No February meeting
Here’s a reminder that the club members voted, during the February 4 net, to have no RCKARA meeting this month.
Minutes: January 14, 2025
1900 Meeting called to order by President Charles Tucker.
We had an exceptional turnout and we did introductions. There was a new face: Mike Davidson, KBØUWN. We also had some Irish royalty present, Sir Sherradan.
Announcements:
* EOC is hosting a CPR and First Aid course, free to CERT members, $25/class to non-CERT members, and $45 for both. Register with KBØSQL. The classes will be held Feb. 11 and 13. The 11th conflicts with our February meeting, so depending upon conference room availability, we will announce when the February meeting will be held.
* The Great Plains Super Launch will be June 12-14th, hosted by Zack Clobes, WØZC. Check out the Super Launch website for more details. You don’t want to miss this!
Reports:
* November minutes were read and approved, motion John/Larry, passed.
* Treasurer’s report was read and accepted. There was a question on the $100 expense for last year’s hamfest; after research it was found to be money to make change for the entrance fee, to seed the till. Report was accepted, motion Larry/Jeff, passed.
Repeater Trustee
* The .67 machine is dying a slow painful death with low output and low modulation. The .12 machine is nominal. See the discussion below under New Business.
Hamfest Committee
Hamfest is scheduled for Aug. 9 at the HCC Fire Science facility. Laurel VEC will hold exams; they request advance registration. Ron Cowens has been contacted regarding ARRL participation. Break-out sessions are requested, so anyone who wishes to do a session should contact Zack, WØZC,
Old business
* Treasurer needs to get e-statements going at RCB.
New Business
* Reno County EOC has offered $5,000 to the club to replace the .67 repeater. That could buy us a DMR repeater. Internet access is unavailable and unaffordable for the club. It may be possible to set up a full duplex link via 70cm or 1.2m using TNCs for a Internet backbone to the site. We need to research if a 9600 baud link is sufficient for the DMR Internet link. Other repeater options are all on the table. Whatever we decide upon, it will need to be tolerant of the awful conditions at the site.
NCS
* Jan 21: NØFXG
* Jan 28: KAØNES
* Feb 4: KFØBZM
50/50
Our local knight in rusty armor, NØFXG, won again, I think this is becoming a truly crooked raffle. He took home $10, $11 to the club!
2000 Meeting adjourned, motion Scott/Phil, passed.
Silent Key: NYØT
Long-time RCKARA member Phil Urquiola has died.
Visitation will be at 9:30 a.m., Saturday, January 11, 2025, with the funeral service to follow at 10:30 a.m. at McPherson Free Methodist Church, 1010 S. Maple St., McPherson. His obituary can be seen here.
Slight e-mail change
I’ve altered the club’s e-mail address slightly (not that it gets much use). It’s now rckhams@rckara.org. The big thought at the back of this is to make the “rck” the same with the e-mail address and the site’s URL and the club’s name. It’ll be live by sunrise Dec. 13. It’ll feed directly into my personal e-mail account, so I’ll see anything you send pretty quickly.
Bryon
Minutes: November 12, 2024
1900 Called to (dis)order
Guest: John Brady, NØBJJ.
Announcements
* Jerry will have a three-element beam, rotor, and tower available early next year for free.
* Red Cross will be holding a CPR and First Aid class early in 2025. The cost is $25 for each class or $45 for both. CERT members’ fees will be paid by Reno County Emergency Management.
Reports
* October minutes read. Scott/Joe motion, passed.
* Treasurer’s report. John/Scott motion, passed.
* A question was brought to the president from a former member as to why we charged for admission at the hamfest. We have to pay over $200 for event insurance. We have to provide a door prize. We have to be frugal; we have money in the bank, but we must be able to replace any of the repeater equipment, radios, tower, antenna, heliax, duplexer, etc. We fund Little River school ham class.
* Repeater Trustee report and DMR discussion: infrastructure, power, tower, antenna, heliax, duplexer, Internet access, repeater.
Old Business
* Christmas Party will be at 6 p.m. December 10 in the Rice Park Community Building. Bring a side dish. No fees, except for KAØNES. 😊
* 20V-2 Article Part 1 published in the Signal Magazine. Mentioned were Scott, NØFXG; Charles, KBØSQL; Mark, KFØBZM. Scott took the world-wide publicity with his usual humble attitude; we should hereafter refer to him as Sir Sherraden. (Editor’s note: Knights are referred to by their first name, so it would actually be Sir Scott.)
New Business
Elections for 2025 officers. Motion was made to stick with current slate. Joe/John motion, passed.
