norm Styer - AI2C
Secretary


[Prepared: 2012 07 09 by Norm - AI2C. Posted to K4LRG.ORG: 2012 07 10]

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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.