Posted in: Admin, Board Minutes, Minutes

Board Meeting 28-NOV-2020

Date: Saturday 28-November 2020   Location: via Zoom   Start Time: 12.07 pm

Attendance:  Bruce KO4XL, Jerry.Z W4BFL, George WA2VNV, Patrick KE4OBV, Jerry,Z W4BFL, Jay.S N2ELG, Bonnie KC2JSV, Michael.G K8BQ, Jeff.S K4BH, John N1QFH

The following items were discussed and actions assigned:

OVERVIEW

This was a virtual meeting using Zoom.

MEMBER SILENT KEY MEMORIAL 

The board discussed plaques and silent-key Lifetime certificates. Bruce has final draft of certificate and letter.

ACTION: Bruce will edit Lifetime letter and certificate.

ACTION: John.C and Bruce will finalize and purchase plaques.

ACTION: Bruce will continue with ARRL brick research and costs, its on hold at ARRL

ACTION: John.C will collect silent key details and pictures

GROUPS.IO PRESENTATION AND LOGISTICS 

Bruce updated board on status and activity.

ACTION: Bruce will continue to manage groups.io

FACILITY OPENING PLANS AND LOGISTICS

The Shack remains closed. Board regularly reviews the COVID status. John.C continues spraying weeds and rotates towers.

ACTION: John.C will examine filter about December 2020

ACTION: Bruce will pursue getting a HEPA  / MERV-13 filter when shack opens

ACTION: John.C will rotate antennas weekly and periodically oil cable and drum.

ACTION: John.C will continue to spray the weeds.

2021 WINTER FIELD DAY

Winter Field Day event will occur just like the this past June Field Day. Individual stations will operate from a station of their choosing. More details on the event will be announced. Per Jeff.S, JS8CALL may be used in WFD. Participants may still submit results with club association. Bruce will offer interclub participation.

ACTION: Bruce will present inter-club awards.

ACTION: John will continue 2021 WFD communication plans to members

 PAYPAL AND MEMBERSHIP

Board reviewed status of PayPal  payments and Bruce made PayPal funds transfer. Board discussed use of MailChimp vs ConstantContact and John will report back on findings.  John created MailChimp process to vote for 2021-2023 Directors. John mailed checks and other mail to Patrick. Bonnie offered suggested text change on PayPal webpage and that was implemented. Currently there are no issues figuring out PayPal payments and matching to the appropriate member and callsign.

ACTION: John.C will continue to resolve MailChimp issues for subscribers.

ACTION: Bruce to create secondary logon

ACTION: Bruce to generate PayPal report for Patrick

DMR MICROWAVE PROJECT

Jerry updated board on status and his plans for FAU setup work.

ACTION: Art, Lew, and Jerry will relocate dish on 2m or 70cm antenna

ACTION: Jerry to determine when the dish relocation can occur and advise Art, George and Lew

ACTION: Jerry will address FAU and repeater IP work

 REMOTE STATION

Reviewed status which had no change and is dependent on solid IP service to the shack.

 REPEATER STATUS

John updated board on packet repeater recovery results. Per Art and Lew the equipment and cabinet at Boca hospital was not worth moving to the shack and decided it was best to leave it as-is. The 2-meter CANs were moved to the shack for future use. Bruce discussed the possibility of using an existing radio and software to stand-up the BRARA packet node. May need to have CANs examined for possible use at our repeater site. Discussed possible use of MESH network and modified router.

ACTION: Bruce to connect with Lew to update our DMR repeater details on database

ACTION: Art and Lew will continue site repairs as needed

ACTION: Bruce, Robert.E W1ENG and John to configure packet node

 SATELLITE PROJECT

Board discussed fan diploes re-location and options.

ACTION: Satellite team look into refurbishing rotors

ACTION: Relocate fan-dipole antenna that may block the satellite system

1-YEAR MEMBERSHIP

ACTION: Bruce will send letter when full services restored for 1 year membership

AED UPDATE

Board reviewed status and PBC letter.

ACTION: Bruce will continue linkage with Life Safety Solutions for AED.

 BADGES

Bruce said Patrick has no outstanding badges to process and a few are at the shack for delivery to the members.

