Minutes 20090122

Attendance

• Cliff
• Matt
• Jessica

Officer Reports

• Budget is where it was previously
• Shack was flooded over the break
  • Cleanup efforts are underway, carpet goes bye-bye
• 2x 11-element 2m yagi antennas were donated by Joe O.
  • Let's get them on the roof and have fun - maybe just tweak the gamma match
  • Or we could go on campus with them for some workshop to attract attention
  • Maybe we can run one vertically polarized - ask VAST where they might like it pointed?
• Talking to VAST about an ATV payload for the March/April balloon launch
• We need people to step up for officer positions for next year
  • Current officers will graduate / move away this semester. :(

Shack Stuff

• Mike M has provided us with a bulkhead connector panel
  • Jessica will get measurements on stud spacing to get a bracket made for it
• Let's step up recruiting efforts
  • Fliers and print outs
  • Idaho Commons TV screen
• Work on cleaning up the Ham Shack
  • Jan. 31st coordinated with VAST
  • Remove last chunk of carpet
  • Re-arrange ham shack
    • Throw stuff away
    • Make social / presentation area
    • Make work area in main room
      • Remove work area from back room
    • Make storage area in back room
      • Remove storage area in main room
    • Make operating room less of an electronics testing area

Workshops

• Feb. 18th, 2009
  • Moxon antenna workshop. Build either a 2m or 70cm moxon antenna. This is a relatively compact 2 element antenna with some directivity and a little bit of gain. One will be built for the 70cm ATV band as a candidate for the W7UQ ATV Payload proposal. You need to RSVP so construction material can be purchased - it will be at your own cost - a price estimate will be provided later.
• March-ish, 2009
  • APRS workshop. Somehow coordinate this with the VAST launch time frame so that people are familiar with it and can effectively use the network during the launch.

Contesting Events

• Feb. 21st Weekend - ARRL Intl. DX (CW) Contest
  • KE7PHG may operate for a while
• Mar. 7th Weekend - ARRL Intl. DX (Phone) Contest
  • Let's try to get the club together for this one
• Mar. 14th Weekend - Idaho QSO Party
  • This is during spring break again :(