Minutes for April 27, 2021 Wilderness Road Amateur Radio Club
Monthly Meeting
Meeting via Dennis’ Zoom account. (Thanks Dennis!)
Meeting called to order by President Mike May at 1931

Attendees: 13 members;
 Members: Ken Douglass (KY4KD), Peter Rock (KJ4ND), John Wulf (K4FT), Mike May (KF4FMQ),
Doug Collins (KA4SWT), Gene Klaus (KO4IVI), Andy Rose (KI6SEP), Dennis Weiskircher (K3KZU) ),
Chris Galbreath (KG4UQL), Larry Roberts (KE4LR), William Waldschmidt (W9WA), Janie Taylor
(KI6SER), George Coomer (KM4QOY)
Previous meeting was March 23, 2021. Motion to accept Minutes of that meeting as published (via
email) by Ken, 2nd by John. Passed by acclimation.

Treasurer’s Report.
(Note: numbers were not discussed during meeting due to security concerns and were provided
separately after the meeting)
 Starting balance.
 $100.66 Annual equipment insurance. Generator no longer insured with this policy.
 Ending/current balance.

Activities Report:
 Completed:
o Monthly coffee via Zoom: Friday, April 2, 9 A.M.
o Monday, April 5, 2021 TALARC D-STAR Net: There were 42 total check-ins including Net
Control from 12 States & 1 Canadian Province. (See appendix for details.)
o Saturday, April 17: Conducted Zoom for several radio contests going on at that time,
including a Serbia Dx contest, MMDX (worldwide), Michigan QSO party, Texas Parks on
the Air, Ontario QSO party. Thanks to Dennis for use of his Zoom account.
o VE Testing on April 23. 8 signed, 7 showed. 1 failed but he had not studied. Everybody
else got what they went for and some went higher.

 Upcoming:
o Next TALARC D-STAR: Monday, May 3. Remember you can check in via EchoLink from
your computer or smartphone to either node KY4RW-L or use EchoLink’s search mode on
“Danville”.
o Monthly coffee via Zoom: Friday, May 7, 9 A.M.
o Discussion of potential Club activities include a possible radio fox hunt. (Peter) o Ongoing participation Wednesdays in the TALARC HF net at 1930 (or later if frequency is
not clear from previous net) before our 2000 Net.

Old Business:
 Work underway transferring responsibilities to other members from George Griebe who has
been doing this for years. Ken & Chris are spearing-heading the effort.
o SERA (Southeastern Repeater Association). Membership cannot be transferred; Chris
will get a new membership that will activate when George’s runs out. Everything setup
& good to go. No new information.
o IRS change over completed by Ken.
 Discussion to purchasing inexpensive tablets for VE testing. No new discussions (Harold out of
town & unable to attend)
o May be able to put Linux on some computers donated by Bill. Harold will look into
these once he gets the computers. Limitation may be laptops are not touchscreen and a
signature is required.
o Harold believes with 20 testees, 3 signature entry machines with one spare would be
perfect.
 Danville ham KL1SE (Shell Stevens) had antenna come down due to ice storm. Looking for
recommendation of person to hire to put a new one up. Not in a hurry: wants to wait until
weather better. Doug gave update & will pull a posse together shortly.
o Doug spoke with Shell last night. Will gather at this Saturday around 9 or 10. Let Doug
know if you are interested in helping.
 Would like a 20 foot or larger storage container to unload the trailer for construction. There is a
lot of stuff in the trailer that we should probably not keep. No new discussion.
 Looking for people to make presentations at future meetings: please contact Mike if you would
like to present or have suggestions of topics.
 Bourbon Chase Relay Race: announcement made on 3/9 that it is on for 2021. We need to make
a “go” decision by April if possible but no later than May. Discussion & vote deferred until April
meeting.

New Business
 Bourbon Chase Relay Race: slide show discussing why vote is not “WRARC should do this” but
“Voting yes means I commit to participating”. The participation may be limited to pre-event
efforts, which is more than fine. Slide show by Andy, attached. Significant discussion, highpoints
below, which resulted in a motion by Janie.
Motion by Janie: First determine if we are wanted and if COVID rules allow us. Second, if positive
response, we conduct an email poll of members: if sufficient members commit to participating,
we then move ahead. 2nd by Bill. All 13 in attendance vote in favor. o George will contact Heart of Danville and the Convention & Visitor’s Bureau ASAP to
determine if we are wanted and if we’d fit into the COVID rules.
o Andy will write up email poll which, per Motion, will be communicated once George gets
answers.
Discussion which preceded motion:
o Get in touch with Danville organizers soon & ask if they want us involved. Janie: in years
past, the committee doesn’t form until a few weeks before.
o George: Heart of Danville & Convention & Visitor’s Bureau are much more active this
year than in the past. We may need to prod them which we did not in the past.
o 3 rd drive through at Bank has to be left open for ATM. People in past years have ignored
our yellow caution tape around the projector & screen, cutting through in front of the
projector and generally crowded us. We can put rope up or something else more
substantial than caution tape to keep people away from us. We may be able to get 6
foot wooden barricades from City if we request them far enough in advance.
o Doug offered his radio & headset for downtown, which we used in 2018, as back up if
we need to use voice. Also, we should really use real antennas and not antennas on HTs
as we did last time.
o Chris: May want better lighting at Spotting so we don’t have to get as close to see Bibs.
o Not enough people here tonight to staff event  we need to contact email list.
o Some members are supportive but cannot or should not be at the event. This is not an
issue: people need to take care of their health first! Some of these people might be able
to participate in planning and some other pre-event efforts.
o Go to Post and ask if anybody would like to help. (Mike will contact Tony)
 Dennis: question Kentucky QSO. Will it be the way it was done in 2020? John: no, the Kentucky
QSO Party Committee (??) has taken it back over and the old rules are back in effect.
 Next Monthly meeting: Tuesday May 25, 2021 at 1930, open forum at 1900.

Adjournment
Motion to Adjourn by Dennis, 2nd by Bill; Passed by acclimation. Adjourned at 2049.