S.A.R.A. Minutes from meeting on 11/10/2004
Saratoga City Hall
The minutes were respectfully submitted by Rob Vance, Acting Secretary.

In attendance were:

• Don Anastasia, AA6W
• Rob Vance, N6ROB
• Joe Talaich, N6IWJ
• Christina Sand, KG6ORH
• John Glass, NU6P
• Lou DeGive, WA6RAG
• Don Bertossa, KC6OGH
• Larry Goodwin, KG6ENF
• Greg Reynolds, KG6HDI
• Emily Clarke, W0EEC (speaker)
• Don Ferguson, KD6IRE
• Cheryl (friend of Emily)

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM by John Glass.

Old Business:

• Minutes. Don Anastasia reported that minutes for September, October and November's meeting will be posted on the web for member review, and to be ratified at the December meeting.
• SVECS DrillDon Anastasia reported that the SVECS county drill went well last week.
• Rotary Club Grant Application. John Glass reported that there is no developments as to the status of the application to the Saratoga Rotary for funding a club station at the Saratoga Fire Station.
• Halloween Caper. Rob Vance gave a wrap up of this year's event. Joe Talaich commented that the duty officer in the Sherrif's Office needs to brief his deputies on the event so that they know what we are doing.

New Business:

• Treasurer's Report. Christina Sand reported the current bank account balance.
• EOC Radio Station. Don may have time over the Thanksgiving weekend to clean up the EOC radio station at City Hall. Don Bertossa, KC6OGH has a packet TNC that he can donate to the either the fire station or city hall station.
• Drill. There will be a drill next week and Don may contact some hams to participate.
• Speaker's Presentation. Emily Clarke, W0EEC, Vice President of Membership and Communications for Project OSCAR made a presentation on Amateur Satellites.
  • First a presentation of several commercial and free software packages used to track satellite movements. Both Macintosh and Windows platforms have programs to track satellites. Some of the best software is free.
  • Next a presentation of Project OSCAR, AMSAT, and the various operational satellites. Including frequencies (in a handout), operating modes, typical antenna set-ups, radios, and operational methods.
  • Finally, the group went outside and Emily performed a live demonstration of satellite communications using two handheld (FM) radios, and portable yagi antennas. Emily worked stations in Nebraska, Death Valley California, and Orange County California.

With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 PM.