Taos Amateur Radio Club Minutes of the Meeting on 2-8-2023

OPD, 107 Civic Plaza Drive, Taos, NM 87571

  1. Sign in. Meeting began at 6:05 pm

  2. Guest and member introductions, 16 members & guests.

  3. Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes held on 1/11/2023 and published on 1/21/2023. Motion for approval by Jane (KJ5ANE) and seconded by Glen (KF5OSB); vote was unanimous with no objections.

  4. Treasurer's Report. Don (K2WQ) reported the required 990 for IRS reporting was completed. The current balance was $13,323.41 with $8,321.52 remaining after accounting for obligations. Tim (W5TNM) followed by describing some of the recurring expenses and a few purchases approved by member vote (ARRL books, 7 radios and 5 surge suppressors). Tim also commented on the unknown expenses with the Forest Service Leases that may or may not occur.

  5. Tim (W5TNM) President's remarks. a) Noted the member approved purchase of surge suppressors were installed on all OPD equipment. b) Spoke about upcoming license testing for the year, ARRL will “Field Stock” the necessary supplies for paper testing. 4 exams have been scheduled, 3 at OPD (Mar 4, Jun 3, Nov 4) and 1 at Philmont Scout Ranch (Apr 23) to coincide with SAR Escape training. c) Required government filings, the State Attorney General was completed and approved on 2/7/2023. d) Discussed the fundraising tools, i.e. Amazon Smile was being discontinued in February 2023. Smiths/Kroger was still active and the club had recently received a check. e) Noted the upcoming Tech Fest sponsored by Rocky Mountain Ham on March 11, 2023. f) Reiterated the annual membership dues are due March 1, 2023. g) Discussed the ARRL insurance for liability and 3 equipment policies and asked for a member vote to approve upcoming premiums of approximately $807. Motion for approval by Daniel (KF5OSA) and seconded by John (W5JHW); vote was unanimous with no objections.

  6. New business:

a) Tim spoke about how we lost Sherri (KI5TLA) our STEM Board member and that Darien (KI5YWK) was nominated and approved by the Board to fill the vacancy. He further explained how the By-Law’s allowed the decision and all that remained was a member vote to ratify the Boards action. Motion for approval by Greg (KI5TTO) and seconded by John (W5JHW); vote was unanimous with no objections. b) ARES update. i. OPD DMR, Tim briefly spoke about the DMR net held on the OPD repeater until further notice due to solar power limitations. ii. ARES Test, Donovan spoke about the SafAlert test that was performed on 2/7/2023 at 4pm. This test required respondents to check into an ARES net held on the Picuris repeater. There were a total of 8 members who checked in, 1 by email and 7 by radio. iii. OPD Generator, Donovan spoke about the generator test held the previous Thursday February 2, 2023. Tom (KF5RKM), Donovan along with Mitch (KE6CNG) and one of the Towns electricians ran the generator successfully, however there is some additional testing to be done in March. c) Other, Tim noted the club is working on a shared calendar to track club events, file storage, etc. using Google workspace. Donovan further explained how a number of services will eventually be consolidated.

  1. Old Business a) Cloudy weather, Tim noted the ongoing temporary shutdown of non-essential repeater services until more consistent daytime sun. b) Grants update, Tim asked Keith (K5FS) to provide an update. Keith discussed upcoming changes to LANL grant requirements. c) STEM team buy, Keith spoke about the committee that is discussing the design and implementation of a portable hf/vhf/uhf for use in the field or for STEM demonstrations. d) OPD Shack facilities update. Nothing to report other than the generator update. e) PIC /SAM updates. Nothing to report.

  2. Repeater report: Covered on previous discussions.

  3. HF Report- Wayne (W5GWR) reported that 160M is open right now.

  4. Net Report: Tim stated nets were going ok, 10 on the previous analog net and 4 on the DMR net.

  5. ARES Net: HF 3939, 1st Sunday

  6. Other Business: Nothing to report.
  7. Notice: Nothing to report.
  8. Business Meeting Close. Zach (W5ZAC) spoke about his wife’s health condition and thanked everyone for their support and prayers… a) Motion by Jane and seconded by Ananda (KI5SNV). Unanimous with no objections. Meeting adjourned at 6:51 pm