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Non-Business Meeting Minutes
SUNLIFE Amateur Radio Club
Date: October 21, 2024
Meeting was called to order by President, Jim Steinmetz WX7G
Guests
- None
Returning/Leaving:
- Roy Gager KD9WRC first meeting this year
Health & Welfare
- Jim Steinmetz WX7G’s wife has started outpatient PT and is doing well
Announcements
- Jim Hood K5TT reminded us that some of the roads may be closed due to the resurfacing.
Program
Steve Weber W0TNT presented on Portable Ham Radio
He started sharing his background in Amateur Radio. His interest started when he was 10 years old on his family’s shortwave radio. He and his brother then
moved to transistor radios. Life then intervened and in his 40’s one of his neighbors was outside and had a antenna tower and the ‘elmer’ invited him to look at
his shack. From there after a frazzling test and 5 minute code test he was officially a ham!
Several years later, his son became a ham and shared his love of radio.
He started his informational part of his presentation with describing the three types of portable ham radio.
- Portable Self Contained - This is when all your radio components are assembled and ready to use in a portable bag, such as a backpack.
- Portable Modular - That’s when you have all your radio components with you with you when you are out but you have to sit down and take the time to assemble to use. When you are ready to move to another location or go home, you have to disassemble them.
- Mobile Radios - these are the radios that most of us installed in our cars/trucks and listen or talk to them from our vehicles.
Next he showed a couple of PVC pipe units he made to hold his radio components. Looks pretty neat.
After that he showed and talked about the different mobile antenna’s he used. Most of them were Chameleon’s. He also has an Elecraft AX1 for 15 through 20
meters.
Next he discussed different accessories that he uses to make his setup safer and easier. He had a ground spike, Tony Ferrara K7AJF’s tripod stand that he builds and 2 different clamps that can hold antennas. For things to help let people know there is some things here that they shouldn’t trip, like caution tape, full size traffic cones and some mini cones.
Tips he had for everyone to think about in the processes of the equipment are as follows:
- After charging your battery, use a bit of painters tape and put a piece under the connector. That way you can easily see which batteries are fully charged.
- Use another piece of painters tape on the batteries to put voltage and charge time.
- Carry a thermometer on your radio trips to keep and eye on the temperature.
- Use something like his collapsible wagon, which he purchased at Costco, to decrease the trips to and from the car.
- When purchasing radio components, check the manufacturer’s blemished items. These are in working order but may have a scratch or dent. Also see if the company will give you a discount if you post a review of the equipment.
Good of the Order (Joke, 50/50)
- No Joke today
- 50/50 was won by John Lenahan K0RW in the amount of $8.50
- Two mini orange traffic cones were won by Pat Malin KE8MBG and Hugh McLaughlin KL7HM
Meeting closed 10:54 am Local time.
Respectfully submitted: Lana Young N7FVQ, Secretary
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Business Meeting October 2024 Minutes
Date October 17, 2024, 10:01 am, local time
Prior to opening the opening the meeting, President Jim Steinmetz WX7G made an announcement about current Secretary Roy Gager, KD9WRC. Due to an upcoming surgery, he has asked to be relieved of the office and does not want to run again in the next election. Volunteers were called for and Lana Young N7FVQ offered to take the position of Acting Secretary.
The meeting was called to order by President Jim Steinmetz WX7G at 10:01 am local time in the Pinnacle Peak room at Greenfield Village. There were 31 members present.
Officers Reports
Secretary’s Report
Minutes of April 2024 business meeting is not available. No action taken
Treasurer’s Report
Cheri Goforth N7WEM presented the report. Through today, the total in all funds was $5,832.35. Terry Laduke W7RNF made a motion to accept the report. Gene Wilson K8WQ seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Old Business
No old business was carried over from last spring.
New Business
Christmas Party 2024
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Cheri Goforth N7WEM reported that the Christmas Party was reserved at the Oasis Club on December 15th from 10:30 - 2:00. Cheri called around to 7 different caterers and all the estimates were from $30.00 and up per person. She did fine three different restaurants that had a $15.00 per person option.
