1. President John Kuntz KB9RYI called the April meeting of HVARC to order at 7:30 PM in the Alliant meeting room in Mineral Point. Present: John Kuntz, Matt Alexander, Charlie Campbell KA9BDX, Henry Crapp KB9QBM, Hap Daus KC9BGA, Art Evans N9KQ, Evelyn Evans KB9KVD, Jack Izzard KF9TN, Mark Krolick N0WLU, Pam Kuntz KB9YHB, Tom Lauritis KC9SJC, Bob Lewis WA9REL, Kent Scheuerell K9ZMU, Roy Shaver N9NUZ.
2. Secretary’s Report. Moved to accept e-printed secretary’s report (Charlie/Hank). CARRIED
3. Treasurer’s Report. In absence of Randy, Roy reported that the balance at the March meeting stood at $1186.88, with $160 collected that evening yet to be deposited. Since then, he has paid Len N9QIP $260 for repeater maintenance, Ray Laverty KB9AKM $100 for power to run the repeater. After these adjustments, the balance stands at $951.88. Mari Krolick paid membership of $30 not included in this balance. It was moved to accept report (Hap/Hank). CARRIED. Member Matt Alexander’s 25th birthday was acknowledged.
4. Red Cross. Hank said there had been no fires at Dubuque since last month (but one house exploded). There will be a National Disaster drill on April 20 between 1 and 8 PM. And tornado season is upon us.
5. ARES. Hap reported on the “Table Top” disaster simulation held in Platteville involving Southwest Health Center and the city department heads last month. It was found then that the disaster plan needed “tweaking.” The amended plan makes overt mention of ARES and the kinds of service that the ham community can provide: UFH, VHF, HF and some digital service as well as repeaters or simplex, utilizing largely self-contained power. The plan improves interoperability between agencies. Platteville EMS chair is Troy Miller. The new emergency plan mentions certain go-to hams by name: John Kuntz EC, Hap Daus as backup, Roy Shaver, and Jack Izzard using Platteville hams. Southwest Health Center will execute a PO ordering an Icom2720, Astron power supply, and antenna at their expense. Thus far SWHC is the only hospital in Grant Co. to move into disaster and security planning. Simplex frequencies that we will use as backup are: 152.550 and 152.500. Hap spoke with Mark Redfern of CenturyTel about some contingencies for bypass switching as adjustment to dire damage conditions. Mark Krolick mentioned 154.175 for Dbq CD, and Jo Davies 155.820, with Grant County fire frequency of 155.745 and local FD of 155.925. Hap was praised for his thorough report.
6. Website. Jack reported a lockup with loss of password for his laptop when he was in snowbird mode in the south, but has already made some, with more changes planned now that he is at home QTH. He says Internet Explorer will have a different look.
7. Repeater. Seems noisy and Mark says he has had to use maximum power to get in from Dubuque. Art suggested a possible cavity retune to transition from winter operation to summer.
8. Education. Randy was not present, though a stated intention to put out interest flyers in early summer was recalled. At previous meeting Mark had inquired about a course for generals. Briefly discussed again, no action was taken.
OLD BUSINESS. None.
NEW BUSINESS. Hank discussed Field Days on June 24, 25, suggesting we set up on Friday night again. Hap said there would not be a bike race at Lancaster as was held last year, but instead a tour, which might involve hams. Mark can make available a 50’ tower/trailer combination which might simplify our setup.
ADJOURNMENT. Move to adjourn (Hank/Hap). CARRIED at 8:20 PM.