Choctaw Amateur Radio Club Minutes from March 16, 2009

Members Present:
Dave Downing      WD5G
Eric Spiegel
Bill Tarkington   K3YC  CORA Officer/Treasurer
Walt Diehl        KA3AMK
David Huntz       NH6SM CARC Treasurer
Richard Manlov    W1WFE
Bill Crossland    N9SQV CARC President
Ron Earnest       W5RGT
Bill Wilburn      N5NUK CARC Secretary, CORA Officer/President

Treasurer’s Report:
David NH6SM gave the Treasurer’s Report. The phone bill for the controller is the biggest expense at roughly $24/month. The number of paid members now stands at eleven.
 
OLD BUSINESS:

Repeater Shack Report:
Bill N9SQV reported the repeater is back on line after the radio had been sent back twice, but is now working. The door has been fixed and Don KB5KWV, Ron W5RGT, and Bill N9SQV have keys to the repeater door. This issue is now closed.

CORA Report:
Bill N5NUK reported Ham Holiday is on track and there is now someone to handle pre-registration. Bill K3YC, along with Bill N5NUK, explained the table situation. There are not that many and they’re not large. Bill N5NUK also explained the venue layout and dates. Bill K3YC also mentioned the opportunity for presentations/demonstrations/seminars at Ham Holiday for those who wish to do one.

Tech Meeting:
Don N5ENQ was to give a discussion on Winlink and how to send airmail. Don N5ENQ and Bill N9SQV were the only two who showed up, so Don agreed to do it at the March meeting but because he became ill, the presentation will be done at the next Tech Meeting or the next regular meeting.

Bill N9SQV proposed eliminating a separate Tech Meeting and combining the Tech Meeting with the regular business meeting. Don N5ENQ reminded the group that’s the way it used to be done, but due to sometimes having outside presenters, it was inconvenient to have them sit through the business portion of the meeting. Ron W5RGT made a motion to combine the meetings into one. The motion was seconded and passed.

Picnic Outing:
Ron W5RGT proposed going to Beaver’s Bend. Bill N9SQV questioned the issue of how many members would be willing to travel that far for an outing/meeting. Bill N9SQV mentioned the 15x20 foot club tent that could be utilized for an on-the-air meeting complete with food if the wives would be willing to cooperate. The city of Choctaw would be willing to allow this at the park previously used for this type of event with no charge. Having this on a Saturday was mentioned, as was a chili cook-off. The date of May 2 at about 3pm was set for a gathering time. This will follow the May CORA meeting. The park is located near NE 23rd & Harper.
 
Changes for the Controller:
There was discussion regarding the issue of the controller, the phone line, and the possibility of setting up a UHF link into the controller in order to eliminate the phone line. N5ENQ said he had scanner receiver to use for this. Bill N9SQV wanted to table this until Larry K5VVD was contacted and the equipment organized.
 
Membership Woes/Fundraising:
A light discussion was held, no significant ideas were bandied about, although selling used equipment at Ham Holiday was mentioned.

Miscellaneous:
The club call sign K5CAR had expired in 2007, but it has now been renewed. The Grant, Effective, and Print date is March 5, 2009 and the expiration date is June 6, 2017.

Posting a copy of the club license at the repeater site was revered as a good idea
 
No other business was discussed and the meeting was adjourned.