From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Jul 5 18:58:51 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:33 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Replying to copies of Albert's message
Message-ID: <005e01c6a09f$bb109c30$0300a8c0@robathome>
I did not carefully read the entire message thread that I posted. It
contained some medical information that was inappropriate for posting to a
public web site. If anyone replies to either Dave's or my message, please
delete everything older than my original post message.
Rob Hawley
From akkana at shallowsky.com Wed Jul 5 19:52:44 2006
From: akkana at shallowsky.com (Akkana Peck)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:33 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] PA system
In-Reply-To: <005e01c6a09f$bb109c30$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <005e01c6a09f$bb109c30$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <20060706025244.GB21151@shallowsky.com>
I don't have one (a PA system) but I asked some friends for
ideas. Apparently they're rentable but I don't know where you'd
look (what yellow pages category).
But a friend suggested: plug a microphone into a boombox
or small transportable stereo, put in a cassette tape, press
record. (Plug in powered computer speakers if the boombox doesn't
have adequate ones of its own.)
I just tried plugging a microphone directly into powered computer
speakers (with a female-female adaptor in between), but alas
that didn't work.
I wonder if Radio Shack sells anything? If there's been a need
for one twice already this year, it might be worth it for SJAA to
get some sort of minimal PA device.
...Akkana
From wb6yru at aenet.net Thu Jul 6 00:29:50 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:33 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] PA system
In-Reply-To: <20060706025244.GB21151@shallowsky.com>
References: <005e01c6a09f$bb109c30$0300a8c0@robathome>
<20060706025244.GB21151@shallowsky.com>
Message-ID: <44ACBBEE.40306@aenet.net>
Akkana Peck wrote:
> I just tried plugging a microphone directly into powered computer
> speakers (with a female-female adaptor in between), but alas
> that didn't work.
Those need some audio power from the computer, the mic
doesn't put out anything. You'd need some kind of pre-amp
for the mic in order to pull that off. It'd be easier to
just use any old stereo amp. Nearly all of those have an
input for stuff like a microphone or phonograph.
> I wonder if Radio Shack sells anything?
You'd be able to knock me over with a feather if they didn't.
> If there's been a need
> for one twice already this year, it might be worth it for SJAA to
> get some sort of minimal PA device.
Small PA systems like what we'd need are pretty cheap and
easy to come by. We've sure got the money. I'd recommend
one with a wireless mic, that way the speaker wouldn't have
to walk around holding something in front of him with a
cord.
The only problem is: this would be yet one more thing that
someone has to lug back and forth to meetings. What ever
became of that approval we got to put in our own cabinet
at Houge?
Gary
From robhawley at earthlink.net Sat Jul 8 11:46:50 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:33 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Did anyone get the PA system?
Message-ID: <000001c6a2be$e00dbb00$0300a8c0@robathome>
I am trying to work on an all software solution, but a real system would be
better.
Oddly radio shack just sells hand held systems. They do sell a portable
microphone.
Rob Hawley
From robhawley at earthlink.net Sat Jul 8 12:36:25 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:33 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Got a PA System
Message-ID: <000401c6a2c5$cd0a5020$0300a8c0@robathome>
I cobbled one together with the help of the Radio Shack salesman. The key
was "The Magic Adapter". I will try it out and bring it tonight.
Rob Hawley
From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Sat Jul 8 13:01:19 2006
From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:33 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Got a PA System
In-Reply-To: <000401c6a2c5$cd0a5020$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <000401c6a2c5$cd0a5020$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <20060708135923.V73451@koopm.best.vwh.net>
I have also gotten one together using the speakers we bought.
I already had a Radio Shack mixing board with microphone inputs.
Does someone have a microphone stand with a 45 degree elbow or possibly
put a broom stick on a tripod head?
Thanks
Mike
On Sat, 8 Jul 2006, Rob Hawley wrote:
> I cobbled one together with the help of the Radio Shack salesman. The key
> was "The Magic Adapter". I will try it out and bring it tonight.
>
>
> Rob Hawley
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SJAABoard mailing list
> SJAABoard@sjaa.net
> http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard
>
From robhawley at earthlink.net Sat Jul 8 13:19:34 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:33 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Got a PA System
In-Reply-To: <20060708135923.V73451@koopm.best.vwh.net>
Message-ID: <000501c6a2cb$d47becf0$0300a8c0@robathome>
It has a wireless microphone. The microphone is able to directly drive the
speakers.
So should I return the speakers?
Rob Hawley
From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Sat Jul 8 13:26:58 2006
From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:33 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Got a PA System
In-Reply-To: <000501c6a2cb$d47becf0$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <000501c6a2cb$d47becf0$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <20060708142547.J73451@koopm.best.vwh.net>
Tommorrow.
Bring them and we'll try the best setup.
Mike
On Sat, 8 Jul 2006, Rob Hawley wrote:
> It has a wireless microphone. The microphone is able to directly drive the
> speakers.
>
> So should I return the speakers?
>
>
> Rob Hawley
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SJAABoard mailing list
> SJAABoard@sjaa.net
> http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard
>
From craigus at rocketmail.com Sat Jul 8 15:28:46 2006
From: craigus at rocketmail.com (Craig Scull)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:33 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] June 9, 2006 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes
Message-ID: <20060708222846.20741.qmail@web53803.mail.yahoo.com>
=======================================================
June 9, 2006 - SJAA Board Meeting Minutes - Craig Scull
=======================================================
Reminder 1: Notes should be taken with a text editor to
prevent Microsoft Word copy/paste problems with
apostrophes.
Reminder 2: For all meeting minutes Craig will print out
one copy of the last month's minutes for the upcoming
board meeting and send out a final edited version the
next day.
-------------------------------------
Members Present
-------------------------------------
-Mike Koop
-Rob Hawley
-Rich Neuschaefer
-Gary Mitchell
-Bill O'Shaughnessy
-Lee Hoglan
-Gordon Reade
-Craig Scull
-Dave Smith (late)
Mike made a motion that the meeting minutes be approved.
The motion was seconded by Lee with no abstentions and no
one opposed.
-------------------------------------
Treasurer's Report
-------------------------------------
The current amounts are:
Checking account 8290.33
Savings 402.77 (Gregory fund)
Petty cash 50.50
CD 1 5076.34 (1 year, matures on January 6)
CD 2 5070.00 (1 year, matures on July 2)
CD 3 3042.00 (observatory fund, 1 year, matures on July
2)
PayPal 319.36
-------------------------------------
Membership Report
-------------------------------------
complementary 28
expiring 14
paid(current) 290
email delivery 14
Labels Generated 315
S&T Members 183
New Members since last meeting 3
current + complementary 318
-------------------------------------
Loaner Scope Report
-------------------------------------
Mike will look into getting the solar scope fixed, as it
appears that the adjustment knob may be stripped. The
optical and telrad finders were stolen from the 13"
loaner scope that Craig has. The club will split the cost
on the replacement optical finder and Craig will pay
fully for the Telrad.
-------------------------------------
Web Site
-------------------------------------
The board of directors list was updated and the email
addresses were hidden from the source code so that robots
cannot easily pick up the addresses.
-------------------------------------
Observational Astronomy Class
-------------------------------------
Observational astronomy - Dave North did "observing the
planets" talk.
-------------------------------------
ATM Class
-------------------------------------
The schedule was discussed. There is a short term
conflict with the ATM class and the Coyote Star Party.
Mike and Gary will figure out offline how to resolve this
conflict.
-------------------------------------
General Meeting Programs
-------------------------------------
Speaker Tim Thompson (former president of LA Astronomical
Association that works at JPL) is lined up for the August
meeting, September will be slide and equipment night.
-------------------------------------
Houge Star Parties
-------------------------------------
Clouded out more often than not recently.
-------------------------------------
School Star Parties
-------------------------------------
Many school star parties have been clouded out, though a
little planetary watching was able to be done.
Gordon decided that he won't write a letter to the
principle about the incident last time where a water
bottle was thrown into his car.
Rich suggested that when the next school party event is
scheduled a letter should be passed onto the principle to
ask them what they can do to prevent any future incidents
like this.
-------------------------------------
Observatory Committee
-------------------------------------
The star party went well. 20 cars showed up. People
seemed to have a good time and many positive comparisons
were offered to Pletstone, which has less favorable skies
and is further away.
An SJAA member who lives in Willow Springs suggested that
the road maintenance budget may need to be increased to
maintain our good will with the neighbors, which we would
lose if we were negatively impacting the road.
The easement issue is still not resolved. It could impact
our insurance costs, TBD. There are various solutions:
using a latch and a no trespassing sign; using a
combination lock and giving land owners a free
subscription so that they can access the land (they would
also sign a liability waiver to make our insurance
happy).
The next star parties have been scheduled for Jul 22 and
Aug 19. Bob is doing a star party of his own in June
where he will invite some of the people that were unable
to attend the last star party.
At the next star parties we will ask for a donation of $5
per person (collected onsite) to see if we can cover the
cost of the port a potty, which Rob is authorized to rent
with SJAA funds.
Rob is working on a draft MOA. We are working toward an
end of August decision date for us to mutually decide
with the donor that the donation would be a good idea for
the local astronomical community.
There was some discussion about the need for a lease for
Bob to keep his containers on the land. Another option
discussed was to have the land donated with certain
requirements, such as that Bob could keep his storage
containers on site. No decisions were made because this
will ultimately need to be driven by legal requirements.
We still need to talk to Orange County and San Diego
about how they handle their private observatories and if
there are any lessons to be learned from the benefit of
their experience.
-------------------------------------
Calstar Star Party
-------------------------------------
The caterer offered a friday night meal base price of
$11/meal and $14-$18 for meals subsequent nights
(includes $1 added for us to help cover losses). There is
a $125 travel expense per day. Bad news is that $300
deposit needed 1 month in advance.
Payments will not be refundable if the weather turns
sour. In other words, the terms with the caterer require
that meals be served rain or shine. This is going to be
the last year we will work with this caterer and next
year we will go with Calhoun catering. Mike made a motion
to authorize Rob to have SJAA pay required checks and
sign a contract for the catering at CALSTAR. All
approved, no abstentions and no one opposed.
-------------------------------------
Ephemeris Distribution
-------------------------------------
A new staff will need to take over the folding, labeling,
addressing, sorting etc necessary for bulk mailing of the
club's newsletter. Gary and Bill will take over these
activities in the short term. There will be some
investigation into the possibility of 1st class mail and
other services to make the production less labor
intensive.
After some discussion it was decided that we should
require people to come to the club's web site to view the
newsletter by default (all new members) and that they
could check a box on their registration or renewal to
receive a print version.
We decided to post a notice in the next ephemeris stating
that we will be transitioning over to a web-only format
that people can read on the web and if they have any
concerns about this transition they should contact us. We
also may mention that people will get the full $20 tax
deduction if they accept an electronic format and a
$10.25 tax deduction if they want a print version.
We feel this move will be well received given that the
online version can provide color and people are still
welcome to print their own version at home. Recent survey
research found Silicon Valley ranks #1 in the country
with a score of 10 out of a possible 10 score for the
technical savviness of it's population. New York City
comes in at #2 with a score of 6 and the rest of the
country is below that.
-------------------------------------
Coyote Star Party
-------------------------------------
Well attended. Overall went well. 18 scopes were there.
-------------------------------------
Yosemite Star Party
-------------------------------------
Everything is all set up and ready to go for Jul 22
From rnapo at znet.com Sun Jul 9 01:20:25 2006
From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Got a PA System
References: <000401c6a2c5$cd0a5020$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <000b01c6a330$882ce880$a6f71345@180edt>
The sound system seemed to work ok last night, but it would have been easier for me to make
out what Albert was saying if different parts of the audio spectrum would have been
brought out a little more. Maybe it was just my hearing?
Just trying to help,
Rich
From rnapo at znet.com Sun Jul 9 10:35:25 2006
From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Long meetings...
References: <000401c6a2c5$cd0a5020$0300a8c0@robathome>
<000b01c6a330$882ce880$a6f71345@180edt>
Message-ID: <000501c6a37e$10688590$61f61345@180edt>
Last night was certainly an interesting talk but it was way too long.
IMHO, nothing vital would have been lost if it had been boiled down to 2 hrs or
maybe 2.5 hrs.
At the very least, the listeners should be told at the start of the talk that it may well
run past the usual 2 hour cutoff.
Rich
From robhawley at earthlink.net Sun Jul 9 12:25:09 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] ZIP+4 and mail savings
Message-ID: <000301c6a38d$64c97b80$0300a8c0@robathome>
Doing a little more research it looks like adding ZIP+4 to the mailings is
going to be more difficult than just looking up the numbers. As described
in the excerpt below USPS will only accept the ZIP+4 if generated by "CASS
CERTIFIED" software. My looking up the numbers on the USPS website or the
package I downloaded this morning don't count. For more info you can follow
the link below. Here is one of the most important paragraphs.
------BEGIN QUOTE----------
Most of the savings in bulk mailing comes from sorting. Bar-coding typically
reduces your postage cost by about 5?, less for nonprofit mailers since they
receive bigger discounts for sorting.
For a typical one-ounce letter, card, tri-fold, etc., here are the postage
rates you can expect:
Regular First Class mail: 39?
Standard bulk mail - sorted - no barcodes - nonprofit:
13.1? to 17.0?
Standard bulk mail - sorted - barcoded - nonprofit:
9.1? to 14.8?
Because the quantity discount categories for barcoded mail are different
from those for nonbarcoded mail, an address that gets the lowest nonbarcoded
rate will often not get the lowest barcoded rate. This means the savings for
a barcoded mailing will often not be as large as the differences in rates
would seem to indicate.
There are two ways to get accurate 9-digit zip codes. The easiest is to use
an online matching service. Two we have used are Lorton Data and MailNet
Services. You send them your list through the Internet. They run your list
through their matching software, and then return the matched list to you
through the Internet along with the required CASS report. They charge
according to how many addresses you run, with an inexpensive minimum charge.
