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Meeting at Space Place and Zoom

Called to order at 19:31 by Steve W9GZO

Introductions & Guests

Bob, KE9BHS
Don, K2PD

Review of August Meeting Minutes

Correction to Thomas's award for ARRL January 2024 VHF contest.

VE Report

There was a VE Session in September, 1 General (and Technician), 3 Technicians

Upcoming Opportunities
Old Business

FLARC Equipment Inventory & Tracking

New Business

Open Positions: Secretary, Member at large, VE Liaison, Equipment Tracking Manager

Holiday Party Planning - Tentatively December 3rd. Contact Steve W9GZO or Ann KD9ZUE if you are interested in assisting with the planning.

Winter Field Day Planning Team - Previous years have been at Christiana Town Hall. Matt NM9O will be sending a note out to QST to coordinate.

Summer Field day Planning Team - Reservations open in November for the Dane County Parks and end of June is very popular, so getting reservation in is important.  We have been at Badger Prairie Park in Verona for over 15 years, it has shelter, bathrooms, water, ample parking and plenty of space to setup antennas. 
If you have recommendations for other locations, please discuss on the QST list. Otherwise we will proceed with making a reservation at Badger Prairie.

Announcements

Wednesday, September 25th at 7pm will be in-person ARES meeting at the Dane County EOC. Contact Jeff KC9UNZ if you are interested. Program will be getting started with ARES and some event review

Program for September Meeting - Being prepared for remote activation - Tom Pugh W9TDP

 

Adjournment of Meeting

Adjourned at 20:58

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Meeting at Dane County Emergency Operations, 2982 Kapec Road, Fitchburg

Called to order at 19:31 by Steve W9GZO

Review of July Meeting Minutes

Nicholas, KB9SKW moved to accept, ? seconded. Passed without objection.

Treasurers Report

No change from last month.

Guests

J
Chad
Mike
Doug
Patrick

VE Report

There was a VE Session in August with one candidate that successfully upgraded to Extra.

Bragging Rights/Upgrades/Call Sign Changes

Thomas WN1C achieved an award for ARRL January 2024 VHF contest - Division Record for Single Operator Portable

Upcoming Opportunities
  • Circus City Swapfest, Baraboo, WI - August 24, 2024
  • Wright Stuff Century - September 1, 2024
  • Bike the Barns Bike Event Support - September 15, 2024 [KC9UNZ Jeff]
  • Wisconsin Parks on the Air - September 21, 2024
  • Badger Challenge Bike Event Support - September 22, 2024 [KD9SDK Kyle]
  • Chicago Marathon Event Support, Chicago IL - October 13, 2024 [WA9CBR Tom]
Old Business

None 

New Business

We are beginning planning for a Holiday Party in December. If you are interested in helping to coordinate, contact Steve W9GZO

Announcements

None

Program for August Meeting - Dane County Emergency Management and EOC

J. McLellan, Dane County Population Protection Planner gave a presentation on how Amateur Radio interfaces with the county emergency management structure. Dane County Emergency Management

Jeff KC9UNZ, Dane County Emergency Coordinator presented on ARES/RACES organization, training and how it works with local agencies including Hospitals, Dane & Iowa Counties and Wisconsin Emergency Management. To be part of the response when ARES is called upon, you need to register with Jeff and complete some base (free) training modules - FEMA Emergency Management Institute (look for IS-100, IS-700 independent study). Dane and Iowa County ARES and RACES

Joe N9TWA gave a presentation on Amateur Radio Relationships: Importance for Emergency Communications

Chad WA4ORM spoke about Skywarn and passing messages between weather spotters/observers and the National Weather Service. Encourage attendance to yearly NWS Storm Spotter training and report when you see weather events. Local Madison weather nets are found on the on 444.375 repeater using standard offset and PL 123.0 run as part of Midwest SSTRC.

Adjournment of Meeting

Adjourned at 21:06

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The August 2024 Four Lakes Amateur Radio Club March membership meeting is Tuesday August 20th.

The August Fox Hunt has been deferred due to not enough hunters. Instead we will tour the Dane County Emergency Operations Center.
https://em.countyofdane.com/about
2982 Kapec Rd.
Fitchburg, WI 53719 (Google Maps)

The meeting will begin at 7:30 pm and will be both in person and virtually via Zoom. Meeting link is distributed via the club QST mailing list.

