MINUTES FOR AUGUST 12, 2010           

                                                By Bob, KT4KS

 

At 7:31PM, President Maki K4RQZ called the meeting to order, and then led the attending members in the pledge of allegiance.  Vice President Greg AJ4QZ then initiated the introductions by introducing the 3 officers who were seated in the front of the meeting.  The introductions included Greg Fowler KG4RKJ, who resides in Springfield, and who recently obtained his General license at a MVARC test session.

 

REPEATER:  Doug WA4WEP said that he did not know the condition of the repeater, as his 2M capability is PL tone-impaired at this time.  Doug then stated that repeater will be relocated in the Masonic Temple, as the City of Alexandria is bringing additional equipment onto the floor.  Maki inquired as to if the committee will require volunteers, but Doug stated that both Dick WA4USB and Sterret K4MBE will be able to do it.  Bob KT4KS then mentioned that he wondered how the repeater would survive without the efforts of Dick and Sterret.

 

PUBLIC SERVICE:  Bob KT4KS stated that he mailed in the Field Day logs to the ARRL.  Bob did such a lousy job that the ARRL emailed him, and asked that he submit additional information.  Bob asked that the ARRL simply return the submission, so that he could resubmit everything in one package.  The ARRL quickly responded, asked just a few questions, and added the statement that they would be pleased to take care of it by themselves.  Bob provided the requested information, and thanked the ARRL for its efforts. 

 

MINUTES:  A motion was made to pass the MINUTES relating to the July meeting, but Mike KE4ER objected on the basis that the Coast Guards Special Event section in the July MINUTES incorrectly listed Frank’s AA4ZS call as “AA4ZZ”.  Mike agreed to allow the July MINUTES to be approved subject to the correction of the July MINUTES.  (The July MINUTES reference to “Frank AA4ZZ” is hereby corrected to read - - Frank AA4ZS - -, and thus the spelling error in the July MINUTES is hereby corrected.)  The motion to pass the July MINUTES was then passed.

 

TREASURY:  Mike KE4ER announced that the club has $351 in checking, $3394 in savings and $17 in the cash box; and that he is available to accept dues.  Mike also stated that he has a new/current roster for the club’s web site.  The roster includes (1) those who paid dues since 2008, and (2) all lifetime members.  In addition, it was noted that Maki signed a form that would permit at least both Mike and Maki to sign checks from the club’s checking account.

 

OLD BUSINESS:  Maki stated that he will go to the club’s old repeater site (i.e. Jim WD4PDP’s home) to take photos of MVARC equipment.  The equipment includes: antenna, repeater, batteries, meter and incidentals.  The photos will be posted on the club’s web site, with the hope that someone with money may find the items on the site.  (One member expressed that people Google items that they are looking to purchase)  The possibility of use of an EBay posting was mentioned.  The club will see how this works out, and then may then address the equipment that is stored in Bob’s home.  One of the pieces at Bob’s home includes a duplexer that some members felt were worth as much as $400-$600.  Leila WN4PP stated that she needs the names of all MVARCers who worked the George Washington Special Event for purposes of certificates, and those members in attendance who were at the event all raised their hands.  Leila then stated that the club needed to mail thank you notes to Mr. Norton who provided the club will permission to use the green house at Mount Vernon for the special event.  Bob responded that he did send thank you notes to both Mr. Norton and horticulturist Cynthia right after the event.  John Reiser WQ4L suggested that the club should maintain copies of the letters for the club’s records, and Bob said he would assure that was done.

 

TEST SESSION:  It was mentioned that there will be a test session this Saturday.  A few members expressed that they will present as Volunteer Examiners. 

 

VENTURE CREW:  John WQ4L mentioned that as MVARC is co-sponsoring the Venture Crew, and that therefore MVARC is technically responsible for their actions as a chartering organization.  John then inquired as to whether the club should have some level of oversight, or whether the Venture Crew should have a representative at meetings, or whether the club should get more involved with the Venture Crew, or whether the club should simply discontinue the connection, or whether we should just leave things as they are.  Bob KT4KS mentioned that MVARCer Bill W2BSA is very active with the club’s Reflector list, regularly attends MVARC test sessions, and that therefore there is interaction between the club and the Venture Crew.  Another member mentioned that Repeater Chairman Dick WA4USB is also (critically) active with both the Venture Crew and MVARC.  The raised issue seemed to be dropped at that point.  

 

NEW BUSINESS:  Maki mentioned the possibility of placing a ham radio display in the display case at the recently renovated Martha Washington Library, located on Fort Hunt Road near the Recreational Center.  The months of September through December are open for 2010.  John WQ4L seemed interested.  Bob, who regularly sees various displays at the John Marshal Library, expressed that such displays seem to require a bit of artistic talent, such as paper backing, and wondered if the membership is really capable of putting up an attractive display.  In addition, Bob mentioned that years ago he saw one display that included model airplanes, and that display included a sign that stated the owner would be present at the Library on a particular Saturday morning to answer questions; suggestive that the same sign (or offer, if you will) could be made with a ham radio display.  The display discussion ceased at that point in the meeting.   VP Greg brought up a few ham related articles that involved a town in Oklahoma that agreed that FRI ordinance does not apply to hams, and that now is the time to see the Perseid meteor shower.    

 

DONATIONS:  Maki stated that new ham Simarbir KC2YYC has donated $100 to the club, and has submitted an application for MVARC’s student membership.  Bob stated that the donation was possibly too generous to accept, especially as Samarbir is a student.  Maki then made a motion to provide Simarbir with a 5 year membership, and the motion was easily passed.  Simarbir is a personal friend of Maki, and has attended several MVARC functions, including Field Day and the Coast Guard Station’s Special Event.

 

DRAWING:  Maki reached into the hat of ticket, pulled out his own number, and thus won a new umbrella that was donated by Debra KG4URO.  The prize was timely, in light of the harsh storms that the area felt during the week.

 

PROGRAM:  John WQ4L stated that his show and tell would be short, and that he will treat it as a tell-type program.

 

COOKIE MONSTER:  Debra was out August Cookie Monster, and as usual, did a fine job of it.  She served up a pineapple upside down cake, nuts, cookies and drinks.  The drinks were especially decorative, as they included 12 ounce cans of beverages with pull tops that had fancy covers over the tops.  Bob will be the September Cookie Monster, so members should not anticipate an equally fine spread.

 

MEETING CLOSED:  Maki then closed the meeting.  

 

PROGRAM:  After about 10 minutes of refreshments, John WQ4L spoke about the history of recordings.  John started by describing his personal interest and experiences in recordings, which goes back to church choirs and the days when his oldest son was in the Mount Vernon High School Band.  John then proceeded to describe how it was the French who made the first recording (i.e. a scratch on a plate), but whom has no way to play it.  John then continued on to describe the cylinder-type recording, and from there went on to the disk-type recording, tape recording, wire recording and magnetic recording.  John described how Nipper the dog was originally a photo of Nipper with a cylindrical recorder, but that Nipper became famous only after someone placed the image of Nipper next to a disk type recorder.  The original Nipper display was buried in England during WWII to protect it.  John provided both historical tidbits and technical features of the recordings through out the entire era.  At least both Maki and Bob have visited John’s recording workshop at his home, and have seen that John sure has allot of recording equipment.