Saratoga Amateur
Radio Association
The meeting was called to order by Vice President Don
Anastasia, AA6W at 7:35PM, with 8 members and 1 guest present. Members and
guest introduced themselves by name and call sign. Just before the start of the
meeting, Dave Anderson, Saratoga City Manager and a former Ham, introduced
himself to each member and told us a bit about his prior public service hamming
experiences.
To begin the meeting, Don Anastasia discussed recent
emergency preparedness activities in Saratoga. Paula Reeve will issue photo ID
badges for those who require them, and will provide current expiration stickers
for existing badges. Current plans are to begin this process a few hours prior
to the start of the SARA May meeting on Wednesday, May 8. Don also provided an
update on the status of antenna drops at various locations in Saratoga. A
revision to the Saratoga ARES/RACES handbook was discussed, and a draft copy of
the revision was available for review. On Saturday, April 20 from 1400 to 1600
hours there will be an ARES training exercise based upon a flooded-creek
scenario. Anyone who wants to participate should send an e-mail message to Don.
Joe Talich, N6IWJ asked, “What do we do when there is an
emergency? Specifically, Joe’s concerns involve how we can obtain initial
information and where we go for communications assignments. Joe proposed that
we continue a previous practice of having permanently assigned posts that are
close to each member’s home. A lengthy discussion followed. Don Anastasia and
John McCartney, W6JJJ described where some of these concerns are addressed in
the handbook draft.
Spence Clark, AD6YS requested net control volunteers for the
next two months and circulated a net control sign-up sheet.
SARA
Treasurer Yin Shis, N9YS, stated that our current treasury balance is $760.70.
Presentation:
Rick Tavan, N6XI, immediate past president of the Northern
California Contest Club, gave a presentation titled “Contesting: Radio as a
Sport.” Rick opened the talk by describing the many aspects of contesting and
why many hams become involved in contesting. The three major reasons involve,
competition, serving the public interest, and fun.
We learned about various types of contests, the different
entry categories, and the kinds of multipliers. Next, Rick discussed some of
his favorite contests including sprints, sweepstakes and the California QSO
Party. If you ever wondered what kinds of contesters exist, we learned about
the Beginning Contester, the Advanced Contester, and the Casual Contester. Of
particular interest, it is the latter group that provides the most points for
serious participants during a contest.
Contest expedition sites can involve existing stations, real
places or “nowhere.” Also discussed were equipment and ergonomics, logging
software, including freeware that is available for contest logging. Other
subjects covered antennas, two-radio contesting, contest strategy and such
resources as the National Contest Journal.
With
no further business to be discussed, the meeting was adjourned at 8:56PM.
Submitted
by John McCartney, W6JJJ, filling in for John Glass, NU6P, SARA secretary for
2002.