The March 3rd, 2025 monthly HARC meeting was held at Hermiston High School in Room 311 and was called to order by President Sam at 19:05.
Member Attendees: AA7TH, KI7CUS, KK7JLW, KE4TRR, N2SRX, KD7VX, KE7YX, NB7O, K7MGO, W7ILD, W7JJK
Guests: Rory R.
New Members: Joe W., N7JMW, Kathy F., KD7OTY
The February 2025 meeting minutes and March 2025 Secretary/Treasurer’s Report were distributed via email by J. Kelso on 03/01/2025.
A motion was made by Kevin to adopt the February meeting minutes as presented and it was seconded by Dennis. The motion passed unanimously.
The March 2025 Secretary/Treasurer’s Report was read by Jeff.
Ongoing Business:
- Dennis provided a solar report to the membership.
- Testing – Kevin said that we have no applicants for next Tuesday’s test session. Anna has completed her VE application and has had her VE card returned “in record time.” Examtools is where our testing schedule lives, and we’ve currently got an exam session scheduled for the second Tuesday of every month.
- LCTOTA – Kevin says that the event will run from the end of May thru June 15. Kevin has been asked to recruit operators throughout Eastern Oregon. Participants must sign up ahead of time and while they don’t have to reside in Oregon, they must be located in Oregon when operating during the event. Kevin will work with participants to help submit logs to avoid duplicates this year. Kevin is supposed to hear more from the organizers in early- to mid-April and will keep the club up to date.
- Pendleton Wagon Train – Kevin says this year’s dates are June 23rd through 28th. He’s looking for people to monitor the .78 repeater during each day of the event and will have sign-ups available at the May meeting. The Train is contemplating the possibility of going from Ukiah to Heppner this year.
- Ione School Ham Radio Class – Todd had no updates as the class is on something of a hiatus. The teacher is currently focusing on finishing some core curriculum items before resuming their work with amateur radio. Todd hopes that the class will be ready to resume their amateur radio work sometime around the First of May.
- The Fourth Thing – Was held at the Hermiston School District main office on the 28th and eight were in attendance. We are currently looking for ideas for the Fourth Thing in March. Jeff mentioned that he may be willing to host a Fourth Thing at his house to solicit antenna ideas pending approval from his wife. Jeff will keep the club updated via email.
New Business:
- Kevin was the only nominee for Director Position #2, and he was unanimously re-elected to the office.
- President Sam says that we should finalize our Summer Field Day location and plans at the April meeting.
- Emery cautioned everyone that the antenna tuner in the Yaesu FT-991A has an issue with some lacquer stuck to the bottom of it that causes loose screws and then mayhem in the functioning of the tuner and the radio.
- Kevin shared that the Morse Mania app has been very helpful to Michelle in learning Morse Code.
- Joe mentioned that the website is giving a Captcha error when trying to create an account. Jeff gave a brief history of the current website, its creation, and subsequent disturbances. Rhett offered to do some research into web hosting platform options and bring them back to the next club meeting.
Announcements:
1. Club Breakfast – Saturday, March 15th at Rayz Dayz, Umatilla at 8:00 AM.
The meeting was adjourned by AA7TH at 19:44.
Respectfully submitted by Jeff Kelso, W7JJK.