--------END QUOTE---------
Lorton Data's service starts at $35 for the quantities we are talking about.
You email them the list and they return it in 24 hrs.
Listcleanup.com (MailNet) charges $10 for 48 hr turnaround.
Both return the updated file along with the CASS form that must be submitted
to claim the barcoded rates.
Gary can evaluate whether there will be any cost savings. For me this adds
more complexity to the process and I would be reluctant to do it.
I will make a standardization pass on all of the addresses to add ZIP+4 and
to put them in the correct USPS form, but this will not be CASS certified
so, at best, it may prevent a couple of the mailings from being delayed.
Rob Hawley
>From Postage Saver documentation:
--------------------------------------------------------
WHAT ABOUT BARCODES AND CASS CERTIFICATION?
Barcodes can be added to your bulk mailing for additional savings, but there
is a cost to getting the information you need to create the barcodes.
In order to barcode, you must have 9-digit zip codes for each address. The
USPS will accept barcodes only if they are based on 9-digit zip codes that
have been "CASS CERTIFIED". That means that the zip code has been provided
by software that looks each address up on a current copy of the USPS master
9-digit zip code file. Such software usually costs most than a small mailer
will save by using barcodes, since the additional discount for barcoding is
usually less than 5 cents/piece.
However, there are several service companies that will provide CASS
CERTIFIED zip codes for you and charge you roughly $3 per thousand
addresses, with a typical minimum of $20 per list. Small mailers may find it
cost-effective to use one of these companies to have their list certified,
so they can then take advantage of the barcoding savings. For some links to
such companies, please see our help site at www.bulkmail.info/cass.html
To create barcodes on your mail, you need two things:
* a way to calculate what the barcode should say, and
* a barcode printer font to print the barcodes on your labels or envelopes.
Fortunately, you get both when you purchase your copy of Postage $aver Pro.
We provide a copy of our Secret Barcoder Ring software and a barcode printer
font at no extra charge when you purchase Postage $aver Pro.
----------------------------------------------
From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Sun Jul 9 16:22:54 2006
From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] ZIP+4 and mail savings
In-Reply-To: <000301c6a38d$64c97b80$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <000301c6a38d$64c97b80$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <20060709164551.D40342@koopm.best.vwh.net>
Hi Rob,
The major reason I brought up the ZIP+4 at all was to have the possibility
of using bar codes so that USPS could use their automated equipment.
Anything we can do to get the Ephemeris earlier to our members we should
try to do. We may find that the out of San Jose zip codes may get them much
faster. Of course, saving money is even better.
I do not know if the way the Ephemeris is folded is compatible with the
machines. We may need to seal the issue with USPS approved sticker or
tape. Hopefully that question can be answered in the local bulk mail
class.
As a suggestion, Mapquest does give Zip+4.
When I input my street address, city, and state without Zip, I get the
correct Zip code and ZIP4. Since you already have the normal Zip, this
would be a good verification that things are correct.
If you want to get extra credit, you could also get the lat long of the
member. Might be interesting to get a plot of our membership!
If you would like to get the information this way, I suggest dividing up
the list. If you prefer to have the list verified by the outside service,
I'm sure the board will approve that.
Oh, never mind. I reread the website and saw we need to have it CASS
certified anyway, but the website also says we only need to do it every six
months.
Another Factino, I noticed that Paypal only provided the normal 5 digit
zip code when I renewed my membership today.
Let us know when the local class is on Bulk Mail.
Also, I expect that the output of the software bulk mailer may come out
much simpler than we expect. Let us know how it goes.
Thanks.
Mike
On Sun, 9 Jul 2006, Rob Hawley wrote:
> Doing a little more research it looks like adding ZIP+4 to the mailings is
> going to be more difficult than just looking up the numbers. As described
> in the excerpt below USPS will only accept the ZIP+4 if generated by "CASS
> CERTIFIED" software. My looking up the numbers on the USPS website or the
> package I downloaded this morning don't count. For more info you can follow
> the link below. Here is one of the most important paragraphs.
>
>
> ------BEGIN QUOTE----------
> Most of the savings in bulk mailing comes from sorting. Bar-coding typically
> reduces your postage cost by about 5?, less for nonprofit mailers since they
> receive bigger discounts for sorting.
>
> For a typical one-ounce letter, card, tri-fold, etc., here are the postage
> rates you can expect:
>
> Regular First Class mail: 39?
>
> Standard bulk mail - sorted - no barcodes - nonprofit:
> 13.1? to 17.0?
> Standard bulk mail - sorted - barcoded - nonprofit:
> 9.1? to 14.8?
>
> Because the quantity discount categories for barcoded mail are different
> from those for nonbarcoded mail, an address that gets the lowest nonbarcoded
> rate will often not get the lowest barcoded rate. This means the savings for
> a barcoded mailing will often not be as large as the differences in rates
> would seem to indicate.
>
> There are two ways to get accurate 9-digit zip codes. The easiest is to use
> an online matching service. Two we have used are Lorton Data and MailNet
> Services. You send them your list through the Internet. They run your list
> through their matching software, and then return the matched list to you
> through the Internet along with the required CASS report. They charge
> according to how many addresses you run, with an inexpensive minimum charge.
>
> --------END QUOTE---------
>
> Lorton Data's service starts at $35 for the quantities we are talking about.
> You email them the list and they return it in 24 hrs.
>
> Listcleanup.com (MailNet) charges $10 for 48 hr turnaround.
>
> Both return the updated file along with the CASS form that must be submitted
> to claim the barcoded rates.
>
>
> Gary can evaluate whether there will be any cost savings. For me this adds
> more complexity to the process and I would be reluctant to do it.
>
> I will make a standardization pass on all of the addresses to add ZIP+4 and
> to put them in the correct USPS form, but this will not be CASS certified
> so, at best, it may prevent a couple of the mailings from being delayed.
>
>
> Rob Hawley
>
>
>> From Postage Saver documentation:
> --------------------------------------------------------
>
> WHAT ABOUT BARCODES AND CASS CERTIFICATION?
>
> Barcodes can be added to your bulk mailing for additional savings, but there
> is a cost to getting the information you need to create the barcodes.
>
> In order to barcode, you must have 9-digit zip codes for each address. The
> USPS will accept barcodes only if they are based on 9-digit zip codes that
> have been "CASS CERTIFIED". That means that the zip code has been provided
> by software that looks each address up on a current copy of the USPS master
> 9-digit zip code file. Such software usually costs most than a small mailer
> will save by using barcodes, since the additional discount for barcoding is
> usually less than 5 cents/piece.
>
> However, there are several service companies that will provide CASS
> CERTIFIED zip codes for you and charge you roughly $3 per thousand
> addresses, with a typical minimum of $20 per list. Small mailers may find it
> cost-effective to use one of these companies to have their list certified,
> so they can then take advantage of the barcoding savings. For some links to
> such companies, please see our help site at www.bulkmail.info/cass.html
>
> To create barcodes on your mail, you need two things:
> * a way to calculate what the barcode should say, and
> * a barcode printer font to print the barcodes on your labels or envelopes.
>
> Fortunately, you get both when you purchase your copy of Postage $aver Pro.
> We provide a copy of our Secret Barcoder Ring software and a barcode printer
> font at no extra charge when you purchase Postage $aver Pro.
>
> ----------------------------------------------
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SJAABoard mailing list
> SJAABoard@sjaa.net
> http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard
>
From jvn at svpal.org Sun Jul 9 16:32:27 2006
From: jvn at svpal.org (Jim Van Nuland)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Long meetings...
References: <000401c6a2c5$cd0a5020$0300a8c0@robathome>
<000b01c6a330$882ce880$a6f71345@180edt>
<000501c6a37e$10688590$61f61345@180edt>
Message-ID: <44B1920B.2847@svpal.org>
Rich N wrote:
>
> Last night was certainly an interesting talk but it was way too long.
> IMHO, nothing vital would have been lost if it had been boiled down to
> 2 hrs or maybe 2.5 hrs.
Speaking for myself, I enjoyed every bit of it. His inventivity and
attention to detail was fascinating.
I didn't pay attention to how many left, but there were lots of people
hanging around the scopes afterward.
> At the very least, the listeners should be told at the start of the
> talk that it may well run past the usual 2 hour cutoff.
He hinted at that, saying that we should ask questions, but not too
may, as he had tons of material for us. I don't know if he presented
this talk before -- if so, he would have known how long it could run.
It wasn't the longest I've ever attended -- I recall one running past
midnight, and only a few people remained.
--
Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association
JVN's web site
From robhawley at earthlink.net Sun Jul 9 16:45:58 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] ZIP+4 and mail savings
In-Reply-To: <20060709164551.D40342@koopm.best.vwh.net>
Message-ID: <002f01c6a3b1$d428cb60$0300a8c0@robathome>
ZIP+4 is irrelevant without the CASS Certification.
I am going through the database adding ZIP+4 to what is there and changing
the addresses to confirm with USPS guidelines. Adding barcodes and the
extra cost savings require the CASS form. Otherwise the mail is processed
just like it did not have ZIP+4 on it.
Rob Hawley
From rnapo at znet.com Sun Jul 9 18:13:18 2006
From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Long meetings...
References: <000401c6a2c5$cd0a5020$0300a8c0@robathome><000b01c6a330$882ce880$a6f71345@180edt><000501c6a37e$10688590$61f61345@180edt>
<44B1920B.2847@svpal.org>
Message-ID: <000401c6a3be$08543d50$70f71345@180edt>
Hi Jim,
People also don't want to be rude and walk out on the speaker.
At the least we need to give the people attending a realistic idea of how long the
speaker will be presenting his/her material.
This is not a reflection on the quality of the material.
Rich
> Rich N wrote:
> >
> > Last night was certainly an interesting talk but it was way too long.
> > IMHO, nothing vital would have been lost if it had been boiled down to
> > 2 hrs or maybe 2.5 hrs.
>
> Speaking for myself, I enjoyed every bit of it. His inventivity and
> attention to detail was fascinating.
>
> I didn't pay attention to how many left, but there were lots of people
> hanging around the scopes afterward.
>
>
> > At the very least, the listeners should be told at the start of the
> > talk that it may well run past the usual 2 hour cutoff.
>
> He hinted at that, saying that we should ask questions, but not too
> may, as he had tons of material for us. I don't know if he presented
> this talk before -- if so, he would have known how long it could run.
>
> It wasn't the longest I've ever attended -- I recall one running past
> midnight, and only a few people remained.
>
> --
> Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association
> JVN's web site
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SJAABoard mailing list
> SJAABoard@sjaa.net
> http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard
>
From robhawley at earthlink.net Sun Jul 9 20:03:36 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Membership report
Message-ID: <002e01c6a3cd$70167160$0300a8c0@robathome>
Just a summary this month.
Last SJAA Meeting 7/8/2006
Report Date 7/9/2006
expired 48
May-06 7
Jun-06 16
Jul-06 15
Aug-06 19
Sep-06 20
Oct-06 18
Nov-06 16
Dec-06 19
Jan-07 17
Feb-07 25
Mar-07 23
Apr-07 11
May-07 24
Jun-07 53
Jul-07 10
Aug-07 7
more than 13 months 8
complementary 29
expiring 23
paid(current) 285
email delivery 15
Labels Generated 315
S&T Members 184
New Members since last meeting 5
current + complementary 314
Rob Hawley
From areopagus125 at yahoo.com Sun Jul 9 22:40:18 2006
From: areopagus125 at yahoo.com (David Smith)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Long meetings...
In-Reply-To: <000501c6a37e$10688590$61f61345@180edt>
Message-ID: <20060710054018.61830.qmail@web42408.mail.yahoo.com>
That took me by surprise. Albert mentioned that he
had enough material to go on for hours, but it didn't
occur to me that he would use it all.
-- David
--- Rich N wrote:
> Last night was certainly an interesting talk but it
> was way too long.
> IMHO, nothing vital would have been lost if it had
> been boiled down to 2 hrs or
> maybe 2.5 hrs.
>
> At the very least, the listeners should be told at
> the start of the talk that it may well
> run past the usual 2 hour cutoff.
>
> Rich
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SJAABoard mailing list
> SJAABoard@sjaa.net
> http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard
>
__________________________________________________
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Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
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From areopagus125 at yahoo.com Sun Jul 9 22:58:44 2006
From: areopagus125 at yahoo.com (David Smith)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] October speaker
Message-ID: <20060710055844.5702.qmail@web42404.mail.yahoo.com>
Our October 7 speaker will be Dr. Steve Stahler of UC
Berkeley. Topic TBD.
-- David Smith
--- stahler@astro.berkeley.edu wrote:
> Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2006 10:20:15 -0700 (PDT)
> Subject: Re: invitation to address SJAA
> From: stahler@astro.berkeley.edu
> To: "David Smith"
>
> Hello David,
>
> Thanks so much for your invitation to speak at the
> San Jose Astro Society!
> Yes, I would be very interested in doing this.
> Saturday, October 7 works
> fine for me. Go ahead and put that down, and we can
> discuss details
> (including my talk title) later.
>
> best regards,
>
> Steve
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
From wb6yru at aenet.net Mon Jul 10 00:53:52 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Ephemeris printer
Message-ID: <44B20790.50902@aenet.net>
This is for Bill O'Shaughnessy. Sorry for using the board
remailer, but the e-mail address I have for Bill apparently
isn't good anymore, (bounced with "unknown user" error).
Here's the address of AccuPrint, the guys who print the
Ephemeris:
1465 Park Ave
San Jose CA 95126
408 287-7200
Gary
From wb6yru at aenet.net Mon Jul 10 02:20:05 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] ZIP+4 and mail savings
In-Reply-To: <000301c6a38d$64c97b80$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <000301c6a38d$64c97b80$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <44B21BC5.2070607@aenet.net>
Rob Hawley wrote:
> Gary can evaluate whether there will be any cost savings. For me this adds
> more complexity to the process and I would be reluctant to do it.
