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February minutes

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Tri-County Amateur Radio Club
Minutes of Meeting: 18 February 2023

A regular monthly meeting of the Tri-County Amateur Radio Club was held on Saturday, 18 February 2023 at 11:30 am EST at Tres Amigos restaurant, 108 Randolph Street, Thomasville, NC, with the president, NL7UP-MeLinda, being in the chair. The meeting was called to order at 11:30 am.

Members Attending: KX4CAM, Camille; K4DSX, Rod; K4KKT, Joe; W8LWX, John; KK4NWR, Amy; KF4QDS, John; WB2RFK, Ken; KK4RR, Richard; KG4TAH, Tony; NL7UP, MeLinda; KJ4UYR, Janice; N2WOB, Susan; and KO4WXR, Fred.

Guests: None.

Adoption of Agenda

A draft agenda, prepared by W8LWX, was distributed to attendees prior to commencement of the meeting. Members were invited to propose changes or additions if desired. The draft agenda was adopted without change, by unanimous consent.

Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting

Without objection, reading of the draft minutes of the January 2023 meeting was waived and they were adopted.

Reports of Officers and Committees

Report of the Secretary. -- As of the start of the meeting, the club had 42 members, of whom 29 (just over two-thirds) were in good standing for 2023 and 13 (just under one-third) still owed dues for 2023. The following 13 members still owed dues as of the meeting date:

KG4YVA, James
KI4DCJ, Jane
KF4OVA, Keith
KK4VCH, Norman
KJ4IVP, Donnie
N3NCN, Mark
KO4UWS, Frank
KD4UUV, Ann
KO4QOO, Keith
KJ4NUS, Steve
KJ4NUU, Vanda
KN4DGM, Evan
KK4RR, Richard

The secretary anticipates that all, or nearly all, of the above members will renew their membership in 2023, which would result in one of the highest renewal rates in the club's history.

Report of the Treasurer. -- For the month ending 31 January 2023, we still had $850 left over from our initial operating budget of $850. We had a total of $1,512.64 in "cash on hand," which includes the balances of our checking, savings, and PayPal accounts, plus any currency, coins, and checks awaiting deposit. After setting aside the funds dedicated to the operating budget, this means that, as of the end of the month, we had a net total of $662.64 in uncommitted resources available for other uses. For the 2023 membership year, we received $340 in dues and donations and spent $6.83, resulting in net income of $333.17 as of month's end.

Since the end of January, more members paid their 2023 dues, as just noted in the secretary's report; and the annual payment for the repeater site was made, securing the site for another 12 months (July 2023 - June 2024).

As previously noted, 2023 dues became payable on January 21 and are now past due. Dues can be paid in person by handing cash or a check to the treasurer (W8LWX) at a meeting, or by mailing to W8LWX at his QTH (65 Park Blvd., Winston-Salem, NC 27127), or via the PayPal link on NC4AR.org. If payment is made by check, it must be made payable to Tri-County Amateur Radio Club. Checks made out in any other way cannot be deposited into our account.

The club treasurer has no authority to accept payment of dues for years other than the current one (2023). However, donations above and beyond our minimal club dues are always needed and will be enthusiastically received!

Report of the President. -- The new 445.975 MHz simplex link to the club's 145.290 MHz repeater is still a work in progress. This link, intended to make it easier for members and others in the Thomasville area to use the club repeater even on HTs and other low-power set-ups, was successfully demonstrated as a "proof of concept" last month, using the president's own personal TYT 7800 rig at the president's QTH. However, this particular configuration was prone to overheating, even when powered down to just 1W output on the 440 side and 5W output on the 2m side. The next step will be to try swapping out the TYT with the club's own Alinco DR-735 to see whether the Alinco can do a better job of handling the heat dissipation requirements.

Report of the Audit Committee. -- On behalf of the Audit Committee, KF4QDS provided the following report, which had also been circulated in writing prior to commencement of the meeting to all members attending:

REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
February 18, 2023

I have reviewed the Tri-County Amateur Radio Club financial documents, which is comprised of the treasurer’s report, Cash Ledger, PayPal Ledger and Statements, Truliant Checking Account Ledger and Statements, repeater site agreement and payment, and Hanover equipment and liability insurance payments and park permit payment receipt.

In my opinion these documents give a fair and true view, in all material aspects, of the financial position, and its cash flows, of the Club as of December 31, 2022, for the year ended and appear to be in accordance with commonly accepted accounting principles and practices. This opinion is not the result of any professional certified audit and should not be considered as such.

Albert Garrou
Club member
KR3HAB

After reviewing all relevant documents, I find that the treasurer's report of the Tri-County ARC was an accurate report of the financial status of the 2022 fiscal year.

I recommend that the 2022 fiscal report be added to the minutes and approved.

John Coleman
KF4QDS

Open Motions from Previous Meeting

There were no open motions from the previous meeting.

New Business

Adoption of Audit Committee's report. -- W8LWX moved that the report of the Audit Committee be adopted. The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Standing rule re: time and place of monthly meetings. -- W8LWX moved for adoption of a standing rule that our regular monthly meetings be held at 11:30 am at Tres Amigos restaurant in Thomasville from now on. The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Appointment of ARRL Field Day committee; report and recommendation by April. -- W8LWX moved that the president appoint a two-member ARRL Field Day committee to report back to the membership, not later than the April monthly meeting, with a recommendation on whether the club should participate in ARRL Field Day and, if so, exactly where and when and at what cost. The motion was adopted by unanimous consent. The president then requested volunteers to serve on the committee. KK4RR and W8LWX volunteered. There being no other volunteers, the president appointed KK4RR and W8LWX to serve as the ARRL Field Day committee.

NC QSO Party: change in venue. -- KK4RR announced that, due to a water pipe break at the site, it will not be possible for club members to participate in the NC QSO Party on February 26 from the "club shack" behind his QTH in High Point as was planned during the January meeting. NL7UP offered the shack at her QTH as an alternative. KK4NWR therefore moved that the venue be changed to NL7UP's QTH. The motion was adopted without objection. NL7UP and N2WOB suggested that those attending might be wise to bring their own chairs.

Program and Announcements

There was no program.

KG4TAH-Tony announced that, as part of the ongoing ARRL "Volunteers on the Air" ("VOTA") event taking place throughout 2023, he may once again have the opportunity to operate as W1AW/4, as he did some years ago. As part of VOTA, the W1AW call will rotate through all 50 states, lingering in each state for two week-long stints. Tony greatly enjoyed his experience as W1AW/4 several years ago, so he hopes to do it again if his schedule permits and will keep us informed as the time approaches. Further details about VOTA can be found at

https://www.arrl.org/volunteers-on-the-air

Reminder

Mailing list. -- The club mailing list on Groups.io is available for each and every member to use whenever he or she wishes to send out a radio-related announcement or information to all other club members. It's easy to do: just address the e-mail to members@nc4ar.groups.io and it will be automatically forwarded to all subscribed members. Just make sure the communication relates to ham radio (i.e., no politics, chain letters, advertising, religious proselytizing, etc.).

Adjournment

There being no further business on the agreed agenda, the meeting was adjourned without objection at 12:30 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
/s/ W8LWX-John
Secretary


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