The January meeting of the Rochester Amateur Radio Club was called to order at 7:00pm, Tuesday 1/8/02, by President Dave Peterson (K7CJO), with 32 members present.
Minutes from both the November and December meetings were approved as posted on the web site.
The FY2001 Annual Financial Report was presented and circulated at the meeting as required by the recently revised and approved bylaws.
New members of the Technical committee are Pat NØADQ, Rob KCØFOW, and Bob NØEST. Committee meetings are Monday evenings before Tuesday club meetings, 7:00pm at the Red Cross building, and are open to all club members.
All repeaters are working fine.
The Simpson site is shut down. Discussions with KTTC are under way to clarify whether we can continue to use the site in the future. It is an excellent site, but needs work (SWR of 5) and discussing alternatives.
The watertower digipeater WØMXW-2 is running, and the amp from the Simpson site was installed. However, the water department has changed the locks for security, and access has become difficult. Discussions are under way.
Two proposals were brought to the committee: A Rochester Linux group is interested in developing a wireless ISP with RARC, and a crank-up tower was offered for sale. The Technical committee recommends "no" to both. If any club member wants to reconsider either one, it will need to be brought up as New Business.
An inventory of club equipment will be done in March.
New ARES ID cards are needed; all ARES members should fill out a form (available on the web site) and return to Steve. Pictures for the ID's will be taken next meeting.
The organizational structure of the ARES group is changing. The Mayo ARES group will remain as is; there will be an A team (high training and participation), a B team (irregular training and participation), and also a Mobile Assistance Team (ARES MAT), prepared to go out to fairly distant emergencies and stay for a period. All club members not otherwise participating in ARES will become Associate ARES members, so that they can help out if needed.
There will be ARES meetings this year for training. Also, Red Cross classes are available and free to ARES members.
There will be a major drill in Fall of 2002, the TriState Nuclear drill at Prairie Island.
For Skywarn, there is an issue with parking and safety. Roof flashers may be needed, Steve will look into what is available in the $10-$30 range.
A new packet protocol, EOCPAC, is being tested.
Net Control Operators are needed for the coming year.
There will be a Skywarn class March 27 at Diggers in Kasson.
Remember the breakfasts Saturdays 6:30-8:30 at Grandma's (Silver Lake), and the 8:00pm Monday ragchew nets.
The Plainview bike race has been moved to Winona, and the club there will take primary responsibility for communications.
Preparation for next year's JOTA should start soon. Bob ABØBW will coordinate.
Field Day will be June 22-23 (4th weekend in June). Preparation will begin soon. Pat NØADQ will coordinate, with help from Peter N8MHD.
Testing sessions for the year are listed on the web site; March 14 is next.
The Library donation project is actively looking for money. Peter N8MHD will coordinate.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:45.
Following the meeting, capabilities and features of the major logging programs were presented by Dave Naatz (KØVH), Stew Lewis(WØSHL), and Pat Cahill (NØADQ).