DRAFT meeting minutes 2026-09-14

DRAFT meeting minutes. Email rob@butera.org with any comments, corrections, or concerns.

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BARC Monthly Membership Meeting

September 14, 2026, 7:00pm

Location: Brewster Police Department, 631 Harwich Road, Brewster, Massachusetts

Recorded and submitted by Robert Butera KM4MK, Club Secretary

ITEM 1: Call to order

Bruce WA3SWJ, President, called the meeting to order at 7:00PM

ITEM 2: Introductions

Members attending in person: Bruce WA3SWJ, Rob KM4MK, Tom WA1MBA, Don KT1OK, Norm WA1NLG, Jack W1WEF, Al WW1RF, Armand AJ4IC, Don K1DCA, John KA1CTL, Reese KC1MZQ, Steve KC1QEM, Tam K1TAG, Barry KB1TLR, Lem W1LEM, Kathryn KC1WEJ

Members attending via Zoom: Jon N1ILZ, George KB1GTG, Mike KE2FTG, Mark KC1ZIR, Greg WC4Y, Gretchen W1MKW, Shannon K1WIT

Guests: Mason (see item 12)

ITEM 3: New members

The following new members were approved by voice vote:

Hercules KC1LZR

ITEM 4: Recognition of license upgrades

None

ITEM 5: PROGRAM - Fred Fish Memorial Award - Norm / WA1NLG

Norm gave a talk about the ARRL’s Fred Fish Memorial Award, awarded to those who have confirmed contacts in all 488 Continental US grid squares on 6M. He discussed how to hunt grids on 6M and tips and tricks for 6M grid hunting. For more information about the Fred Fish Memorial Award, visit http://www.arrl.org/ffma

ITEM 6: Secretary report - Rob KM4MK

Rob KM4MK posted the August 3, 2026, minutes to the BARC website and emailed to the list. Motion to approve the minutes passed by voice vote.

ITEM 7: Treasurer’s report - Tom WA1MBA

The combined account balance of the checking and savings was $11598.62 as of 31 August 2026.Total checking inflows were $69.83 primarily from dues and ARRL commissions. Total outflows were $172.09 and were primarily for marketing, web services, and field day supplies. A motion to approve the report passed by voice vote. We have 109 paid members and 1 new member pending.

ITEM 8: Update from ARRL EMA Section Manager Jon N1ILZ

Jon commented about ARRL.org and LOTW being offline recently. It was a network outage at ARRL HQ and is now fixed.

ITEM 9: Committee Reports

STANDING COMMITTEES

Repeater Committee. Bruce WA3SWJ highlighted that the announcement feature of the repeater appears to work. We are announcing upcoming events with it.

Website and IT Committee. No report. Several officers have access role issues with the website. It was suggested to have a more modern home page and use the current site as the backend. The club QRZ page also needs updating.

Membership Committee. No report.

Community Events. Report by Lem W1LEM.

Lem reminded members to sign up and read the email list, Lem is willing to help if you have trouble.

Events this past month included Lighthouse Day 8/7 (Barry KB1TLR), Lighthouse Weekend 8/7-8/9 (Rob K1UI), and the Falmouth Road Race 8/16 (Chris WA1CMR).

Members attended HamXposition and members participated in operating W1AW/1 for MA for the USA 250 special event station from 8/11 to 8/18.

Upcoming events include:

  • The MS challenge walk is 9/18-9/20. The event is for 3 days, and they are still looking for volunteers. Email Shannon K1WIT (shannon.on.capecod@gmail.com) for contact info for the event coordinator.
  • The Harwich Cranberry Festival is this weekend. We have 6 volunteers but need more for both days as well as helping with set-up and takedown. Contact Mark WA1EXA (Rxmgr1@gmail.com) to volunteer.
  • NEARFest is Oct 2-3 in New Boston, NH. More info is available online at https://near-fest.com/
  • Barry KB1TLR is still looking for volunteers for the Cape Cod Marathon on Oct 10 and 11.
  • The Alzheimer’s Family Support Center walk in Provincetown is also Oct 10-11. All stations are staffed but volunteers are encouraged to contact Lem K1LEM if they want to shadow operators.
  •  JOTA (Jamboree on the Air) is a national Boy Scouts event from Oct 16 to Oct 18. Norm WA1NLG is coordinating our activities at Camp Greenough.
  • The next Community Events committee meeting is Oct 1 at the Weatherdeck in Harwich at 1130 am. Contact Lem K1LEM if interested in attending.

ACTIVE COMMITTEES

Education. No report.

ITEM 10: Old business

No old business.

ITEM 11: New business

The motion passed is to accept the proposed revised bylaws effective January 1, 2027, as well as to conduct elections for 2027 positions using the new approved bylaws. The bylaws were passed with an amendment to strike the section on removal of club members. The Secretary (Rob KM4MK) will discuss with the board a follow-up slate of minor changes to the bylaws.

ITEM 12: Announcements and reminders

Lem K1LEM and Bruce WA3SWJ have been working with the Advanced Studies and Leadership Program, a leadership program for rising 8th and 9th graders hosted at the Mass Maritime Academy. We welcomed Mason to the meeting, who is one of the students who participated in the program.

BARC net occurs Sundays at 7:00pm on the W1MA repeater (!46.955- CTCSS 88.5). These and other nets across Cape Cod are posted on the club website.

 There are two weekly breakfasts on Wednesdays.

ITEM 13: Next monthly meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 5, 2026.

 ITEM 14: Adjourn

Meeting adjourned at 20:36