NCS
* Nov. 19: NØFXG
* Nov. 26: KAØNES
* Dec. 3: ACØRL
* Dec. 17: KAØNES
* Dec. 31: NØUNI
* Jan. 7: ACØMO
50/50
NØFXG Sir Scott won and donated back to us lowly peasants $9.
2015 Meeting adjourned. Joe/Todd motion, passed.
Silent Key: AD6P
Long-time RCKARA member Cleyon Yowell has died.
The funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday, November 13, at Trinity United Methodist Church, 1602 N. Main, Hutchinson. Burial will follow in Laurel Cemetery, rural Haven. Friends may sign his book from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at Elliott Mortuary. The family will receive friends from 1 p.m. until service time Wednesday at the church. The full obituary can be seen here.
Minutes: October 8, 2024
1900 Meeting called to order by President Charles Tucker.
Announcements
* Bob Stone is in a critical care unit. For more details, please contact KBØSQL.
* We earned First Place in the Kansas QSO Party Club Category, besting second place by over 60,000 points. We earned over 152,000 points.
Reports
September minutes were read. Motion Phil/Todd, passed.
Treasurer’s report was read. Motion Joe/John, passed.
Repeater Trustee reported all repeaters nominal.
Committee Reports
* Hamfest ’25 discussion. The date will be August 9, 2025. We discussed prize ticket raffle, having guest speakers, and whether to try to be the ARRL State Convention.
* Christmas Party will be December 10. Carriage Crossing catering roast beef, turkey, ham, and mashed potatoes. Motion to budget $400, Todd/Mark, passed.
Old Business
* None.
New Business
* Field Day 2025 at the Kansas State Fairgrounds. Having a GOTA station and a cookout were discussed.
NCS
* 10/15 ACØMO
* 10/22 KAØNES
* 10/29 WØRHP
* 11/05 ACØRL
50/50
* Ken won, donated back to club, $7.
Motion to adjourn, Nancy.
Meeting adjourned 1941
Behind the scenes…
Apologies if you tried to visit the site in the past couple of days and found it missing. I’ve moved the site’s hosting from HostGator to DreamHost in the interest of cost and (I hope) better service going forward. I’m not yet deeply impressed, but I also don’t want to go through the mess of migrating the site again too soon.
Let me know if you see anything odd or wrong about the site.
Bryon
Minutes: September 10, 2024
1900 Meeting called to order by Vice President Mark Rankin. We did not have a quorum, which requires 11 members present.
Announcements
* KS QSO Party, no word on our standing yet.
Minutes read and approved. Motion John/Larry, passed
Treasurer’s report read and approved. Motion Todd/Roger, passed
Repeater trustee – all ok
Committee Reports
* Hamfest committee:
We approved 8/9/2025 for the next hamfest. We discussed selling prize or raffle tickets, having guest speakers, and the possibility of hosting the State Convention. HCC approved our use or the Fire Training Facility for next year.
Old business
None.
New Business
* Christmas Party:
Carriage Crossing will cater meats only: turkey, roast beef, and chicken. Maybe 40 servings?
NCS
* 9/17: NØUNI
* 9/24: KAØNES
* 10/1: KBØSQL was volunteered in absentia. I think it’s near Topeka…
Motion to adjourn: Todd/John, passed.
1926 Meeting adjourned
Meeting: August 13, 2024
1900 Meeting called to order at the Reno County EOC.
Announcements:
* Wichita Hamfest will be Oct. 5th.
* Kansas QSO Party will be August 24-25. Our club will be using the WØL callsign and will be hosted by ACØRL at 1824 Nickerson Blvd. Operating hours will be from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. on the 24th and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on the 25th. This is a club event, so please do some operating. Even if you don’t have a General-class license, you can legally operate.
Reports:
* July minutes read, Motion Todd/John, Passed.
* Treasurer’s report read, Motion Phil/Todd, Passed.
* Repeater trustee report, all repeaters nominal.
Committees:
* Hamfest Committee
We profited $385. We had very happy vendors and attendees; Todd was the sole dissenter. Next year’s hamfest will be at same venue on August 9, 2025. Motion Zack, Jerry, passed. We will serve coffee. Door prizes will be announced in advance. And we’ll look into hosting the ARRL state convention.
Presentation:
This was given by Reno County 911 Director Kevin Irwin. His talk was very informative, and we should be very proud of the improvements he has brought to the Dispatch Center. The Q & A following his talk was very enlightening.
NCS:
* August 20: KFØBZM
* August 27: KAØNES
* September 3: NØUNI
Motion to adjourn, Larry and Joe, passed.
2000 Meeting adjourned
