MEETING TO ORDER:

President Jeff Darby, KS0JD, called to order the January, 2021, Zoom business meeting of the SFTARC at 7:08 AM. A total of 19 members introduced themselves with their call signs. (Quorum is 13.) There were no guests.

SECRETARY-TREASURER REPORT: 

Marty Peters, KE0PEZ, reported the balances and transactions of the two club accounts, Enterprise Bank and PayPal. Deposits since the December business meeting totaled $745, including amounts received for dues and for ham-class tuition and books. There was one disbursement of $24.36 to reimburse Greg KIØKK for a web template. Thanks to Greg KIØKK for his efforts to improve our web presence. The repeater fund balance remains unchanged. Soon the club will have expenditures for PO Box rental and trailer registration. Dues payments will continue to come in during January. The Paypal account is working well; we have received a number of payments for dues and ham-class tuition. The club now has 81 members in good standing. The financial condition of the club continues to be good. 

Repeater Relocation [Jim Andera – K0NK]

Danny KAØFMZ is hoping to have another committee meeting soon. He received a favorable reply from the Olathe School District in which they indicated willingness to consider options to locate repeaters at district sites. However, they will not be able to move forward until the pandemic is under control.

Jim KØNK said that it would be good for us to have a well thought-out plan for the tower and the equipment building before we enter discussions with Olathe Schools or other potential hosting entities. Several ideas were expressed regarding the equipment building, including size, security, and possible custom manufacturers such as Tuff Shed.

Silent Keys [Jeff - KS0JD]

Jim Anderson ACØOW passed away on December 16th, and John Rodgers KGØUA passed away on December 9th. Jim ACØKN wrote a message of condolence that was posted to the Cremationcenter website. Jim KØNK and Rick Nichols posted messages to the Penwell-Gable obituary webpage for Jim. Our club members will reach out to family members any time one of our members becomes SK. Jim's wife said that she wanted to get Jim's equipment to people who take pleasure in using it. Jeff will take the lead in arranging a time to meet with Jim's wife for that purpose.

Marty will contact the ARRL to notify them of these SKs. 

There was a discussion of creating a plaque that could have name plates of our SKs attached to it. There were several suggestions for places to display such a plaque. However, at the present time it seems best to display our SKs on the club website.

Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve 2019 Event [Jim - KØNK]

Jim recently received certificates of appreciation and commemorative coins from Tallgrass Prairie officials for the six SFTARC members who operated this event in April of 2019. They are Jim KØNK, Jim ACØOW, Bob KCØTZX, Tom WA2IVD, Del KØDDS, and Joe KRØUT.

PayPal [Marty - KEØPEZ]

PayPal is working well. Payments can be sent and received without any trouble. For the club, there is no fee for transactions since we are not a merchant. However, payments sent to SFTARC must be marked as being to a friend, not for an item or service. In that case, Paypal charges a fee that amounts to about 5% on a $20 payment. For those members sending in dues by Paypal, please examine your confirmation screen before you hit the "send" button to make sure it says the payment is to a friend. 

Web Hosting [Greg Wolfe – KIØKK]

Greg demonstrated the new SFTARC webpage layout he had generated with the new template. Things look good, and it is easier for Greg to make changes. He continues to improve the layout. It will become operational after the Tech class is finished.

2021 SFTARC Tech Class [Jeff - KSØJD]

The Tech class started January 9 via Zoom with 14 of the 15 registered students. Things went well. The recorded presentations have been uploaded and are available to the students.

Kansas Day Special Event [Del - KØDDS]

This event will take place on Saturday, January 30, 9 AM to 3PM. Del suggests having operators operate from their home QTH using KSØKS. Del plans to operate at the Antenna Farm. Jeff will publicize the event with ARRL, and he will make a sign-up sheet for band and mode. Del urged CW operators to participate.

OTHER BUSINESS:

There was no other business.

ADJOURN:

Following a motion and a voice vote, the meeting was adjourned at 7:49 AM.