Welcome to HCRA

Author: KK1W

  • Board Meeting Minutes 05/07/2013

    HCRA Board of Directors Meeting
    May 7th, 2013

     Location: West Springfield, MA
    Time: 7:30 PM
    Present: KK1W, KB1NWH, AA1YW, N1MFL, W1MSW, N1FJ, W1MJB, Kx1x

    OFFICER REPORTS

    Vice President – KB1NWH
    Report – Database is up to date.
    Treasurer – AA1YW
    Current financial report – $7796.67
    Secretary – N1MFL
    Current secretary report – No mail, everything is up to date

    DIRECTOR REPORTS

    Technical – W1MSW
    Current report – working with AB1RS. possible other jobs according to Ed.
    Zero Beat, N1FJ
    Cutoff date for June Zero Beat – May 30th
    Membership – N1KXR – Not Present
    Membership Report did the info from the April VE session applications get to Ed for inclusion in the db?
    Foxhunting 2013 – status please? – See separate email from Rich for his comments
    At Large – W1MJB
    Report – No report
    Program – Kx1x
    May – Bill/W1GTT recap – Good meeting, subject seems to have resonated with the membership
    June – Field Day Meeting or ???- added an ‘inside’  tailgate party. Jeff and Frandy will handle notifying the membership.
    September – Tom/K1KI, ARRL Diamond Anniversary
    October – John/N1OLO from Hamsource
    November – Open – Frandy will talk with K1VR about a November meeting, or perhaps in 2014.
    OLD BUSINESS   
         We need to give out the DD cards for the 10 meter contest to Juergen/AB1SU and Larry/WB1DBY – W1MSW – Matt will follow up and mail them to the winners.
    Polling the members at the meeting it was decided to use the webpage as a center for FD activity – KK1W – Facebook will be the spot to post fd stuff, use the website as info announcements.
         Review June election slate – Tech position still open as of this meeting.

    NEW BUSINESS
        Field Day. New location and planning. Refund received from Dufresne Park – KB1NWH, W1MSW
    WRTC 2014. Support and equipment purchase – KK1W – HCRA would entertain up to six packages for purchase.
    Paypal membership is ready to test – KK1W, NT1K – Two people have used it so far with good results (W1MJB, KK1W). Ed/KB1NWH will run a report to see how many donations were received via renewals. Jeff will work with Dave/AA1YW to get him the Paypal sales information.
    Should we separate the duties of editor and publisher’ (similar to YCCC structure)? – KK1W – Jeff volunteered and was appointed as webmaster. He will handle most of the distribution of ZB. Frandy will still take care of the USPS issues for the time being.
    Suggestion about using online webinars or videos as a meeting subject – W1MJB – Matt will look into the idea for a meeting in 2014
    Donation from Rob/N1NTE coming for $100.

    2012/2013 Board Meeting Dates
    June 11th

    Respectfully submitted by Dave Scarpa/N1MFL

  • Board Meeting Minutes 11/13/2012

    HCRA Board of Directors Meeting
    November 13th, 2012

     Location: West Springfield, MA
    Time: 7:00 PM
    Present: KK1W, KB1NWH, N1MFL, AA1YW, N1FJ, N1KXR, W1MJB, Kx1x

    OFFICER REPORTS

    Vice President – KB1NWH
    KX3 Raffle Progress – Trailer is registered for 2013, registration and sticker given to Kx1x to put on trailer.
    KX3 raffle sales: Sep 35, Oct 11, Nov 14, Handout 7 for a total 67 sold to date.

    Treasurer – AA1YW
    Current financial report – $5923.05

    Secretary – N1MFL
    Current count of members by regular/family/life/prospect.
    Regular 71, Family 12, Life 3, Prospects 2

     

    DIRECTOR REPORTS

    Technical – W1MSW – not present
    Technical Report – separate report submitted via the yahoo group and reviewed.
    Marty is available for helping out with antenna installations.

    Zero Beat, N1FJ
    Cutoff date for December Zero Beat – November 23rd, publication on Nov 27th.

    Membership – N1KXR
    Membership Report – VE session is going well.
    Rich would be willing to do a cash only 50/50 raffle at club meetings. – confirmed!
    NEARfest has free tables for clubs including 3 free admissions. We should look into this for 2013

     At Large – W1MJB
    Holiday Party Report – Sold 37 tickets, 35 are paid to date. Total sales are 54 including MTARA.
    No at large report (no activity)

    Program – Kx1x
    December – Holiday Party
    January  – Open
    February – Open
    March – Show & Tell
    April – Jim will work on a speaker for this date.
    May – Emcomm trailer demo.
    June – Field Day Meeting

    OLD BUSINESS   
         2013 Technician Class schedule  – Has a date been decided  with Bob from HMC and Marcel from SPHS to coordinate with their training needs. (Kx1x) – in progress

    NEW BUSINESS
        Field Day planning: location, coordinator/captain, do we reserve DuFresne Park, other ideas? (KK1W)
    Much discussion. There will be an additional FD planning meeting between now and the end of the year.
    Should we look at other styles for meetings (web presentations, webinars).
    All agreed it is a good idea, the difficulty will be finding presenters for the medium.
    Best practices to handle photos on our web site. – discussed not linking photos to other sites and the reasons why.
    Name badges – Rich volunteered to handle name badges. Contact info for the Engravers Touch was forwarded to him.
    Club Clothing (HCRAwear) – Rich also volunteered to look into reviving the line.