It's complicated, bulk mail postage is different on each piece
depending on the destination zip code. But a rough estimate
would be $45 postage as is, $36 using the bar codes. (Per
mailing, not including the bulk mail annual permit fee.)
There's another consideration--manpower and where we put our
efforts. There is such a thing as burning out. I worry that
paying too much attention to too many little bean-countie
details like this may be taking a toll.
Meanwhile, other things are slipping. For example, I see
that the loaner scope spec page on our web site hasn't been
updated in *eight years*, and we're sitting here sweating
over certifying zip codes.
Let's just concentrate on getting our new publication team
in place and running. We can take our time collecting the
zip+4 info and worry about using barcodes later. This is
a task for the publication team anyway.
Gary
From wb6yru at aenet.net Mon Jul 10 02:37:30 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] ZIP+4 and mail savings
In-Reply-To: <20060709164551.D40342@koopm.best.vwh.net>
References: <000301c6a38d$64c97b80$0300a8c0@robathome>
<20060709164551.D40342@koopm.best.vwh.net>
Message-ID: <44B21FDA.9060703@aenet.net>
Michael Koop wrote:
> Anything we can do to get the Ephemeris earlier to our members we should
> try to do.
There are easier ways... going to first class postage would
do it. Or simply moving the deadline of the Ephemeris a
week earlier would get it in people's hands sooner.
> I do not know if the way the Ephemeris is folded is compatible with the
> machines. We may need to seal the issue with USPS approved sticker or
> tape. Hopefully that question can be answered in the local bulk mail class.
We've been doing it current way with bulk mail all along.
If we fasten them closed, stapling is OK, so is tape or
stickers (just so long as it stays put).
I once asked them about that (for another club), they
said either way is fine, but suggested stapling may be
the easier way to fasten, especially if it's being done
by hand.
Gary
From robhawley at earthlink.net Mon Jul 10 10:02:43 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] ZIP+4 and mail savings
In-Reply-To: <44B21BC5.2070607@aenet.net>
Message-ID: <005d01c6a442$a9466ec0$0300a8c0@robathome>
I agree with Gary. His numbers suggest that going to ZIP+4 will not save
money. As I already said it will require me to submit the mail list to a
web shop and then continue the processing in a couple of days. That does
not fit well in my schedule.
And I am already on record that we should be moving people away from the
paper version anyway. I am not inclined to do headstands so folks can get
their paper copy earlier. I would rather do what Gary suggests and just
move the Ephemeris date.
We have PostageSaver on a 45 day trail. I am going to do a sample run today
and post the output. Also it looks like I will be available for the first
Ephemeris assembly.
Rob Hawley
> -----Original Message-----
> Let's just concentrate on getting our new publication team in
> place and running. We can take our time collecting the
> zip+4 info and worry about using barcodes later. This is
> a task for the publication team anyway.
>
> Gary
>
From robhawley at earthlink.net Mon Jul 10 13:26:55 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Next class in bulk mail
Message-ID: <007101c6a45f$3025f480$0300a8c0@robathome>
The next class is being held July 20 from 10 AM to 1 PM at the Lundy post
office.
They need a final count by July 14th. At least I will go, but I do not
expect to be a part of the assembly process after this month.
I ran the July mail list through the PostSaver program and have all of the
outputs on the SJAA website. Since one of the outputs is the sorted
maillist I can not post the URLs. Email me off list and I will send them to
you.
Rob Hawley
From jvn at svpal.org Mon Jul 10 18:23:15 2006
From: jvn at svpal.org (Jim Van Nuland)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Calendar 2007 -- first draft
Message-ID: <44B2FD83.2A76@svpal.org>
Hi, All,
Here's the first cut on a 2007 calendar. In 2007, the full moons tend
to be near the ends of the months, so it's not simple to choose general
meeting dates. It's also the year that we must jump from early in the
month to late.
By allowing a meeting on May 26, during RTMC, I found a nice pattern,
with meetings jumping from Mar.3 to Apr.28. By putting the Auction on
April 1, we avoid losing a general meeting. Clever, huh?
If RTMC is not to be stepped on, we can keep the meetings early
through May 5, then jump to June 30, and continue at ends of months.
The April 7 general meeting would interfere with a short star party
night, but we'd omit it in favor of the Auction on April 1 (not Apr.8 as
that is Easter). I don't like this as we'd have a long gap without a
general meeting, then another long gap from May 5 to Jun.30.
THE OTHER big decision is whether to keep the ATM workshop as it is,
cut it to 1/month, or drop it. Attendance is so low that I would vote
to drop it.
In the table below, I've assumed that the general meetings follow my
first proposal. Then, I had to pick and choose to avoid gaps and having
two just a week apart.
You may correctly guess that the table is also on the web, at
. It is not yet linked.
--
Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association
JVN's web site
============================================================
SJAA Calendar for 2007
Draft 0.1, JVN only, 2006 July 10
NOT Approved by the Board of Directors NOT
MAJOR problems: (1) general meetings and auction first half year.
(2) Placement of Fall Swap to avoid thanksgiving vacations
(3) Shall we continue the mirror workshop?
(4) After (1 & 3) are fixed, set up dates for mirror workshop.
Print this with a M*O*N*O*S*P*A*C*E*D font for column alignment.
General ATM Astro Houge Park Dark-sky
2007 Meeting Class Class Star Party Star Party
January 6 11t, 27s 12 12, 26 13, 20c
February 3 8t, 24s 9/23? 9, 23 10, 17c
March 3 8t, 24s 9 9, 23 10 17c M.M.
April 28$ 5t 21s 6 6, 20= 7s, 14c
May 26 3t, 19s, 11 11, 25 12, 19c
June 30 7t 23s 8 8, 22 9s, 16c
July 28 5t, 21s 6 6 20 14c
August 25 2t, 18s, 30t 3 3, 17 11c
September 22 15s, 27t 7 7, 21 8, 15c
October 27 20s 5 5, 19 6, 13c
November 24* 1t, 17s, 29t 2,30 2, 30 3 10c
December 22 15s 27t none 14, 28 1, 8c
$ Auction: Sunday, April 1, not replace a general meeting.
* Fall Swap on Sunday Nov. 25. ALSO general meeting on 24th.
OR -- Fall Swap Nov.11 to avoid thanksgiving week.
= AANC Astronomy Day is April 21. Use Houge Public on April 20.
OTHER dates and events --
Messier Marathon - Mar.17, NM - 1 day per Don Machholz book
Don gives no April alternate in 2007, NM mid-week.
Easter ----- Apr. 8 (school vacations week before or after)
DST start -- Mar.11 (new law)
TAX day ---- Apr.16, Monday
RTMC ------- May 25-27, 1Q moon previous Wednesday
Shingletown- I suggest June 13-17
http://www.shingletownstarparty.org/
Star-B-Q --- I would say Aug.11 but nobody asks me. NM 12th.
DST end ---- Nov. 4 (new law)
Cal-Star --- October 11-14 (new moon on 10th)
GENERAL MEETINGS - troublesome. If we step on RTMC, we can jump
from early in March to late in April and stay late.
Auction Apr.1 would fill in the gap. See above.
OR -- jump in Jan to 27, auction Apr.29.
OR -- do Auction Apr.1, GM May 5, then June 30. There
would be two big gaps, one for the auction.
ATM workshop - Thur after GM & Sat near 1Q moon. Except Saturday
near Auction. SHALL WE CONTINUE THIS??
ASTRONOMY CLASS - Moonless dates except March, or does March matter?
HOUGE Public star parties - Jump in early May, late August.
DARK SKY notations --
s Short. At least 3 hours, but less than 5.
c Coe will be advised of possible attendees. No assurance that
an SJAA representative will be present, unless a specific item
is given in the month-by-month portion of the calendar.
CAL-STAR: See Sep.12, 2005 message from Mike Koop, on the Board
mailing list, for date-setting philosophy.
============================================================
From craigus at rocketmail.com Mon Jul 10 22:42:57 2006
From: craigus at rocketmail.com (Craig Scull)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] July 8, 2006 - Draft SJAA Board Meeting Minutes
Message-ID: <20060711054257.33068.qmail@web53802.mail.yahoo.com>
Draft notes follow... let er' rip... the comments that
is... / Craig
=======================================================
July 8, 2006 - SJAA Board Meeting Minutes - Craig Scull
=======================================================
Reminder 1: Notes should be taken with a text editor to
prevent Microsoft Word copy/paste problems with
apostrophes.
Reminder 2: For all meeting minutes Craig will print out
one copy of the last month's minutes for the upcoming
board meeting and send out a final edited version the
next day.
-------------------------------------
Members present
-------------------------------------
-Mike Koop
-Rob Hawley
-Rich Neuschaefer
-Gary Mitchell
-Bill O'Shaughnessy
-Lee Hoglan
-Gordon Reade
-Craig Scull
-Dave Smith
-------------------------------------
Treasurer's report
-------------------------------------
Checking: 7852.76
Savings: 402.77
CD1: 5076.34
CD2: 5154.00
CD3 (Obs. fund) 3092.40
petty cash 143.50
PayPal 262.00
Total: 21,983.77
-------------------------------------
Membership report
-------------------------------------
Last SJAA Meeting 7/8/2006
Report Date 7/9/2006
expired 48
May-06 7
Jun-06 16
Jul-06 15
Aug-06 19
Sep-06 20
Oct-06 18
Nov-06 16
Dec-06 19
Jan-07 17
Feb-07 25
Mar-07 23
Apr-07 11
May-07 24
Jun-07 53
Jul-07 10
Aug-07 7
more than 13 months 8
complementary 29
expiring 23
paid(current) 285
email delivery 15
Labels Generated 315
S&T Members 184
New Members since last meeting 5
current + complementary 314
-------------------------------------
Loaner scope program
-------------------------------------
Some activity recently. Mike is going to try the solar
scope one more time before spending money to fix it. Web
site photos of scopes have been updated.
-------------------------------------
Observational astronomy class
-------------------------------------
Started late last month, was really hot in building. Will
be doing telescope types talk next month. Akana will do a
sketching class in the future as well along with an
article to help drum up interest. Same 10 people have
been
attending classes.
-------------------------------------
ATM Class
-------------------------------------
Some mirror testing going on. Charles is almost finished
with his 8" which is at approximately 1/4 wave.
-------------------------------------
General Meeting Programs
-------------------------------------
Slide & Equipment night in September. Upcoming meetings
are well planned out right now for speakers. October is
in
progress. There are several leads in process right now.
-------------------------------------
Houge Star parties
-------------------------------------
Continued bad luck with frogs. 3rd quarter worked out ok.
Building two (with bathrooms) was left unlocked when Mike
arrived one night, so he locked the doors and asked the
park how to proceed.
Mike paid a $50 cleaning deposit to the powers at be. It
has been paid at 6 month intervals historically, but
instructions from the park have varied. Sometimes we were
asked to pay quarterly. He most recently was asked to pay
a $30 reservation fee at 6 month intervals.
The rules seem to vary depending on who is in charge at
the park.
-------------------------------------
School star parties
-------------------------------------
No star parties due to clouds. Next one will be in
August.
-------------------------------------
Observatory committee
-------------------------------------
Next star party scheduled for Jul 21/22. The August
date is TBD, but highly likely.
We will ask for a donation of $5 per person for the next
star parties to see if we can cover the cost of the port
a potty.
There was a
difference of opinion recently as to how many people
would
be invited to attend the July star party. A conclusion
was reached that we should try to accomodate as many
people as possible, a minimum of 30, so that we do not
turn off people from the site entirely and so that we can
make progress toward building a community of interest
around the site that can turn into subscribers.
A composting toilet is losing value as an option because
it requires power and a source of water to spray water
(1/2 gallon) every day - which introduces more points of
failure.
The possibility of private observatories would be a
unique selling proposition for the site.
An alternate plan was proposed for a series of Summer
"mini-calstars" that would give observers an opportunity
for dark-sky observing and it would require no
infrastructure to manage, no insurance, etc. Heat and
dust and a 1 hour longer driving distance are distinct
disadvantages. Overall there was not much interest in
this approach.
Mike put forth a motion to approve the $150 port a potty
fee per star party for the upcoming July and August star
parties. The motion was seconded by Rich with no
objections or abstentions. Rob will make the call next
week and we will begin taking reservations.
One idea discussed was to have private observories that
consisted of shipping containers. A shipping container
might also be used for a toilet.
The easement is still an open issue which will impact
insurance and MOA.
-------------------------------------
Calstar
-------------------------------------
Rolling along just fine so far.
-------------------------------------
Ephemeris distribution
-------------------------------------
The last team has officially resigned. Rob and Mike have
looked into a new system called Postage Saver Pro which
costs $50. A specialized sort (not just by zip code) is
necessary for bulk mail along with a lot of arcane
sorting
rules. This program will produce all of the necessary bar
codes and such to make the sorting process easier, will
print the labels, etc. Converting the zip codes to 9
digits will also be necessary. The post office offers a
class on how to do bulk mail that will be attended - it
really is that complicated!
The software will also print a bar code for the bundles
and the bins and tell you where to put the rubber bands.
Bill made a motion to spend $50 for Postage Saver Pro and
the motion was seconded by Rich with no abstentions or
objections.
There was some discussion about the notice Rob submitted
to the ephemeris that people would have the option to
receive an electronic copy of the newsletter and that new
members would receive the electronic version by default.
Rob pulled the notice due to some gripes by a few people.
The final decision on this topic was not made, but the
general feeling was that the board still felt this was
the
right direction to go in.
To process the next batch of newsletters Bill will do
pickup and Mike and Gary and all will meet at Monday the
24th at 7:30pm. Rob may or may not be able to attend.
-------------------------------------
Coyote star party
-------------------------------------
Last week's star party went well, there were 10-12 scopes
and the BBQ went well. There were 30-40 people there. The
park ranger seemed happy. Next star party is the 29th
this month.
