The meeting was called to order at 8:32 A.M. EST by LARG President Jay, KI4TXP. There were 35 attendees present. The sign-in sheet is below Please double-click here for the attendance roster.

Minutes from the August meeting were approved with one correction. The year for the 2010 LARG Holiday Party was given in the published minutes as 2020, instead of 2010 (Thanks to Carol, KF4TJJ for catching the typo).

Jeff, KE5APC, presented the posted treasurer report. The Treasurer's report was approved as presented/posted.

The following guests/new members were present:

Guest, Doug Muhlbower and an existing member at his first meeting, David Horn - KJ4VZN.

Committee Reports

Public Service:

Gary, NC4S thanked all the participants who supported the Reston Bike Ride. There was considerable radio traffic and transport support required, which the LARG members handled well. Gary thanked Ken – KJ4GYL for his work at Net Control and Rick - AI1V for his cross-band repeater support. Gary brought Reston Bike Ride t-shirts for those participants who had not already received them. In addition Gary recommended that the spare t-shirts be used as door prizes for the holiday party. Marcia - KJ4GYH accepted the spares and will hold them for the holiday party.

Tom - WB3AKD indicated that he, Jay - KI4UTB, Carol - KF4TJJ, and Jay - KI4TXP attended training (now called a Drill to hopefully increase participation) at the Loudoun EOC.

Jay, KI4TXP indicated he will be attending a meeting on Tuesday, 24 August 2010, to get more information on the Leesburg Air Show. More details should be available for the next meeting.

Balloon: Tom - WB3AKD, the Balloon Committee Chair indicated that Balloon activity was at a low level. The rental on the Helium Tanks has been renewed in anticipation of upcoming flights. There may be a flight in late November or early December. Tom has been looking into technology to allow for lighter/cheaper payloads, to allow for availability of spares in case of payload failures. Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD) technology looks promising for creating these cheaper payloads.

Interference: Paul, N4PD reported that there were no interference issues to report. Paul also indicated that he would be stepping down from the Interference Committee next year.

Contesting:

John - W4AU indicated that there are several upcoming contests. This weekend there is the North American (NA) Sprint - SSB: 0000Z - 0400Z September 19, 2010. Rules are at : http://www.ncjweb.com/sprintrules.php. Also there is the CW - Scandinavian Activity Contest - September 18, 1200 UTC to 2010 September 19, 1200 UTC. For more information on this contest: http://www.sactest.net/. There is also the Washington State QSO party, called the "Salmon Run" on September 18 - 19, 2010. More information is at: http://www.wwdxc.org/salmonrun/.

Next weekend is the CQ WW RTTY Contest (September 25-26, 2010). Times are Starts: 0000 GMT Saturday - Ends: 2400 GMT Sunday. Information at: http://www.cqwwrtty.com/. Also next weekend is the Texas QSO Party. Times are from 1400Z on SATURDAY, September 25 to 0200Z on SUNDAY September 26 and from 1400Z to 2000Z on SUNDAY, September 26. More information is at: http://www.txqp.net/.

John indicated another upcoming contest of interest is the Pennsylvania QSO party. This one runs 10-11 October. More information is at: http://www.nittany-arc.net/paqso.html.

Legislation Affairs: Rick, AI1V indicated there is activity back and forth on the issues surrounding the ReconRobotics system license applications. The ARRL website should be checked for the latest activity.

Programs: Jay, KI4TXP gave a status on the upcoming programs:

October – Mr. Riley Hollingsworth will speak. This LARG meeting may be at the VFW Hall due to outside attendance. The location will be confirmed on the LARG Reflector.

November – Jeff, KE5APC will give a presentation on EchoLink.

December – No Meeting (Holiday Party on 11 December)

January 2011 – Election of LARG Officers

Repeater Status:

Leesburg Repeater (146.700 MHz - WA4TXE Repeater): Dave Boltson - WA4TXE, indicated that an upcoming change to the 442 repeater would be the user selectable ability to remotely cross-band it with the 146.7 VHF. Dave also reminded everyone that the 77Hz PL tone on the output would enable radios which are setup to use it to not get the repeater identification/status messages and only repeater traffic. Dave also indicated that he is looking for a used tower to setup an additional UHF link so that there will be simultaneous VHF on both sides of the mountains.

At this point, Gary – NC4S, made a motion to have the LARG sell its 4 - 10-foot sections of Rohn-25 tower that the LARG has stored in Gary's barn to Dave to support this effort as this additional capability is desirable. The motion passed without comment and the agreed price was $100.

Dulles Repeater (145.310 MHz - W4DLS Repeater): Paul – N4PD indicated that the Dulles repeater has incorporated the same 77Hz PL tone setup as the Leesburg repeater and has similar performance.

Old Business:

Marcy Brown - KJ4GYH, Queried about two actions for the Holiday Party, the contract for use of the Hamilton Safety Center and the Liquor License for the party. John – W4AU agreed to obtain the contract for the party site and Jeff - KE5APC agreed to obtain the Liquor License from the Liquor Control Board. The party is scheduled for Saturday, December 11, 2010 at the Hamilton Safety Center.

New Business:

Jay, KI4TXP, called for the formation of the nominating committee for next years LARG officers. This year's committee volunteered to take on the task again. The nominating committee for 2011 LARG officers will be Paul - N4PD , John - W4AU, and Dave – KE4S.

Jay also called for volunteers for the check-out of the equipment recently donated to the LARG. He also called for creation of a LARG equipment inventory. Gary – NC4S indicated he has a hard copy of an old inventory that can be a starting point for an updated inventory.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:32 A.M. EST.

After the formal close of the meeting, Doug - KJ4BRN, the Field Day Chairman, gave a summary of the Field Day results. Doug also presented recognition certificates to the Station Captains and their Deputies, as well as various persons who were instrumental in supporting the success of the 2010 Field Day.

Respectfully submitted,Dodson B. Brown, AJ4EY, LARG Secretary

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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.