TARC Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Totah Amateur Radio Club will be on November 14, 2024 at 7:00 PM.

We will be at the Fire Station at the west end of Farmington, NM. A map is below. We hope to see you there!

All are welcome, see you there!

2024 Christmas Party

Christmas Party is at Red Lobster on Dec 7th, 2024, at 6:00pm.
White Elephant Gifts exchange. “You can play as an individual or as a couple. If you play as a couple bring one gift and you will be given one ticket per couple. If you want to play individually, each person must bring a gift, and each person will be given a ticket for the gift exchange. Gifts should cost no more than $10.00 unless you decide otherwise.”
MEAL COSTS IS FROM: $11.00 TO $25.00 PER PERSON.
EVERYONE WILL GET 10% OFF THE MEAL.
RSVP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
RSVP BY NOVEMBER 15, 2024
Ovidia F. Adams see you all there last year the white elephant was blast for everyone, 73’s.jim

Meeting Minutes – October 2024

Totah Amateur Radio Club

Meeting Minutes for 10-10-2024


Club officers:

  • President: Jack KD1PE
  • Vice President: Donnie K6QQT
  • Secretary: Scott K8OIP
  • Treasurer: Scott K8OIP

Trustees:

  • Sterg WA5K 3 yrs remaining
  • Paull Holmes NM5PH 2 yrs remaining
  • Sarah Walker KB5SPX 1 yr remaining

The meeting was brought to order at 07:02 PM by Jack KD1PE There were 7 attendees

Treasure’s Report

Since there was no Treasurer’s report for the previous month’s meeting Two reports were read. August 2024

Starting Balance:$3695.24
Income
Interest$0.03
Expense
Park Rental$40.00
Ending Balance$3655.27

Since there was no Treasurer’s report in time for the previous month’s meeting Two reports were read. September 2024

Starting Balance:$3655.27
Income
Interest$0.03
Expense
$0.00
Ending Balance$3655.30

Bobbie N5XDQ made a motion that the Treasurer’s report be approved, Donnie K6QQT seconded the motion and the Treasurer’s report was approved by quorum

Old Business:

  • Constitutional Committee Report – Devin KD5NMX reported that the Constitutional Committee did have a chance to look over the club constitution and did find some things that didn’t seem to be in keeping with the current state of the club. Some things he pointed out for future discussion included:
    • The meeting schedule wording could be made more flexible with “as designated by membership” or something similar to be able to skip months where meetings may be less productive, such as during the annual picnic.
    • The “shall” in “The president shall appoint committees” could be changed to “may” since there are committees that don’t get formed very often or at all.
    • The meeting place of the club has changed, so the Constitution should be changed to reflect the change
    • The full list of proposals will be presented in the December meeting and the club will vote on it in January
  • Drawing – Richard KG5RLF Has offered to make a custom cup for whoever wins the drawing. Since Scott forgot to bring the cup in for this meeting it was agreed that the drawing will be at the November meeting. Don’t forget to take a dollar to the meeting if you wish to enter.
  • Road Apple Rally – This year’s race had many changes. Several Club members had fun with volunteering for the event.
  • Antenna Take down – Donnie has not heard back from the owner of the antenna although he has tried to contact them.
  • Radio Tower Take down – Donnie has not heard back yet from Tom Stailey for Ron Stailey’s tower after several attempts.

New Business:

  • New Member – The club voted unanimously to welcome Richard KG5RLF as a member. Welcome Richard
  • Christmas Dinner – Ovidia Adams has graciously volunteered to schedule the club’s Christmas dinner and has scheduled it for December 7th at 6PM
  • Testing – A testing session should be coming up soon. Contact Donnie for more information
  • Road Cleanup – We will attempt to have a road cleanup on November 9th at 9AM at the
  • POTA activation – Jack said that he will be attempting a POTA activation of Angel Peak on November 2nd from 2PM – 4PM via VHF. Look out for signals on simplex frequencies 146.580 FM and 144.200 SSB

Adjournment: Motion to adjourn was made by Jim KI5OUZ and Bobbie N5XDQ and a unanimous vote was taken and the meeting adjourned at 7:27 PM

Meeting Minutes for 2024-08-08

Totah Amateur Radio Club

Meeting Minutes summary for 08-08-2024


Club officers:

  • President: Jack KD1PE
  • Vice President: Donnie K6QQT
  • Secretary: Scott K8OIP
  • Treasurer: Scott K8OIP

Trustees:

  • Sterg WA5K 3 yrs remaining
  • Paull Holmes NM5PH 2 yrs remaining
  • Sarah Walker KB5SPX 1 yr remaining

