SOUTH FLORIDA FM ASSOCIATION February 9, 2004 MINUTES OF MEETING

PRESIDENT: RONNIE HAIK KG4DBI

VICE PRESIDENT: ERNESTO DIAZ KGRLXH

SECRETARY: JOANNE CARBANA KG4GKU

TREASURER: JAMES CARLIN KF4OUI

DIRECTORS:

KEVIN SCANLON K4PCS 01-03

SAM HARTE KQ4LMR 00-05

ERNESTO DIAZ KG4LXH 02-04

WEB SITE: http:/www.sffma.net

MAIL YOUR DUES TO:

FM ASSOCIATION

POB 430028

MIAMI, FL 33243

Meeting was called to order at 19:40 with 35 present.

Ronnie welcomed all to the SFFMA meeting. The meeting was being broadcast live on the air tonight from the fire boardroom at the EOC.

The microphone was passed around the room and everyone stated their name and call sign. Ronnie announced that Gordon West was our guest speaker tonight.

Repeater update:

Robert spoke about the 224.200. He said that some people have bought antennas and radios and 220 equipment, maybe someone will talk to him now.

Ray spoke about the 444.200 and the 146.76 were up and running. He mentioned the problem that we had with the white noise is not a dead carrier and it is coming from Miami Lakes. He suggested conducting a fox hunt.

Ben Nebsner WA4DS, the coordinator of the Miami Tropical Marathon thanked everyone who participated and gave out tee shirts. If you participated and did not receive a tee shirt, call or email him and he will make sure you get one.

The minutes of the last meeting were accepted by Randy and seconded by Lloyd.

Randy advised of a Broward County situation with the 444.200. There is a radio off tune.

Old business:

Ronnie brought up the nominations for Ernesto’s director slot that needs to be filled for the remainder of Ernesto’s year as Director since he was voted as our new Vice President. Ernesto has nominated John Veccio and Caesar has been nominated Jessica at the December meeting. There were no other nominations by email or otherwise. Tommy advised that Jessica was still interested. Andy called John via telephone and he advised that he was still interested. We will be voting on this later tonight.

Ben Nebsner WA4DS, the coordinator of the Miami Tropical Marathon, again thanked everyone who participated. He advised that he had 8,000 runners and would have been more if it had not rained. More are expected for next year. He advised that next year they are moving the weekend to the first weekend in February due to problems with permits. Ronnie advised that that date would conflict with the Hamboree. Ben asked that if anyone had any experiences to improve next year, to call or email him. Ronnie told him to advise if there were any date changes. Ben said that our club made the event a big success. He also said that next year, the Miami Marathon is also on the same weekend as the Coconut Grove Home Show.

Ronnie spoke about the Hamboree and the Dade Radio Club. John Hall spoke and thanked everyone that helped. Send any comments to hamboree.org. The Hamboree will be taking place next year, despite rumors that it will not. A lot of changes are coming. Ronnie advised that the Dade Radio Club provided a decent lunch for all this year. A big thank you to Sandy, Caesar and Joanne for setting up the lunches and dinner Saturday night. Randy asked how was the attendance this year. John advised that there were more in attendance on Saturday that the entire weekend last year. They sold over 3,000+ tickets.

Ernesto reported on the Bike-A-Thon. He thanked Andy for helping with the coordinating this year. It is going to start at Miami-Dade South. It is time for a change from the same boring path and also because of the tragedy last year. The bikers are going to go through County Walk on Saturday and Deering Estates on Sunday, as well as the Homestead Baseball Stadium. They have 463 riders signed up as opposed to 361 last year and 60 teams as opposed to 70 teams last year. The goal for sponsors is $70,000. they have $75,000 already. There are going to be 75 turns on Saturday alone. Contact Ernesto at ms150@kg4lxh.us if interested. He will be posting the info on the SFFMA website. Ray announced that this is an APRS tracker event. Don’t wait until the last minute to get it working. It’s only $40.00 to order a kit. It can be built overnight. He suggested that we put them on the medical units this year. FAX your volunteer forms to Ernesto. The Bike-A-Thon is set for April 24 and 25th.

The March of Dimes walk-a-thon is April 3. Wendy could not be here tonight. We will keep you updated.

Ronnie announced that dues are due now: $30.00 for the year. $5.00 for each additional family member.

DCAT’s recent camping trip was discussed.

John announced that next month the Dade Radio Club will meet ½ hour before the SFFM meeting the 2nd Monday of the month at 7:00 P.M. SFFM will be 7:30 PM. Ray suggested that DCAT also meet the same day in another location.

CERT was discussed. Don said nothing was official. He took the refresher course and received a hat and bag. Joanne brought us up to date with CERT. Anyone interested, please contact Cleopatria at 305-468-5416.

Gordon West was our guest speaker. He spoke about testing and the new 511 question pool. He is from the west coast and they listen to our situations in hurricanes. He gives credit to the ham operators to handle emergencies. He had us listen to samples of what noise interference sounds like on the radio. His presentation was very informative and everyone enjoyed it. He spoke about how to set up your radio in a car, connecting it directly to the battery. He discussed broadband over power lines sounds like thousands of birds. He was here for the boat show too. He showed us a new marine radio with a GPS receiver built inside. Ronnie thanked Gordon for his presentation.

New Business:

Papers were handed out for voting. While the voting was being done, Jeff showed the club pictures of the recent Hamboree. Ray explained some of the pictures. He also advised that we had internet capability at the Hamfest.

The votes were tallied and John Veccio will complete the 1 year term vacated by Ernesto for 2004.

With no other business, Ronnie announced that refreshments were in the other room.

The meeting was adjourned at 19:55.

Joanne Carbana

KG4GKU

03/08/2004