Category: Communications

May 2021 BAARC Secretary’s Report

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THURSDAY-MAY 27, 2021 – 5:30 PM – BAARC BOARD MEETING MINUTES – BRAINERD FIRE STATION

President: Steve Mott NØCRM
Vice President: Terry May KIØFW
Treasurer: Doug Bergsnev WØDWB
Secretary: Ron Finger KØGOP
Past Presidents: Charles Lane W5CCL, Al Doree WØRC
Director At Large: Lyle Amundson KØLFV
Director of Emergency Communications: John Luce WØWY
Repeater Trustee: Mitch Ahrenstorff ADØHJ
Community & Special Events Coordinator: Mark Cross KEØLFQ


Attendees: Lyle KØLFV, Terry KIØFW, Ron KØGOP, Doug WØDWB, John WØWY, Al WØRC, Charles W5CCL, and Dave KØISZ. The Vice President opened the Board Meeting at 5:35 PM.

Secretary’s Report: 

  • Membership roster: 86 members with 62 paid for 2021 (as of membership meeting close) We welcome new Club member, Andy Stevens KFØACS.
  • Minutes: The April 2021 Club Minutes were distributed to the Board and posted to the Club website
  • Website: Web graphics updated for the ARRL Field Day 2021. May article for Bob WØZPE’s “All Things HF was posted.
  • Correspondence: A note of encouragement and ID portrait enlargements were sent on behalf of the Club to the wife and family of SK Grayle Leech KØBPM.
  • Club membership roster and Gmail recipient list were updated to current status.

Treasurer’s Report:

  • The Treasurer gave his report to the board showing all month’s account transactions and balances to date. All bills are current and paid.

Membership Meeting Programs: 

  • The Vice President reviewed the June 24th Club program. This will occur on the day prior to the Friday Field Day setup date. We will be covering Field Day plans and a tutorial on using the N3FJP FD Logging software.

Digital and Emergency Communications:

  • CWC EOC: John WØWY reported per John Bowen, CWC ES, nothing new regarding the new EOC facility. It is still in progress and our Club operating area should be arranged within the next month. Grant funds are available for antenna cabling when they are ready for our relocation at the new facility.
  • SKYWARN: Al WØRC reported that Duluth SKYWARN operator Doug AAØAW is experiencing connection difficulties with the new NWS online chat room, however, individual operators can still make observation reports to the NWS-Duluth by phone. Al will type up protocols for using the new NWS chat rooms.

Upcoming BAARC Events

  • 2021 Field Day: Lyle KØLFV discussed Club Field Day activities at the CWC Fairgrounds this year. He has made arrangement for our Club use from noon Friday June 25th to Sunday afternoon June 27th. Our exact location will be determined closer to the event as several other groups and activities are in play for fairground space. The usual north-side Public Safety Building we use for our Saturday potluck meal will be unavailable, but we should be able to use the DNR Building to the south as we did in 2019. Lyle’s time will be limited for this 2021 event, and a co-chairman is being sought. Al WØRC volunteered to take the Club trailer to the CWC fairgrounds.
  • Tailgate Hamfest: This outdoor event has proved a good option to sustain Club income from sales of donated equipment. We will again plan to host this at the CWC Fairgrounds with a tentative date of August 14 which will follow the Crow Wing County Fair.

Repeater Trustee & Technical Support

  • Lyle discussed Lyle KØLFV discussed our Repeater Trustee position, and Mitch ADØHJ’s relocation out of the Brainerd area. We are looking for someone to fill this position with a technical skill set. Jay KAØDYN and Dan KØTI have come forward to offer their help in meeting this need and training others to assist.
  • Interested members are also sought for re-establishing a Club Technology Committee to plan and manage current needs and plan for future technical development.
  • John WØWY suggested we ask Mitch for his assistance in producing a job description to outline the various duties of his Club position.
  • The board discussed whether this is an appointed or elected position according to the Constitution and Bylaws. It was decided to make this formal change during the November 2021 Club election.

Old Business:

  • Generator purchase: The Board had previously approved and selected a new, more powerful generator for purchase and use during Club activities. It was discussed and decided to wait for now. We may want to purchase in August when we hope to sell the old one at the Tailgate Hamfest.