Note we will NOT be at Space Place!

Agenda
Brief Business Meeting
EOC presentation
ARES Presentation
EMCOMM Presentation
Skywarn Presentation
Radio Room Tour
How Amateur Radio fits into EOC

Attendees are also invited to attend dinner at 6 pm before the meeting. We will be at
Monkeyshines Bar & Grill.
6209 McKee Rd
Fitchburg, WI 53719 (Google Maps)

Published on

Called to order at 19:32. Zoom link was expired and we could not generate a new link on short notice, so sorry to anyone trying to meet us on Zoom tonight.

Review of May Meeting Minutes

Sam KG9NG moved to accept, Matt NM9O seconded. Passed without objection.

Treasurers Report

Checking balance is $8,043.67. Recent transactions include dues received, payments for Field Day food and filing of Annual Report

Guests

KD9ZKI Patrick
Erick, studying for his license

VE Report

There was a VE Session in July, 4 candidates walked away with licenses.

Bragging Rights/Upgrades/Call Sign Changes

Sam KI5POE made all 50 states on FT8

Upcoming Opportunities
  • Central States VHF Society Conference 2024 Cedar Rapids, IA July 25-27, 2024 [https://2024.csvhfs.org/]
  • Dairyland Dare Bike Event Support August 3, 2024 [KC9IFF Luke]
  • Circus City Swapfest Baraboo, WI August 24, 2024
  • Bike the Barns Bike Event Support September 15, 2024 [KC9UNZ Jeff]
  • Badger Challenge Bike Event Support September 22, 2024 [KD9SDK Kyle]
  • Chicago Marathon Event Support Chicago IL October 13, 2024 [WA9CBR Tom]
Old Business

Work on April J-Pole tuning continues. 

ICOM 706 Radio has been found and returned to FLARC inventory

New Business

Continue to seek Secretary and VE Liaison. If you have interest, contact Steve W9GZO

August Fox Hunt - looking for those who want to seek out the fox. Thomas WN1C will be hiding.  Meet August 20, 7pm at the parking lot outside First Business Bank, 401 Charmany Dr, Madison, WI 53719

We are beginning planning for a Holiday Party in December. If you are interested in helping to coordinate, contact Steve W9GZO

Announcements

None

Program for July Meeting - Review of Field Day

Matt NM9O led discussion of several items to consider for next year

Bands: 15, 20, 40, 80 meter on Quad-Plexer, 2, 6 and 10 meter on standalone antennas. Modes: SSB, CW, FT8, FT4

Winter Field Day - January 25 & 26, 2025. 

Adjournment of Meeting

Sam KI5POE moved to Adjourn, Matt NM9O seconded. Adjourned at 20:34

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 Total Contacts by Band and Mode:

 Band       CW   Power     Dig   Power   Phone   Power   Total       %
 ----       --   -----   -----   -----   -----   -----   -----     ---
   80       10               0               6              16       2
   40      216              29              84             329      51
   20       67              56              72             195      30
   15       14               0              67              81      13
   10        0              10              11              21       3
    6        0               2               0               2       0
    2        0               0               1               1       0
            --   -----   -----   -----   -----   -----   -----     ---
 Total     307              97             241             645     100

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Called to order 19:31, WN1C, Vice President

Review of April Meeting Minutes

Nicholas KB9SKW moved to approve, Thomas AC9BJ seconded. No objections.

Treasurers Report

Treasurer not available, possibly due to imminent severe weather conditions.

Guests

No guests.

VE Report

No report from the Space Place session in May.

Bragging Rights/Upgrades/Call Sign Changes

KE9KOA has callsign change to N6WIS and is working on APRS with FTM-500DR, looking for input about configuration and use for free-text messaging.

WIQP 2024 results are out, our bragging for in-state operation:

