Board of Directors Meeting Oct 2, 2024
Robert Kocourek W9RKK Chairman called the meeting to order at 7:00PM
Attendees
|
Secretary’s Report
Cliff Sowka K9QD: September BOD Meeting Minutes as published in the RHG: Paul Burkett KD9FMN moved to approve and seconded by Don Dewar KD9NJR. Motion Adopted.
Treasurer’s Report
Chris Brewer AC9GN previously reported:
Month: August 2024 Report generated on 9/3/2024
| Checkbook Balance | 07/31/24 | $7,648.32 | |
| INCOME
2 Zelle deposits |
08/xx/24 |
MEMO
$55.00 Dues (summarized) |
$105.00 |
| 2 Teller deposits | 08/xx/24 | $50.00 Dues (summarized) | |
| DISBURSEMENTS
ACH |
08/08/24 |
MEMO
$62.82 AT&T DSL |
$62.82 |
| Account Balance | $7,690.50 | ||
| 08/31/24 | Bank Statement | $7,690.50 | |
| PETTY CASH | 08/31/24 | $19.00 MEMO | $19.00 |
| PENDING CHECKS
Check #1373 |
08/07/24 |
MEMO
$125.00 Club tent replacement |
–$125.00 |
|
Funds Available |
$7,584.50 |
88 members on roster
Bob Benwitz W9JAXmoved to approve and seconded by Paul Burkett KD9FMN. Motion adopted.
Public Service
Rob Glowacki N9MVO not present.
EMCOMM
Dennis C. Calvey KD9HIK is our acting Chairman until someone may step-up to assume the role.
- After a series of communications with Emergency Management and Accreditation Manager, Village of Schaumburg about whom was the point of contact between SARC and the Village, I sent the following note:
- Communications on behalf of the Schaumburg Amateur Radio Club (SARC) to external groups such as publicity releases, Social Media Posts, communications with served Agencies, governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations is reviewed, approved and authorized only by the SARC Board of Directors and its officers.
- The Board of Directors and Officers may authorize communications on an ad hoc basis for Committee Chairs for matters directly related to their responsibilities, based on prior discussion and agreement. In such cases, the Committee chair is responsible for updating the Board of Directors and Officers on those communications.
- The Emergency Communications Committee (EmComm):
- Coordinates Club support of local Emergency Management Agencies
- Maintains a Memorandum of Understanding with local governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations.
- facilitates training sessions on Emergency Communications and the ARRL National Traffic System.
- Trains club members and local Amateur Radio Operators on the Incident Command System (ICS) and the use of Auxiliary Communications (AuxCom) to support emergency communications.
- Supports statewide and local training exercises and emergency simulations.
- Introduces emergency services communication functions to club members, including possible affiliation with Radio Amateur Civil Service (RACES) or Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES).
- Augments the Village of Schaumburg Emergency Radio Team with trained operators and equipment.
3. Currently SARC does not have an Em Comm Chair. Until such time as a volunteer for the Chair position is approved by the Board of Directors and Officers, Dennis Calvey (KD9HIK) has been appointed as interim Chair.
- Communications regarding EM Comm between external organizations and SARC should be directed to the EM Comm chair and / or the Board of Directors and officers.
- It should be noted that nothing prohibits a member of SARC from working with any agency on their own. However, they may not represent themselves or their actions as sanctioned by SARC without prior authorization from the Board of Directors and / or officers of SARC.
- The current SARC Aux Comm Rapid Response Team consists of the following volunteers:
- Cliff Sowka (K9QD)
- Jim Campbell (KB9RGU)
- Leo Ribordy (N9NBH)
- Dennis C. Calvey (KD9HIK)
- There have been no meetings, classes, or exercises for the SARC Em Comm group in a long time. It is the intent of SARC to restart these activities when a permanent Em Comm chair is appointed.
- With respect to the November 13th “Fall Workshop” at the Prairie Arts Center, SARC would be grateful for the opportunity to do a 10 minute presentation. Are there any topics that you think should be included? Will you be using an overhead projector? We could use “PowerPoint” for our presentation.
- SARC has been offered a 10-15 minute time slot at the Village of Schaumburg November 13th “Fall Workshop” to talk about Amateur Radio. It’s suggested that our presentation include discussion about Emergency Communication. I’ll be writing the presentation and will submit it to the SARC Board for approval before publishing.
- SARC received a large donation of equipment from the estate of Gary Wirth (KC9LZM). His sister and her husband asked that some of the equipment be donated to new Hams or those that may not have the resources to acquire equipment.
I have asked for, and received permission to, name a portion of that equipment set aside in his memory and would propose the following to that end:
– The SARC Board voted to approve the creation of a committee to manage the “Gary Wirth (KC9LZM), SK Equipment Cache”.
– The committee will select which of the donated equipment would be suitable for the cache.
– Until the cache is depleted, any new Ham who becomes a member of SARC would be eligible to receive, at no charge, equipment as selected by the committee.
– Additionally, at the sole discretion of the committee, equipment from the cache could be made available at no charge to external not-for-profit groups, or for individuals that may lack resources to acquire their own equipment.
– The remaining equipment would be made available for sale to SARC members through a bidding process. Any remaining equipment would be made available for sale at Hamfests. Any proceeds would accrue to SARC’s general operating fund.