-------------------------------------
Calendar
-------------------------------------
ATM class on the 13th of this month, Gary will most
likely be able to cover it.
Many things going on, on the 21st. Rich could go to the
Hoagie park star party on Friday. Bill may be able to
attend and Gordon can definitely make it and can carry
the key.
Mike will ask Bob Havner if he can cover the Astronomy
class.
Fremont Peak star party BBQ is next month. Mike made a
motion to donate $100 to FPOA for the BBQ. The motion was
seconded by Rob. There were no abstentions or objections.
-------------------------------------
PA System
-------------------------------------
Rob picked up a cordless Mike and speakers that we will
try tonight.
-------------------------------------
SJAA Announce and Chat Lists
-------------------------------------
There was some discussion about the appropriateness of
each list for different kinds of communications. The
controversy from one person was around the posting of a
job recently to the announce list. Another person noted
that the job was "astronomy related" and therefore appropriate.
From robhawley at earthlink.net Mon Jul 10 23:44:48 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] July 8, 2006 - Draft SJAA Board Meeting Minutes
In-Reply-To: <20060711054257.33068.qmail@web53802.mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <00cb01c6a4b5$8159a710$0300a8c0@robathome>
> Houge park
We have had bad luck with fog also.
> The software will also print a bar code for the bundles
> and the bins and tell you where to put the rubber bands.
You do not need barcodes unless you use ZIP+4. We currently do not. ZIP+4
is a longer discussion.
Rob Hawley
From wb6yru at aenet.net Tue Jul 11 02:07:15 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Calendar 2007 -- first draft
In-Reply-To: <44B2FD83.2A76@svpal.org>
References: <44B2FD83.2A76@svpal.org>
Message-ID: <44B36A43.3090805@aenet.net>
Jim Van Nuland wrote:
> THE OTHER big decision is whether to keep the ATM workshop as it is,
> cut it to 1/month, or drop it. Attendance is so low that I would vote
> to drop it.
I'm one of two still there (part of the time) working on a
mirror, and I have to agree.
The two of us are nearly done with our mirrors. As far as
I know, there are no plans to expand the ATM class beyond
mirror making. So it's tough to justify keeping it going
as is. It should have more of a definite start and end.
The ATM workshop is on the calendar through December, how
about we end it there and re-evaluate how to do it for the
future?
I'd like to see it expanded well beyond just mirror making,
but Houge isn't well suited to that. For that matter, it's
not such a hot location for mirror making either, but we
manage.
The last general meeting gave me some good pointers for the
mirror cell. :)
Gary
From wb6yru at aenet.net Tue Jul 11 02:22:09 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] July 8, 2006 - Draft SJAA Board Meeting Minutes
In-Reply-To: <20060711054257.33068.qmail@web53802.mail.yahoo.com>
References: <20060711054257.33068.qmail@web53802.mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <44B36DC1.2040602@aenet.net>
Craig Scull wrote:
> Draft notes follow... let er' rip... the comments that
> is... / Craig
> -------------------------------------
> Houge Star parties
> -------------------------------------
> Continued bad luck with frogs.
Not to mention the locust, flies, and pestilence! ;)
> -------------------------------------
> School star parties
> -------------------------------------
> No star parties due to clouds. Next one will be in
> August.
There are usually no school star parties during the summer
anyway, clouds or not.
> Fremont Peak star party BBQ is next month. Mike made a
> motion to donate $100 to FPOA for the BBQ. The motion was
> seconded by Rob. There were no abstentions or objections.
I didn't vote on this one, you could call it an abstention.
One last thing... it's normal to note the time when the
meeting ends.
Gary
From craigus at rocketmail.com Tue Jul 11 10:00:05 2006
From: craigus at rocketmail.com (Craig Scull)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] July 8, 2006 - Draft SJAA Board Meeting Minutes
In-Reply-To: <44B36DC1.2040602@aenet.net>
Message-ID: <20060711170005.65440.qmail@web53808.mail.yahoo.com>
I was curious if anyone would notice the "frogs" I
slipped in there.. looks like Gary did
I changed the school star party note to say "There are
usually no school star parties during the summer"
I also added the 1 abstention on the $100 BBQ vote.
At the end I added a note "The meeting was ajourned at
7:50pm"
Per Rob's comment I removed two notes about bar codes and
replaced it with "This program will make the sorting
process easier"
updated notes follow below... /CS
=======================================================
July 8, 2006 - SJAA Board Meeting Minutes - Craig Scull
=======================================================
Reminder 1: Notes should be taken with a text editor to
prevent Microsoft Word copy/paste problems with
apostrophes.
Reminder 2: For all meeting minutes Craig will print out
one copy of the last month's minutes for the upcoming
board meeting and send out a final edited version the
next day.
-------------------------------------
Members present
-------------------------------------
-Mike Koop
-Rob Hawley
-Rich Neuschaefer
-Gary Mitchell
-Bill O'Shaughnessy
-Lee Hoglan
-Gordon Reade
-Craig Scull
-Dave Smith
-------------------------------------
Treasurer's report
-------------------------------------
Checking: 7852.76
Savings: 402.77
CD1: 5076.34
CD2: 5154.00
CD3 (Obs. fund) 3092.40
petty cash 143.50
PayPal 262.00
Total: 21,983.77
-------------------------------------
Membership report
-------------------------------------
Last SJAA Meeting 7/8/2006
Report Date 7/9/2006
expired 48
May-06 7
Jun-06 16
Jul-06 15
Aug-06 19
Sep-06 20
Oct-06 18
Nov-06 16
Dec-06 19
Jan-07 17
Feb-07 25
Mar-07 23
Apr-07 11
May-07 24
Jun-07 53
Jul-07 10
Aug-07 7
more than 13 months 8
complementary 29
expiring 23
paid(current) 285
email delivery 15
Labels Generated 315
S&T Members 184
New Members since last meeting 5
current + complementary 314
-------------------------------------
Loaner scope program
-------------------------------------
Some activity recently. Mike is going to try the solar
scope one more time before spending money to fix it. Web
site photos of scopes have been updated.
-------------------------------------
Observational astronomy class
-------------------------------------
Started late last month, was really hot in building. Will
be doing telescope types talk next month. Akana will do a
sketching class in the future as well along with an
article to help drum up interest. Same 10 people have
been
attending classes.
-------------------------------------
ATM Class
-------------------------------------
Some mirror testing going on. Charles is almost finished
with his 8" which is at approximately 1/4 wave.
-------------------------------------
General Meeting Programs
-------------------------------------
Slide & Equipment night in September. Upcoming meetings
are well planned out right now for speakers. October is
in
progress. There are several leads in process right now.
-------------------------------------
Houge Star parties
-------------------------------------
Continued bad luck with fog. 3rd quarter worked out ok.
Building two (with bathrooms) was left unlocked when Mike
arrived one night, so he locked the doors and asked the
park how to proceed.
Mike paid a $50 cleaning deposit to the powers at be. It
has been paid at 6 month intervals historically, but
instructions from the park have varied. Sometimes we were
asked to pay quarterly. He most recently was asked to pay
a $30 reservation fee at 6 month intervals.
The rules seem to vary depending on who is in charge at
the park.
-------------------------------------
School star parties
-------------------------------------
No star parties due to clouds. Next one will be in
August.
-------------------------------------
Observatory committee
-------------------------------------
Next star party scheduled for Jul 21/22. The August
date is TBD, but highly likely.
We will ask for a donation of $5 per person for the next
star parties to see if we can cover the cost of the port
a potty.
There was a difference of opinion recently as to how many
people would
be invited to attend the July star party. A conclusion
was reached that we should try to accomodate as many
people as possible, a minimum of 30, so that we do not
turn off people from the site entirely and so that we can
make progress toward building a community of interest
around the site that can turn into subscribers.
A composting toilet is losing value as an option because
it requires power and a source of water to spray water
(1/2 gallon) every day - which introduces more points of
failure.
The possibility of private observatories would be a
unique selling proposition for the site.
An alternate plan was proposed for a series of Summer
"mini-calstars" that would give observers an opportunity
for dark-sky observing and it would require no
infrastructure to manage, no insurance, etc. Heat and
dust and a 1 hour longer driving distance are distinct
disadvantages. Overall there was not much interest in
this approach.
Mike put forth a motion to approve the $150 port a potty
fee per star party for the upcoming July and August star
parties. The motion was seconded by Rich with no
objections or abstentions. Rob will make the call next
week and we will begin taking reservations.
One idea discussed was to have private observories that
consisted of shipping containers. A shipping container
might also be used for a toilet.
The easement is still an open issue which will impact
insurance and MOA.
-------------------------------------
Calstar
-------------------------------------
Rolling along just fine so far.
-------------------------------------
Ephemeris distribution
-------------------------------------
The last team has officially resigned. Rob and Mike have
looked into a new system called Postage Saver Pro which
costs $50. A specialized sort (not just by zip code) is
necessary for bulk mail along with a lot of arcane
sorting
rules. This program will make the sorting process easier,
will print the labels, etc. Converting the zip codes to 9
digits will also be necessary. The post office offers a
class on how to do bulk mail that will be attended - it
really is that complicated!
The software will also tell you where to put the rubber
bands.
Bill made a motion to spend $50 for Postage Saver Pro and
the motion was seconded by Rich with no abstentions or
objections.
There was some discussion about the notice Rob submitted
to the ephemeris that people would have the option to
receive an electronic copy of the newsletter and that new
members would receive the electronic version by default.
Rob pulled the notice due to some gripes by a few people.
The final decision on this topic was not made, but the
general feeling was that the board still felt this was
the
right direction to go in.
To process the next batch of newsletters Bill will do
pickup and Mike and Gary and all will meet at Monday the
24th at 7:30pm. Rob may or may not be able to attend.
-------------------------------------
Coyote star party
-------------------------------------
Last week's star party went well, there were 10-12 scopes
and the BBQ went well. There were 30-40 people there. The
park ranger seemed happy. Next star party is the 29th
this month.
-------------------------------------
Calendar
-------------------------------------
ATM class on the 13th of this month, Gary will most
likely be able to cover it.
Many things going on, on the 21st. Rich could go to the
Hoagie park star party on Friday. Bill may be able to
attend and Gordon can definitely make it and can carry
the key.
Mike will ask Bob Havner if he can cover the Astronomy
class.
Fremont Peak star party BBQ is next month. Mike made a
motion to donate $100 to FPOA for the BBQ. The motion was
seconded by Rob. There was 1 abstention and no
objections.
-------------------------------------
PA System
-------------------------------------
Rob picked up a cordless Mike and speakers that we will
try tonight.
-------------------------------------
SJAA Announce and Chat Lists
-------------------------------------
There was some discussion about the appropriateness of
each list for different kinds of communications. The
controversy from one person was around the posting of a
job recently to the announce list. Another person noted
that the job was "astronomy related" and therefore
appropriate.
The meeting was ajourned at 7:50pm
From robhawley at earthlink.net Tue Jul 11 11:32:48 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA Membership Database now under source control
Message-ID: <00f301c6a518$69921fa0$0300a8c0@robathome>
Actually the exported csv output is what is actually under change control.
This means that I can track each change made to the database. It is more
efficient than just maintaining multiple copies and insures nothing gets
lost.
I am using the RCS tool used to also track changes in the programs.
Rob Hawley
From robhawley at earthlink.net Tue Jul 11 11:41:10 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] July 8, 2006 - Draft SJAA Board Meeting Minutes
In-Reply-To: <20060711170005.65440.qmail@web53808.mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <00f701c6a519$94462bf0$0300a8c0@robathome>
> will print the labels, etc. Converting the zip codes to 9
> digits will also be necessary. The post office offers a
> class on how to do bulk mail that will be attended - it
> really is that complicated!
Converting to 9 digit ZIP codes is not necessary unless we decide to adopt
one of the more automated types of bulk mail.
Following the meeting I researched this further and provided more
information. The sentence above is all that should be stated if the minutes
are to reflect what happened at the meeting.
Rob Hawley
From pkohlmil at best.com Tue Jul 11 21:29:47 2006
From: pkohlmil at best.com (Paul Kohlmiller)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] ZIP+4 and mail savings
References: <000301c6a38d$64c97b80$0300a8c0@robathome><20060709164551.D40342@koopm.best.vwh.net>
<44B21FDA.9060703@aenet.net>
Message-ID: <002301c6a56b$cf611e50$0400a8c0@eclipsys.lan>
Regarding moving up the deadline for the Ephemeris. I did a check of other
area astronomy clubs.
SFAA deadline is the 20th of the month
Eastbay is the 22nd
San Mateo is the 15th
I think I got these correct and that all three print a paper version and
create a PDF version. Not all expect to have the newletter delivered by the
first.
I have not found one that is as early as the 10th but please let me know if
you find one.
Paul K
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary Mitchell"
To: "Business list for SJAA board of directors and members"
Sent: Monday, July 10, 2006 2:37 AM
Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] ZIP+4 and mail savings
> Michael Koop wrote:
>
>> Anything we can do to get the Ephemeris earlier to our members we should
>> try to do.
>
> There are easier ways... going to first class postage would
> do it. Or simply moving the deadline of the Ephemeris a
> week earlier would get it in people's hands sooner.
>
>> I do not know if the way the Ephemeris is folded is compatible with the
>> machines. We may need to seal the issue with USPS approved sticker or
>> tape. Hopefully that question can be answered in the local bulk mail
>> class.
>
> We've been doing it current way with bulk mail all along.
>
> If we fasten them closed, stapling is OK, so is tape or
> stickers (just so long as it stays put).
>
> I once asked them about that (for another club), they
> said either way is fine, but suggested stapling may be
> the easier way to fasten, especially if it's being done
> by hand.
