MEETING TO ORDER:

President Jeff Darby, KS0JD, convened a Zoom video conference of the SFTARC at 8:03 AM. A total of 19 members were identified and gave their own call sign. Jeff said that some members had expressed interest in adding a more formal component to the Saturday morning teleconferences in which members could get help learning a particular subject or get help solving a technical problem. Members able to provide information/assistance would be playing the "Elmer" role. It was moved and seconded that Jeff send out an email before each Saturday morning teleconference asking members to contribute "Elmer questions" to be discussed and hopefully answered during the teleconference. The motion carried unanimously.

SECRETARY-TREASURER REPORT: 

Marty Peters KE0PEZ reported the club's bank account balance and the receipts ($20) and disbursements ($240) since the May business meeting. The sole receipt was a dues payment from a new member. Disbursements included a $200 club liability insurance premium and a $40 reimbursement to Ruth Vano for the annual business filing with the Kansas Secretary of State. There are now 68 members in good standing. The financial condition of the club continues to be good.

Ensor Park & Museum [Howard N0AZ]

The Ensor Museum is in full swing. Things are going well. Volunteer tour guides are still needed on all dates, so please sign up if you can. The online sign-up process at Sign-up Genius works well.

Repeater Relocation [Jim Andera – K0NK]

Due to the pandemic, the repeater relocations have been dormant.  Restrictions have made it so that even the KC Heart operators may not be allowed back into the hospitals for several months. Discussions/action regarding repeaters likely will be delayed more than that. The OMC financial picture has been made worse by the pandemic, and the funding needed for the OMC portion of the repeater installation may not be available. In response to a question from Ed KU0RTZ, Jim explained that, based on typical costs of commercial electrical work, the cost to OMC of installing the tower and the wiring could be tens of thousands of dollars. In addition, we need to consider what might happen if there is a recurrence of the spread of Covid (or other) virus. In that case we probably would not have access to the OMC to attend to any maintenance that might be needed.

It would be good for the Repeater Committee members and Trustees to meet to discuss options. Jeff will set up this meeting. Jim will reach out to OMC to see if the person he has been working with on the repeater project is still there. 

Kansas QSO Party [Marty KE0PEZ]

Bob Harder is gathering information to help plan the 2020 KQP. He asked if the SFTARC would be able to support the KQP at the same level it has in past years ($200). Greg noted that the club needs to keep in mind the anticipated expenditure of ~$350 in August to renew the SFTARC website. Del suggested donating $200 now and leaving a possible further donation to be considered if there is insufficient support from the other usual donors. It was moved and seconded to have the club treasurer send $200 to Bob Harder to support the 2020 KQP. The motion passed unanimously.

2020 Field Day Activities [Jim K0NK, Larry KD0RIU]

The club Field Day plan continues to call for holding a limited-scope event at Ensor with 2 HF stations. One a phone station using Icom-7300; the other designated a multi-mode station using an Icom-7100 for the operator's choice of phone, CW, or data. There would be a 6-m station if that band is open at the time of the event. We will erect simple antennas with no tower. We will have hand sanitizer at several locations on site and we will arrange the positions of operators, loggers, and observers so that ample space is maintained between them. We will need more tables that we have used in the past. There will be a sign-in table so that we have a record of who is present at any given time. Jeff noted that not many people responded to the sign-up spreadsheet that he sent out. In individual contacts, he has determined that we there will be enough pairs to run the two HF stations. Setting up antennas and tables can be done with 4 or 5 people. We will mount the club's 6-m beam antenna on a mast rather than on the tower. We will use the trailer only as a supply "depot" and as a respite from heat. We will not use it for operations. We need to pre-check that a computer and software are smoothly interfacing with the 7100. We need to verify that adapters are available in case we need to match plugs with jacks on the audio intercom panel. Tom will prepare a laptop with any software necessary for data operations and logging to be used with the 7100. 

The new ARRL ruling allows club members to operate at their home station using their personal callsign. If the log submitted by the operator using a home station designates affiliation with a club, the contacts of this home station will be aggregated with the club log of contacts. Care must be taken to identify the club name exactly.

Del will pull the trailer to Ensor. Jeff will finalize the schedule of operators/loggers in the next few days. The FD logging software will be updated with any recent updates.

The SFTARC will support any club members who wish to operate at home. Club members who operate at home should take care to update logging software that might try to block contacts between D stations. They can submit their contact log to Jeff, who will make sure all data is in the correct format.

Jim AC0KN suggested that nooby CW operators consider signing up for time slots early on Sunday morning. There seems to be much CW action at slower speeds at this time. 

Web hosting [Greg Wolfe – KI0KK]

Our GoDaddy website is coming up for renewal on September 25. The price of GoDaddy is substantially higher than HostGater. The cost comparison, SSL, reliability, renewal and other issues were discussed. Web-hosting service for three years will cost at least $350.  Greg will further research web-hosting companies, and he will present the top two such companies at the July club meeting. It was moved and seconded that the club choose one of the candidate web-hosting companies at the July meeting. The motion passed unanimously. Payment to secure the web-hosting service will need to be by credit card. Jeff, Larry, Greg, and Marty will get together to discuss the best way to make that credit card payment.

OTHER BUSINESS:

Marty will research the possibility of setting up a PayPal business account for the club.

ADJOURN:

The meeting was adjourned at 8:49 AM.