New Business:

  • Storage Container Work Day: Lyle reported that the Club storage container on the Brainerd Fire Department grounds needs to be reorganized with the high-quality shelving donated by Mitch ADØHJ. This will require removing the inventory of items and selecting surplus which could be sold or given to members. It was decided that just prior to the August Tailgate Hamfest would be the best time to do this. It was discussed that we do some grounds cleanup on this day as well and offer surplus items to the volunteers.
  • Executive Board Meeting time: A slightly earlier time was discussed to allow for a quick meal prior to the 7PM Membership Meeting. Moving the Membership Meeting to 7:30 PM was also considered. It was agreed we will meet at 5:00PM for the June Board Meeting. MOTION: Doug WØDWB: Move the Board Meeting to 5:00PM and keep the Membership Meeting at 7:00PM, SECOND: Terry KIØFW, PASSED.
  • The Board accepted a letter of resignation from John WØWY for his Club duties as Director of Emergency Communications, and ARRL Emergency Coordinator effective June 30, 2021. John has held these positions for 12 years, since March 31, 2009. The Board expressed its grateful appreciation for his active service in these 2 important areas to our Club, our community and our hobby. John is preparing a job description to outline the various duties of these Club positions as an aide to the Club and those who might next fill them.
  • Dave Satre KDØVJL visited with the Board at the end of the meeting and shared his experiences battling cancer and the resulting complications that have prevented him from being as active as he would have liked. With his condition improving, he is looking forward to resuming his attendance and participation as much as possible. The Board members thanked him for his gesture and the encouraging news.

The Board Meeting was adjourned at 6:30 PM.

THURSDAY-MAY 27, 2021 – 7:00 PM – BAARC MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES – BRAINERD FIRE STATION

24 members and guests enjoyed several interesting member presentations on ARRL Field Day experiences:

Ron  KØGOP   Different approaches to Field Day over the last 10 years.

Al WØRC   A Field Day teardown and his Bull Snake surprise.

Lyle KØLFV   A trio of videos on Field Days past and new rules for 2021.

—Respectfully submitted by Ron KØGOP, Secretary

The Club President’s 2017 Welcome Statement

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I want to welcome our great club into the 2017 calendar year.

We have made many changes over the past few years and have some remaining work to be completed to finish out our wide area network of linked repeaters. It has required efforts from many of our club members and I want to personally thank everyone that has helped with that effort.

The changes being put in place are in support of long range efforts to have a system with common components, and an architecture that will provide linking of our repeaters to support the various activities we participate in. More importantly, we are making strides to have a linked system that will be used in our Skywarn support to the National Weather Service in Duluth.

We have just a few items left to complete to provide a BAARC Club HF Station. The antenna is in place and testing has been done on the radio and interface. Once again, thanks to the many people that have worked on this project as well.

We have also moved forward with a refreshed website design, and again, many people were involved with this effort as well. The new site will be updated throughout the year as we learn more about what people are looking for in the club website.

In parallel with that, one major change to the website will be the change in how the BAARCER communication has changed. We have accepted the resignation of our long time BAARCER editor Fritz Bertelt. Many thanks are due to Fritz for the countless hours of work that he put into creating our monthly newsletter! In the spirit of moving to a new look of the website, we have also moved away from the long standing traditional 8-page newsletter. Remember that this was a throwback to the days of the BAARC club newsletter being “Mailed out” each month. In recent years, we have discontinued the practice of mailing the BAARC’er out and have relied purely on our website to communicate the BAARC’er.

The new messaging vehicle in the website will be a Blog. (The BAARC’er Newsletter will no longer be produced)

Definition of blog (from Merriam-Webster)

  1. : a Web site that contains online personal reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer; also : the contents of such a site

The Blog section of our website will contain communications regarding Events, Board Meeting Notes, Board Meeting programs, club activities, etc. this new look is now being used on our site. Please let us know what you think.

In closing, I am excited and happy to serve another year as the BAARC President. With both a great Board, and club behind me it makes this an easy role to fill. I want to thank ALL you, again and hope for a great 2017.

Steve Mott NØCRM
BAARC President: 2017