  • W9S team (AC9BJ, NM9O, K8SD) took 2nd place Multi-Multi Fixed, Low Power (results correction: operated from Shawano county)
  • WN1C took 2nd place Single Op Fixed, QRP
  • As a club, Four Lakes ARC scored an aggregate 91882.5 points from 7 entries!
Upcoming Opportunities
  • Field Day June 22/23 Badger Prairie Park Verona
    • If you are interested in participating please get in touch on the FDOps list or contact Matt NM9O
    • KF9AQ will be helping with the catering
  • Northern Lights Radio Society Aurora'24 Conference Twin Cities, MN June 1, 2024 [https://nlrs.club/]
  • Horribly Hilly Hundreds Bike Event Support Blue Mounds, WI June 15, 2024 [W9TDP Tom]
    • Tom is looking for 4-5 volunteers to help, mostly at water stations. If you are interested, contact Tom via email W9TDP at ARRL.net
    • 1500 riders participate in this event, supporting the Friends of Blue Mounds State Park
    • Good radio coverage is available via VHF mostly using the SNP repeater deployed to the top of Blue Mounds State Park (where the event finish is)
  • Central States VHF Society Conference 2024 Cedar Rapids, IA July 25-27, 2024 [https://2024.csvhfs.org/]
  • Circus City Swapfest Baraboo, WI August 24, 2024
  • TREK-100 Bike Event Support Waterloo WI June 8, 2024 [W9JM John]
  • Dairyland Dare Bike Event Support August 3, 2024 [KC9IFF Luke]
  • Bike the Barns Bike Event Support September 15, 2024 [KC9UNZ Jeff]
  • Badger Challenge Bike Event Support September 22, 2024
  • Chicago Marathon Race Event Support Chicago IL October 13, 2024
Old Business

April J-Pole construction project: Nicholas KB9SKW reports a continued development effort to secure expected performance of antennas.

New Business

Board is looking for self-nominees for appointment to Secretary, VE Liaison, and Member at Large

  • Ann Reh KD9ZUE nominated for Member at Large
Announcements

No additional announcements.

Program for May Meeting

Brian Basura, N6CVO, discussing Pico-Ballooning (background, components, launch, and performance)

Adjournment of Business Meeting

Severe weather in Madison resulted in a power outage at Space Place during the course of the program at 20:30. In-person attendance including the lead of the meeting was cut off from Zoom, though the presentation seemed to carry on in due course. A hasty sign-off was provided to conclude the presentation by WN1C over cellular with Zoom on KB9SKW's phone.

Published on

Called to order 19:32

Review of March Meeting Minutes

Thomas W9TDP moved to approve, Sam KG9NG seconded. No objections.

Treasurers Report

Treasury is healthy, checking balance is $7,901.37. Recent transactions include dues received..

Guests

Bob, W2THU inquiring about W9YT and their participation in the ARRL Collegiate Radio Program

VE Report

No report from the Space Place session in April.
The Hamfest VE session saw 7 candidates, 3 earning new Technician license and 3 Extra exams passed, 1 candidate missed their General upgrade by 1 question.

Bragging Rights/Upgrades/Call Sign Changes

none

Announcements

MARA Hamfest was successful with about 300 attendees. Eyeball QSOs were enjoyable

Upcoming Opportunities
  • Field Day June 22/23 Badger Prairie Park Verona
    • If you are interested in participating please get in touch on the FDOps list or contact Matt NM9O
    • KF9AQ will be helping with the catering
  • Horribly Hilly Hundreds Bike Event Support Blue Mounds WI June 15, 2024 [W9TDP Tom]
    • Tom is looking for 4-5 volunteers to help, mostly at water stations. If you are interested, contact Tom via email W9TDP at ARRL.net
    • 1500 riders participate in this event, supporting the Friends of Blue Mounds State Park
    • Good radio coverage is available via VHF mostly using the SNP repeater deployed to the top of Blue Mounds State Park (where the event finish is)
  • Dayton Hamvention, ARRL National Convention, Xenia, Ohio May 17-19, 2024
  • Central States VHF Society Conference 2024 Cedar Rapids, IA July 25-27, 2024
  • Circus City Swapfest Baraboo, WI August 24, 2024
  • TREK-100 Bike Event Support Waterloo WI June 8, 2024 [W9JM John]
  • Dairyland Dare Bike Event Support August 3, 2024 [KC9IFF Luke]
  • Bike the Barns Bike Event Support September 15, 2024 [KC9UNZ Jeff]
  • Badger Challenge Bike Event Support September 22, 2024
  • Chicago Marathon Race Event Support Chicago IL October 13, 2024
Old Business

none

New Business

May presentation will be on Pico-balloons

Announcements

Mike, KB9WWJ is looking for good homes for a station's worth of stuff, including a tower and Bushcraft 20-15-10 meter beam antenna. Look for an announcement on QST soon.

