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March 2007
MINUTES OF GENERAL MEMBERSHIP
MEETING OF SILVER SPRINGS
RADIO CLUB, INC.
February 19, 2007
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. by President, Earl Sweeney, K4LSB.
Officers present at the meeting, in addition to the president, included Vice President, Ron Toller, N4US, Secretary, Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA, and Board Members, Carlos Cheker, K4CCJ, Walter Hill, W0WRH, and Wayne Hodgman, W1EXT. Treasurer, Bill Britt, KQ4UJ, was absent. There were 32 members in attendance and three visitors. A quorum was present.
The pledge of allegiance was led by Ron Toller, N4US.
The members introduced themselves. Visitors included Fred Hay, KF4WHF, Ken Brodeur, KK4WR, and Art Kitterman, W9YJI.
The Minutes of the January General Membership Meeting, as published in The Oracle, were approved.
The Treasurer's report, as published in The Oracle, was approved.
Four new membership applications were approved: Tom Latuszek, K8LAT, John Redman, Scott Hartshorn, KI4SJN, and Bruce Camlin, N3TSQ.
MARS: Russ Merkel, WB9GIU, reported that he is still running the radios at the MARS Station.
MERT: Charles Hensley, KC4Q, reported that a recruitment letter had been mailed to ham operators in Marion County.
BYLAW AMENDMENT: The Board announced the determination made at the February Board Meeting changing the Club's General Membership Meetings to Tuesdays. The question regarding Article 4.3 pertaining to Net Meetings was brought before the membership. The membership unanimously approved amendment to Article 4.3 to read as follows:
4.3 NET MEETINGS
On-the-air meetings will be held weekly for thepurpose of training in emergency preparedness, discussing matters of Club interest and business, but without voting procedure, and to list for sale, trade or want, items of amateur-related equipment.
Following the conduct of business, Larry Phelps, K4OZS, presented a report and program on the ARISS project and the contact made January 17, 2007.
There being no further business to come before the membership, the meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA
Secretary
MEETING NOTICE
The General Membership Meeting of the Silver Springs Radio Club takes place on the third Tuesday of each month, except December. The March 2007 meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 20, 2007, at 7:30 p.m. at Green Clover Hall, located in the Marion County Government Complex, just east of Southeast 25th Avenue, Florida. All members are urged to attend.
BARBARA MILLION WILL BE PRESENT AT THE MEETING TUESDAY. SHE SAYS "BRING YOUR SWEET TOOTH - THERE WILL BE COFFEE AND DOUGHNUTS!" MINUTES OF MEETING OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF SILVER SPRINGS
RADIO CLUB, INC.
February 5, 2007
The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. by President, Earl Sweeney, K4LSB. Officers present at the meeting, in addition to President Earl Sweeney, were: Ron Toller, N4US, Vice President, Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA, Secretary, Bill Britt, KQ4UJ, Treasurer, Carlos Cheker, K4CCJ, Board Member. Also in attendance were members Bill Miller, N6WGM, Dick Moss, KF4ML, and Tony Blalock, K4OCF. Board Member Walt Hill, W0WRH, was attending a class and was not present.
The Minutes of the January General Membership Meeting were approved.
The Treasurer's Report was approved.
OLD BUSINESS:
The Board discussed the proposed Pot Luck Dinner, and recommended that the club wait until warmer weather.
NEW BUSINESS:
Budget: The Board reviewed the budget from calendar year 2006 and recommended no changes for calendar year 2007. The budget will be printed in The Oracle and presented to the membership for adoption.
Meetings:
Bill Britt, KQ4UJ, announced that although no other group (except for Marion County) would be utilizing Green Clover Hall, the County has scheduled employee training for the third Tuesday of each month, commencing in March. For that reason, the Board changed the day for the Board Meeting (first Tuesday of each month) and the General Membership Meeting to the third Tuesday of the month, commencing March 20, 2007. Due to the need to change meeting nights, it is necessary to change the weekly K4GSO Net. Because this net meeting is prescribed by the club's bylaws, it is necessary to amend the Bylaws, Section 4.3. The Board unanimously agreed to recommend the bylaw change to the membership at the February General Membership Meeting.
Tony Blalock, K4OCF, reminded the Board that the "Taste of Scouting" would commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Scouting. It was determined that Silver Springs Radio Club would set up an HF Station only on 20 and/or 40 meters.
In addition, the International Scouting JOTA will take place on August 1, 2007. There is an ongoing effort to activate the JOTA Frequencies for this event. There will be approximately 18-20 troops, with 20-30 members in each troop participating.
MEMBERSHIP: Membership applications were presented to the Board for John Redman, KI4TFK, Scott Hartshorn, KI4SJN, Bruce Camlin, N3TSU, and Thomas Latuszek, K8LAT. The Board recommended approval and these applications will be presented for approval of the General Membership at the February General Membership Meeting.