ACTION: Bruce will pursue alternate badge suppliers

(check with https://thesignman.com)

ACTION: Patrick will check his record for those who paid for badges and shirts

 TRAINING AND TESTING

Jeff.S updated board on current training class and testing process on 6-Dec in Margate.  Jeff, Bruce and Jerry.Z discussed remote testing.

ACTION: Bruce, Jeff.S and Jerry will partner on remote testing and logistics.

ACTION: Jay, Jeff.R, Roger, and Al to define DMR curriculum

ACTION: Bruce will define logistics for scheduling and licensing classes

BOARD ADMINISTRATION

Patrick updated board on financial status. John stored welfare spreadsheet on Google Drive for BOD to access. The board has been emailed how to access this document to make calls. Board will work to make welfare calls and update status. John updated board on various membership statistics and renewal reminders and communications. 2021 grace period is 1-JAN-2021 to 31-March-2021. Bruce reviewed election results, how the new board will hold organization meeting, and when that meeting will occur in 1st half of December tentative on 12-Dec. Final meeting of current board is 9-Dec. Formal vote for officers will be held by new board on or after 1-Jan 2021. Bruce requested membership app be removed from flyer. Bonnie updated board on her activity. Board discussed banking options and issues.

Bruce announced 2021-2023 Board of Directors:

K4BH Jeff Stahl
K4LA Lou Alfonso
KO4XL Bruce Ratoff
N1QFH John Cole
N2ELG Jay Silverman
W4BFL Jerry Zaza
WA2VNV George Sintchak

ACTION: John will continue to send 2021 renewal reminders

ACTION: Bruce will update members on election results on 1-Dec-2020

ACTION: John.C and Jeff.S will update flyer.

ACTION: John.C and Michael K8BQ will continue knowledge exchange

ACTION: Patrick and Bonnie to continue knowledge exchange

ACTION: Board will continue member good and welfare checks

ACTION: Bruce will send to John.C list of member privilege

ACTION: Board will send list of BRARA accomplishments to Bruce

ACTION: Bruce will review minutes and feedback for list of accomplishments

EQUIPMENT STATUS

Bruce updated board on various PC hardware options. Members have asked about when we’ll do next Zoom auction. Patrick received Zoom auction funds. Patrick will continue to keep Bonnie in loop on any of his reports.

ACTION: John will continue decluttering shack, oil cable, turning antennas, removing items of no value.

ACTION: Jay will continue reviving laptops and desktops

ACTION: Bruce to get 1/2 terabyte drive to Jay to install in desktop

 THE SHACK

ACTION: Jerry to re-key storage room locks and distribute

ACTION: Jeff.R and Bruce to coordinate training and re-keying shack and gate when shack opens

ACTION: John.C to install di-pole lightening protectors

ACTION: Jeff.R will change shack door combination

PROJECTS

  • Satellite System
  • Repair Ameritron HF Amplifier
  • Acquire AED for The Shack
  • IP FAU-to-Shack
  • Relocate FAU dish at repeater site

PRESENTERS

We have a few others lined up for 2021. New VP will need to identify presenters. Bruce had suggestions on presenters.

January: Matthew KO4DJG on micro-processors used to connect radios and other devices

February: John KE4IDW on his field operation in October 2020 (tentative VP approval)

 OTHER ITEMS

John updated board on website changes that include simplification and use of tabs and he merged monthly newsletter into weekly update. The newsletter now ceases to be created and all its information is in the weekly updates. The most current weekly update will be available on the home page and posted to the BLOG.

ACTION: John.C will schedule Feb 2021 for 1-1 training for board on how to use WordPress

ACTION: Bruce will continue addressing refrigerator repair

Next Board Zoom meetings:

    • Mid-month: Wednesday 6.00 pm  9-December-2020 (INVITE NEW BOARD)
    • Agenda: Saturday 12.00 pm   2-Janurary-2020 (TENTATIVE)
    • New Directors tentative meeting dates:
      • 12-December-2020 directors discuss logistics
      • 2-Janurary-2021 directors meet and vote on officers

Adjourn: Motion by John.C and 2nd by Jeff.S adjourn at 1.56pm and zoom ended

Respectfully submitted

John Cole N1QFH / Secretary