Frank Giampa N9QPD Chairman opened the meeting at 7:00 PM.
Attendees
| Leo Ribordy | N9NBH | Dennis Calvey | KD9HIK | Cliff Sowka | K9QD |
| Matt Walsh | AC9IG | Kent Ochs | W9KAO | Frank Giampa | N9QPD |
| Dirk Smith | W0RI | Chris Brewer | AC9GN | Bob Benwitz | N9JAX |
| Russ Schmidt | KC9JUV |
Treasurer’s report
Chris Brewer AC9GN reports: beginning balance $4,443.32. Income was $149.27. Expense was $50.35 for Data Line. Ending balance $4,542.24. Paid membership is currently 77.
President’s Report
Matt AC9IG reports he will present his discussion at end of regular committee reports.
Membership Chair
Bob Benwitz N9JAX: Observing some membership application difficulty where PayPal is easy to send payment but we’re not able to capture the necessary personal information for our Roster. Need to find a process to update our Membership submissions that arrive via PayPal. We will discuss some ideas to modify our website instructions to bridge this difficulty.
During April the following inquiries were responded to via phone and/or email:
4/3 Rob Ekl K9EKL
4/25 Jeremy Peeler K5CLG
4/30 Michael Griffiths KD9KMV
Question: Michael Griffiths stated that while he was able to pay dues via PayPal to join as a new member, there were no entry fields to send across his information – Is this true?
SARC Repeaters
Kent W9KAO reports an input attenuator failure on the tank-mounted UHF amplifier. Dennis KD9HIK will visit Hamvention in May and purchase a 50W attenuator ($200 headroom for expenditure and double the power-handling needed).
Secretary’s Report
Cliff Sowka K9QD: Approval of Meeting Minutes as published in the RHG.
The Board will appoint a substitute recording secretary for the May meeting as I will be out of town that evening.
EMCOMM
Bob Langsfeld WB9TZC not present.
Publicity
Dennis Calvey KD9HIK Drafted a proposed press release:
The Schaumburg Amateur Radio Club (SARC) announces the resumption of the “SARC in the Park” tradition on Saturday May 12th from 08:00 AM until noon. Weather permitting, its members meet on the front lawn of the Schaumburg Community Recreation Center (Bode and Springinsguth) the second Saturday of the month (except Saturday June 23rd, Field Day when SARC will be operating from 1330 N Plum Grove Rd).
Its members, licensed Amateur Radio operators, bring their portable radios, “go-boxes”, antennas and batteries outside and operate away from home. This activity tests the ability to be able to operate under non-ideal conditions, such as during an emergency deployment. Clever methods of stringing up antennas are tested. Portable “go-boxes”, containing equipment for rapid deployment and operation of a radio station always draw a lot of comments.
Please stop by to check it out. If conditions allow you might see an operator contacting another amateur radio station hundreds of miles away using the same amount of power as typical night light. Licensed control operators can even allow you to talk using their radios.
The Schaumburg Amateur Radio Club is part of a growing international community of “Hams” that explore technology for wireless communication across the globe, through satellites, the International Space Station and even bounce signals off the moon or meteor trails. SARC provides communication support at public events, during emergency deployments, free of charge training classes for persons interested in becoming a licensed operator as well as a wide range of activities related to the hobby. For more information, please visit our web site at n9rjv.org.
Construction Project (CP)
Gary Bernstein N9VU has resigned the Board as well as his eBay Sales and CP roles.
The Board thanks Gary N9VU for his contributions.
There are currently five members [Rob N9MVO, Russ KC9NUV, Leo N9NBH, Bill KD9JQM, Dave KD9JKG] already on the short list of potential supporters. Matt AC9IG will confirm a staffing plan before September CP resumption.
Social
Robert Kocourek W9RKK will organize this year’s ‘Pilot Pete’s’ institutionalized club social event for sometime in September. We haven’t held this event at Pilot Pete’s for several years due to their current insistence on guaranteed attendance numbers. It’s been difficult for the restaurant to plan their facility’s seating/capacity so they’ve tightened their requirements. That loss of flexibility has precluded our desire to continue with them for the club’s social event.
