March 13, 2023 Meeting Minutes

The March 13th, 2023 monthly HARC meeting was held at Hermiston High School in Room 302 and was called to order by President Sam at 19:01.

Member Attendees: KI7CUS, KK7JLW, W7JJK, AA7TH, KF6EV, KD7VX, KE7YX, W7ILD, W7MWK, NB7O, KE4TRR, KJ7SMT

Guests: Garnet, WRKY505 (GMRS)

New Members: None

The February 2023 meeting minutes and March 2023 Secretary/Treasurer’s Report were distributed via email by J. Kelso on 03/01/2023.

A motion was made by Kevin to adopt the February meeting minutes as presented.  Seconded by Todd.  Motion passed unanimously.

The March 2023 Secretary/Treasurer’s Report was read by Jeff K.

Ongoing Business

1.  HARC Go Kit –  Jeff K reported that the club has received the final $1,800 of the ChangeX Grant and thanked everyone for their help in making that happen.

2.  On the topic of the  Good Shepherd Hospital emergency communications equipment, an update from Anna was read (provided in written form as she was unable to attend the meeting):   “As soon as power supplies come in, someone in the group needs to go to see what else is needed for basic set-up plus antennas AND a plan of attack to get the system up and running. I asked Matt if they already have a wheeled cart on which the radios can go. Anna is waiting for his reply.

Those that are on the GSH project are: Whitley KD7VX, Chuck KB7CJK, Jeff W7JJK, Kevin NB70, Anna KJ7NYZ, Sam AA7TH

Members that are being kept abreast and consulted as needed: Dennis KI7CUS, Alan KE4TRR, Emery KE7YX”

3.   Dennis provided a solar report to the club.

4.   2023 events planning –  Last month, it was determined that the club would be going to Anna’s cabin for Field Day, which is on June 24 and 25th.  Anna sent out coordinates via email so that people could take a look at the site via Google Maps.

5.  Two radios are still available for sale from Don’s estate equipment.  The first radio is a working Yaesu FTM-400 and the second radio is a Yaesu FT-8900 with a faulty 2m band power output.

New Business

1. 1. Club breakfast – Saturday, March 18th at Rayz Dayz, Umatilla at 8:00 AM.

2. 2. The club has declined to participate in Umatilla Landing Days because it falls on the weekend of Field Day.  The club needs a leader for each of the other two parades.

3. 3. Dennis mentioned that the FEMA interoperability test is this Wednesday at 10:30 AM.

4. 4. Dennis gave the club a presentation about how he plans to repair the two Kenwood UHF/VHF radios at the Morrow County EOC in Heppner by replacing their CR2032 batteries.  Dennis plans to do the work sometime in the next week or two.

5. 5. Mike (W7MWK) has a Dell Latitude E6520 laptop to donate to the club, but would like to be reimbursed for the RAM, SSD, and power supply that he purchased to the tune of $135.  A motion was made by Emery to reimburse Mike for the parts, seconded by Todd.  Motion carried.  W7MWK said he would bring the computer to the next meeting.

6. 6. Whitley asked that the club put a price on the broken FT-8900 from Don’s estate.  Kevin found that eBay has them used in working condition for $150.  Jeff made a motion that we sell the radio for $100 and seconded by Kevin.  Motion passed.  Radio is now for sale at the price of $100.

7. 7. Sam asked if we had a hi-res Club logo.  Whitley said that Pea Ridge had a copy of the logo 20 years ago or so.  Sam said that he would check with them.

8. 8. Dennis did a show-and-tell about shepherd’s slings.  He has made several of them out of paracord, and he says that with practice, they can be very effective.  He also mentioned the advantages and usefulness of a slingshot.

The meeting was adjourned by AA7TH at 19:39.

Respectfully submitted by Jeff Kelso, W7JJK.