- Leo Ribordy (N9NBH) has secured dates for the next Technician class to be held at the Schaumburg Township District Library (Hoffman Estates Branch). The classes would start on Saturday January 11, 2025 and continue each Saturday until Saturday March 15th. As soon as the classes are published on the Library website (org), I’ll start the publicity machine to promote through our Facebook page and the Daily Herald.
- Earlier this year a number of SARC Members applied to the Village of Schaumburg to be registered as volunteers. The process is dragging along, with some members being contacted this week to set up an appointment for fingerprinting. I should have a status update next month.
- BOD approved Dennis’ SK Cache proposal. Gary Wirth SK Committee will now be established.
Repeaters
Rob Glowacki N9MVO, Terry Jarnholm AE9TJ not present.
Discussed current 2M repeater static interference, professional service company for diagnostics, and our possible use of the 2M 2-Bay antenna that previously served at the Plum Grove Water tower that is now surplus. StationMaster is now owned by Commander Technologies part number 220-3BN ($1,652.00) and since its length requires truck freight from Louisiana we’ll have to allow some extra expense. There is concern our hardline may also need attention and ~150ft replacement could be as much as ~$6 per foot. Repeater Team will be contacted immediately to determine service visit plans before inclement fall weather sets-in.
We could also use the service visit to produce a short video of our equipment, describe each station element, and place the video product onto our website (club resources section).
Construction Project (CP)
Cliff Sowka K9QD reports CP sessions have begun and we’re currently polling for HF Octopus HamStick antenna build interest. Since the anticipated cost will be something around $200, the current interest is lethargic. Maybe we could build the hub sans Hamsticks and that could allow the cost to drop to ~$40 and allow members to populate their choice of bands as they wish.
There is a large cache of radio equipment stored in the cabinets. Paul Bocci K9NO, Chris Brewer AC9GN, will be managing inventory/model/value of a large SK donation as described in his report above. It may be possible to offer an internal auction to our membership shortly.
There seems to be a dearth of chairs and we’re somehow missing a table or two. Requesting BOD for procurement of two or three new 8’ plastic tables and search for 10 used metal folding chairs. Not sure of final amount needed but probably ~$250 and someone to haul furniture to the basement. Suggestions tonight indicate the Park District needs to be contacted before we do any furniture/equipment additions.
VE Testing:
John Schofield AC9JS, Session Manager, reported test results during our September Business meeting:
VE Tests Results for September 7, 2024
| Name | Call | Class |
| John | KE9BIZ | General |
| Jeff | KE9BJB | Technician |
| James | KE9BJA | Technician |
| Class | |
| Technician | 2 |
| General | 1 |
| Extra | 0 |
| Total | 3 |
Participating Volunteer Examiners (VEs):
| Bill | Davies | K9WKD |
| Ed | Lishka | AC9SD |
| James | Migalla | KC9UFB |
| John | Schofield | AC9JS |
| Joe | Barela | KB9RCR |
| Dave | Carpenter | W9VTD |
| Jon | Wit | KD9 WNL |
Next examination date: October 5, 2024
Nets
Attendance remains enthusiastic. Don Dewar KD9NJR reports it would be appreciated if additional members would come forward to handle Net Control at times.
Radio Hill Gazette RHG
Elliot Libner N9EPA has offered to fill this open Committee and the Board has gleefully accepted. No report at the moment.
Membership
Scott DeSantis KB9VRW Membership Committee Chairman not present.
Publicity
Dennis C. Calvey KD9HIK Publicity Chairman reports – see EMCOMM above
Social
John Douglas KD9KSH is temporarily continuing his leadership role and has reserved Pollyanna facility in Roselle for our Holiday Party:
- Friday January 17th 2025 6~9PM.
Education
Leo N9NBH not present. See Dennis C. Calvey KD9HIK EMCOMM report above.
Leo Ribordy (N9NBH) has secured dates for the next Technician class to be held at the Schaumburg Township District Library (Hoffman Estates Branch).
The classes would start on Saturday January 11, 2025 and continue each Saturday until Saturday March 15th. As soon as the classes are published on the Library website (stdl.org), I’ll start the publicity machine to promote through our Facebook page and the Daily Herald.
Programs
Don Dewar KD9NJR: DX Engineering is scheduled for Antenna Presentation.
Old Business
Don Dewar KD9NJR is crafting Committee Booklets to help Committee Chairs in understanding roles, responsibilities, and authority. SARC Officer’s obligations are defined in our organizational documents but there is only minimal material describing Committee roles so Don has created new guides for our use.
Nominating Committee met to discuss potential candidates for November’s Election. Additional recruitment continues to be underway. Nominating Committee’s publication requirement is to be 30-days prior to Election Night so we’re hopeful of additional members stepping forward in the next several weeks.
Here are the members submitting their willingness and candidacy to serve at the moment:
President Don Dewar KD9NJR
Vice President Danny Kafka KD9HIL
Treasurer Chris Brewer AC9GN
Secretary Howard Mitchell KD9WSV
Director One Position
Bill McGovern W9WEM
Kevin Willard KB9QVX
John Douglas KD9KSH
New Business
Nominating Committee has prepared a list of election candidates at the moment and we’ll be publicizing to SARC-ALL in order to be in compliance with our Constitution/Bylaw requirements.
NOTE: Any member with at least one year membership and in good standing can also submit candidacy the night of our election in November.
- Trusted Talliers John Schofield AC9JS and Bill Reiss KW9WR will be managing this year’s Absentee Ballot Requests similar to the process we used in 2023.
Adjourn 8:30 PM
Submitted Oct 3, 2024
Cliff Sowka K9QD Secretary