The meeting was brought to order at 07:00 PM by Donnie K6QQT There were 8 attendees

Treasure’s Report

Since there was no Treasurer’s report in time for the previous month’s meeting Two reports were read. June 2024

Starting Balance:$3675.18
Income
Dues paid X 1$20.00
Interest$0.03
Expense
$0.00
Ending Balance3695.21

Since there was no Treasurer’s report in time for the previous month’s meeting Two reports were read. July 2024

Starting Balance:$3695.21
Income
Interest$0.03
Expense
$0.00
Ending Balance3695.24

Devin KD5NMX made a motion that the Treasurer’s report be approved, Shane KI5TOZ seconded the motion and the Treasurer’s report was approved by quorum

Old Business:

  • Fox hunt – The Fox hunt went well. There were 4 hunters and 2 hams who hid the fox. Scott mentioned the need to make a definite starting point next time because one hunter was too far away to find the louder transmitter ### New Business:
  • Antenna Take down – Connie (Perry) Gooch contacted Donne. She has an antenna to be taken down and we need 3 or 4 of us to go over and take it down
  • Radio Tower Take down – Donnie has not heard back yet from Tom Stailey for Ron Stailey’s tower after several attempts.
  • Dale Bearden’s equipment – Donnie sent an email shortly before the meeting
  • Next meeting – The club voted not to have a meeting at the picnic this year and to skip the September meeting. The next meeting will be October 10th at 7pm.
  • Tailgate and potluck – On September 7th, the park opens at 9am and the tailgate will be from 10AM to 11:30AM.
    • Donnie K6QQT secured the park for this time frame, Devin motioned the club reimburse him, Shane Seconded, and the club voted unanimously reimburse him.
  • Road Apple Rally – The Road Apple Rally that the club previously voted to participate in again be coming up on October 5th.
  • Meeting Minutes – Some members expressed wishes to have access to the club minutes. Devin KD5NMX motioned to have the minutes posted via both email and website and Donnie K6QQT seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
  • Bylaws – Devin mentioned that he had taken a look at the bylaws and that he would be getting together with Sterg and possibly present some possible changes at the December meeting to reflect the current state of how the club actually operates.

Adjournment: Motion to adjourn was made by Devin and Jim KI5OUZ and a unanimous vote was taken and the meeting adjourned at 7:44 PM

Summary:

  • Donnie and some of us are still seeing if there is anything we can do to help some families of silent keys
  • There will be no official meeting during the tailgate, The next meeting is at the usual time in October
  • The talgate/potluck will be on September 7th. The park opens at 9, the main even is from 10AM-11:30AM.
  • The Road Apple Rally is coming up October 5th

POTA in the park 2024

The POTA in the park for this year was fun for all involved even though the band conditions were not anywhere near ideal. Although the recent solar activity really interfered with the bands and we didn’t make enough contacts to activate the park, we did make a few contacts and have fun while doing so. The cookout was far more successful as the band conditions didn’t affect that part. We all got a chance to practice taking equipment out to the field and trying to use it.

2024 Spring Highway Cleanup

This weekend we had the 2024 Spring Highway Cleanup. We skipped the last cleanup so this time around we had some extra stuff to pick up. Thanks to all those who participated!

Meeting Summary for 3/14/2024

This month we had a busy meeting with 11 attendees.

We were all saddened to hear that a very active local ham, Jess Carmon W5SXB, has become a Silent Key.

On a brighter note. We plan on doing several activities:
– a Picnic and POTA on Saturday, May 4th!
– Shane (KI5TOZ) will help us coordinate ARRL Field day. We hope to meet up with some hams from the Durango area who have great experience and know of an excellent location.
Picnic and tailgate on September 7th! I hear there will almost certainly be gear for sale there, as well as some great food and conversation.
– A fox hunt on Saturday July 13th
– We may get a chance to put together some classes for a new club that is starting up nearby. Donnie and Allen may help us put together a testing!
– Possibly a First Aid and CPR class. Not sure yet though

The club does have some radios and equipment to go through and will be stored, temporarily, at Donnie’s house. Please let us know at the next meeting if you are a club member and interested in buying any before the tailgate.

