MEETING TO ORDER:
President George, WBØCNK, called to order the June 2024 business meeting of the SFTARC at about 8:00 AM CDT. A total of 24 members attended, 19 joining in person at the Gardner Perkins and 5 joining via Zoom. There were four guests.
SECRETARY-TREASURER REPORT:
Marty, KEØPEZ, reported the bank balance. There were several regular annual expenditures this past month. Membership chair, Jason KFØISL, reported that the club now has 68 members in good standing; 40 of them are ARRL members.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Kansas QSO Party Planning
This annual Kansas QSO Party event runs from 9 AM to 9 PM on Saturday, August 24, and from 9 AM to 3 PM on Sunday, August 25. Please see https://ksqsoparty.org for details of the event. Members are invited to operate and/or log at the Sawyer Antenna Facility in Edgerton. Operations there will take place between 10 AM and 3 PM on Saturday, August 24, and between 1 PM and 3 PM on Sunday, August 25. Please come and go as your schedule permits.
You are also welcome to operate KSØKS from your home station. However, please contact Marty for details about signing up for slots on the schedule. We have to avoid having two stations operating on the same band and mode at the same time.
Bob Harder, KØBH, would like our club to also run WØE, and Eric, WØEAS, has offered to run this 1x1 callsign.
ENSORFEST
Ensorfest '24 was a success again this year. The weather cooperated beautifully. The total attendance was estimated to be 250, with about 75 people touring the farmhouse and peg barn.
Repeater Update
Jim, KØNK, reported on repeater matters. Before his passing, Rob Maberry KE5BR, had donated his 440 MHz repeater to SFTARC and asked that its callsign be changed to the club callsign KSØKS. Del Sawyer, trustee of callsign KSØKS, gave his approval of this action. Jim will apply to reactivate this repeater using the club callsign. Other issues involving area repeaters and their use during events, such as the Garmin Marathon, were discussed.
Tech Night Program
The June program will be a debriefing "lessons learned" evaluation of the 2024 Field Day event.
HAMVENTION
Joe, KRØUT, reported: "We went, we had a good time, we came back." George added: that in addition to Hamvention, the group visited Fair Radio Sales in Lima, OH , and The VOA Museum in West Chester, OH.
Field Day
ARRL Field Day will take place June 22 and 23, 2024. George, WBØCNK, expressed a desire to promote socializing and having fun at this year's event. Participants are invited to bring a pot luck dish for the Saturday evening meal. The club will buy several roasted chickens for Saturday evening. George will provide bottled water. We will operate Class 3A. A tentative layout of stations and antennas was presented and discussed. Event Timelines for al three days may be viewed on the Club Calendar at https://sftarc.org.
Tower Trailer
Dave Cochran, KBØVRA, donated a Glen Martin tower trailer to SFTARC. The club is paying for several associated parts and supplies. Jim, KØNK, ordered new tires and had them installed along with a new towing safety chain. Tom, WA2IVD, volunteered to install lights. Tom also investigated and confirmed that this vehicle is not required to be licensed. Jeff, KSØJD, and Jim will secure the necessary ownership paperwork.
Fund Raising
George commented on fund raising. Greg, KIØKK, outlined some ideas for improvements to the club trailer. We can talk more about these ideas after Field Day.
Appreciation
The club would like extend its sincere appreciation to Dave, KBØVRA, for donating the tower trailer and to Jim, KØNK, for managing the necessary details of the project.
Ensor Park and Museum
Joe urged more club members to sign up as volunteer tour guides at Ensor. Marty moved that the club create a raffle with a $100 Associated Radio gift certificate. Ensor volunteers receive one entry in the raffle for each day they volunteer. Del seconded the motion. After short discussion, a vote was called. The motion passed unanimously.
Other
Greg, KIØKK, encouraged club members to submit photographs and Tech Blog articles to the club website. It will be good for us to make our website more interesting and informative.
ADJOURN:
President George adjourned the meeting at 9:06 AM.
