VWS General Meeting, Friday, July 28, 2006. Vienna Community Center, 7:30 PM.
33 Attendees, with several new faces.
Refreshments tonight thanks to Jim Richey AG4MA. Thanks, Jim!
VP Jim Parsons W4JTP pinch-hit for Secretary Len Hook KG6ZR and took minutes.
President Ray Albers K2HYD called the meeting to order at 7:43.
During introductions, John Deam KI4NBZ announced that he passed his Extra. Congratulations, John.
Reports.
Treasurer’s Report. Pete Norloff KG4OJT reports no major expenses. The club remains in good financial shape. Or as Pete put it, “We’ll survive until the next meeting.”
Secretary’s Report. With Len on his way to Maine, we had no minutes from the July 14th meeting. Ray reminded members that they are available on the club’s website.
Repeaters. John Transue AF4PD discussed plans to dig a small trench around the base of the repeater tower to channel away stormwater and debris. The repeater connections look OK, though there is evidence of rust.
John also reported that he could hit the 440 machine from the 2 meter repeater site, but that it’s very location-specific. There also appears to be a buzz on the output, and members who can access the 440 repeater were asked to keep an ear out for that and discrepancies with the id’er. There was also a brief update on ideas for linking the club’s two repeaters.
VWS Nets.
Pete, Ray, and Mike Steussy AE4R gave brief reports on the 2 meter, digital, and 10 meter nets respectively. There was also a brief chat on the finicky nature of 10 meter propagation.
VWS-4 Balloon Launch
Pete reported on the misbegotten adventure of VWS-4, which was launched from Front Royal last Saturday (July 21, 2006). Unexpected surface winds complicated the launch, and caused the slow-rising payload to slam into a dumpster before finally taking off. The impact knocked out power, which meant there’d be no way to track the balloon by radio. About all the launch team could do was go home and hope for the best.
Monday night, we received a call from a farmer in Springfield, W.Va. (8 miles north of Romney) who discovered the payload in his oat field. Pete drove out there the next day to recover the payload (and, as it turned out, the shredded balloon tangled with the parachute), thank the farmer, and present him with a framed picture taken from VWS-3.
The payload apparently sustained a “hard landing” in all senses of the term, as all the connections and battery packs had popped out. However, Pete says the equipment itself appears by and large undamaged.
New Business.
Ray read a letter from Roy Shrout, Assistant Coordinator of the Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management (FCOEM), thanking the VWS for contributing brochures for the FCOEM’s display at the Celebrate Fairfax 2006 event on June 10-11. Roy reported that the brochures attracted a great deal of interest and may well lead to some new hams/VWS members.
Upcoming Events.
North American QSO Party-CW. August 5 at Glyndon Park.
North American QSO Party-SSB. August 19-20 at Lake Fairfax Park. Chef Tom Martindale K4TCM will handle Saturday night’s dinner. He’s looking for help with lunch.
Announcements.
The Berryville Hamfest is Sunday August 6. Some club members will tailgate in hopes of selling some of the remaining items from the K4XY estate.
In response to a question, Pete and Ray reminded members that the club’s event calendar, news, and reflector sign-ups are all available on the club website.
Iain McFadyen KI4HLV announced that AMRAD’s 9/14 meeting will feature Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) systems.
Dan Sullivan KO1D announced that the NVFMA’s October meeting will feature Rich Hambley W2GPS, the president of AMSAT-North America.
Future Meetings.
VWS General Meeting, August 11 at the Community Center, 7:30 PM.
Refreshments, Kerry Kingham, WA4BQM.
Tonight’s Program.
Mike thanked members who contributed items for tonight’s auction, particularly Dale Harris W4DM. Also thanks to members who helped him tote everything inside this evening.
The meeting recessed at 8:20 for refreshments and 50/50, which was won by Paul Bassett KI4DTL. The meeting resumed approximately 15 minutes later, with Mike and Ray Johnson K5RJ serving as auctioneers.
Thanks to VP Jim Parsons, W4JTP, for taking tonight's meeting notes.
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