Zero Beat 01 2014

The January meeting will be at the Police Precinct at 6850 Appling Farms Parkway . Map and directions are on the web site.

January Meeting

We will be back at the Police Station in January.

It will be a busy meeting with two items of interest. The first is the presentation of our budget for 2014 so we can approve it. We will have a very general discussion of the basis of the budget and the tentative plans for this year.

The second part of our program will be a presentation/demonstration by Lance Ray [KK4GQP] of his portable power supply systems for emergency use. Lance has built up some very impressive portable power units and will discuss them during the meeting and the design logic used.

Dues for 2014

Please pay your dues for 2014. Individual dues are $15 per year and family dues are $20 for all members of a family under the same roof. Active military and students are free but must fill out a membership form and submit it noting the reason on the form. If you can’t come to the meetings the form is on the web sit. Please mail them to: MARA, P.O. Box 751841 , Memphis 38175

Dues are used to support our activities such as Field Day, Eating Meetings, and our Repeaters. We need your help and support so please send your dues in promptly.

As a reminder, the pro rated dues are only for new members. Existing members who pay late are still liable for the full amount.

Email List

The email list is several years old and we have not deleted anyone in several years. At least 3 members on the list are deceased. I was going to delete them but one of them sent me an email telling me to keep him on the list. It was rather hot where he was and he was forced to read it several times per day.

On a serious note, I will start cleaning up the list and getting it ready to update after FreeFest. It you want to stay on the email list pay your dues and make sure I have your current email in legible form. My hand writing has become so bad that I have no room to complain; but please have mercy!!!

FreeFest 2014

FreeFest is Saturday April 12, 2014. from 9 am to 3 pm at the Bartlett Station Municipal Center .

We are over 50% full at this point and more are coming in. It is shaping up to be a tight fit this year. We will be calling for volunteers later.

We need to start sending out a general notice to clubs in the area. Linda Ware has done an outstanding job of collecting a list of clubs in the area and compiling an email list. If anyone would like to volunteer to help emailing out from this list, it would be great. Contact me.

Prize donations are starting to come in. We can still use some big ticket items and we are working on this.

Christmas Dinner

The Dinner at Coletta’s was great and over 40 folks attended. We had a very good year this past year with donations and paying for the food portion of the dinner we felt was a great way for the club to show their appreciation for all your help and support.

We went through the regular prize list over 2 times and there were some great gifts. The main prizes were also a big hit. Danny Banks[KJ4FXZ] won the Keurig coffee maker, Ray Miller [AA4UK] won the GPS, and Joe Lowenthal [WA4OVO]won the Pyramid Power Supply donated by MSARS. The batteries donated by the Tri-State Repeater Association were won by Ray Ware, and Cindy Foster. Thanks Tri-State!!!!

Please pass on your thanks and appreciation to MSARS for the very generous donation of the power supply. I will get Steve and Rosalinda to send me a Line Sheet and I will attach it to the next newsletter so you can see what they carry and show your support and appreciation next time you need some equipment.

Jackson Hamfest

Several of us are planning to go to the Jackson Hamfest January 24 and 25. We will take Vanna and have room for a couple more folks. If you would like to go contact me and make your own hotel reservations.

We drive down around noon on Friday 1-24 and return Saturday 1-25 arriving back in town in the 5pm range. We are staying at the Red Roof Inn at 6145 Interstate 55 North in Jackson [ 601 956-8848 ]. Room rate is $55/night including taxes etc. Gas should be Less than $25 each depending on how many go.