SARA MEETING MINUTES - March 12, 2008 (approved
4/9/08)
Meeting called to order at 7:30 pm by Vern Leavitt
Speaker: Al Braun introduced our guest
speaker: Stan Bryn
Stan Bryn (AC5TW) restores World War II Battleship
radios; he has done 35 in the last 4 years. He had been stationed on the
battleship USS Alabama during the war, after the US realized they would need
radios on ships, on shore, and in planes to be able to communicate during the
war. The Navy received their first new radio in 1941. He brought a tube and a
radio from that era, and presented an excellent history of his experiences.
After the meeting, he amazed all the members by turning on the radio, and it
worked quite well.
Announcements:
April 19 & 20 - Tour of Socorro, please keep
dates open. Will advise when more information is received.
March 13 - Skywarn training at NMMI in Roswell from
1330-1800
Radcom has been notified re: Hamfest
Reports
Minutes were accepted in the secretary's absence as
posted on the web.
Treasurer's report read.
LEPC - Bear advised there is a meeting tomorrow,
March 13. The plan went to the state without the Hazardous Materials annex,
so has been returned for that.
ARES - Glenn & Jon stated the HF Statewide Net
is working well. Bill has volunteered as Fire Service in order to have
admittance to the building and be covered by their insurance. Glenn recommended
all ARES members volunteer as well for the same reasons. Apparently there
has not ever been a test to FEMA, as the HF is statewide, but it will be
presented to ARES. There was also a desire expressed to be able to monitor
60 meters at some point in the future.
TARA - Seth has been experiencing power problems, so
there was no net last week, and he will be out of town this week, hence no
net this week. The shack should be online soon. Echolink has stalled since
the student association has the funding, and there is a new officer every
semester.
Old Business
INSURANCE - Gelper declined to provide a policy. It
was announced that Penny Lommen has volunteered to research other sources. The ARRL quote was quite
vague.
REPEATERS - Glenn & Dave Finley advised that the
APRS repeater checked out very well. They removed the old -68 controllers
from the mountain. There was some discussion as to what to put in their
place, and the wishful thinking included a remote spectrum analyzer.
New Business
IRS - Bill advised there is a requirement for a Non
Profit to file Form 990-N annually, and so he will attempt to complete it
online, as it is due by May 15.
HAM-COM 2008 - offering $25 to put their banner on
our web page for 3 months; and one club will be chosen to receive $100. It
is the biggest Hamfest in Texas. Information will be forwarded to TARA as
well. Suggest all members click on the link daily.
Good of the Organization
McDonalds will be torn down and replaced, hopefully by
June. It was voted to move the Saturday breaks to El Camino in the back room.
Web page will need to be changed.
Adjournment
Adjourned at 8:41 pm
Minutes taken & transcribed by P. Riley
Submitted by Vern Leavitt
