Stamford Amateur Radio Association

Monthly Meeting Minutes

April 1, 2010


Call to order

The monthly club meeting of the Stamford Amateur Radio Association was called to order the 20:00 EDT on April 1, 2010 at the 2nd Floor meeting room of the Stamford Government Center.

New Business

Jon P, KB1QBZ, presented two upcoming Public Service Events.

Sunday May 23, 2010 is the Blooming Metric Ride. SARA provides support to this GNARC communication operation. There will be between 2500 ad 3000 bike riders. The ride starts in Norwalk and goes for 100 miles. Support will be needed for chase cars, rest stops, SAGs. Contact Toy president of GNARC (K1WYQ) or Jon P. (KB1QRZ).

Sunday June 6, 2010, is the Bennett Cancer Ride. SARA runs communications for this 50 mile bike ride up and back to Westchester County. Again, we will need support for chase cars, rest stops and SAGs. Please contact Jon P. (KB1QRZ) or Frank (KB1IFX).

Terry, W1TSM, briefly discussed Field Day 2010.

This year’s field day will be June 26/27. Please contact Terry (W1TSM) for more information and to participate. ALL operators (of any level) are encouraged to be a part of this fun activity.

Earnest, KA1NGG, informed us of the results of the latest VE session & Board meeting.

We have three new Techs from the result of the VE session at the beginning of the month.

Earnest summarized the Board meeting, including the EMCOMM discussion.

Presentation

Jon P. (KB1QRZ) presented on portable HF antennas.

Jon had a great presentation on a variety of antennas that can be packed up and travel with you during your upcoming summer vacations, including a demonstration of the Buddy pole.

Adam, W1ASB, demonstrated his awesome portable yagi.

Franklyn, KB1QZH, demonstrated his portable hamsticks.

Terry, W1TSM and Earnest, KA1NGG, presented Fred, K1FC, with an Award.

For his years of service to the club as President, Fred was presented an award suitable for framing, and a very unique statuette.

Drinks, Desert and Socializing followed.

Minutes respectfully submitted by: Jonathan Solomon, W3EIC

Stamford Amateur Radio Association

Meeting Minutes

March 31, 2010


Call to order

Ernest called to order the monthly meeting of the SARA Board at 20:00 EDT on March 31, 2010 at his residence.


Roll Call

The following persons were present:

Jon P, KB1QBZ

Terry, W1TSM

Ernest, KA1NGG

Jon S., W3EIC

Fred, K1FC

Bill, KB1IFY

Frank, KB1IFX

John S., WB1GRB


Open Issues

2meter Sterling Farms Antenna

Due to the recent windstorm (3/14/10), the 2meter antenna has been rotated and skewed on the Sterling Farms tower.

When it is fixed, there is hope that the known SSW shadow can be mitigated by slight repositioning.

Sterling Farms Repeaters

The wiring has been cleaned up and dressed nicely in the racks. While it looks quite nice, servicing will require a little more care!

440 Hospital Repeater

Curt (W1FSM) has finished working on the system and it is working at 15-25 watts. We are waiting to have access to the hospital to install it.

We are also looking to achieve 2m & 440 band pass at the hospital.

— cont —

New Business

Hospital Repeater and Antenna Location

The hospital will be expanding and given the current design, the new building will be taller and will block Southern exposure (Long Island) of the antennas at this location.

Should the location be moved within the hospital (to the new “tower”)?

Should the location be moved to Government Center?

Sterling Repeaters and Recommended Operating Practices

QBZ stated that FSM has stated the repeaters at Sterling Farms are designed for intermittent use; substantial heat is generated from continuous operation. FSM has suggested we upgrade the fans to run full time. K1FC suggested running the units at 70 watts instead of 100 watts which will reduce the duty cycle of the units. QBZ also suggested removing the cross link between the repeaters to ease duty cycles on both systems.

TSM inquired as to if the power levels can be controlled remotely (eg. Run the systems at lower power during normal operations, but at full power during emergencies, drills, etc.) He continued to suggest that two or more people (K1FC, IFY, IFX) should have the ability to control the repeater, and that when changes are made, they would be distributed to that group. K1FC suggested a central storage system (online) for programming & control codes, as well as noting the latest control changes.

IFX will write up remote operational procedures and create a list of operators for the next board meeting (end of April).

It was also noted that Chris (KB1QRX) has been reading the manual and should be included in repeater operations.

It was concluded that the systems will run at lower power (50 watts) and unlinked during normal operation.

EMCOMM

NGG opened the floor for discussion regarding EMergency COMMunications. This issue is a hot topic now, following the recent storm. IFX mentioned that city wide there was a drop in communications following the storm. QRZ stated the club should create a phone tree to call members should an EMCOMM situation arise. He continued, stating that before we can convince the city to work with us, we need to prove we can handle it.

IFX mentioned that before/during/after a storm RACES & ARES can be activated (though neither were officially activated this time). He mentioned that RACES has some insurance advantages to clubs.

Membership and Dues

NGG will complete the dues list and compile who still owes for 2010, as well as who is currently a member and who is not.

He would like a handout to provide at VE tests & Field Day that club information.

He also suggested a Tech course be offered later this year.

Coffer, Desert and Socializing.

Adjournment

Minutes respectfully submitted by: Jonathan Solomon, W3EIC

PHOTOS Of SARA APRIL PROGRAM.

http://www.ctsara.org/

 J/S WB1GRB   4/10/2010