>
> Gary
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SJAABoard mailing list
> SJAABoard@sjaa.net
> http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard
From craigus at rocketmail.com Tue Jul 11 21:36:16 2006
From: craigus at rocketmail.com (Craig Scull)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] July 21/22 Dark Sky Party at Willow Springs
Message-ID: <20060712043616.17782.qmail@web53812.mail.yahoo.com>
Just in case you haven't received this 5 times already
from other sources... /Craig
Join the San Jose Astronomy Association and Bob Ayers
on Friday and Saturday July 21/22 for some serious deep
sky observing.
In May we had an attendee-count limit and we hit it and
had to turn people away. This time we hope to
accomodate all who wish to attend by getting creative
with the space and transportation options. We may open
additional areas or encourage car-pooling.
PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED so please send an email
to craig@funastro.com so we know how many are coming.
We need to know so we can prepare the site and, if
necessary, encourage car-pooling.
This will be a free star party.
The site? Bob's 40-acres of ridgetop land in "Willow
Springs" southeast of Hollister at 3000 feet in the
Diablo Range, two hours drive from San Jose.
How dark is it? The light pollution maps say it's a
full magnitude darker than Fremont Peak:
http://www.sjaa.net/ws/light-pollution-map.html
What can you expect to see?
The darkness of the sky makes it possible to see an
amazing amount of naked eye detail in the Milky Way.
Simple 8x40 binoculars will give even more remarkable
views. We even think we have seen the Milky Way cast
our shadow against Bob's white shipping container.
These reports are confirmed by other Willow Springs
observers. The SQM is 21.5 as compared to 21.9 for the
Texas Star Party, but the above observations are more
informative than any number we could give you.
If the weather-pattern is normal, it will stay warm
at the site all night and the seeing will be very good
after 10 pm or so.
How do you get there?
We'll be sending a "directions" flyer to the registered
attendees the week before the star party.
The last 2 miles are dirt road, but everybody made it
up there OK in May, so we don't think you will have
any problems ;)
The SJAA will provide a rented toilet at the site (a
$5 donation is suggested to help cover the $160 cost).
We invite you to camp overnight (we certainly plan to
do this). There is no running water or other amenities
at the site so be sure to bring your own.
The terrain at the site is pleasant during the day
and early evening, although summertime temperatures
can be hot.
Consider arriving early enough to walk around and
enjoy the scenery:
http://www.sjaa.net/ws/ridge_panorama.jpg
Craig Scull
on behalf of the SJAA, Bob Ayers and Rob Hawley
From wb6yru at aenet.net Tue Jul 11 23:55:46 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] July 8, 2006 - Draft SJAA Board Meeting Minutes
In-Reply-To: <00cb01c6a4b5$8159a710$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <00cb01c6a4b5$8159a710$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <44B49CF2.2070807@aenet.net>
Rob Hawley wrote:
>>The software will also print a bar code for the bundles
>>and the bins and tell you where to put the rubber bands.
>
>
> You do not need barcodes unless you use ZIP+4. We currently do not. ZIP+4
> is a longer discussion.
You don't need bar codes at all, whether you use zip+4 or
not. It's good to have zip+4 regardless, it helps speed
delivery.
Gary
From wb6yru at aenet.net Wed Jul 12 02:28:20 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] changes to the auction and swap rules
Message-ID: <44B4C0B4.8090304@aenet.net>
Regarding the SJAA auction and swap: Rob mentioned that a
mandatory sales commission is not tax deductible for sellers,
but a voluntary donation would be.
Now, how do we want to word this on our swap/auction forms?
Switching from a required commission to a voluntary donation
changes everything. Sellers could theoretically pay whatever
they want. We currently limit the commission to $50 per item
or $500 total. But with a suggested donation amount, each
person is free to put whatever limits they like. Do we even
need to mention limits at all any more? I personally think
not, and omitting those would simplify the forms somewhat.
But it's up to the board. Do we want to suggest limits on
the donation? Or is it enough to just make the ten percent
a suggested donation amount? (I favor the latter.)
Gary
From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Jul 12 08:17:43 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] changes to the auction and swap rules
In-Reply-To: <44B4C0B4.8090304@aenet.net>
Message-ID: <001201c6a5c6$52cb7150$0300a8c0@robathome>
I thought about this the other day. We could ask everyone what was the
maximum they wanted to contribute on their person registration. We would
have to be clear that did not include items that were donated to SJAA
I think we should change the item form
_____________________________
| _ Donate Entire |
| |_| Item to SJAA |
| or |
| ____ |
| | | % of Sale to Donate |
| | | 10% is recommended|
|__|____|_____________________|
We are going to have to rely on peer pressure to make sure we don't get
stiffed.
I plan to organize the sales receipt as follows
Donations
{ How to deduct gobbledygook}
Sales
{ How to deduct gobbledygook}
Purchases
Subtotal
Sales Taxes
Total
{SJAA is a 501 yada yada}
Rob Hawley
From north at znet.com Wed Jul 12 09:08:03 2006
From: north at znet.com (Dave North)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] July 8, 2006 - Draft SJAA Board Meeting Minutes
In-Reply-To: <44B49CF2.2070807@aenet.net>
References: <00cb01c6a4b5$8159a710$0300a8c0@robathome>
<44B49CF2.2070807@aenet.net>
Message-ID:
Gary:
> It's good to have zip+4 regardless, it helps speed delivery.
I included those when the member supplied the information, but never
looked it up. Just FYI.
Dave
From pkohlmil at best.com Wed Jul 12 10:32:33 2006
From: pkohlmil at best.com (Paul Kohlmiller)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] August Ephemeris Proofread
Message-ID: <003e01c6a5d9$2d884770$0800a8c0@PKHPXPP>
The August Ephemeris is ready for review. You can see it here:
http://ephemeris.sjaa.net/0608/EphAug06.pdf
PK
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From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Jul 12 10:37:41 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] July 8, 2006 - Draft SJAA Board Meeting Minutes
In-Reply-To:
Message-ID: <002d01c6a5d9$e0a73aa0$0300a8c0@robathome>
I am going to make a pass to convert all of the addresses to USPS standards
and to add ZIP+4. I am just not committing to when I am going to do it.
It sounds like the old team did not extensively massage my CSV file. They
just upper cased and sorted it. No bands or other internal fanciness. The
program is going to be overkill. It still might be convenient to have the
USPS payment form already to go, but I will leave that to whoever is
responsible for the final delivery.
One small problem is that my printer has a broken part that leaves the
labels lightly printed on one side. It would be best if someone else
(preferably with a laser) printed the labels. I can probably send the
labels as PDFs so there would be no software dependencies.
Rob Hawley
From pkohlmil at best.com Wed Jul 12 10:38:23 2006
From: pkohlmil at best.com (Paul Kohlmiller)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] August Ephemeris
Message-ID: <005301c6a5d9$fd543b80$0800a8c0@PKHPXPP>
Sorry for the extra e-mail. The August Ephemeris will go to the printer on Friday morning so please send comments before then.
http://ephemeris.sjaa.net/0608/EphAug06.pdf
Thanks,
Paul K
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From wb6yru at aenet.net Wed Jul 12 21:30:31 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] July 8, 2006 - Draft SJAA Board Meeting Minutes
In-Reply-To: <002d01c6a5d9$e0a73aa0$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <002d01c6a5d9$e0a73aa0$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <44B5CC67.1050804@aenet.net>
Rob Hawley wrote:
> One small problem is that my printer has a broken part that leaves the
> labels lightly printed on one side. It would be best if someone else
> (preferably with a laser) printed the labels. I can probably send the
> labels as PDFs so there would be no software dependencies.
That would work only if the person printing uses the same
labels. Otherwise things might not line up.
If they're text only (no bar codes), I'll give it a shot.
Just send the list to me with one blank line between each
address. I've already got labels.
Gary
From wb6yru at aenet.net Wed Jul 12 21:40:50 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] changes to the auction and swap rules
In-Reply-To: <001201c6a5c6$52cb7150$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <001201c6a5c6$52cb7150$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <44B5CED2.7090303@aenet.net>
Rob Hawley wrote:
> I thought about this the other day. We could ask everyone what was the
> maximum they wanted to contribute on their person registration. We would
> have to be clear that did not include items that were donated to SJAA
>
> I think we should change the item form
>
> _____________________________
> | _ Donate Entire |
> | |_| Item to SJAA |
> | or |
> | ____ |
> | | | % of Sale to Donate |
> | | | 10% is recommended|
> |__|____|_____________________|
Do I take it you agree we should do away with the limits?
($50 on one item, $500 total.)
I could make up a sample and bring it to the next meeting.
Gary
From jvn at svpal.org Wed Jul 12 23:40:51 2006
From: jvn at svpal.org (Jim Van Nuland)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] August Ephemeris
References: <005301c6a5d9$fd543b80$0800a8c0@PKHPXPP>
Message-ID: <44B5EAF3.7B95@svpal.org>
Paul Kohlmiller wrote:
>
> Sorry for the extra e-mail. The August Ephemeris will go to the
> printer on Friday morning so please send comments before then.
> http://ephemeris.sjaa.net/0608/EphAug06.pdf
There is an ATM Workshop on Sep.2 -- it's not listed on Page 1.
Unless Mike has cancelled it....
--
Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association
JVN's web site
From robhawley at earthlink.net Fri Jul 14 07:18:37 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] RE:labels
In-Reply-To: <44B5CC67.1050804@aenet.net>
Message-ID: <011d01c6a750$662bb300$0300a8c0@robathome>
It looks like I am going to be printing the labels for this round. We can
discuss at the next board meeting who should do it in the future.
Rob Hawley
From craigus at rocketmail.com Sun Jul 16 23:04:55 2006
From: craigus at rocketmail.com (Craig Scull)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Re: July 21/22 Dark Sky Party at Willow Springs
Message-ID: <20060717060455.18320.qmail@web53808.mail.yahoo.com>
Is anyone else from the board attending besides Rob and
I?
If you're even entertaining the idea of coming, please
let me know so we can plan for enough space for you.
thanks
Craig
--- Craig Scull wrote:
> Just in case you haven't received this 5 times already
> from other sources... /Craig
>
> Join the San Jose Astronomy Association and Bob Ayers
> on Friday and Saturday July 21/22 for some serious deep
> sky observing.
>
> In May we had an attendee-count limit and we hit it and
> had to turn people away. This time we hope to
> accomodate all who wish to attend by getting creative
> with the space and transportation options. We may open
> additional areas or encourage car-pooling.
>
> PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED so please send an email
> to craig@funastro.com so we know how many are coming.
> We need to know so we can prepare the site and, if
> necessary, encourage car-pooling.
>
> This will be a free star party.
>
> The site? Bob's 40-acres of ridgetop land in "Willow
> Springs" southeast of Hollister at 3000 feet in the
> Diablo Range, two hours drive from San Jose.
>
> How dark is it? The light pollution maps say it's a
> full magnitude darker than Fremont Peak:
> http://www.sjaa.net/ws/light-pollution-map.html
>
> What can you expect to see?
> The darkness of the sky makes it possible to see an
> amazing amount of naked eye detail in the Milky Way.
> Simple 8x40 binoculars will give even more remarkable
> views. We even think we have seen the Milky Way cast
> our shadow against Bob's white shipping container.
>
> These reports are confirmed by other Willow Springs
> observers. The SQM is 21.5 as compared to 21.9 for the
> Texas Star Party, but the above observations are more
> informative than any number we could give you.
>
> If the weather-pattern is normal, it will stay warm
> at the site all night and the seeing will be very good
> after 10 pm or so.
>
> How do you get there?
> We'll be sending a "directions" flyer to the registered
> attendees the week before the star party.
> The last 2 miles are dirt road, but everybody made it
> up there OK in May, so we don't think you will have
> any problems ;)
>
> The SJAA will provide a rented toilet at the site (a
> $5 donation is suggested to help cover the $160 cost).
>
> We invite you to camp overnight (we certainly plan to
> do this). There is no running water or other amenities
> at the site so be sure to bring your own.
>
> The terrain at the site is pleasant during the day
> and early evening, although summertime temperatures
> can be hot.
>
> Consider arriving early enough to walk around and
> enjoy the scenery:
> http://www.sjaa.net/ws/ridge_panorama.jpg
>
> Craig Scull
> on behalf of the SJAA, Bob Ayers and Rob Hawley
>
From rnapo at znet.com Mon Jul 17 14:24:25 2006
From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Re: July 21/22 Dark Sky Party at Willow Springs
References: <20060717060455.18320.qmail@web53808.mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <000801c6a9e7$626a9710$36f71345@180edt>
Hi Craig,
Please put me down as "very likely" to go to Willow Springs.
Thanks,
Rich
> Is anyone else from the board attending besides Rob and
> I?
>
> If you're even entertaining the idea of coming, please
> let me know so we can plan for enough space for you.
>
> thanks
> Craig
>
>
>
> --- Craig Scull wrote:
>
> > Just in case you haven't received this 5 times already
> > from other sources... /Craig
> >
> > Join the San Jose Astronomy Association and Bob Ayers
> > on Friday and Saturday July 21/22 for some serious deep
> > sky observing.
> >
> > In May we had an attendee-count limit and we hit it and
> > had to turn people away. This time we hope to
> > accomodate all who wish to attend by getting creative
> > with the space and transportation options. We may open
> > additional areas or encourage car-pooling.
> >
> > PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED so please send an email
> > to craig@funastro.com so we know how many are coming.
> > We need to know so we can prepare the site and, if
> > necessary, encourage car-pooling.
> >
> > This will be a free star party.
> >
> > The site? Bob's 40-acres of ridgetop land in "Willow
> > Springs" southeast of Hollister at 3000 feet in the
> > Diablo Range, two hours drive from San Jose.
> >
> > How dark is it? The light pollution maps say it's a
> > full magnitude darker than Fremont Peak:
> > http://www.sjaa.net/ws/light-pollution-map.html
> >
> > What can you expect to see?
> > The darkness of the sky makes it possible to see an
> > amazing amount of naked eye detail in the Milky Way.