Adjournment of Business Meeting

Sam KI5POE moved to adjourn, Nicholas KB9SKW seconded, Paulette WB9VHF third'ed.. Meeting adjourned 19:52

Program for April Meeting

Antenna build party led by Nicholas KB9SKW

Published on

Called to order 19:32

Review of February Meeting Minutes

Thomas WN1C moved to approve, Sam KG9NG seconded. No objections.

Treasurers Report

Treasury is healthy, checking balance is $7,590.41. Recent transactions include dues received in PayPal but not transferred to checking.
Approval Nicholas KB9SKW moved to approve, Will WA9MCV seconded. No objections

Guests

Ann KD9ZUE has her tech license recently, looking to upgrade to General this weekend.
John new to the sport, here observing

VE Report

Not Available for March

Bragging Rights/Upgrades/Call Sign Changes

Thomas WN1C earned the 2023 Pennsylvania QSO Party Out of State Single Op QRP SSB Award - 4th of all out-of-state, 1st for Wisconsin Section

Announcements

MARA Hamfest
April 13th 8am-Noon
FLARC Table [Nicholas KB9SKW]
FLARC VE Testing [Sam KG9NG]
Need Volunteers for VE & Setup/Reception/Table/Takedown

Upcoming Opportunities
  • Field Day June 22/23 Badger Prairie Park Verona
  • Dayton Hamvention, ARRL National Convention, Xenia, Ohio May 17-19, 2024
  • Central States VHF Society Conference 2024 Cedar Rapids, IA July 25-27, 2024
  • Circus City Swapfest Baraboo, WI August 24, 2024
  • TREK-100 Bike Event Support Waterloo WI June 8, 2024 [W9JM John]
  • Horribly Hilly Hundreds Bike Event Support Blue Mounds WI June 15, 2024 [W9TDP Tom]
  • Dairyland Dare Bike Event Support August 3, 2024 [KC9IFF Luke]
  • Bike the Barns Bike Event Support September 15, 2024 [KC9UNZ Jeff]
  • Badger Challenge Bike Event Support September 22, 2024
  • Chicago Marathon Race Event Support Chicago IL October 13, 2024
Old Business
Wisconsin QSO Party Recap March 11, 2024
  • Space Place Amateur Radio Club (SPARC) station activated as N9UW with 166 QSOs
  • Shawano County activon - 3 operators with 3 radios who made 581 contacts between them
  • Thomas WN1C was at Blue Mounds and made 199 QSOs QRP Portable
  • Kevin KF9AQ had 173 QSOs
New Business
Adjournment of Business Meeting

Thomas WN1C moved to adjourn, Will WA9MCV seconded with no objections. Meeting adjourned 19:45.

Program for March Meeting

RF Cables and Connectors, Richard Cetron, K2KNB

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Four Lakes Amateur Radio Club Membership Meeting
February 20th 2024

Meeting called to order at 7:30pm CST by Steve Ujvarosy, W9GZO.

Motion to approve the minutes of the January 2024 meeting by Thomas Baden, AC9BJ. Seconded by Thomas Murphy, WN1C. All in favor.

Treasurers report submitted by Andy Koch, AC9CB and read by Steve Ujvarosy, W9GZO. Current checking account balance is $7,690.41. In December we received two donations to the club. Insurance and reimbursements have been paid and all expenses up to date. Motion to approve the Treasurers Report by Nicholas Lager, KB9SKW. Seconded by Sam Ledbetter, KI5POE. All in favor.

VE Report for February
Seven volunteer examiners in attendance.
Eight candidates resulting in six new Technician Class licenses and one new General Class license.
A testing and licensing opportunity will be at the upcoming MARA Hamfest on April 13th.

Bragging Rights and Call Sign Changes
Thomas Baden, AC9BJ, received the 2023 Missouri QSO Party First Place in Wisconsin award.
Ehren Hasz, new call sign K8CQ

ARRL Field Day will be at Badger Prairie County Park for 2024. Jeffrey Fillian, KC9UNC, has offered to manage publicity of the event.

The Madison Area Repeater Association Hamfest will be April 13th, 8:00AM – 12:00PM. If you are available to assist MARA with operating of the hamfest, including setup the preceding evening as well as tear down, contact Paul Anderson, WB9QVV, or Steve Ujvarosy, W9GZO. FLARC will also have a table at the hamfest. If you are available to assist please let Steve Ujvarosy, W9GZO, know. FLARC has also donated two annual memberships to be raffled as a door prize.

