The meeting was called to order by President Dave Putman, KE4S, at 8:45am with 34 members present. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

 

The Treasurer's Report and Minutes were approved.

 

Committee Reports

 

Contests - John, W4AU reminded the club that the Sideband Sweepstakes begins today at 4pm. He indicated that this is a good contest for beginners as well as a great way to gain states toward WAS.

 

 

Holiday Party - Meg, AI4UX, reported that all is ready for the Holiday Party at Tuscarora Mill on December 4.

 

 

Training - Meg indicated that due to an increasingly busy schedule she must resign her position as Training Chairman. Dave asked for any volunteers to take on this responsibility, with no response at this time.

 

 

Emergency/Public Service and Balloon Committees - Tom, WB3AKD, reported that planning for the First Night Leesburg is underway.

 

Jay Greeley, KI4UTB, indicated that the work of L.A.R.G. and Tom, in particular, with the Virginia Defense Force, has been covered at a meeting in Chicago .

 

Northern Virginia Magazine has contacted Dave, KE4S, about the club. He gave them around four and a half pages of material. Look for a story about L.A.R.G. in the January issue.

 

 

Balloon: Tom stated that he is currently working on payloads for a future balloon launch.

 

 

Interference - Paul, N4PD, stated there was no report other than the tropo interference on the Dulles repeater. It was recommended that the PL tone be activated in order to diminish the possibility.

 

 

Old Business

 

Road Trip Report - Gary, NC4S, reported on the road trip, with a convoy of trailers, the previous Saturday to John Massie, W4YWF's QTH. They emptied his backyard and small basement, bringing back towers, antennas, and other equipment.

 

 

Banners - Jay, KI4TXP, gave a banner report concerning the purchase of L.A.R.G. banners to be used at Field Day and other events. The recommendation was to purchase eight banners. Jay, KI4UTB moved that the club set aside funds not to exceed $1500 for the purchase of eight banners. The motion was seconded by Gary NC4S and carried.

 

Additional discussion was given to the idea of including our website URL on the banner. A motion was made by Paul, N4PD, and seconded by Tom, WB3AKD, to include the URL. The motion carried.

 

 

Field Day 2007 - Jeff, KE5APC, reviewed Field Day results as reported in QST magazine. L.A.R.G. placed #33 overall in the country, #3 in our class nationwide, #2 in VA overall, and #1 in Virginia for our class. Congratulations on another great year!

 

 

New Business

 

License Class - Steve, KW4H, reported that he is planning a one-day boot camp style technician class at the VFW Hall. He will be using heavy multi-media and questions in a game-show format to make the learning more fun. More information will be forthcoming.

 

Steve indicated that he would be willing to volunteer as our new Training Committee Chairman. Thank you, Steve!

 

Program

 

Today was "show and tell" at L.A.R.G.

 

Allon Stern, KE4FYL, demonstrated cable rolling using a forward and reverse coiling technique.

John Unger, W4AU, showed off his "tennis ball cannon" that can be used to launch antenna line.

 

 

Additional New Business

 

Nominating Committee - The nominating committee for selecting a slate of officers for 2008 is Paul, N4PD; John, W4AU; and Dave, KE4S.

 

Training Opportunity - Grant, KB3EMT, reported on a training opportunity at Blue Ridge Middle School . A teacher, Don, KE4CUC, has added Ham Radio as a part of the tech lab. He is using materials from the ARRL for classes.

 

Bill, W3EMH, announced that there will be a short meeting for members of the Dulles Amateur Radio Group immediately following this meeting.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 10:10am.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Randy Sly, W4XJ

Secretary