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SOUTH FLORIDA FM ASSOCIATION OCT. 10, 2005 MINUTES OF MEETING PRESIDENT: RONNIE HAIK KG4DBI DIRECTORS: MAIL YOUR DUES TO: Meeting was called to order at 19:54 with 22 present. Ronnie welcomed all to the SFFMA meeting. The meeting was being broadcast live on the air tonight from the EOC. There testing was being held in another room tonight. Ronnie requested a moment of silence for a silent key for Joe Chwick, AC4TV, who passed away. We all send our condolences to his family. Sam Harte announced that Joe's wife and son would be monitoring the radio this evening. There will be no service. After the meeting, The microphone was then passed around the room and everyone stated their name and call sign. Ronnie welcomed everyone again. Repeater update: Carl spoke about the 444.200. Still operating. He received the controller and it is to be installed. Ray spoke about the 146.760. Up and running. It did real well during the recent hurricanes. A lot of other towers did not. John was not present tonight so Ray spoke about the 147.000. A wire harness
was made and the receiver was brought back up. The 147.000 is back on. It should
be receiving better than before. Carl advised that there is a cabinet already
made that costs approximately $1500.00. It won't fit in the elevator. It was
discussed to use a rig to get it up or a crane. Last month's minutes were posted on the web. A motion to accept the minutes was made by Caesar and seconded by Philippe. Next, Sam next spoke about CHAMP (Citizens Ham Mobile Marine Patrol) award
and our President Ronnie was presented with the annual banquet of the Citizens
Crime Watch of Dade County on September 30 at the Merchandise Mart (Sheraton).
He said that we need to get more involved with Crime Watch and the amateur radio
community. Carl announced that Harry and Gloria celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary. Harry does a lot with the church and they had a great party for them. Carl attended and advised that there were over 100 people there. It was like a community should be. Like the old days. Sam then spoke about Joe. He would have been 85 on his next birthday. He will be missed by everyone. Some members came up to the microphone and spoke about Joe. Ronnie reminded everyone that dues are officially due Jan 1, 2006. Give your dues to Ronnie tonight or send them to the PO Box. Dues are $30.00 per year and $5.00 for each family member. The club uses the funds received from the dues for insurance, cabinet replacement, dinners and refreshments, to name a few. James has the updated membership list, but is not here tonight. He will try to get it from him. New Business: Ronnie announced that on December 10 at 7 PM we will be having our Holiday Dinner at the EOC. Tickets are $8.00 adults and $6.00 for children under 12. Get your tickets from Ronnie starting tonight. We had a large turnout last year. You can bring your family members and friends. He will invite other groups to our dinner as well. The Kayak race is November 19. David is still handling it. See David if you are interested in volunteering. Philippe advised that the Orange Bowl Parade in Coral Gables is coming up in November. There is a test of the parade route this Saturday, October 15 at 10:00 am in the morning. There were dead spots with the simplex and they were going to check it out. With regard to the Orange Bowl Marathon, Ray volunteered communications for them. Sam advised that we used to volunteer for communications for both the Junior Orange Bowl Parade and the Orange Bowl Parade. Now Coral Gables RACES provides the communications every year. Eddie from the American Red Cross announced that the Red Cross Headquarters is moving to the American Mall because of hurricane damage. The old headquarters on 27th is only for donations. Ronnie advised that at the last meeting, the club donated $250.00 to the American Red Cross and the $100.00 received from Steve's auction. He gave the $350.00 to Jeff and his employer quadrupled the amount in the name of SFFMA. Ronnie acted as Chairman of the nominating committee tonight so that we can take nominations tonight and narrow it down for the next meeting. Nominations will also be accepted at the next meeting. The first nominations were for President - Sam nominated Ronnie for another term. Carl nominated Brian and Steve nominated Ernesto. For Vice President, Steve nominated Andy; Carl nominated Frank; Ronnie nominated John Vecchio; Ray nominated Brian and Steve nominated Ronnie. For Treasurer - Randy nominated Caesar. For Secretary - Brian nominated Carl, Ray nominated Joanne. For Director (Sam's position) - Joanne nominated Sam for another term. For the Trustees of the Repeaters, Caesar nominated the present Trustees for a second term. Ronnie advised that he will accept emails before the next meeting. At the next meeting, we will find out if the nominees accept their nominations and narrow them down to vote at the next meeting. If there is only one candidate nominated, they will be automatically approved. Brian then spoke about Joe and how he had amateur radio displays at various malls to get younger people involved in the HAM hobby. We should host a table at a mall since it would be beneficial to keep HAM radio going. We need to spearhead one or two weekends at a mall or where a lot of people visit so that we can get more people involved. Ray advised that we eventually lose a lot of PR. We need to brag about ourselves and what HAMS did during the hurricanes in the Gulf. Ham Radio still worked. It's a good time to do it. Ray did one with Joe at Cutler Ridge Mall. Sam advised that when Rick Vaughn passed away, we lost a lot of our PR. We need to put things together to get more PR. Carl said that he has someone that goes to events and if we make something up, she can take it with her and we have enough for displays. There have been articles on the hurricane center and nothing was mentioned by amateur radio. Ernesto spoke that at the ARPSC meeting he advised that he spoke to the MS 150 committee. The lady works in her husband's print shop. We can put together a booklet for ARPSC. We need to put something together with a brochure with contact information. Carl suggested that we put a booth up at the bike tour, March of Dimes, Kayak rack, marathons, etc. with our banner across. We should try to set up at the front of the event. Jeff suggested that we bring the trailer to all events that we attend but it is not going to be easy to get the trailer up front. Ray spoke about Hurricane Katrina and that a large section of Miami-Dade had no telephone service. We learned a great lesson. We could have had a solution if we had a HAM radio operator. Steve suggested that we should have a booth and make up brochures for SFFMA and have someone hand them out and distribute them at the Hamfest. Carl advised that the FM association had a booth and handed out applications but someone needs to sit there. It was also suggested that at the table that we sell items at the Hamfest we could pass out brochures. Bob came in and announced that three people were tested tonight and two of them passed the technician exam. We had no guest speaker tonight. Ronnie opened the floor for any other questions or concerns. There were none. Ronnie reminded everyone about the Holiday Dinner and that he has tickets. See him tonight or at the next meeting. It will take place December 10 at the EOC. Bring your family and friends. With no other business, Ronnie thanked everyone for coming. He thanked Joe for all of his fine work. Refreshments were served in the cafeteria. The meeting was adjourned at 20:42. Joanne Carbana 11/09/2005 |
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