for November 19, 2005
The meeting was called to order at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday, November 19, 2005, by President Carol - KF4TJJ, who then lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance with 37 people in attendance.
Visitors and new members were welcomed:
Meg - N4OGE, Joseph - W3CZJ and Dave KE4OKY.
The October 2005 minutes were accepted as read by Secretary David - K4ARP.
The Treasurer's report was accepted as read by Gary - NC4S.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Training: Denny - KF4TJI reported that two people are currently working on their Technician License. A General License Class is planned for this spring. Norm - AI2C reported on a presentation and demonstration he made to Scout Troop 969. Some of the scouts were interested in working on their Radio Merit Badge.
Emergency Services / Public Services: Bill - W3EMH thanked all those who participated in the Loudoun Hospital Exercise. Due the rain, the exercise was cut back with the decision not to use the Decontamination Tents. Bill - W3EMH recently met with the hospital group and they still have a permanent radio installation in mind. They are going to figure out their needs and budget for the installation. Tom - WB3AKD reminded the group of the upcoming First Night Leesburg Event on January 1st. There are no planned deviations from last year's event with the local 440 MHz repeater setup. Around 20 amateur volunteers will be need for the various venues. Setup will be between 4:30-5:00pm with a show start time of 7:00pm. Contact Tom - WB3AKD to sign up, or for more information. Also on the horizon is the MS Walkathon near the end of April.
Field Day 2005: Boyd - N5CTI reiterated that the club score put us 4th in the A5 category.
Interference Committee: - N4PD - Paul. Nothing to report.
FAR: Bill - WF1L AutoCall will no longer be published and FAR will contact subscribers to see if they wish to received a refund on their subscriptions, or have it donated to the scholarship fund.
Web Site: Norm - AI2C reported that he is finishing up the Loudoun Hospital Code Orange Exercise for posting. He also reminded everyone of the Loudoun County Alert System and gave a short football report...
Contest Committee: John - W4AU reminded everyone of the upcoming ARRL November Sweepstakes (Phone) and reviewed the times, rules, exchanges and some good operating advice. When submitting scores to the ARRL LARG is in the "Small Club" category and is listed as Loudoun ARG. Other upcoming contests include CQ Magazines CW DX contest the weekend after Thanksgiving, ARRL 160 meter contest December 2-4, ARRL's 10 meter contest December 10-11. See the ARRL and CQ Magazine web sites for details.
Balloon Committee: Tom - WB3AKD is working on the new processors for the payload.
Venture Crew: Bill - K8SYH & BA are looking for help from 6 to 8 members whom have experience with scouting, or youth groups. Please e-mail Bill, or BA. Norm - AI2C ask who the sponsoring institute would be and BA responded LARG. The charter for the venture crew needs to be formed and suggested a name of "LARG Venture Crew for Ham Radio." At least two adults need to be present at all activates. These adults would have to go through a background check. The Venture Crew would be open to children of ages 12 to 18 years old.
Nominating Committee: Carol - KF4TJJ nominated Paul - N4PD, Bill - WF1L and John - W4AU to prepare a list of officer candidates to be presented and voted on at the January 2006 meeting. John - W4AU reviewed how the nominating committee works and the historic roll in electing club officers.
Club Nets: Carol - KF4TJJ proposed to the members that no "Official" Net be held on either Christmas December 25th, or First Night Leesburg January 1st, as they both fall on a Sunday holidays.
Amendment Committee: Carol - KF4TJJ reported on the prior Wednesday meeting by the committee members Dick - W2YE, Randy - W4XJ, David - K4ARP and herself that included a discussion of work already done and new proposed changes to the constitution. Dick - W2YE reviewed with the members the main proposed changes to the constitution. Carol - KF4TJJ distributed a handout of the proposed rewritten constitution to the membership and asked that they review the documents and send any comments to any of the committee members. Norm - AI2C will also post the document to the web site and send a notice out on the reflector. The new constitutional changes will be voted on at the January 2006 regular monthly meeting, as per the current constitution.
OLD BUSINESS
Rust Library Display November 1-30: Larry - K3HE thanked all those who helped with the display. He is planning to take the display down on Nov. 30th. Please contact Larry if you would like to help.
Christmas Dinner Party: BA has arranged for the dinner to be held at Magnolia's at the Mill in Purcellville, on Friday December 16th at 7:00pm. The dinner will be buffet style and the menu is listed on history.k4lrg.org. The cost is $45 per person. Please let BA know at least one week before the dinner if you plan to attend. The room holds up to 60 people and is on the first level - no stairs. There will be door prices from the Dayton Hamfest!
NEW BUSINESS
Gary - NC4S read a letter received from the Potomac Station Community Association in thanks for the clubs participation in their Potomac Safety Day event. The letter contained a donation for $100. Gary made a motion that the donation be given to the F.A.R. scholarship fund. The motion passed. Gary will write a letter to the Potomac Station Community Association thanking them for the donation and explaining that the club is forwarding the donation to F.A.R.
Carol - KF4TJJ read a letter from F.A.R. outlining the organizations goal of providing 54 scholarships in 2006. Bill - WF1L explained to the members the highlights of the scholarship program and that the scholarship recipients much be licensed amateurs.
Carol - KF4TJJ read a letter received by the Purcellville Rescue Squad requesting donations.
Carol - KF4TJJ suggested that the club make a donation to the church for the use of the room for our meetings. Gary - NC4S made a motion that the club donate $200 to the church. The motion passed.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:03am.
David T. Mullins - K4ARP, Secretary LARG
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