The Wisconsin QSO Party is March 10th, 2024. Thomas Baden, AC9BJ, Barry Arneson, K8SD, and Matt Okeson-Harlow, NM9O, will be operating the Wisconsin QSO Party in Shawano County as W9S. If anyone is interested in operate at UW Space Place as a multi operator station, contact Nicholas Lager, KB9SKW.

Sam Rowe, KG9NG, announced that the annual Dark Skies severe weather seminar will be held on February 24th at MATC from 9:00 AM – 4:00PM.
Presentation by Thomas Murphy, WN1C, about portable operating along with a show and tell of equipment.

Discussion from Steve Ujvarosy, W9GZO, about the future of the club.

Motion to adjourn by Nicholas Lager, KB9SKW. Seconded by Paulette Quick, WB9VHF.
Members and Guests in attendance:
Steve Ujvarosy, W9GZO
Frederick Baguhn, W9GOC
Nicholas Lager, KB9SKW
Thomas Murphy, WN1C
Josef Hladik
Paulette Quick, WB9VHF
Sam Rowe, KG0NG
Sam Ledbetter, KI5POE
Wil Cox, WA9MCV
Jackie Schellberg, KJ5DKX
Joe Senulis, N9TWA
Emily Noble, KD9YHF
Thomas Baden, AC9BJ
Jay Jaeger, W9IYN
Richard Manner, KG0XO
Ted Gisske, K9IMM
Larry Waldhart, KD9VTR
Mike Birch, KD9BDL
Lloyd Berg, N9LB
Bob Satterfield, K9GJ
Kevin Graniero, KF9AQ
Jim Long, N9EET
Ehren Hasz, K8CQ
Bob Seaquist, W9LSE
Jason Penn, N9RPT

Submitted by Nicholas Lager, KB9SKW

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Business meeting

Called to order by Sam KG9NG at 19:34

Minutes from November were reviewed. Two corrections made to the minutes and posted. Motion by Thomas AC9BJ to accept, Seconded by Thomas WN1C. Passed without objection.

Treasurer's report

Recent transactions include Dues received and reimbursement for Zoom subscription and Field Day supplies but have not posted to checking yet, with $866 in PayPal.
Checking Balance is $7452.77
Thomas AC9BJ moved to approve, Paulette WB9VHF seconded. Passed without objection.

VE Report

There were 6 VEs and 5 candidates
1 Tech
1 General
2 Extra

Bragging/Upgrades/Call Sign Changes

Thomas, AC9BJ received his second Kilo award for Parks on the Air for over 1000 contacts at Governor Nelson State Park

Ehren KD9WFW recently upgraded to Extra and will be changing callsign soon.

WN1C - 2 more unique summits on the air summits in Maine in December

Field Day Report

Badger Prairie Park has been confirmed.

Discussion on looking at other parks. We have been hosting Field Day for at least 15 years at Badger Prairie. Should we consider another location? We have some basic requirements - water, accessible, electricity, able to reserve overnight.

Recommendation is to have a committee meeting and bring back results to next club meeting. Nicholas will proceed with doing so.

Announcements

MARA Hamfest date has changed - now April 13th, 8am-noon (vendor access 6am). Connect with MARA if you are interested in supporting the event by volunteering. There will be a VE session that FLARC sponsors. Sam will be coordinating the VE session.

Nominations for Officers
President
Steve W9GZO

Vice President
Thomas WN1C

Secretary
-none-

Treasurer
Andy AC9CB

Board of Directors
Nicholas KB9SKW
Sam KG9NG - declines nomination
Ehren KD9WFW
Thomas AC9BJ - declines nomination
Third position remains vacant

Nominations were all uncontested. As discussed on the board, the nominees with approved a simple voice vote.

Conclusion

The next FLARC meeting will be February 20th at Space Place and Zoom.

Official Meeting adjourned at 20:00

Some discussion on why the board chose the DFI date as the requirement for having a full board. It will be the next date that we have to report our officer list to the state as part of our annual corporate filings. It was a good deadline to set. The new board will meet and discuss this further.

Thank you to Sam and Paulette as outgoing Board Members at Large for many years of guiding and leading the club.

The crew heading to Shawano County will be operating a 1x1 callsign for the WI QSO part - W9S

Summits on the air is having a 10m challenge this year. There will be awards at the end of the year.