Meeting summary for 1/11/2024

Happy New Year everyone! We had a good meeting that some brave souls made it to despite wintery weather conditions. The summary is:
Presentation Next Month: Next month come down to the fire station to see Herb N7HG give a presentation on the Navajo Code Talkers who played a vital role in winning Word War  II
Activities: This year the club intends to participate in more activities including: a Picnic/tailgate, A POTA Picnic, Field Day, and some nice presentations
Outreach: Jack KD1PE continues to comunicate with leaders who are trying to help get more people who can use Ham Radio into the hobby

Updates and information

Hell all and happy new year. Scott and I are going to be working to update the club Website and keeping it current. We hope that you will find it informative and of course become you go to spot for radio information.

DE KD1PE

TARC Annual Picnic 2023

Many members of the TARC met up at the Upper Rio Vista Park in Farmington. Lots of fun and good food was had.

Meeting Minutes for 12-08-2022

Totah Amateur Radio Club

Meeting Minutes for 12-09-2022


Club officers:

  • President: Donnie K6QQT
  • Vice President: Bill KK5ZH
  • Secretary: Scott K8OIP
  • Treasurer (Acting): Scott K8OIP

Trustees:

  • Sterge Katirgis WA5K 3yrs remaining
  • Paull Holmes NM5PH 2yrs remaining
  • Allen Prince KG5LFI 1yrs remaining

The meeting was brought to order at 07:04 PM by Donnie There were 11 attendees

Treasure’s Report

November 2022

Starting Balance:$3728.12
Income
Interest$0.08
Expense
$0.00
Ending Balance$3728.20

Old Business:

  • Insurance – Donnie K6QQT gave the insurance policy information to Jack KD1PE so that Jack can read through it and present a summary at an upcoming meeting so that the club is better informed as to the actual value of the current insurance policy
  • New Year’s Brunch – You are invited to the Walkers’ house for the annual New Year’s Brunch! Bring a dish and tell or listen to some stories.
    • Crock Pots are okay
    • Drinks: Coffee (and possibly OJ) will be served. Other drinks will be up to you to bring if you craving something different.
    • When: Saturday, January 7th, 2023 – 9AM to 2PM
    • Where: The Walker’s house 2611 Knudsen Ave. Farmington NM
    • Pot Luck style, bring something to share, but please refrain form bringing too many sweets, or check with Sarah first
  • Club Dues – The club dues are due in January. The best times to pay are either at the New Year’s brunch or at the January meeting.
  • First year membership fees for new hams – During the last meeting it was suggested that dues for the first year of membership should be waved for new hams who pass their tests to obtain their licenses with us. The motion was made by Allen KG5LFI to make the change and seconded by Jim KI5OUZ. The motion passed unanimously.
  • Testing – There will be a Ham testing session happening on January 14th 2023 at the Sycamore Center – Please Contact Donnie for more information
  • Newsletter – Jack KD1PE has started sending the newsletter. Anyone who wishes not to receive the email from Jack can easily reply to unsubscribe
    • Call for Topic Suggestions – Jack will be looking for a list of suggestions for interesting topics. Please send along any topics you may wish to hear about to Jack KD1PE.

New Business:

  • Update on Dave Jordan – Bobbie received a letter from Karen about Dave K5AVO. He is still under her care and mostly stuck at home, but was able to make it out to see his daughter get married.
  • Contact List – Jack will send out a contact List so that members will be able to call each other
  • Election of officers – Election of officers was held this meeting and many long standing positions will be changed for 2023.
    • A special thanks is in order to Bill KK5ZH who held the Vice President position for many years and to Donnie K6QQT who held the president position for several years as well to save the club.
    • All positions were voted on and decided unanimously. The new positions are below:
      • President: Shane KI5TOZ
      • Vice President: Allen KG5LFI
      • Secretary: Jack KD1PE
      • Treasurer: Scott K8OIP
      • New Trustee: Sarah KB5SPX
  • Change to Dues Structure – A few suggestions were bounced around for what to do with the membership fees structure. It was suggested by Jack that we change the current structure to be $20 per individual or $25 per family with that discounted rate applying to immediate family only.
  • Club presentations – Jack has volunteered to make a presentation next month on NVIS. Make sure to come down and see.
    • If you have an idea for a presentation to give then please feel free to let Jack know about it.
  • Club Audit – An audit of the club finances will be conducted at Artifacts on January 4th at 1PM

Reminders:

  • Interesting local nets – On Saturday morning there is a local Digital net on 7120khz. They use technologies such as flamp, mfsk, and mt63. It may be worth checking out to anyone who is at their radios during that time.
  • ARRL membership allows the club to keep insurance and also allows access to QST, which is an excellent magazine with many excellent articles as well as other perks

Motion to adjourn was made by Bobbie N5XDQ and Bill KK5ZH and a unanimous vote was taken and the meeting adjourned at 8:04 PM