    2012/2013 Board Meeting Dates

    January 8th – Kx1x will be on vacation
    March 5th
    May 7th
    June 11th

    Respectfully submitted by Dave Scarpa/N1MFL

  • Board Meeting Minutes January 8, 2013

    January 8, 2013 HCRA Board Meeting Minutes
    [In the future, HCRA Board Meeting Minutes will be posted on hcra.org/wordpress/ and will not be published in Zero Beat]
    The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM by the President (Jim, KK1W). Absent: Kx1x.
    VP Report (Ed, KB1NWH)
    Raffle update: 120 tickets left. Drawing will be March 2nd drawing at the MTARA Hamfest. Ed and Dan, KB1VWQ installed a
    dipole at Bob Lafleur’s house (NQ1C).
    Treasurer’s Report (Dave, AA1YW)
    Balance $ 5804.69
    Membership (Rich, N1KXR)
    74 Regular Members
    Technical (Matt, W1MSW)
    10 Meter contest Results: 2 Gift Cards given, one for high score and one for most improved.
    Zero Beat (Frandy, N1FJ)
    Zero Beat deadline is Jan 25th. Articles needed!
    At Large (Marty, W1MJB)
    Holiday Party results: 74 members and guests attending.
    Programs (John, Kx1x) (not present)
    License class discussions. February meeting: assembly of tape measure VHF beam kits (Jeff and Rich). March meeting: Show
    and Tell (Matt and Frandy)
    New Business (Jeff, NT1K)
    Jeff has come up with a way to handle handling new memberships and renewals on line, using PayPal for payment. Voted to
    implement.
    Dufresne Park in Granby will be reserved again for Field Day 2013. Jim gave a report on the New England Division Cabinet
    Meeting. Next HCRA Board meeting is March 5th.

  • Board Meeting Minutes 08/26/2012

    HCRA Meeting Minutes 8-26-2012
    Officer Reports
    Vice President – KB1NWH not present due to illness
    Report – KY1T Camper has been cleaned.Field Day worked out well in it. It also doubled
    as a shelter during times of inclement weather.
    Treasurer’s Report – AA1YW
    Current Financial report – (To include Dufresne Park refund and all incomes/expenditures to date)
    $6017.81
    Field Day Net costs 2012 – $856 Park Rental and Food
    $1392 Trailer purchase and Equipment (Triplexers)
    There was some discussion on covering Field Day food costs
    Secretary Report – N1MFL
    Secretary was not present, ill. June minutes submitted in his absence
    The topic was raised to publish the meeting minutes on the website and it was approved.
    Technical Report – W1MSW
    Field Day Raffle Result – $130 profit
    W1MSW will be helping Doug Henderson set up his K3
    Zero Beat Update – N1FJ has content for September Zero Beat, cutoff date for September ZB is Aug 30th.
    Matt offered to provide a Field Day report in the Sept issue
    Membership report – K1KXR – Not Present
    Current Member Count – 88
    At Large – W1MJB Nothing to report
    Program report – KX1X
    September – Khrystyne Keane/K1SFA – had to drop because of family commitments.
    October – Tom Homewood/W1TO – RTTY and RTTY contesting.
    November Auction – none this year because of location change – still under consideration for 2013.
    December – Holiday Party
    January – ???
    Guest report – NT1K
    Report on new web site – Jeff spent time with us reviewing progress on the new website and some quick instructions on
    how to use it to post articles. We still have a lot to learn to take full advantage of this new tool. Everyone congratulated
    Jeff on a job well done and we’re looking forward to additional future enhancements.
    Old Business
    Progress of joint holiday party? – (KK1W) – on schedule, Jim will coordinate with MTARA going forward.
    Choose the next long term raffle prize, start date, coordinator? – KX3, 250 tickets, $10 each, start in September.
    New Business
    How should member count be reported – (KK1W) – all agreed it should stay the same. Should we letter the trailer(s)? –
    no conclusion at this time – tabled until next meeting. Hospital Donation, when and how much? – $250/year to be given
    in September.
    Club Meeting minutes respectively submitted by Dave Scarpa, HCRA Secretary.

  • November Zero Beat has “hit the streets“

    This month’s meeting is only a few days away. Take a look at the latest  Zero Beat so you can be up to date on what our members our doing.

    Be sure to come early to the meeting for Tech Corner with Bob/K1YO. This month’s subject is magnetic loop antennas. Don’t know what they are? That’s why you should come early 🙂

    Tech Corner will be followed by this month’s feature; all about POTA presented by Dave/N1MFL and Dan/KB1VEQ.

    Coffee and donuts (there might even be cider) by Bruce/KB1TLX.

    See you there!

     

    Jim/KK1W

     

  • A message about our “Annual Auction“

    The former HCRA auction, usually held the first Friday of November at the Feeding Hills Congregational Church is NO LONGER BRING HELD.

