Minutes from the KARS Monthly Meeting February 8, 2021

In keeping with the continuing social distancing guidelines, our KARS meeting was conducted via Zoom.  

The meeting was started at 7:30 pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. 

The meeting started off with an announcement that there were two slots available for Net Control on March 23 and 30.

Members were advised that membership dues are due by 1 April.

We did not secure a room for our face-to-face monthly meetings and the board and membership expressed the desire for a hybrid setup where members have the choice between joining in person and joining online.

We had a new member, George T Richards (WA9GUS; General Class) who was voted on by the members present. There being no dissenting votes he is now an official member of Katy Amateur Radio Society.

The working group lead by Louis Orlando (W5BWV) was asking for members to email their suggestions on membership recruitment and retention.

The treasurer reported that not all members had paid their dues yet and gave an update on the storage shed. The price was to increase to $72 in February, but we had countered with a lower offer. No news yet on that being accepted. The 5×10 storage unit is climate controlled.

The suggestion of an ice cream social with Brazos Valley was raised to establish potential collaborations.

The option of a DMR repeater for KARS was raised, but with the new one in Richmond that covers most of Houston there was not much to gain.

The meeting ended with a presentation by John Thurmond (K5JBT) on microprocessors. He showed what was possible with just a handful of dollars in equipment and a copy/paste code from freely available websites. During the presentation he showed how easy it was to create a light that would differ in brightness depending on the strength of the Rx signal. Specific equipment that was mentioned was: Pi Zero; Arduino ($30), Arduino Nano ($20), the Arduino Starter Kit ($36), and the Raspberry Pi Micro Controller (Pico RP2040 for $4). John showed that you don’t need advanced programming skills, and that there is a huge library that you can tweak to your particular purpose.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 pm

Hielke Buddelmeijer KI5JYX

Secretary KARS

Katy Amateur Radio Society (KARS), Katy, Texas

Recurring Events

Event	Time	Location	Notes
KARS Net	Every Tuesday, 8:00 PM	KARS Repeater	KT5TX 147.200(+) MHz Repeater, PL 141.3
KARS Monthly Meeting	2nd Monday of Every Month,  7:30 PM	Westlake Volunteer Fire Department	19636 Saums Road, Houston, TX 77084 Zoom information under the Video Meeting Information tab, guests please contact a board member for access information
KARS Coffee Night	Every Wednesday, 7:30 PM	Jason’s Deli	380 S Mason Rd. Katy Tx
KARS Breakfast	Every Saturday, 8:00 AM	Freddy’s Cafe	16830 Barker Springs #400 Houston, TX. 77084
KARS Amateur Radio License Exam	See Under Licensing Information Tab	Church of the Holy Apostles	1225 W Grand Pkwy South Katy TX  77494 NOTE: Please check under the Licensing Information tab for detailed information. Until further notice Pre-Registration is required
2m Simplex Net	Every 2nd Tuesday 7pm	146.600	Come and join us on the simplex net and get used to operating without the use of the repeater. Good practice in case of emergencies.

Katy Amateur Radio Society (KARS) is an active club in Katy, TX, just west of Houston, dedicated to the fascinating hobby of amateur radio.

Please come and join in the fun!  Membership Information

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