ARISS: There was discussion about the ARISS contact on January 17, 2007. Bill Miller, N6WGM, recommended that the offer be presented to Romeo Elementary School to conduct a Technician's Class specifically for Romeo Elementary students.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Bill Britt, KQ4UJ, has been appointed State Director for Army MARS.
There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA, Secretary
Silver Springs Radio Club Net, 7:30 p.m. Local time
K4GSO Repeater (146.610-) PL 123
EVERY MONDAY
MERT (Marion County Emergency Radio Communications Team) NET, every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. LOCAL time. K4GSO Repeater (146.610-) PL 123
EVERY THURSDAY
FINANCIAL REPORTS
The financial reports of Silver Springs Radio Club, Inc. are not available on the website. If you are a member and entitled to view the financial reports, please contact the Oracle Editor or one of the club's officers or board members to secure a copy of the financial reports. By Direction of the Silver Springs Radio Club Officers and Board of Directors. Thank you.The Editor.
Get Well Wishes
Get Well Wishes are extended to Johnny Williams, K4ANJ.
Johnny was recently hospitalized.
Get well fast, Johnny. Your presence and that of Donna are truly missed at our meetings.
PRESIDENT'S CORNER
January proved to be a busy month for the Silver Springs Radio Club. The excitement of the students at Romeo Elementary School upon contacting the International Space Station was the shining moment of the month.
Also with the news that the FCC has eliminated the code test, the first class for the General Exam had 18 students.
March - Adopt the annual budget. Proposed budget is printed later in this newsletter.
Earl K4LSB
LICENSE UPGRADES
The following members are to be commended and congratulated upon achieving license upgrades. Indeed, we are proud to have these hams as members of Silver Springs Radio Club:
Name Class Date
Carlos Cheker, K4CCJ General 3/12
Scott Hartshorn, KI4SJN General & Extra 3/12
Richard Lawton, KI4OZS General 2/24
Bill Miller, N6WGM General 2/24 Extra 3/12
John Redman, KI4TFK General 3/12 Extra 3/12
Earl Sweeney, K4LSB Extra 2/24
Phil Veverka, K4PJV General 3/12
Please see the printed version for the proposed budget 2007
FROM THE ARRL
CLUB NEWS
There has been much written and discussed over the last couple of years about emergency communications training. What has not been as frequently discussed is actual on-air operating techniques and procedures. One of the problems experienced during the Gulf Coast response after the hurricanes of 2005 was some operators' inability to handle tactical voice traffic.
Well, it was handled, but it was handled incorrectly. If either operator on the ends of the voice circuit do not know phonetics well enough (or at all), that alone can really stymie tactical message handling.
Successfully using phonetics in voice communications is something that can only be achieved with practice.
In addition to operating contests, participating in nets and making everyday on-air activity part of an operator's lifestyle, clubs might consider running "phonetics tests" at their meetings. This might be done by simply having an experienced operator read a list of call signs, or text, or mixed text, tactical messages etc. Read these phonetically (or in a method that would actually be used on-site in a drill or real event) for about five minutes and have the participants submit their text for grading. Repeat these tests with different messages or text monthly and track improvement. The same can be done via on-air nets with participants using email to immediately submit their transcriptions. Just performing these fun voice tests will probably build confidence among inexperienced ops and make them want to pursue greater on-air activity on the bands too.
This One's On The House
By Kay Craigie, N3KN, ARRL Vice President
The Mid-Atlantic Amateur Radio Club was founded 30 years ago, in November, 1976, by users of the privately-owned 147.060 repeater then located at Villanova University on the Philadelphia Main Line.
Eventually, ownership of the repeater was transferred to the club. Over the next decade, MARC evolved from a small repeater association to a large general-interest Amateur Radio club affiliated with the
ARRL.In 1986, our tenth anniversary year, MARC became an ARRL Special Service Club, and we were eager to get involved with the brand-new Volunteer Examiner program. Since then we have offered exams every quarter, the only regularly-scheduled exam sessions on the Philadelphia Main Line.
In 1996, the MARC board of directors wanted to do something special as a membership benefit to mark the club's 20th anniversary year. We decided to offer all paid-up members the chance to take exams at one club-sponsored VE test session during the year at club expense. We wanted to encourage licensed members to upgrade, and our associate (unlicensed) members could use the benefit to get their first tickets. Club members could take as many exam elements at the session as they wanted to -- remember there were three Morse code tests and five theory elements back then -- and pass or fail, the club picked up the $6.05 tab.
Although there wasn't exactly a stampede to take advantage of the offer, members liked the idea of our club putting our money where our mouths were about upgrading. Instead of nagging people about upgrading and making them feel defensive, we offered them a "What have I got to lose?" scenario. It played well to hams' legendary thriftiness! At the same time, the club purchased a full set of ARRL license prep materials for loan to members and distributed free diskettes (remember diskettes?) containing shareware Morse code training software.
