Meeting Minutes 2026-10-20
Call to order 7:31 pm
Intros
Monica, Ann, Tom (W9MWI), Scot K9JY, Thomas WN1C, Sam KI5POE, Larry KD9VTR, Doug W5WTX, Jeff KE9CQP, K8JFW
W9TDP, N9TPB, Mike KE9EHU, Thomas AC9BJ, WB9VHF, Sam KG9NG, Patrick, Greg
Minutes corrections
No corrections requested
Thomas AC9BJ move, Larry KD9VWR second
Pass
Treasurer’s Report
Checking 3423.30
CD 4196.45
78 members for 1754 dues
Discussion of budget
Beat expectation for member count
Doug W5WTX move, Tom W9MWI second
Pass
Member Activity
Thomas WN1C – won QRP single transmitter in park for WIPOTA 2026, 200+ QSOs for POTA Support Your Parks weekend
Jeff KE9CQP – 17 months in POTA: 75 unique parks, 11k QSOs, 108 countries. Almost all portable! Next new park is more than 1 hour in a day
Thomas AC9BJ – second place for single transmitter in park for WIPOTA 2026
Scot K9JY – antenna just arrived at the apartment
VE Report
Oct 4: 9 VEs, 5 candidates for 4 new techs and 1 upgrade to general
4 months in a row with teenagers getting licensed!
Request from Jeff for photos of the exam sessions for Facebook activity
Opportunities
Mostly done for the year?
Sunday, Nov 14 9a-4p training session at HRO
Some charge in advance to take home some of the workshop items. Check in about your location with the organizers.
Reminder about Tom K3YH ARCNEM General Class License Course forwarded to FLARC QST
Old Business
ARRL Field Day planning
Re-issue the survey? Need volunteers! Especially leadership for the committee.
Discuss between Schumacher Farm and Badger Prairie
Fundraising around Waunakee is easier because we have the history from this year’s effort
What objective for the event?
Unique operators, training session
Competitiveness
Much higher antennas at the farm
Public outreach
Note transportation access variety at the Prairie
Don’t need the extra tent for a less public event. Use the 10×10′ tents
Optimize for a sideband setup?
Two chairs at each station
AC and real walls at the farm are big gains
Herald back to 12A in 1988
Look to get more operator training and less outreach
Hit our goal of better QSO count over 2025
Motion to return to the Farm
Scot K9JY move, Sam KI5POE second
Note that deposit with Dane County Parks doesn’t require actually paying/refunding the funds; rather a paper check that gets returned/destroyed.
Potential need for club-organized carpooling
Discuss the impact of POTA on Field Day location and contacts.
After selecting the location, work on the committee volunteer selection
Motion carries.
Will contact the Farm to prepare for next year.
Plan to be more selective in materials gathered.
Scot, Ann, Mike, and Paulette are interested in helping the committee.
New Space for Meeting & VE
Oakwood Retirement Center, Mineral Point Rd for the rest of 2026
Not many options that meet the 7:30 to about 9 usual schedule.
VE sessions have been working well on the new schedule at 9:30 at Oakwood.
Possibility of using Imagination Center for VE (details to come)
New Business
Nomination/Voting needs
Schedule: nominations Nov into Dec meetings for final slate sent out in January, close ahead of the January Business Meeting
Hybrid meetings demand digital voting (looking at TapVoter)
Need to have the emails of each individual member for the ballot notifications
Mock election to test system could be valuable
Will need members to renew prior to ballot opening in January. Renew in December at the party, online, or at the December meeting!
MATC Tech Program
Larry
Using ARRL sylabus on 6 week program at 2 hour class per week: January through March
Cumulate in a VE session
We should be in the Spring 2027 catalog for MATC
3 volunteers for instruction, more interested are interested
Interest groups
Training, Mesh, + POTA
FLARC Christmas Party
Expect the Dec 1 (first Tuesday) date as usual
Expect Rex’s Innkeeper in Waunakee
Same location as the dinner this summer.
Material of ours moved out of Space Place
We need to price the items piled up in our inventory so they can start going to hamfests in 2027.
Looking for some volunteers to work with the people storing stuff.
Doug W5WTX, Sam KI5POE to help
Could be an opportunity to do consignment through the club for small sales at a swapmeet.
First pick by club members could be valuable
Tape Measure Yagi Workshop
Jeff and Steve are interested in doing the build workshop
Opportunity to work together and have equipment to support the future fox hunts
Winter Field Day
Interest? Please let us know on QST.
https://winterfieldday.org/ Awaiting 2027 rule set, it seems.
January 23rd & 24th, 2027
1600Z to 2159Z (30 hour event)
Adjourn
Larry KE9VTR move, Sam KI5POE second