> > Simple 8x40 binoculars will give even more remarkable
> > views. We even think we have seen the Milky Way cast
> > our shadow against Bob's white shipping container.
> >
> > These reports are confirmed by other Willow Springs
> > observers. The SQM is 21.5 as compared to 21.9 for the
> > Texas Star Party, but the above observations are more
> > informative than any number we could give you.
> >
> > If the weather-pattern is normal, it will stay warm
> > at the site all night and the seeing will be very good
> > after 10 pm or so.
> >
> > How do you get there?
> > We'll be sending a "directions" flyer to the registered
> > attendees the week before the star party.
> > The last 2 miles are dirt road, but everybody made it
> > up there OK in May, so we don't think you will have
> > any problems ;)
> >
> > The SJAA will provide a rented toilet at the site (a
> > $5 donation is suggested to help cover the $160 cost).
> >
> > We invite you to camp overnight (we certainly plan to
> > do this). There is no running water or other amenities
> > at the site so be sure to bring your own.
> >
> > The terrain at the site is pleasant during the day
> > and early evening, although summertime temperatures
> > can be hot.
> >
> > Consider arriving early enough to walk around and
> > enjoy the scenery:
> > http://www.sjaa.net/ws/ridge_panorama.jpg
> >
> > Craig Scull
> > on behalf of the SJAA, Bob Ayers and Rob Hawley
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> SJAABoard mailing list
> SJAABoard@sjaa.net
> http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard
>
From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Jul 19 16:10:16 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Bulk Mail Class becomes invitation to look at our issues
Message-ID: <002a01c6ab88$8008a530$0300a8c0@robathome>
The bulk mail class tomorrow was cancelled because enough people did not
sign up. As an alternative the bulk mail group invited me to stop by and
they would answer any questions I have.
I plan to put a set of questions together later today with two focuses;
what we need to do immediately
what we would need to do for full automation
I think we have a pretty good understanding of what we need to do in the
short term. Still on Mike's suggestion I am going to take a copy of the
Ephemeris, the labels, plus the Postal Saver printouts and verify
everything. I am also going to pick up some trays and tray labels.
The requirements for full automation should be a more interesting
discussion. Among the things we need to know are
Will they accept full automation with only 300-350 pieces?
Is the physical form of the Ephemeris acceptable?
Does my printer produce acceptable bar codes?
How often do we need to give the address list to the CASS vendor to
verify?
Will this add any extra steps to the post production process
(e.g. adding closure tabs or additional binding of group bundles)
Does doing this buy us anything in terms of delivery times?
I have some thoughts on each of these points based on my reading, but I am
going to wait until I actually talk to the PO and only present the accurate
info. If anyone has anymore questions then please send them to me.
Rob Hawley
From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Thu Jul 20 11:53:16 2006
From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Ephemeris Picked up from Printer
Message-ID: <20060720123931.M49644@koopm.best.vwh.net>
They were sitting on the counter at Accuprint for a few days.
I will bring them to the Ephemeris Distribution Meeting on Monday July 24
at Houge, 7:30 PM.
Bill O'Shaughnessy please give me a call.
We need to update your contact information.
Mike
From robhawley at earthlink.net Thu Jul 20 21:01:23 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Meeting Report at Bulk Mail Office (Executive Summary)
Message-ID: <009b01c6ac7a$57e65be0$0300a8c0@robathome>
Most of the people that need to read this are packing for either Willow
Springs or Yosemite. I did want to relay the highlights of what happened
today in the 45 minutes I spent at the Bulk Mail Office.
1. I have all of the supplies we need to successfully prepare the August
Ephemeris. That includes the tray, try labels, covers, and strapping. I can
also give detailed directions where to go to make the delivery.
2. The labels I printed Tuesday night were rejected. I will have to print a
new set on Monday. I now have a plastic ruler that I can verify future
labels and the newsletter.
3. The physical layout of the Ephemeris violates several USPS standards and
needs to be changed. These will not be big changes (e.g. the fold needs to
be on the bottom instead of the top). They are still going to accept the
August Ephemeris in the current form, but they asked that the September
Ephemeris correct these problems.
4. Our slow delivery is due to a number of factors. The Ephemeris itself
may be part of the problem since it may force manual handling at several
stages and defeats some of the automation that could have been applied.
Another problem is the small size of our shipment. We get little benefit
from the presorting since all of our mail has to be routed through the OCR
machines at one of the 3 major post offices. We can't, for example, build a
Los Gatos bundle have it shipped directly to the delivery post office.
5. Adding ZIP+4 without converting to full automation buys us nothing. USPS
ignores the +4 unless the mail has been certified by a standard process and
bar-coded. They do try to add barcodes themselves at the OCR stage, but the
current Ephemeris design does not permit them to do that (another design
problem).
6. We should give full automation a try and see if it buys us anything. To
do that will require the changes to the Ephemeris, the mail list be
certified, our sealing the loose end with approved seals, and giving them 50
test copies so they can validate our production process. After that we can
skip a bunch of steps in future USPS internal processing.
I am going to be writing up a more complete set of findings, but these will
not be available until Monday. The bottom line for the August Ephemeris is
that we have what we need to complete the job.
Rob Hawley
From wb6yru at aenet.net Fri Jul 21 01:20:25 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Meeting Report at Bulk Mail Office (Executive Summary)
In-Reply-To: <009b01c6ac7a$57e65be0$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <009b01c6ac7a$57e65be0$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <44C08E49.1070400@aenet.net>
Rob Hawley wrote:
> Most of the people that need to read this are packing for either Willow
> Springs or Yosemite.
Indeed. For that reason I expect the response to wait a
few days. :)
> 2. The labels I printed Tuesday night were rejected.
I'm interested in knowing exactly why.
> 3. The physical layout of the Ephemeris violates several USPS standards and
> needs to be changed. These will not be big changes (e.g. the fold needs to
> be on the bottom instead of the top).
I'd like to know those details as well. I'm surprised to
hear that about the fold. Is it really that, or because
the bottom isn't sealed with a staple or tape? Both?
> 4. Our slow delivery is due to a number of factors. The Ephemeris itself
> may be part of the problem since it may force manual handling at several
> stages and defeats some of the automation that could have been applied.
> Another problem is the small size of our shipment. We get little benefit
> from the presorting since all of our mail has to be routed through the OCR
> machines at one of the 3 major post offices.
Is the Lundy facility one of those? It sure seems big
enough--that place is a city block long! Anyway, a
little benefit is better than nothing.
If slow delivery is going to be an ongoing problem, I still
think one of the easiest fixes is to just drop 'em in the
mail a little sooner.
> 5. Adding ZIP+4 without converting to full automation buys us nothing. USPS
> ignores the +4 unless the mail has been certified by a standard process and
> bar-coded.
The +4 only comes into play after it reaches the destination
zip anyway. I would guess having the +4 might speed it by
only a day, two at most. No?
> 6. We should give full automation a try and see if it buys us anything.
First we should keep a careful record over two or three
months seeing how long it takes from when a batch gets
dropped in the mail to when they arrive at a few selected
households at a variety of zips. Then when changes are made
we'll have a baseline to compare.
Gary
From bill.oshaughnessy at gmail.com Sun Jul 23 17:29:22 2006
From: bill.oshaughnessy at gmail.com (Bill O'Shaughnessy)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Ephemeris Picked up from Printer
In-Reply-To: <20060720123931.M49644@koopm.best.vwh.net>
References: <20060720123931.M49644@koopm.best.vwh.net>
Message-ID: <7b2584010607231729i268c98c2gb03523042283cbfc@mail.gmail.com>
Mike,
thanks for picking up the Ephemeris. I would have done
it Monday about 1pm and had it in my car to take to Houge.
My phone no. is correct in the Ephemeris and I got this
email.
Clear Skys,
Bill O.
On 7/20/06, Michael Koop wrote:
>
> They were sitting on the counter at Accuprint for a few days.
> I will bring them to the Ephemeris Distribution Meeting on Monday July 24
> at Houge, 7:30 PM.
>
> Bill O'Shaughnessy please give me a call.
> We need to update your contact information.
>
> Mike
>
> _______________________________________________
> SJAABoard mailing list
> SJAABoard@sjaa.net
> http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard
>
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From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Tue Jul 25 10:23:33 2006
From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Aug Ephemeris at Post Office
Message-ID: <20060725112121.M89883@koopm.best.vwh.net>
The August Ephemeris was dropped off at the post office
on Tue. July 25th at 9:30 AM.
Mike
From wb6yru at aenet.net Tue Jul 25 16:02:47 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
Message-ID: <44C6A317.1010909@aenet.net>
We've recently been advised that in order for our auction and
swap commission to be deductible and to avoid the possibility
of it being a business transaction (maybe even involving sales
tax at some point), we must make it a voluntary donation.
In that light, I've re-worded the note at the bottom of the
auction seller's form to read as follows:
| The SJAA commission must be a voluntary donation for tax reasons.
| 10% of sales is the recommended amount, more is welcome. The
| commission is tax deductible, SJAA is a 501(c)3 non-profit
| corporation. Personal contact information will be kept completely
| confidential within the SJAA. It is collected here just to give us
| a way to contact you in case there are any problems or questions,
| (such as missing parts, etc.).
Is this wording OK, can anyone suggest any changes?
Furthermore, with the "commission" now being a voluntary
donation, I think we can omit the limits on the commission
($50 per item, $500 total). Agreed?
I'll make similar changes to the swap and swap consignment
forms once we settle on the above.
Gary
From robhawley at earthlink.net Tue Jul 25 16:39:41 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Recommendations for Upcoming Ephemeris Production
Message-ID: <004d01c6b043$99edbe30$0300a8c0@robathome>
Last night several of us got together to handle the mail labels for the
August issue. Board members included Mike, myself, Bill, Gary, and Gordon.
Paul Kohlmiller was also there along with Bob from the previous crew and a
member volunteer. That was a quorum of the board, but we wanted to hold an
e-mail vote before some of the action items were implemented.
I presented my results of the meeting I had at the Bulk Mail Office. The
Post Office's basic recommendation was that the closer the mail followed the
rules of full automation the more likely it was that it would not be
delayed. Adopting full automation gives us the best chance at solving the
delivery time problem. It will likely cost us slightly more money even
though the actual mailing costs will be cheaper.
I discussed what would need to happen to adopt full automation. That means
putting barcodes on the mail. Adopting full automation dramatically
decreases the chances that manual handling is required. These steps are
required:
1. Having the fold at the bottom.
2. One seal at the top (assuming we use 24 weight paper)
3. No printing in the lower half of the address page.
4. Being more careful about the location and straightness of the
labels
5. Having the address list certified via a CASS vendor. There is an
internet vendor suggested by the bulk mail program we are evaluating.
6. Printing 50 extra copies of the revised Ephemeris, labeling them,
and submitting the samples to the PO.
7. Try a few sample months of full automation. The earliest we
could do this would be the September or October issues. In the mean time we
could try to collect delivery statistics so we have a baseline.
The process we used last night was to give everyone a printed mail sheet and
have them put the labels from that sheet on a stack of papers preserving the
label order. That worked fairly well, but it would have been better if the
pages were broken according to the trays. Bob also suggested that two
people might work more efficiently than 8.
One major difference of using full automation is that the address list has
to be certified via CASS. The CASS certification on any single address lasts
for 180 days. Since some amount of the database changes from month to month
how do we handle it? We could recertify every month, but that costs $10 and
adds a couple days to the critical path of the production process. The PO
suggested that we cull the changed addresses and send them as Machinable
Bulk Mail (what we currently use). Mike suggested a simpler alternative
that we just mail the exceptions as first class. Since the number of
expectations is likely small (less than 25) it would make more sense to just
put a stamp on them. We could recertify when the number of exceptions
became too high.
This led to the following action items some of which involve spending money.
1. Rob should purchase the full PostageSaver program (about $50)
2. Rob should do an initial certification of the database (about
$10). The Move18 service to correct addresses is $35 additional which I
believe is not worth it for us.
3. Mike will contact Accuprint and see if they can add seals and
apply the labels
4. Paul will make the changes to the address page of the Ephemeris.
5. Paul will insure that at least 50 extra copies of the Ephemeris
are produced on the next run.
6. Rob will continue to generate the bulk mail package including
printing the mail labels.
7. For the next issue he will also generate test bar-coded labels
and take them to the PO for evaluation. This assumes that Accuprint does not
apply the labels.
8. It was not determined where to meet for the next labeling session
nor were future responsibilities for picking up or labeling the Ephemeris
assigned.
Rob Hawley
From robhawley at earthlink.net Tue Jul 25 17:08:50 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
In-Reply-To: <44C6A317.1010909@aenet.net>
Message-ID: <004f01c6b047$acbfdee0$0300a8c0@robathome>
The receipt will also have something like the following for full donations
"The items above were donated to SJAA and SJAA sold by them. The proceeds of
the sale are listed above for information only. Thank you as this is one of
our largest sources of income.
You may deduct the fair market value of the items which may be higher (or
lower) than what is listed above. Please consult a tax professional for
more information."
The receipt will also give the no goods or services statement and our tax id
number.
I would say on the form
"SJAA has recently been advised to eliminate our fixed auction commission
and replace it with a voluntary donation. This insures that this donation is
deductible by you and avoids the possibility of it being a taxable business
transaction for us (maybe even involving sales tax at some point). 10% of
sales is the recommended amount, more is welcome. SJAA is a 501(c)3
non-profit
corporation.
If you chose instead to fully donate the item then you may deduct the full
fair market value regardless of the auction outcome. Any items that are not
sold will be returned.
Personal contact information will be kept completely confidential within the
SJAA. It is collected here just to give us a way to contact you in case
there are any problems or questions, (such
as missing parts, etc.)."
Bill's advice did not cover the swap. I wanted to stay out of that. We are
not an active party in the swap so I personally believe there is no problem
there or at least it is a different problem.
