General Member Meeting January 2023

BRARA General Meeting minutes for 3-Jan-2023

The BRARA monthly association meeting was held via Zoom conference. The meeting was called to order by the President, Bruce KO4XL at  7:19pm local. Attending: 29 Zoom participants.  Officers and directors provided an update of their club related activities. Members had the opportunity to provide a brief update of their activities. Tonight’s speaker is Ken Dawson-Scully, K8KDS with a presentation about APRS.

Directors and Officers Present

Bruce KO4XL, Mike K8BQ, Bonnie KC2JVS, John C N1QFH, George WA2VNV, Ralph W1DAR, Jay S N2ELG, Lou K4LA, Jeff S K4BH

President: Bruce KO4XL

Bruce opened the meeting and introduced the speaker and his topic.

Treasurer: Bonnie KC2JVS

Bonnie provided a financial update for December and year end.

Treasurer’s Report December 31, 2022

December 31, 2021       Available Balance              $7,777.61

November 30, 2022      Available Balance               $6,865.33

December 31, 2022       Available Balance              $9,081.25

Income:    $4151.76

Income includes $3,059 from Auction, $5 donation, $1,087.76 memberships

Not included is $5 from Auction and $10 donation from the Tuesday breakfast crew deposit

Expenses:  $1,935.84

Expenses include $316.01 for quarterly electric bill, $20.83 for GFI outlet, $1500 for duplexer, and $99 for event calendar

Not included is $66 for hotspot, $110 for club QSL cards, $52.85 to UPS rotor for repairs

 Available Balance includes $3,000 cash reserve

Bonnie also reminded members about Amazon Smile

Director at Large: George WA2VNV

George reported that the rotor is out for service and will be back in a week or so. Repeater is still having desense issues using one antenna so we are using two. George brought a circulator to try to see if it creates an improvement. Walt has a 50 ohm load we can try with it. The VHF Contest is coming up January 21 starting at 2pm.

Director at Large: Jay S N2ELG

The Auction was very successful. The net was over $3,000. We have already received some new items and have many others that we didn’t get to. Plan is to have another one after Hamcation.

Director at Large: Lou K4LA

Lou thanked Henry WA2ROA and John C N1QFH for their effort creating the membership poll. He is looking forward to seeing what the membership has to say.

Vice President: Ralph W1DAR

Tonight’s speaker about APRS is Ken, K8KDS.

Director at Large: Jeff S K4BH

Jeff has been busy with Winterfest the past few months. The event was a success. The past hurricane season was relatively uneventful locally, but some nearby counties relied on amateur radio for communications. It is necessary to be a member of an organization to be deployed, do not self deploy. Volunteers are required to be vetted as part of a group such as CERT or ARES. You should take FEMA online training classes ICS 100, ICS 200, and ICS 700 to learn how the National Incident Management System works.

Director at Large: John C N1QFH

John showed how to use the new Donate button on the web site. The Member Poll is available on the home page. Don’t forget to reserve an operating slot for Winter Field Day. The Event Calendar on the home page has been improved.

Membership Chair: Henry WA2ROA

The membership poll was released this morning.  Thanks to John C and Lou for helping him develop it. It took him 7 minutes to fill out with a number of details he wanted the club to know. He is providing a longer lead for the February lunch which will be on 2/18 at the Lazy Dog. The link to RSVP will be put on the BRARA web site.

Secretary: Mike K8BQ

Bonnie presented Mike’s material. Minutes for the December general meeting have been posted on the BRARA Blog. Motion to accept the December minutes John C N1QFH. Second Jay S N2ELG. Motion carried. Mike’s notes show 111 members renewed for 2023, 193 last year.. Dirk N4AN upgraded to a Life Membership. New members for December; Bill KC3PPF, Thomas Hogan NB2A.

New Business: None