April 2019 General Meeting
16/04/19 19:30
Minutes PART Meeting April 16, 2019
Cameron Senior Center, Westford, MA
7:30 PM – 8:50 PM
Officers Present:
Andy, KB1OIQ, Pres
George, K1IG, VP
Alan, W1AHM, Treasurer
Chauncey, K1OPE, Secretary
Bob, W1IS, Director at Large
Attendees: 34
KB1OIQ opened the meeting with a round of introductions.
We welcomed a new member Mozard, KC1LDV, Chelmsford, and guest Becky Bronson (see comment below under Hugh, Membership Chair.)
A shout out to Terry, KA8SCP, for publishing this month’s PARTicles.
Announcements
Our speaker for the evening was Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF, Vice Director, New England Division of the ARRL.
He spoke about the general Board atmosphere at the League.
The League has been in transition the last three years. Not much has been accomplished. The Board has been split on four major issues:
The November, 2018, elections changed the makeup of the Board, and not much has gotten done.
Mike’s personal view of a goal should be to ward off any possible attempts to take over our existing bandwidth. Possibly give up some of our gigahertz frequencies to maintain our lower frequencies.
Mike then answered a wide variety of questions.
He wrapped up with a personal anecdote when as a teenager he helped out the local Civil Defense on the November 9, 1965, northeast electrical blackout. This prompted a telling of other experiences from the floor.
Andy, KB1OIQ, in wrapping up, asked if anyone volunteered for the Boston Marathon. Of the 283 volunteer hams helping the race there were three present at the meeting. Andy was a net control operator with Mark, K1MGY.
Rob, KE8UW, distributed a PART Club pamphlet that he developed as club collateral to be handed out at events such as Field Day.
See everyone next month.
73
Chauncey, K1OPE
Cameron Senior Center, Westford, MA
7:30 PM – 8:50 PM
Officers Present:
Andy, KB1OIQ, Pres
George, K1IG, VP
Alan, W1AHM, Treasurer
Chauncey, K1OPE, Secretary
Bob, W1IS, Director at Large
Attendees: 34
KB1OIQ opened the meeting with a round of introductions.
We welcomed a new member Mozard, KC1LDV, Chelmsford, and guest Becky Bronson (see comment below under Hugh, Membership Chair.)
A shout out to Terry, KA8SCP, for publishing this month’s PARTicles.
Announcements
- Andy, KB1OIQ, announced that the Arduino based kit building activity has been cancelled due to the ham in New Jersey who is the single source for one of the required parts cannot supply it. The kit building group will try for another kit later this year.
- Alan, W1AHM, gave the Treasurer’s Report:
- Latest member count is 73;
- Recent balance in the cash account is $12,469.
- Hugh, N1QGE, Membership, thanked everyone for their Food Pantry donations. The beef stew is a sought after item.
- Hugh introduced a local author, Becky Bronson. She is doing research for a book she is writing on how we will react to a catastrophic disaster since we are so dependent on technology. She is interested in interviewing hams on how a power outage would be handled. See Hugh if you would like to help Becky.
- George, K1IG, gave a summary of Field Day preparations. Field Day is held this June 22-23. Antenna setup will be on Friday, June 21 at the Concord Rod and Gun Club.
- Station Chefs:
- CW – Bob, W1IS
- Phone – George, K1IG
- Digital – Rich, AB1HD
- VHF/Tech – Allison, KB1GMX
- GOTA – Andy, KB1OIQ
- George gave us a heads up on a Honda fuel leak recall on the popular EU2200 generators.
- George provided links to a couple of CW learning aids
- LCWO.net
- MorseRunner on DxAtlas.com
- Terry, KA8SCP, needs a few more volunteers to help with the Westford Apple Blossom Parade on Saturday morning, May 18th. This is a short public service event which is great opportunity to get exposed to public service.
- The new water tower on Prospect Hill, Westford, will be completed in May. Transition of the repeaters to this new site will be done shortly thereafter.
Our speaker for the evening was Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF, Vice Director, New England Division of the ARRL.
He spoke about the general Board atmosphere at the League.
The League has been in transition the last three years. Not much has been accomplished. The Board has been split on four major issues:
- The League’s Code of Conduct.
- Attempt to eliminate the position of Vice Directors.
- Degree of transparency.
- Pursuit of the Parity Act (private land use restrictions).
The November, 2018, elections changed the makeup of the Board, and not much has gotten done.
- Pulled the Parity Act from congressional action.
- The League’s Chief Council retired.
- The ARRL Code of Conduct was dropped. The Board will just follow the Connecticut’s Code of Conduct.
- To increase growth the Board will support expanding phone privileges for the Technician class.
Mike’s personal view of a goal should be to ward off any possible attempts to take over our existing bandwidth. Possibly give up some of our gigahertz frequencies to maintain our lower frequencies.
Mike then answered a wide variety of questions.
He wrapped up with a personal anecdote when as a teenager he helped out the local Civil Defense on the November 9, 1965, northeast electrical blackout. This prompted a telling of other experiences from the floor.
Andy, KB1OIQ, in wrapping up, asked if anyone volunteered for the Boston Marathon. Of the 283 volunteer hams helping the race there were three present at the meeting. Andy was a net control operator with Mark, K1MGY.
Rob, KE8UW, distributed a PART Club pamphlet that he developed as club collateral to be handed out at events such as Field Day.
See everyone next month.
73
Chauncey, K1OPE