Rob Hawley
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sjaaboard-bounces@sjaa.net
> [mailto:sjaaboard-bounces@sjaa.net] On Behalf Of Gary Mitchell
> Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 4:03 PM
> To: SJAA Board
> Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
>
> We've recently been advised that in order for our auction and
> swap commission to be deductible and to avoid the possibility
> of it being a business transaction (maybe even involving
> sales tax at some point), we must make it a voluntary donation.
>
> In that light, I've re-worded the note at the bottom of the
> auction seller's form to read as follows:
>
> | The SJAA commission must be a voluntary donation for tax reasons.
> | 10% of sales is the recommended amount, more is welcome. The
> | commission is tax deductible, SJAA is a 501(c)3 non-profit
> | corporation. Personal contact information will be kept completely
> | confidential within the SJAA. It is collected here just to
> give us a
> | way to contact you in case there are any problems or
> questions, (such
> | as missing parts, etc.).
>
> Is this wording OK, can anyone suggest any changes?
>
> Furthermore, with the "commission" now being a voluntary
> donation, I think we can omit the limits on the commission
> ($50 per item, $500 total). Agreed?
>
> I'll make similar changes to the swap and swap consignment
> forms once we settle on the above.
>
> Gary
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SJAABoard mailing list
> SJAABoard@sjaa.net
> http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard
>
From north at znet.com Tue Jul 25 17:09:09 2006
From: north at znet.com (Dave North)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Recommendations for Upcoming Ephemeris Production
In-Reply-To: <004d01c6b043$99edbe30$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <004d01c6b043$99edbe30$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID:
> Adopting full automation
I would, at this time, point out this is a complicated and tiresome
process that will require constant attention. Which is one way of
saying, probably a mistake.
Which would be harder, to mail sooner or do all this stuff?
In a previous era, the deadline was the 10th, the Ephemeris went to
Accuprint the 11th, was printed generally by the 13th and in the P.O.
by the 15th or so. It's worth noting that the deadline was mostly a
formality; few people submitted anything and Mike was never on time
with the loaner program information (not that it was critical; it was
just usually an extra month behind).
The deadline of 10th of the month is merely tradition. If you could
solve this same problem by moving the deadline up, or producing a bit
more rapidly, either would probably be a simpler solution. Most of the
Ephemeris is set well ahead of time, and moving the deadline to the
first would not be onerous.
Just some thoughts to ignore.
Dave
From robhawley at earthlink.net Tue Jul 25 17:17:19 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Recommendations for Upcoming Ephemeris Production
In-Reply-To:
Message-ID: <005101c6b048$dbc60740$0300a8c0@robathome>
At this point it is only something we have decided it is worthwhile to try.
If it does not improve the delivery times to non 950 and 951 zips then it
will be abandoned.
I am already on record of what my preferred solution is.
Rob Hawley
From jvn at svpal.org Tue Jul 25 18:27:42 2006
From: jvn at svpal.org (Jim Van Nuland)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Occult knowledge -- Forms CT-2 and 990
Message-ID: <44C6C50E.7EE3@svpal.org>
Hi, Gary, All,
I just got a nice letter from the IRS, asking about IRS Form 990. We
are not required to file 990, because our gross income is under the
limit, $25,000/year, and they acknowledge that; but they'd like a
quickie report, basically stating that our gross income is still small.
Along with "yes", they ask for our gross income for the most recent
reporting year, and for our present net worth.
I can give it to you at a coming event, which would be the Houge Park
star party on Aug.4. They ask for a reply by Aug.17, so that's time
enough, especially as you can generate the above two numbers ahead of
time.
I went looking for an old one, that I might have filed years ago, but
didn't find it on the floppy disks. So presumably it would be prior to
1983.
What I DID find is Form CT-2, sent to the California Department of
Justice, which I filed on November 4, 1997 and which is due every 10
years (I have one from 1987, too). It includes a copy of IRS 990 but
the latter was not sent to the IRS.
Do you have that in the treasurer's file? It was a cover letter, the
form, and about 3 pages of attachments. If not, I'll copy what I have
and you can keep it in your file.
--
Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association
JVN's web site
PS: I'm sending this to the Board list, instead of Gary, so that
more people are aware of these filing requirements.
From rnapo at znet.com Tue Jul 25 19:46:29 2006
From: rnapo at znet.com (Rich N)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Recommendations for Upcoming Ephemeris Production
References: <004d01c6b043$99edbe30$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <000601c6b05d$b3b66500$b0f71345@180edt>
Hi Rob,
I suggest we revisit greatly reducing the number of hard copies of SJAA newsletter.
Rich
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rob Hawley"
To: "Sjaaboard"
Cc: "Kohlmiller, Paul"
Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 4:39 PM
Subject: [SJAABoard] Recommendations for Upcoming Ephemeris Production
> Last night several of us got together to handle the mail labels for the
> August issue. Board members included Mike, myself, Bill, Gary, and Gordon.
> Paul Kohlmiller was also there along with Bob from the previous crew and a
> member volunteer. That was a quorum of the board, but we wanted to hold an
> e-mail vote before some of the action items were implemented.
>
> I presented my results of the meeting I had at the Bulk Mail Office. The
> Post Office's basic recommendation was that the closer the mail followed the
> rules of full automation the more likely it was that it would not be
> delayed. Adopting full automation gives us the best chance at solving the
> delivery time problem. It will likely cost us slightly more money even
> though the actual mailing costs will be cheaper.
>
> I discussed what would need to happen to adopt full automation. That means
> putting barcodes on the mail. Adopting full automation dramatically
> decreases the chances that manual handling is required. These steps are
> required:
>
> 1. Having the fold at the bottom.
>
> 2. One seal at the top (assuming we use 24 weight paper)
>
> 3. No printing in the lower half of the address page.
>
> 4. Being more careful about the location and straightness of the
> labels
>
> 5. Having the address list certified via a CASS vendor. There is an
> internet vendor suggested by the bulk mail program we are evaluating.
>
> 6. Printing 50 extra copies of the revised Ephemeris, labeling them,
> and submitting the samples to the PO.
>
> 7. Try a few sample months of full automation. The earliest we
> could do this would be the September or October issues. In the mean time we
> could try to collect delivery statistics so we have a baseline.
>
>
> The process we used last night was to give everyone a printed mail sheet and
> have them put the labels from that sheet on a stack of papers preserving the
> label order. That worked fairly well, but it would have been better if the
> pages were broken according to the trays. Bob also suggested that two
> people might work more efficiently than 8.
>
>
> One major difference of using full automation is that the address list has
> to be certified via CASS. The CASS certification on any single address lasts
> for 180 days. Since some amount of the database changes from month to month
> how do we handle it? We could recertify every month, but that costs $10 and
> adds a couple days to the critical path of the production process. The PO
> suggested that we cull the changed addresses and send them as Machinable
> Bulk Mail (what we currently use). Mike suggested a simpler alternative
> that we just mail the exceptions as first class. Since the number of
> expectations is likely small (less than 25) it would make more sense to just
> put a stamp on them. We could recertify when the number of exceptions
> became too high.
>
> This led to the following action items some of which involve spending money.
>
> 1. Rob should purchase the full PostageSaver program (about $50)
>
> 2. Rob should do an initial certification of the database (about
> $10). The Move18 service to correct addresses is $35 additional which I
> believe is not worth it for us.
>
> 3. Mike will contact Accuprint and see if they can add seals and
> apply the labels
>
> 4. Paul will make the changes to the address page of the Ephemeris.
>
> 5. Paul will insure that at least 50 extra copies of the Ephemeris
> are produced on the next run.
>
> 6. Rob will continue to generate the bulk mail package including
> printing the mail labels.
>
> 7. For the next issue he will also generate test bar-coded labels
> and take them to the PO for evaluation. This assumes that Accuprint does not
> apply the labels.
>
> 8. It was not determined where to meet for the next labeling session
> nor were future responsibilities for picking up or labeling the Ephemeris
> assigned.
>
>
>
>
> Rob Hawley
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SJAABoard mailing list
> SJAABoard@sjaa.net
> http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard
>
From wb6yru at aenet.net Wed Jul 26 00:29:14 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Recommendations for Upcoming Ephemeris Production
In-Reply-To: <004d01c6b043$99edbe30$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <004d01c6b043$99edbe30$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <44C719CA.2070107@aenet.net>
Rob Hawley wrote:
> Adopting full automation gives us the best chance at solving the
> delivery time problem. It will likely cost us slightly more money even
> though the actual mailing costs will be cheaper.
Not to mention the added effort.
I still haven't heard any explanation why we can't effectively
speed delivery just by making our mailing date a few days
sooner, yet everyone seems willing to jump through all these
postal hoops to speed the processing after it enters the mail
system.
> 3. Mike will contact Accuprint and see if they can add seals and
> apply the labels
That should be *print* the addresses, not apply labels. We
don't want to pay them to do what we were doing last night.
It can be done, I've got a newsletter in my hands right now
from the International Dark-Sky Association with the address
label printed directly. It looks like they're using full
machinable addressing too ("machinable" is the magic word,
isn't it?), complete with bar-codes.
Gary
From wb6yru at aenet.net Wed Jul 26 01:27:44 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Occult knowledge -- Forms CT-2 and 990
In-Reply-To: <44C6C50E.7EE3@svpal.org>
References: <44C6C50E.7EE3@svpal.org>
Message-ID: <44C72780.2080500@aenet.net>
Jim Van Nuland wrote:
> Hi, Gary, All,
>
> I just got a nice letter from the IRS, asking about IRS Form 990. We
> are not required to file 990, because our gross income is under the
> limit, $25,000/year, and they acknowledge that; but they'd like a
> quickie report, basically stating that our gross income is still small.
> Along with "yes", they ask for our gross income for the most recent
> reporting year, and for our present net worth.
By "net worth" I assume that means only cash assets. I
don't know the value of our loaner scopes.
> I can give it to you at a coming event, which would be the Houge Park
> star party on Aug.4. They ask for a reply by Aug.17, so that's time
> enough, especially as you can generate the above two numbers ahead of
> time.
>
> I went looking for an old one, that I might have filed years ago, but
> didn't find it on the floppy disks. So presumably it would be prior to
> 1983.
I've got a copy of the one I filed in August of 2002. They
go through great pains to describe what should be included
in gross income, but not in net worth.
> What I DID find is Form CT-2, sent to the California Department of
> Justice, which I filed on November 4, 1997 and which is due every 10
> years (I have one from 1987, too). It includes a copy of IRS 990 but
> the latter was not sent to the IRS.
>
> Do you have that in the treasurer's file?
I've got some stuff, but don't see a Form CT-2.
> It was a cover letter, the
> form, and about 3 pages of attachments. If not, I'll copy what I have
> and you can keep it in your file.
Yes please.
Gary
From wb6yru at aenet.net Wed Jul 26 02:20:08 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
In-Reply-To: <004f01c6b047$acbfdee0$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <004f01c6b047$acbfdee0$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <44C733C8.1090007@aenet.net>
Rob Hawley wrote:
> The receipt will also have something like the following for full donations
>
> "The items above were donated to SJAA and SJAA sold by them. The proceeds of
...SJAA sold by them?
> I would say on the form
>
> "SJAA has recently been advised to eliminate our fixed auction commission
> and replace it with a voluntary donation. This insures that this donation is
> deductible by you and avoids the possibility of it being a taxable business
> transaction for us (maybe even involving sales tax at some point). 10% of
> sales is the recommended amount, more is welcome. SJAA is a 501(c)3
> non-profit
> corporation.
>
> If you chose instead to fully donate the item then you may deduct the full
> fair market value regardless of the auction outcome. Any items that are not
> sold will be returned.
>
> Personal contact information will be kept completely confidential within the
> SJAA. It is collected here just to give us a way to contact you in case
> there are any problems or questions, (such
> as missing parts, etc.)."
It's not going to be possible to put all that on the form
without going to a 6 point typeface. That's pretty small
even for young eyes.
The form is currently half a page with room for four items,
(that's what you guys wanted). If we go to a full page
form, we could increase the space for more items and get all
this legalese in a reasonable typeface. Should I do that?
Another point: people are not going to want to sit there
and do a lot of reading. It's not good to get too verbose
in a case like this. I thought what I had was already a
bit much.
> Bill's advice did not cover the swap. I wanted to stay out of that. We are
> not an active party in the swap so I personally believe there is no problem
> there or at least it is a different problem.
I don't agree--it sure seems like the same thing to me.
We collect a 10 percent commission on sales just like the
auction. The only difference is the sales are done on an
individual basis instead of by auction. We're still the
ones hosting the event. If the commission is compulsory,
how can we call it a deductible donation? That was Bill's
main point, wasn't it?
By the way, how are we going to handle a voluntary donation
commission at the auction? It'll be easy enough to do for
the swap. But the auction program is hard-wired with 10
percent, isn't it?
Gary
> Rob Hawley
>
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: sjaaboard-bounces@sjaa.net
>>[mailto:sjaaboard-bounces@sjaa.net] On Behalf Of Gary Mitchell
>>Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 4:03 PM
>>To: SJAA Board
>>Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
>>
>>We've recently been advised that in order for our auction and
>>swap commission to be deductible and to avoid the possibility
>>of it being a business transaction (maybe even involving
>>sales tax at some point), we must make it a voluntary donation.
>>
>>In that light, I've re-worded the note at the bottom of the
>>auction seller's form to read as follows:
>>
>>| The SJAA commission must be a voluntary donation for tax reasons.
>>| 10% of sales is the recommended amount, more is welcome. The
>>| commission is tax deductible, SJAA is a 501(c)3 non-profit
>>| corporation. Personal contact information will be kept completely
>>| confidential within the SJAA. It is collected here just to
>>give us a
>>| way to contact you in case there are any problems or
>>questions, (such
>>| as missing parts, etc.).
>>
>>Is this wording OK, can anyone suggest any changes?