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On The Border - Tacos, fajitas and several sides
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Panda Express - Chow mein, Fried rice, super greens, and other entry items
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Mokies Hawaiian - The Luau menu: Kailua Pig, Teriyaki Chicken, Garlic Shrimp and several sides
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Normally the club pays for part of the food, up to $150.00 in the past. This amount is designated by a club vote. Discussion on the restaurant and amount of the club support will be at the next business meeting on November 4, 2024. This will be a written ballot vote. Please attend to be able to make your voice heard.
Club Needs
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Jim thanked Doc Cunningham WA7PLC for supporting the club with managing the Zoom meetings. Doc acknowledged the thanks and shared that he was looking at moving out of the valley for permanently either the end of this year or the first of January. The club needs to look at someone to be his back up.
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This led to a discussion about the app we use for the meetings. Currently we use Zoom which is a charge of $150.00 a year. There are several other vendors (Jitsi and Microsoft Teams) that have free options for our online meeting. Steve Wagner W7WHB will check these out and report back to the club in November.
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At our next business meeting there will be a nominating committee of four persons will be selected for our next elections.
Health and Welfare
Sue Rogers is not here today but the following updates were made.
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Tony Ferrara K7AJF is out of the hospital and was at the Thursday morning at the park event and although he still had some external equipment attached is doing better. Judy K7JLF is still in caretaking mode. Please reach out to her to see if there is anything she needs as she didn’t have much recovery time after her health issues before Tony’s started.
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Jim Steinmetz WX7G’s wife is doing quite well as Jim is seeing to her needs.
Guests/New Members
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Jerry Bodine (currently not licensed) was a retired teacher in the East Valley and now worked at Arizona Struts. He is looking at now becoming a Ham. Jim told him about our classes and testing.
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Bob Logan KK7TNN he just got his 7300 still in the box and am looking forward to opening it up soon! He retired from the Navy in 1991.
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Rick Tyo KC7X Has been a licensed Ham for over 60 years. Born in Ohio, he has traveled a lot over the world. He was living in Thailand when he met his wife and they still live for part of the year out of the country.
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Robert Tong K7TSK also is an international ham and splits his time within Canada. His Canadian license is VE3OAA.
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On the zoom meeting we have George WD8INW who lives in Clarkston, Michigan and is using echo link to join our 10 and 6 meter nets each week.
Program
Today’s program was to go around to all the attendees and do a version of “What I did on my Summer Vacation”
Everyone has interesting stories, even if it was just staying on the cool side of the door. There were stories nationwide and internationally.
This gave me an idea. The first 5 people who send me an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with the correct two guests have 2 licenses, both US and foreign, I will have a free 50/50 ticket at the next business meeting. Let's see who can guess this!
At the end there was an announcement of upcoming Ham Fests. You can see details below:
Arizona Hamfest Calendar (Supplied by Sue Rogers W7SKH)
Thunderbird Hamfest
12 - 13 October 2024
Arizona QSO Party
For full Information - visit www.AZQP.org
HARKfest
2 November 2024
Hosted by the Hassayampa Amateur Radio Klub
Contact: Duane Grooms, KD0KYK - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
HARK Website: harkaz.org
OVARC HAMFEST 2024
An ARRL Sanctioned Event Presented by the Oro Valley Amateur Radio Club
November 9, 2024
Superstition Superfest
7 December 2024
Hosted by the Superstition Amateur Radio Club
Thunderbird Hamfest
11 January 2025
Hosted by the Thunderbird Amateur Radio Club
Visit the web site at tbirdfest.org for more information.
Scottsdale Springfest
15 March 2025
Hosted by the Scottsdale Amateur Radio Club
For more information or questions, email James Wasson, Bill Kouchis, or Scott Gillins at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
50/50
The winner of $12.00 was PauletteThomson N7NNL. Congratulations Paulette!!
Joke
Bill Maynard W7ZT supplied us with a joke —
Adjourned at 10:29 am local time
Respectfully submitted by Lana Young N7FVQ, Acting Secretary
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