At the end of the 20th anniversary year, our board decided the free test session membership benefit was good for ham radio in general and good for MARC in particular. It gave us a little boost in the
friendly rivalry with other clubs. We voted to continue the practice in 1997.A few years later, the club's board voted to make the free test session a permanent benefit of membership. This decision was financially responsible because relatively few members had taken
advantage of the offer each year up to that point, and because our annual hamfest provided a nice cushion of dollars in the treasury beyond dues revenue.That cushion was comforting in 2000, when license restructuring spurred an unprecedented number of members to upgrade under the new rules. Yes, we covered the fees for members' doing paperwork-only upgrades from Technician to General, along with the fees for members taking actual examinations.
Now celebrating our 30th year as a club and our 20th year of offering tests through ARRL/VEC, MARC hopes to be able to maintain our free test benefit even when fees eventually equal or exceed a person's annual $15 dues. We continue to have profitable hamfests, and sixty percent of our members are not Extras yet. There are now four fewer
exam elements than when we began the benefit, meaning that members who are well-prepared for their exams are able to reach Extra in fewer years than was often the case in the old days of five theory
tests and three Morse code tests. We really don't think this benefit is going to be a financial problem for the club in the foreseeable future.Some other clubs in the Eastern PA Section have adopted MARC's test-session benefit. However, not every club has the financial resources to let members take tests at one club-sponsored test session each year. If that's true of your group, perhaps you could pay a percentage of the fee. Or you could subsidize all or part of the test fee during a limited time period such as an anniversary year. Then see how it works out before making the benefit permanent.
In the long run, it's not so much the precise dollar amount involved as it is the clear message that a club will do something concrete and positive to support members' upgrades. Talk is cheap, about upgrading as about anything else and sometimes the talk comes off as browbeating or license-class snobbery -- bad karma in any ham radio club! MARC's membership benefit, which you can tweak to fit your club's financial situation, appeals to the bargain-lover in every ham and pulls rather than pushes members up the license-class ladder.
Both of the foregoing articles were reprinted from the ARRL Club News and were submitted by Ron Toller, N4US.
Thank you, Ron.
2007 FIELD DAY
CELEBRATION
The Club's celebration of Field Day 2007 will be held at the MARS Station, 161 Oak Circle, in Silver Springs, Florida. A map to the site is appended below.
Directions to the MARS Site are as follows:
Go East on FL-464 (Southeast 17th Street) toward Southeast 25th Avenue, and continue to follow 464 East to Silver Springs Shores. Turn right onto Emerald Road and follow Emerald Road to Cypress Road (turn right). Continue on Cypress Road to Oak Circle (turn right) and follow Oak Circle until you see the White Sign for Silver Springs Radio Club MARS Station (AAR4CSS) at 161 Oak Circle(right hand side of rd). See Map below!
The Club will provide hamburgers, hot dogs, etc., and members attending are requested to bring a covered dish. The advantage of the MARS Station is that there are restrooms available, as well as shelter in the event of rain (which seems to happen every year) and there is a covered area where we can gather to eat!
PLEASE, PLEASE COME!
Silver Springs Radio Club, Inc.
CLUB MEETINGS are the third Monday of each month 7:30 PM at Green Clover Hall, in the Marion County Government Complex, just east of SE 25th Avenue. Coffee & Doughnuts are available.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS meetings are the first Monday of each month, 7:30 PM at the Green Clover Hall, Ocala, Florida. K4GSO, club station, Green Clover Hall, is available to all members. Contact Bill, KQ4UJ, 694-1605.
MARS, club station located at 161 Oak Circle, Silver Springs Shores. Phone number is 680-1528. Contact Bill KQ4UJ, at 694-1605.
RADIO NETS are conducted over the club repeater, K4GSO, on 146.610 MHz (-600).
LADIES AUXILIARY. Sunshine - Provides flowers and get-well cards for members or members' family. Also orders SSRC logo shirts and caps, Barbara Million, KE4ZTW, 694-5744.
NOTE: For change of address or corrections (with SSRC) contact the Membership Chairman.
SSRC NET, every Tuesday at 7:30 (local time). Contact Jeanette at (352) 489-0571.
MERT (Marion County Emergency Radio Communications Team) NET, every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. LOCAL time. Contact Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA at (352) 489-0571.
President Earl Sweeney, K4LSB 236-0180
V. President Ron Toller, N4US 861-8769
Secretary Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA 489-0571
Treasurer Bill Britt, KQ4UJ 694-1605
Trustee Bill Britt, KQ4UJ 694-1605
Board
Members: Wayne Hodgman , W1EXT 236-4478
Walter Hill, W0WRH
Carlos Cheker, K4CCJ 861-6939
Oracle
Editor: Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA 489-0571
Oracle _editor@prodigy.net
Membership Phillip Frantz, KF4QIC 489-0571
Ladies'
Auxiliary Barbara Million, KE4ZTW 694-5744
Email: funyet2@earthlink.net
Silver Springs Radio Club Website:
http://www.qsl.net/ssrc/
Ocala Radio Amateur's Candid Letter of Enlightenment
SILVER SPRINGS RADIO CLUB
P.O. BOX 787
SILVER SPRINGS, FL 34489
March 2007