    A combination of change of meeting location and the shrinking of vendors/buyers has led us to this decision

    Many thanks to all the vendors and buyers who had fun over the years.

    Jim/KK1W

  • WRTC Equipment Sale – UPDATED!

    WRTC EQUIPMENT SALE – October Update

    NEWS FLASH – The Honda Generators are *** SOLD OUT ***

    We are only one month into the sale and already half the Honda generators and almost half of the coax have been purchased! How cool is that? Unfortunately this also means if you’re contemplating purchasing a generator or coax time is of the essence. I don’t need to remind you there won’t be any more coming once these are gone, do I?

    An updated inventory list is presented below and an official WRTC purchase agreement can be found elsewhere in this month’s Zero Beat. Don’t delay, put you your deposit down now to ensure you can take advantage of our club purchases, get a good discount and support HCRA/WRTC at the same time!

     

    Qty Item Model Retail HCRA Notes
    12 25G, 10′ section Rohn, 25G  $   135  $     60
    4 25G, 8′ rocket top w/4′ mast and rotor bracket Rohn, 25G  $   309  $    150
    4 Rotator w/125′ cable Yaesu, G-450A  $   404  $    225
    0 2000W Generator w/Berg Extended run tank Honda, EU-2000i  $1,119  $    750 SOLD OUT!
    1 Tent Eureka Cop Canyon 8  $   379  $    100  ONLY ONE LEFT!
    5 150′ Coax w/PL259 Times, LMR-240  $   120  $     50 ONLY FIVE LEFT !
    2 Tri-band Beam Antenna Cycle 24, TX-38  $1,000  $    500
    2 80M dipole Radio Oasis  $     55  $     20
    2 40M dipole Radio Oasis  $     40  $     20
    5 36″ x 36″ Folding Table ?  $     70  $     25
    6 Folding Chairs ?  $     15  $     10
    4 Lamp ?  $     10  $       5
    4 Fan ?  $     15  $       5
    4 Camp Toilet ?  $     40  $     10

    Here are some facts worth considering when making your purchase:

    1. The equipment has between 24 and 72 hours use (in other words it isn’t NEW)
    2. A 20% non-refundable deposit is required for purchase
    3. Your purchase must be paid in full by June 1, 2014
    4. Delivery will be immediately after July 13, 2014
    5. You must be a member of HCRA, this offer is not available to the general public
    6. Quantities are very limited and are on a first come/first served basis

    The sale started at our September 6th meeting and is being administered by Dave/AA1YW and Jim/KK1W. All questions about the equipment, deposits, etc. should go directly to Dave or Jim.

    ’73… and see you at the meeting!

    Dave/AA1YW & Jim/KK1W

  • Solar Cycle 24 is nearing its peak!

    According to NASA, our present solar cycle, #24, will peak in the next few months. This peak is accompanied by a reversal of the sun’s magnetic field. Although this hasn’t been an outstanding solar cycle it is still way better then the minimums! We have a few years of decent propagation ahead of us yet, so don’t despair!

    Now is a good time to plan those 160, 80 and 40 meter arrays you’ve been dreaming of building. Those are the bands to be on when the minimum approaches.

    Here’s a very informative video from NASA explaining the sun’s magnetic field (and a lot of other stuff too)!

    http://youtu.be/34gNgaME86Y

    See you on the bands!

    Jim/KK1W

  • 2013/2014 Election Results

    Say hello to your new board of directors! At the June 7th meeting our club elected (or re-elected) a new board. This new board holds their first meeting on June 11th and their term will expire in June 2014.

    With regret we say goodbye to Marty/W1MJB. Marty has served HCRA for many years and in many positions, most recently holding the “At Large” position. We all wish Marty the best (and good DX) and thank him for his hard work and dedication to make HCRA a great radio club over the years.

    We also welcome a new member to the board, Bob/K1YO. Bob is joining us as our “Technical Director”. Bob is certainly qualified for the job and we’re looking forward to his presence on the board.

    For those of you that weren’t at the meeting here are the election results:

    HCRA Officers/Directors for 2014

    Directors:
    At large: John/Kx1x
    Membership: Rich/N1KXR
    Technical: Bob/K1YO
    Program: Matt/W1MSW
    Zero Beat Editor: Frandy/N1FJ

    Officers:
    Secretary: Dave/N1MFL
    Treasurer: Dave/AA1YW
    Vice President: Ed/KB1NWH
    President: Jim/KK1W

    The board wishes everyone a safe and fun filled summer, our next regular meeting will be September 6th.

    And of course, don’t forget about Field Day, June 21, 22 & 23 – you wouldn’t want to miss that!

    Jim/KK1W

  • Indoor Tailgate Party Tonight!

    Aren’t you glad we decided to hold it INDOORS this year!

    Table space is free, bring your stuff and have fun. Please, no PC’s, monitors, printers – you get the idea. First come gets the best spots!

    Suggested donation to HCRA for helping you sell your stuff – 10%

    Raffle tickets go on sale for the FT-857 tonight, don’t forget to get yours.

    See you at the meeting,

    Jim/KK1W