Saratoga Amateur Radio Association

Minutes of the Board meeting held on March 14th, 2002

The meeting was called to order by President Rob Vance, N6ROB, at 7:30 PM with all 7 members present.

Rob gave a President's report, which consisted of the following items:

We currently have 27 members.

Guest speakers are scheduled through May. Dick, N6RC, will get a speaker for the June meeting, and Rob will schedule one for September.

We have a new web page that includes general information, club officers, meeting minutes, net control script, net control sign-up sheet, and our membership form.

We talked about our status of incorporation, and Rob will be sending in the renewal form later this spring.

Don, AA6W, will check to see if we are required to submit a tax form to the State Franchise Tax Board.

Don gave an EC report:

He hopes we can participate with city activities this year such as Celebrate Saratoga, the parade, and the Halloween Capper. He is planning another Field Day in the park. Paula Reeve with the city will be attending a future meeting to take pictures and issue id cards; she will coordinate this with Don.

New Business:

Rob suggested we form 2 new committees: Emergency Preparedness, and Club Emergency Station Improvement. Rob passed out 2 hand outs, one for each committee, outlining its purpose, and tasks which he hope can be accomplished. It was moved and seconded to proceed with these committees.

Rob will contact KSAR TV, to see if our activities can be mentioned on their community bulletin board.

It was suggested that we have 2 half hour planning sessions for Field Day, once at our May meeting, and the other at the June meeting.

There was some discussion of possibly dropping the 10 meter net. After kicking ideas around, it was decided to keep it for now, and start a "question of the week." It is hoped that this will encourage people to rag chew a bit, and get to know each other better. Rob will contact Spence about this.

Rob feels that our bylaws need some updating.

He will distribute copies to the board so that we can bring comments and suggestions to a future meeting. Yin would like to see the bylaws address who has access to and/or control of the maintenance of our email list, and web page.

Rob and Yin will generate a list of members who haven't renewed so that board members can call them with a friendly reminder.

Rob reported that Greg KG6HDI has offered to develop a club logo, and membership card. Yin suggested we also create a badge. Rob will ask Greg for a proposal on these 3 items.

It was decided that we should have a hard copy club Roster containing: name, callsign, address, phone number, and email address. Rob will ask the membership how they feel about putting our roster on the web page.

Antenna Drops:

Don has been working on antennas at a couple of the schools. He and John Mc Cartney will check out the rest of the installations to determine their current status. It was moved and seconded to reimburse Don for coax that he has recently replaced in the amount of approximately $20. John Mc Cartney will call Lou Steirer, WA6QYS, to see if SVECS can help with funding for the repair or installation of new school antennas.

We discussed becoming an ARRL Affiliated Club. Everyone thought it would be a good idea, so Rob will pursue it.

There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:00 PM.

Submitted by John Glass, NU6P, SARA Secretary for 2002.