Murray State University Amateur Radio Club

Meeting Minutes, October 5, 2010

The meeting was called to order at 19:08 by President Randall Winchester.  

In attendance:

The question of the day was: “Is your station ready for winter?”

Minutes – Chuck Williams motioned to accept the minutes as emailed, George Knecht seconded. Motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report – Bill Call reported no change with a current balance of $1873.41, [after a deposit of $35.00 (dues and exam fees) and expenses of $7.00 for VE test reported in last month’s meeting]. Bob Aldrich motioned to accept, Chuck Williams seconded and all approved.  

Systems Report – Bill Call reported that Echolink was down and he will check on it later this evening or tomorrow. 94 receive noise is getting worse and 443 is losing it’s sensitivity.

Staff Advisor Report – John Hart advised Bill Call and Randall Winchester that he is planning on working the satellite antenna system later this month.

VE Report – One VE session with one successful technician class examinee. Another VE session for two examinees is scheduled for this evening after the meeting.

QSL Managers Report –No new cards have been received.

Net Report – No report at this time.

Ham Bits – October 10, 2010 dissolution of Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. The two existing entities will cease to exist and then the five islands will count for yet to be determined entities.

Old Business – No old business.

New Business – Christmas Party – Last year we had our party at the Willow Pond in Aurora and it was a well received location. I am planning on booking the Willow Pond (in Aurora) for Saturday, December 11^th at 6:00 pm. Hopefully by planning early this will be a good date and time for everyone.

Chuck Williams asked that we keep February 19, 2011 open on our calendars for the 2^nd Annual Polar Plunge. We have been asked to provide communications for the event. This last February there were 147 plungers and they are looking to have over 200 this next February. Everyone is invited to participate in the plunge and/or help with communications.

Valerie Barrett asked about Disaster Blaster and Bill Call responded that this year it was held in the Spring and was a totally different event than other years. He reported that they had  an emergency preparedness event (similar to the original Disaster Blaster) about two weeks ago and that it would be something we could look into participating in next year.

Bill Call reported that there is a Kentucky Weather Conference being held in Bowling Green (I missed the date) the fees are $20 if preregistered by Oct 19^th, $30 if preregistered by ??? or $40 at the door. You get a T-Shirt with preregistration by Oct 19^th.

Dale Barrett reported on the TenTec event in Tennessee. They introduced a new radio at that time.

Program – Kentucky Amateur Radio License Plates. http://mvl.ky.gov/MVLWeb/PIServlet

Initial Cost is $46 with renewal costing $21 and expires on December 31^st (not your birth month).

To get an Amateur Radio License Plate go to the county clerks office, fill out an application, pay the fee and they will order the plate and it will be available in a couple of weeks.

What if you have more than one car and only one licensed amateur, or two licensed amateurs and more than two cars? You can personalize a different type of plate. Duplicates are okay as long as it’s a different type of plate. Examples are as follows

Emergency Management Plate – Initial Cost $59, Renewal $21 (limited to a maximum of five characters).

Firefighter Plate - Initial Cost $46, Renewal same as initial cost (limited to a maximum of five characters).

MSU Plate - Initial Cost $81 ($10 to scholarship support), Renewal $31($10 to scholarship support) (limited to a maximum of five characters).

Military Veteran Plate - Initial Cost $51 ($5 to Veterans Trust Fund), Renewal same as initial cost (limited to a maximum of five characters).

One solution to the five character maximum is to upgrade to Extra and get a 2 x 1 or 1 x 2 call.

Alternate solution is to apply for an FCC Vanity Call Sign of five characters.

For the full list of various plates offered, and the costs associated with each, by the Commonwealth of Kentucky please click on the above link to the website. Be sure to read the small print.

Randall adjourned the meeting at about 19:58 and a VE session immediately followed.

Respectfully submitted,

Debbie Barton, W8IBT

Secretary

VE Session concluded and resulted in one new technician class license being issued to James Sanford, and the one upgrade examinee did not pass but plans to take the test again next month . Congratulations James.