March 14 2016 WARA MINUTES

President Ed. WA1LEI opened the meeting at 6:35 pm The minutes from January meeting will be obtained and posted on the website . February minutes have been posted and a motion was made by John B and seconded by Ralph K . Antenna building will be continued at the April 11th meeting . The list of materials is on our website wara.club RF test on 21 sites in Milford was a success. Dave H.,Rob J, Dan B. Ted K , Kathy K ,Evan K and Ralph K participated along with Ed R. We did a full spectrum analysis . CT ARES received a copy of our results. We will repeat this process in the late summer when tree foliage is in full bloom to compare and contrast results. Ed R thanked all the participants. It was agreed we had fun and due in no small measure to Ed's thorough preparation. Officers Reports President Ed WA1LEI will be the ARES EC West 2 (Milford, Orange, West Haven) as well as Assistant DEC and director of training for all of Region 2 VP John KC1ADT announced the newly acquired trailer is properly covered for insurance when it is detached. (Since the meeting John has revised his report. The trailer is only covered for liability so we are only insured for damage or injury to others that is caused by the trailer. We can insure equipment on the trailer for $1.40 per $100 of replacement cost. Estimated annual premium for $4,000 of equipment is $56. No quote on insuring the trailer for its $30,000 replacement cost.) PIO Jeremy KC1AYOhas been working on the website and doing a fine job. Ed requested we see if we can get a "counter" to observe how many hits we get. No Treasurer report however dues were collected for Bill McVinua ,Dan Badowski and Dan Clinton( who will be voted in as a member next meeting) Kathy KB1ZYF has $30 to give to Kelly our Treasurer. Attendance was taken. We had 13 members in attendance last evening.

Trailer. Ralph KB1XYI bid on and obtained a Rolling Star trailer with a generator, air conditioner, fully wired and more. This trailer will be a mobile communication trailer for WARA. A trailer fund is established if any member would like to make a contribution please contact Kelly ,Kathy or Ed. Evan KC1EYV will head the trailer committee. There will be policies in writing for access, etc. Updates and improvements will be done to the trailer by the committee. Building update. Remote access to the Borough Hall will be done soon. This will give us access to the fire escape door in order to get upstairs.

Announcements There are Anderson crimpers for power poles upstairs. Club members may use them but the crimpers must remain in the clubhouse. Rob WA1RJJ is an EXTRA now. Congratulations Rob! There are several club members studying for the exam. A round robin study group will be informally gathering to review the exam before July 16th when the exam questions are changing.. We have 500 QSO cards printed up with our logo and club call sign. EdWA1LEI will send a digital copy for the website. The next 900 cards will cost $75. They are located next to the log book in the radio room. Ed has sent out 6 already. Ed has created an account for the club on the Logbook of the World so members using the club station can now log their QSO’s. Membership Drive: Continuing. Please bring in new members to the club Public Service Events May 1 Wallingford Walk for Austism. Need volunteers. Less than 3 hrs work. Good event for first timers June 12 Durham Tour de Cure. 100 mile bike race. Need volunteers for the event . This is a large event and takes about 11 hours. Mike Meadows KC1AYL is the event liaison and Ed Rhodes will run net control.

RF testing for the Tour de Cure will be done well in advance of the race to design a coverage plan. Ed is Looking for volunteers to do the RF testing and to work the ride. Contact Ed or Mike Meadows to volunteer. Field Day June 25th and 26th. This year we will operate out of the Club shack. We need volunteers for set up, operations, tear down, public greeting and display. This is a club event. All members are expected to participate on some level. Woodmont Day July 30th 2016. This is a club event and our best recruiting opportunity. We will provide coverage for a 5K foot race and hopefully show off our new MCU trailer. We need volunteers. Milford Oyster Fest in August 2016. Volunteers needed. Ed is contacting the Oyster Fest committee .

Skywarn classes are being conducted. th

 Litchfield County Mon. April 11 Winchester Town Hall 2 Blue Room 6:30 PM. Enter town hall through Police Dept. Pre-register at NWS Albany Website.  Hartford/Tolland Counties Mon. 2 Center 330 Park Avenue.

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6:30 PM Bloomfield Senior

 Windham County Tues. May 10, 7:00 PM Canterbury Town Hall Community Room 1 Municipal Drive. th

 Fairfield County Wed. May 11 7:00 PM Norwalk Fire Dept Office of Emergency Management 121 Connecticut Avenue.  New London County Sat. May 14, 11:00 AM Salem Town Hall 270 Hartford Avenue.  New Haven County Session to be held in Cheshire either Tuesday May 10th or Thursday May 12th 7:00 PM Location TBD. Preregistration required for these sessions. These are the only sessions scheduled to be held in Connecticut this spring. Plan to attend one of them. NWS prefers that new spotters take there first training session at a live venue. Then when you re-certify you can attend a live session or take

the online spotter training class. You must be re-certified every three years. Contact Steve Williams K1SJW ARRL CT Section ARES DEC SKYWARN Home 860-379-8392 Cell 860-601-3323 Email address [email protected]

Dan Clinton KC1DWV joined the group last evening. He will be voted on for membership next month. A HAMFEST will be held in Southington this month on March 20th. New Business In accordance with the club bylaws?, President Ed, WA1LEI announced that a motion will be presented at the next regular meeting to amend the bylaws? to change the our regular meeting night from Second Monday of the month to the Second Wednesday of the month. The was discussion on how the meeting change would improved participation and attendance at the club. John KC1ADT made a motion that the club authorize the president to negotiate a contract to purchase the Rolling Star trailer from Ralph KB1XYI for his cost of acquisition, approximately $1,800. In addition Ralph will be paid in full by the 1 year anniversary of it’s purchase and the club would take possession immediately in order to transfer all liability connected with the trailer from Ralph to the club. Presentation This evening Jeremy KC1AYO engaged the members with a very interesting PowerPoint presentation on digital communication. The basics of digital radio, win link and APRS was covered. Jeremy did a wonderful job explaining and also gave a live demonstration on sending email and messages over radio . The info will be placed on WARA.club website. Meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM. Respectfully submitted. Kathy Kobishyn KB1ZYF