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Author: kb9skw

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Four Lakes Amateur Radio Club Membership Meeting
December 17th 2024

Meeting called to order at 19:30 by Steve Ujvarosy, W9GZO.

Bragging Rights and Call Sign Changes
Patrick Mccauley, KD9ZKI, Passed General and Extra and awaiting new call sign.
Thomas Murphy, WN1C, 10m ARRL Contest Single Operator QRP 21,370 points via 167 QSOs.
Thomas Baden, AC9BJ, Illinois QSO Party Single Operator QRP Portable 4th place with 60,690 points.

Motion to approve the minutes as published of the November 2024 meeting by Nicholas Lager, KB9SKW. Seconded by Sam Ledbetter, KI5POE, all in favor.

Treasurers report submitted and read by Andy Koch, AC9CB. Current checking account balance is $4,838.65. Recently we have had holiday party and some equipment purchase reimbursements. Certificate of Deposit is $2,000. Motion to approve the Treasurers Report by Sam Ledbetter, KI5POE. Seconded by Larry Waldhart, KD9VTR, all in favor.

2025 Budget Proposal
Income Projected $2,120; Expenses Projected $2,910.
Motion to approve the Treasurers Report by Thomas Murphy, WN1C. Seconded by William LaFrance, N9KCE, all in favor.

VE Report for December 2024
Seven volunteer examiners in attendance.
Nine candidates resulting in one new Technician Class license, seven new General Class licenses and one new one Extra Class license.

Opportunities
Winter Field Day - January 25/26, 2025
Madison Area Repeater Association Hamfest, Stoughton WI - April 26, 2025
ARRL Field Day - June 28-29, 2025

Old Business
2024 Bylaws Revision
Motion to approve the 2024 Bylaws Revision by Patrick McCauley, KD9ZKI. Seconded by Mike Birch, KD9BDL, all in favor.

2024 Holiday Party
34 members and guests in attendance.

Club Equipment Manager
Patrick McCauley, KD9ZKI, volunteered for the position.

ARRL Field Day Zoom planning meetings will be held on the first Tuesday of January, March and May of 2025.
Zoom invitation links will be sent via the club QST and FD-Ops email lists.

New Business
2025 Board of Directors Nominations
Motion to open nominations for the 2025 FLARC Board of Directors by Thomas Murphy, WN1C. Seconded by Larry Waldhart, KD9VTR.
President
Steve Ujvarosy, W9GZO
Vice President
Thomas Murphy, WN1C
Nicholas Lager, KB9SKW. Declined
Secretary
Nicholas Lager, KB9SKW
Treasurer
Sam Ledbetter, KI5POE
Directors at Large
Ann Reh, KD9ZUE
Patrick McCauley, KD9ZKI
Larry Waldhart, KD9VTR
Motion to table nominations until closed at the Annual Business Meeting by Thomas Murphy, WN1C. Seconded by Thomas Baden, AC9BJ, all in favor.

Dues for 2025 are payable in January. $25 for Regular Member, $20 for Senior, $14 for Same Household Regular Member. Payable via cash, check or Paypal to Andy Koch, AC9CB. Contact Andy at treasurer@w9jz.org with comments and questions.

Motion to adjourn at 20:15 by Larry Waldhart, KD9VTR. Seconded by Ann Reh KD9ZUE, all in favor.

Members and Guests in attendance
Steve Ujvarosy, W9GZO
Donald Cassarini, K2PD
Ann Reh KD9ZUE
Nicholas Lager, KB9SKW
Paul Anderson, WB9QVV
Larry Waldhart, KD9VTR
Doug Speer, W5WTX
Marshall Alworth, AC9VV
William LaFrance, N9KCE
Sam Ledbetter, KI5POE
Thomas Murphy, WN1C
Mike Birch, KD9BDL
Sam Rowe, KN9NG
Kevin Graniero, KF9AQ
Thomas Baden, AC9BJ
Paulette Quick, WB9VHF
Patrick McCauley, KD9ZKI
Marc Bellazzini N9WIB

Published on

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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In conjunction with this year's ARRL Field Day, the Four Lakes Amateur Radio Club is hosting a picnic and social on June 24th. Please join us at Badger Prairie County Park in Verona for dinner and say hello to everyone you have not seen for a while. Dinner will be served at 5PM.

Compliments of our great grill master Kevin, KF9AQ, FLARC will be providing the standard fare including hamburgers and brats along with vegetarian offerings and assorted side dishes and soft drinks.

As for deserts, we are asking for a few people to step up and bring a few options. If you are willing, please let me know.

So we have an idea on what to bring, we are asking for a RSVP by June 20th. This is the day of the FLARC June meeting at Badger Prairie Park where we will go over final ARRL Field Day preparations for the weekend. Simply send Nicholas, KB9SKW, an email with your information.

Of course this is ARRL Field Day. All are encouraged to pick up a microphone or key and operate the contest. We will begin setup at 8am, start operating at 1pm and run 24 hours until 1pm on Sunday the 25th with a tear town to follow.

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The September membership meeting is approaching. Please join us on September 20th in welcoming Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, to our club. He will be presenting on low band propagation and the advantages of digital modes like JT65 and FT8 over SSB and CW.

Carl has a long and storied history in amateur radio. He received his novice license in 1961 and has been interested in propagation since attending Purdue University and graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1969 and a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1972. After school he worked as an RF design engineer for Motorola and Raytheon designing solid state RF power amplifiers.

You may remember his name and call sign from the pages of CQ magazine, where he wrote the monthly Practical Propagation column and continues writing to this day publishing his work online. In 2016 he was appointed ARRL Central Division Vice Director and moved up to Director in 2021. He has served as National Contest Journal editor from 2002 until 2007 and has also published in QST and other publications.

As always we will have the meeting room open early, stop by and chat with other members beforehand. The program will start at 7:30 with a question and answer session for Carl to follow. After this we will have our normal business meeting, discussing activities, events and so forth.

If you would like to attend our Zoom meeting, please email us at zoom@w9jz.org and we will be happy to send you an invitation.

Nicholas Lager, KB9SKW

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In lieu of a regular June meeting, FLARC generally meets at Badger Prairie County Park to discuss last minute Field Day issues. We are not hosting a Field Day this year but that does not mean we will not be meeting at Badger Prairie.

Instead join FLARC at the park on Tuesday June 21st for an on foot transmitter hunt!

This transmitter hunt will demonstrate basic and advanced methods of transmitter hunting using nothing more than a simple 2m handheld radio as well as specialized receivers and directional antennas.
Bring your equipment, be that just your hand held radio or something fancier and give it a shot.