Education
Leo N9NBH reported plans for a winter General Class with the Library District are in place. September 8th through the end of October at the Hoffman Estates facility, same as last fall’s Technician class.
VE Testing
Dirk W9RI reports the next Test session is set for this coming Saturday.
RHG
Mike K9KQX not present. Matt will add a feature-set to our new website to allow extemporaneous article submissions with reasonable editing capability
Public Service
Rob N9MVO not present but provided recent communication:
This is a last call for volunteers for the MS Walk at the Schaumburg Baseball Stadium on Sunday, May 6th.
It’s a repeat of a recent message about the Walk with some revision, so it may seem somewhat familiar. The first Public Service Event of 2018 is upon us,
We have been asked to join again in support of the MS Walk, this year at the Schaumburg Baseball stadium on Sunday May 6th. Our setup will begin at 7:30 AM. The participants start walking at 9:00 AM. In previous years, the event was completed before 11:00 AM. The route includes walking around the south parking lot of the baseball stadium and this year will include a three mile route that uses a road in a residential area north of 390 Tollway to nowhere. We will need a few people for communicating need of assistance for participants who have trouble making the whole route. There will be several others needed in the south parking lot to assist participants getting to the start.
We will likely be able to park near our operating locations, so it may not be necessary to do a lot of walking. A folding chair might be handy.
The maximum radio distance will be about a mile, so a 5W HT with a rubber duck antenna should be sufficient. However, because of the location of the tollway, and the fact that we will be dispersed on BOTH sides of the Tollway, an improved antenna is desirable. It may not be necessary.
If you haven’t worked a Public Service Event before, this will be a great way to learn what they are about – Serving the public.
If you have been on other PS Events, you know it will be enjoyable.
If you’ve got a new radio, get the SARC/EMCOMM frequencies programmed into it, so you can easily support this and other Public Service Events coming up this year. See the frequency list here:
https://www.n9rjv.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sarc_emcomm_ICS217A.pdf
If you can help us on this event, and are NOT listed below, please reply to this message with your name and call sign and say you are coming.
I currently have the following volunteers:
| Robert | W9RKK |
| Jim | KB9RGU |
| Ed | AC9SD |
| James | AC9PH |
| Gloria | NOCALL |
| Bob | N9JAX |
| Phil | WB9C |
| Daryl | KB9RHR |
| Matt | AC9IG |
| Rob | K9EKL |
The MS Society also wants you to register with them.
Thank you for contacting the National MS Society and for your interest in advertising for Walk MS: Schaumburg!
To register, participants can do so online by accessing the event homepage: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/ILDWalkEvents?pg=entry&fr_id=29800
People can Google “Walk MS: Schaumburg 2018” and click on the first link (or link that reads Walk MS: Schaumburg 2018). Thank you for your participation in this event.
Programs
Cliff Sowka K9QD: The May presentation will be Field Day preparations. I will be out of town that evening.
Nets
Steve AC9EM will now be hosting the Thursday Night Nets.
Ebay Sales
Gary N9VU has resigned his role; new leadership will be sought.
Old Business
Matt AC9IG set limited website access for authorized members. Also arranged to have $87.60 hosting fee paid-ahead for the next 12 months.
Field Day Chair: Several committee leadership roles are crystalizing. May’s Regular Business Meeting discussion will be centered on FD plans. Volunteer staffing at the moment is Bob Zuttermeister W9GEW for GOTA, Robert W9RKK for Kocourek for SSB, and Frank Giampa N9QPD will make buttermilk pancakes Sunday dawn.
Site Permit application with the Village is undetermined at the moment. Rob N9MVO hasn’t updated process yet. Chris will be submitting Insurance Rider paperwork required by the Village.
Unauthorized Facebook site will be taken down once we find the controlling author who created this unused/dormant account.
New Business
Matt moved Leo seconded:
The only official social media or internet presence for the Schaumburg Amateur Radio club will be by way of the N9RJV website and through the SARC-all Reflector within Google Groups for current membership. Motion passed 6:1
There are two Official SARC logos: globe with lightning bolt and simplified SARC in green. Matt AC9IG will modernize the graphics and provide copy for membership.
Currently there are two official logos:
Adjourn
9:00 PM
Submitted: May 3, 2018. Cliff Sowka K9QD Secretary.