November 2nd, 2026 Meeting Minutes

***THESE MINUTES REMAIN UNOFFICIAL UNTIL ADOPTED AT THE NEXT HARC MEETING***

The November 2nd, 2026 monthly HARC meeting was held in Hermiston High School Annex Conference Room and was called to order by President Sam at 19:02.

Member Attendees: AI7UH (Bob), W7ILD (Todd), KD7VX (Whitley), W7JJK (Jeff), NB7O (Kevin), K7MGO (Michelle),  KJ7NYZ (Anna), KI7CUS (Dennis), KG7WYY (Fred), N2SRX (Rhett), KE4TRR (Alan), KM7BHY (Sylvia), AA7TH (Sam)

Guests: Craig M.

New Members: 

The October 2026 meeting minutes and November 2026 Secretary/Treasurer’s Report were distributed via email by J. Kelso on 11/01/2026. A motion to adopt the October meeting minutes was made by Kevin and seconded by Rhett.  The motion passed unanimously. 

The November 2026 Secretary/Treasurer’s Report was read by Jeff.

Ongoing Business:

1. Dennis provided a solar report to the membership.

2. Testing – Kevin reported that nobody has signed up for testing this month.  

3. Carnegie Building Update – Sam reported that the City is still evaluating repairs to be made to the building before it is ready for occupancy.

4. JOTA – Anna shared pictures and gave a report about her JOTA activities at the Boy Scout District Office.  They had HF, VHF, Winlink, and digital available, amongst other modes.  Anna says that we should plan earlier, continue to make connections with Scouting and work to get youth involved in Winter Field Day and other events.  Todd made a motion to spend not more than $200 on promotional flyers and other materials for future events, including Winter Field Day and possibly JOTA.  The motion was seconded by Whitley.  The motion passed unanimously.

5. Rhett reports that he is continuing to work on the website replacement project.  He is trying to replicate the functionality that currently exists, but asked the members present if it would be better to put up a newer version quickly that lacks some of the current website’s features or to continue to work on replicating all of the current website’s features, which will take longer.  The general consensus was that it would be better to replicate all of the functionality of the current site even though it will take longer.

6. Officer elections – The nominees for HARC officers were as follows:  K7MGO for President, KG7WYY for Vice-President, and W7JJK for Secretary/Treasurer.  No other nominations were received.  Kevin made a motion to cast a unanimous ballot.  The motion was seconded by Jeff.  The motion passed unanimously.

     New Business:

1. Relinquishing frequency pair 147.160/147.760 – Whitley said that we do not “own” the frequency pair.  It isn’t currently registered with the ORRC.  Jeff made a motion that we give Lynn the HARC’s blessing to use the frequency pair.  Seconded by Rhett.  Six were in favor, and five were opposed.  There were two abstentions.  Motion passed.

2. WIRES-X node radio replacement – Jeff reported that his personal Yaesu radio that he was using to run the Club’s WIRES-X node on the 443 repeater has died.  The question was put to the club to whether it wanted to purchase a radio to use as a node radio in place of Jeff’s dead radio.  Whitley made a motion that we purchase a replacement Yaesu radio with a cost not to exceed $550.  Seconded by Todd.  The motion passed unanimously.

3. Christmas Event –   Anna recommended that we make the December 19th breakfast the Christmas breakfast at Rayz Dayz.  The idea seemed to be well received by the members present.

4. Winter Field Day – January 23-24.  Sam reported that Josh Ross reached out to ask if we need a boom truck or two for the event this year.  The Club has not yet secured permission to use the building on that weekend.  Kevin and Michelle said that they will reach out to Al at EOTEC to see if the City will allow us to hold the event there again this year.  Michelle moved that we pursue EOTEC as the location of the event.  The motion was seconded by Fred.  The motion passed unanimously.

5. Brass Knuckle Gang – Kevin presented the Brass Knuckle Gang to the club.  The Gang promotes the use of CW over 2m.  The primary membership requirement is that one must make a CW contact with an existing member on 2m.  A few HARC members were “jumped into” the Gang by Kevin and Michelle before the monthly meeting began.

6. Meshtastic WX warnings – Kevin presented Meshtastic WX to the club.  He reports that he has put up a Meshtastic WX node and it is nearly working.  He is currently monitoring several counties in our region as well as Coos County, and hopes to have his node sending out weather alerts in the very near future.

Announcements:       

1. Club Breakfast – Saturday, November 21st at Rayz Dayz, Umatilla at 8:00 AM.
2. Sam brought some ham radio-related stickers and made them available to Club members for a small donation.
3. Whitley announced that the GE MASTR II repeater is now back on the air.

The meeting was adjourned by AA7TH at 20:16.

Respectfully submitted by Jeff Kelso, W7JJK.