On Tuesday, 15 November 2022 at 1900 hours local, Mark, WA5MA, called the Tulsa Amateur Radio Club meeting to order in Room-3140 of Keplinger
Hall at the University of Tulsa.
WA5MA asked for round-robin introduction by each attendee.
WA5MA asked whether anyone present had failed to received the minutes of the previous meeting. Nothing heard.
WA5MA asked for a motion to approve the minutes: John, NJ5Z, moved to approve; Steven, KI5UGG, seconded the motion. Approval was by unanimous
acclamation.
WA5MA asked whether anyone had any objections to the financial reports. Nothing heard.
WA5MA asked for a motion to approve the financial reports: Gary, KB5L moved to approve; John, NJ5Z, seconded. Approval was by unanimous
acclamation.
WA5MA yielded the floor to Steve, KF5VCQ.
KF5VCQ introduced himself as the parliamentarian managing the annual election of club officers.
KF5VCQ said the Bob, W5RAB, retired from the position of 2nd Vice President. Ian, KC9THI, was nominated to replace W5RAB and is willing
to serve.
KF5VCQ said that according to the club bylaws, the club president is only allowed to serve two consecutive terms. Since we received no
nominations for president and since WA5MA is willing to continue serving as president, KF5VCQ proposes that we suspend the term-limit
for president for the duration of the next two fiscal years.
KF5VCQ moved that the club suspend the Presidential term-limit for the next two fiscal terms, reelect the uncontested office holders, and vote
to accept KC9THI in the role of 2nd Vice President. Gary, KB5L, seconded the motion, which was approved unanimously by the club
membership present.
KF5VCQ yielded the floor to WA5MA.
WA5MA thanked KF5VCQ for his work as parliamentarian and welcomed KC9THI as 2nd Vice President, accompanied by applause from attendees.
WA5MA asked KC9THI for a summary of the HF Open House held here last Saturday.
KC9THI said that he thought the event a big success and hoped we could hold similar events on a quarterly basis. We had visitors from the
Rogers County Wireless Association and from the Tulsa Repeater Organization.
KC9THI recognized the importance of the presenters, in particular the antenna master-class presented by Remell, KA6DOY.
KC9THI yielded the floor to WA5MA.
WA5MA said that during the Open House afternoon the session was a relaxed Q&A wherein less experienced persons asked questions that were
answered by those with subject matter expertise. WA5MA said that the next license exam will be held sometime in the
middle of the first quarter of next year.
WA5MA yielded the floor to Paul, WB5ANX, for a summary of the Simulated Emergency Test (SET) held a couple of weeks previously.
WB5ANX said that within the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) they are still analyzing the results, but overall the SET was very
successful. It was an ambitious event conducted from the Comms Trailer set-up at Chandler Park with two Net Control Operators at work within
fifteen minutes of arrival. The SET touched five States and operated on HF, VHF, UHF, and Winlink. From check-ins on the Resource Net,
operators were deployed as needed. A power failure was included in the operating scenarios, WB5ANX said that the Comms. Trailer continued
operating on backup battery power without a glitch.
WB5ANX acknowledged kudos to Steve, KF5VCQ, who spent the pandemic getting the Comms Trailer operational, and who continues to maintain
and improve the system.
With a nod to Jack, W5JHC, WB5ANX said that the new pneumatic mast worked perfectly.
WB5ANX yielded the floor to WA5MA.
WA5MA asked Bob, W5RAB, for an update on the new repeater equipment.
W5RAB said that the system is about 95% complete, waiting for completion of programming.
WA5MA said that KC9THI, WB5ANX, and himself will confer after the meeting to finalize the programming parameters.
WA5MA called upon Remell, KA6DOY, whose idea it was, to reveal the new
TARC flag.
KA6DOY unfurled the flag, one of three, from the delivery box and held it up for all to see. We received a significant price discount from the
local supplier for three flags. KA6DOY noted the good quality of the material and build, and said that in the field the Comms Trailer is
difficult to see and that a flag improves visibility. Also, when attending indoor events, we can hang the flags on walls and tables.
KA6DOY furled the flag and yielded the floor to WA5MA.
KF5VCQ commented that the flags can be stored in the Comms Trailer and will be hoisted by a lanyard dedicated for the purpose.
WA5MA yielded the floor to Gregg, W5GGW, who gave a brief presentation of the Raspberry Pi (RPi) computational system.
https://www.raspberrypi.org/
W5GGW had examples of the hardware, which is smaller than an deck of playing cards yet packs significant punch both computationally and in
connectivity.
As a point of interest, while preparing these minutes, I, W5AWS, received an email from Digi-Key advertising a new module from Analog
Devices that is a DC to 5.5 GHz signal generator with ±0.5 dB calibrated output power. It is compatible with Raspberry Pi 3B+, 4,
Zero W, and Zero 2W.
W5GGW’s main intent was to whet our appetite for experimentation. Despite the vast subject matter, W5GGW focused on the General Purpose
Input-Output (GPIO) pins, which can be connected to external devices to control larger hardware. All of these pins are accessible from the
command-line using built-in commands and user-written scripts.
Andrew, W5AWS, thought that the RPi would be good material for a series of presentations at club meetings or open houses.
W5GGW drew our attention to a board similar to the RPi, “an ESP32-based core board with wired Ethernet connectivity and power over Ethernet
(PoE) that was designed to help you quickly create zero-setup, single- wire-installation, connected devices.”
https://wesp32.com/
W5GGW answered questions from the floor than yielded to WA5MA.
WA5MA thanked W5GGW to applause from the audience.
WA5MA mentioned the Sand Springs Christmas Parade on Dec 2nd that stages beginning at 1630 hours with parade start at 1900 hours. Also,
there will be a TARC Christmas Party instead of a club meeting on Dec 20th.
There being no further business, WA5MA moved to close the meeting.
Motion seconded and carried unanimously by an exodus of feet at 2021
hours.