>>
>>Furthermore, with the "commission" now being a voluntary
>>donation, I think we can omit the limits on the commission
>>($50 per item, $500 total). Agreed?
>>
>>I'll make similar changes to the swap and swap consignment
>>forms once we settle on the above.
>>
>>Gary
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>SJAABoard mailing list
>>SJAABoard@sjaa.net
>>http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard
>>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SJAABoard mailing list
> SJAABoard@sjaa.net
> http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard
>
From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Jul 26 07:36:07 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
In-Reply-To: <44C733C8.1090007@aenet.net>
Message-ID: <007401c6b0c0$d4d70ab0$0300a8c0@robathome>
OK try this
"SJAA no longer charges a mandatory commission. Instead we ask that you
contribute a portion of the sale to SJAA (10% of sales is the recommended
amount, more is welcome). Better yet you can donate the full sale proceeds
to SJAA. All donations are tax deductible. SJAA is a 501(c)3 non-profit
corporation."
The rest I would leave to the Ephemeris article. As far as our collecting
names I would not even go there.
Bill and I did not discuss the swap. Some of the participants are
commercial vendors and we collect a commission from them. Since it did not
affect my auction program I purposefully did not ask. My guess is that you
are likely correct that there are similar issues regarding UBT.
Rob Hawley
From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Jul 26 07:59:12 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Recommendations for Upcoming Ephemeris Production
In-Reply-To: <44C719CA.2070107@aenet.net>
Message-ID: <007801c6b0c4$0f08ee80$0300a8c0@robathome>
> It looks like they're using full
> Machinable addressing too ("Machinable" is the magic word,
> isn't it?), complete with bar-codes.
Full automation is the correct buzz word. We are supposedly already
Machinable.
Rob Hawley
From north at znet.com Wed Jul 26 08:41:28 2006
From: north at znet.com (Dave North)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
In-Reply-To: <007401c6b0c0$d4d70ab0$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <007401c6b0c0$d4d70ab0$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <0b84089ccaf42d976f10529c00e989ae@znet.com>
> Some of the participants are commercial vendors and we collect a
> commission from them.
At least from their point of view, a business expense is actually
better than a donation. It might be best for them if they have the
option of paying a business cost (though I think they can choose to
write it off anyway).
Dave
From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Jul 26 09:36:20 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
In-Reply-To: <0b84089ccaf42d976f10529c00e989ae@znet.com>
Message-ID: <007f01c6b0d1$a0472b70$0300a8c0@robathome>
Like I said I did not even want to open up that can of worms.
If the board really wants an answer then this time they can pay Bill. I was
careful to limit my question to what I needed to complete the auction
program.
Rob Hawley
> -----Original Message-----
>
> At least from their point of view, a business expense is
> actually better than a donation. It might be best for them if
> they have the option of paying a business cost (though I
> think they can choose to write it off anyway).
>
>
> Dave
From pkohlmil at best.com Wed Jul 26 17:00:18 2006
From: pkohlmil at best.com (Paul Kohlmiller)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Recommendations for Upcoming Ephemeris Production
In-Reply-To:
References: <004d01c6b043$99edbe30$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <000701c6b10f$a5a927b0$f0fb7710$@com>
Dave North said:
In a previous era, the deadline was the 10th, the Ephemeris went to
Accuprint the 11th, was printed generally by the 13th and in the P.O.
by the 15th or so.
Gary Mitchell said:
I still haven't heard any explanation why we can't effectively speed
delivery just by making our mailing date a few days sooner, yet everyone
seems willing to jump through all these postal hoops to speed the processing
after it enters the mail system.
Let me try to give that explanation and explain the printer timing.
1. We have one of the earliest cutoff dates of any astronomy club newsletter
in the area - others range from 15th to the 22nd. If anyone knows of one
earlier than ours, please let me know. I haven't done an exhaustive study
but I checked SFAA, EAS and San Mateo.
2. In this era, we try to get the Ephemeris to the printer by the 15th which
Mojo says is about what he did so it has been this way for around 7 years.
3. Most importantly in regards to Gary's question, I don't think we are
trying get the newsletter out a "few" days earlier. The problem isn't that
the newsletter arrives 3, 5 or 7 days late - it's arriving 15, 20 and 25
days late in the 950 area - sometimes.
4. For the August newsletter, 8 items came in. Two came from the 14th of the
previous month, 1 came on the 9th, 3 on the 10th, 1 on the 11th and 1 on the
13th. If we moved up the deadline, perhaps some of those items would arrive
earlier.
Paul K
From north at znet.com Wed Jul 26 17:09:21 2006
From: north at znet.com (Dave North)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Recommendations for Upcoming Ephemeris Production
In-Reply-To: <000701c6b10f$a5a927b0$f0fb7710$@com>
References: <004d01c6b043$99edbe30$0300a8c0@robathome>
<000701c6b10f$a5a927b0$f0fb7710$@com>
Message-ID:
Paul:
> 1. We have one of the earliest cutoff dates of any astronomy club...
Why does this matter? Is there a competition? Just because we've won
already is no reason to rest on our laurels.
> 2. In this era, we try to get the Ephemeris to the printer by the 15th
> which
> Mojo says is about what he did so it has been this way for around 7
> years.
It's been late about that long, too. Mostly, nobody seemed to care much
other than a little grousing here and there. I'm not solidly certain
why people are up in arms about it now. Have the readers been
complaining?
Some of the recent late deliveries have been due to things like (a)
the Ephemeris sitting around at Accuprint for days and days ... things
like that. I wouldn't take too much stock in the last 3-6 months. But
I've said that before.
> 3. Most importantly in regards to Gary's question, I don't think we are
> trying get the newsletter out a "few" days earlier.
I agree. 10-15 should do the job, if it's actually a job that needs
doing.
> 4...
I couldn't parse this part. Sorry.
Dave
From robhawley at earthlink.net Wed Jul 26 18:24:29 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Recommendations for Upcoming Ephemeris Production
In-Reply-To:
Message-ID: <00b501c6b11b$68947170$0300a8c0@robathome>
While this all sounds very scary there are only two potential major and one
minor long term impacts to the process we used for the August Ephemeris.
Major
1. It is bad if we can't get Accuprint to apply the seals. That
will add another step in the production process.
2. The majority of the impact is on me as label printer. Mike's
suggestion of handling non-CASSed addresses as exceptions removes most of
the work and the killer objection for me. My new workflow would be to
evaluate on the first Wends of the month how many non-CASSed addresses we
will be using. If it is more than about 20 then send the database in to be
re CASSed. The entire database will go. There is no cost benefit in
sending only a portion and sending only a portion will be added work**. It
takes a couple of days for the vendor to return the list so I come back to
it next week. The next week it is time to run the labels. I cull out the
non-CASSed addresses into a separate list (very easy) and then generate the
labels pretty much as I did this time. There is one extra step, but that is
really, really easy. I bring the now bar-coded labels to Houge along with
all of the forms filled out for full automation.
Minor
1. We need to be a little more picky of how the labels are applied.
I showed everyone the template. It turns out that you can align the label
to some printing on the reverse side of the last page. It would be helpful
if the table was still printed on the reverse of the address page.
As I currently understand the process everything else is the same as this
time. We apply the stickers, put the mail into three trays in the order of
the printed stickers. We then take it to the PO. The mailing cost is
slightly less. Mike's suggestion means there will be some number of copies
that will get a first class stamp. That is easier than preparing up to 3
more trays to save the couple of dollars of extra postage.
One small change that I will do next time is to make sure each sheet is all
one tray. That will remove one source of confusion that took several
minutes to resolve this time.
Rob Hawley
** This presumes that I can get update queries to work. The documentation
says they do what I want, but I have not had a chance to run a test case.
From wb6yru at aenet.net Thu Jul 27 03:35:13 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Recommendations for Upcoming Ephemeris Production
In-Reply-To: <000701c6b10f$a5a927b0$f0fb7710$@com>
References: <004d01c6b043$99edbe30$0300a8c0@robathome>
<000701c6b10f$a5a927b0$f0fb7710$@com>
Message-ID: <44C896E1.8040104@aenet.net>
Paul Kohlmiller wrote:
> 3. Most importantly in regards to Gary's question, I don't think we are
> trying get the newsletter out a "few" days earlier. The problem isn't that
> the newsletter arrives 3, 5 or 7 days late - it's arriving 15, 20 and 25
> days late in the 950 area - sometimes.
I thought the late delivery recently had something to do
with us not getting it in the mail like usual.
Do you mean to tell me sometimes it takes the post office
nearly a month to deliver just within Santa Clara Valley?!
Even for third class mail, there is NO excuse for that.
Gary
From wb6yru at aenet.net Thu Jul 27 03:35:24 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Recommendations for Upcoming Ephemeris Production
In-Reply-To: <00b501c6b11b$68947170$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <00b501c6b11b$68947170$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <44C896EC.8000604@aenet.net>
Rob Hawley wrote:
> While this all sounds very scary there are only two potential major and one
> minor long term impacts to the process we used for the August Ephemeris.
>
> Major
>
> 1. It is bad if we can't get Accuprint to apply the seals. That
> will add another step in the production process.
>
> 2. The majority of the impact is on me as label printer. Mike's
> suggestion of handling non-CASSed addresses as exceptions removes most of
> the work and the killer objection for me.
Before we get too carried away with all that, maybe we should
just take a step back and look at the larger picture for a
second here...
If I understand correctly, all this recent effort toward
the automated mailing, CASS certification, etc. etc. etc. is
because the post office is taking a whopping 20 or 25 days
in some cases to deliver just within the county. Yes?
Even if our third class mail just barely meets the spec,
there's no justification for that kind of performance.
I'm having a really hard time believing that us going to all
the trouble of making our mailing extra warm and fuzzy to the
postal office machines will fix whatever problem they're
having. All other things being the same, I'd be surprised
if it improved delivery by more than a couple of days.
It will be hard to tell if our efforts are having the desired
effect. I don't remember my Ephemeris showing up very late
until recently. That is, delivery has been reasonable for
a long time, suddenly it's showing up late. What changed?
Gary
From wb6yru at aenet.net Thu Jul 27 03:35:34 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
In-Reply-To: <007401c6b0c0$d4d70ab0$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <007401c6b0c0$d4d70ab0$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <44C896F6.1000901@aenet.net>
Rob Hawley wrote:
> OK try this
>
> "SJAA no longer charges a mandatory commission. Instead we ask that you
> contribute a portion of the sale to SJAA (10% of sales is the recommended
> amount, more is welcome). Better yet you can donate the full sale proceeds
> to SJAA. All donations are tax deductible. SJAA is a 501(c)3 non-profit
> corporation."
OK, well, this hides the reason for the change. Do you
feel this is a better approach than what I had? I was
thinking that if people knew we were sort of force into
it and why, they might be more generous.
> The rest I would leave to the Ephemeris article. As far as our collecting
> names I would not even go there.
Collecting names?
Gary
From robhawley at earthlink.net Thu Jul 27 06:55:43 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
In-Reply-To: <44C896F6.1000901@aenet.net>
Message-ID: <00ef01c6b184$5a845820$0300a8c0@robathome>
The Ephemeris article is the most appropriate place to explain. The form
should be just the facts.
Rob Hawley
From north at znet.com Thu Jul 27 08:40:40 2006
From: north at znet.com (Dave North)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Recommendations for Upcoming Ephemeris Production
In-Reply-To: <44C896EC.8000604@aenet.net>
References: <00b501c6b11b$68947170$0300a8c0@robathome>
<44C896EC.8000604@aenet.net>
Message-ID: <4340951747654826f730ed7b3f486fb3@znet.com>
Gary:
> I don't remember my Ephemeris showing up very late
> until recently. That is, delivery has been reasonable for
> a long time, suddenly it's showing up late. What changed?
A number of systems broke down during the transition period, greatly
exaggerating the situation in recent months. Confusion of where lists
should get mailed, failed notifications of completion, delayed
transport of materials, etc.
Again, no conclusions should be drawn from deliveries in the last few
months, perhaps as many as six. I do not know all the factors myself,
but the ones I do know are quite adequate to have caused late
deliveries, and would not be an issue if things were simply dealt with
promptly.
In fact, if the various internal delays are not dealt with (and I think
they will be), no amount of effort applied to mailing systems will
help.
Dave
From jvn at svpal.org Thu Jul 27 12:49:02 2006
From: jvn at svpal.org (Jim Van Nuland)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
References: <007401c6b0c0$d4d70ab0$0300a8c0@robathome>
<44C896F6.1000901@aenet.net>
Message-ID: <44C918AE.4A4A@svpal.org>
Gary Mitchell wrote:
>
> Rob Hawley wrote:
> > OK try this
> >
> > "SJAA no longer charges a mandatory commission.
Before going further -- maybe I missed something, but -- do we KNOW
for certain that our traditional handling is not correct? Or are we
reading the legalese and concluding that MAYBE we must change our
procedures?
We need a definitive answer, from a real expert. I realize that or
old procedure was not based on legal advice, but that doesn't mean it's
necessarily wrong.
--
Jim Van Nuland, San Jose (California) Astronomical Association
JVN's web site
From robhawley at earthlink.net Thu Jul 27 13:34:50 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
In-Reply-To: <44C918AE.4A4A@svpal.org>
Message-ID: <010701c6b1bc$1c37e130$0300a8c0@robathome>
I consulted the same tax expert that I use for my taxes. I have used him
for 10 years because of his expertise in the obscure provisions of the tax
code that I personally keep bumping into. I paid him $400 for the 2 hours he
spend researching the law and then 3/4 hours discussing the details with me.
I will be claiming this as a non-cash donation to the club.
His detailed analysis was furnished to me under non-disclosure. I am
permitted to share the summary with the board but the details may not be
published on the mail list (he earns his living giving advice). I depend on
his expertise for my income and will enforce his non-disclosure wishes.
With respect to your question I consider this answer definitive.
Rob Hawley
From wb6yru at aenet.net Fri Jul 28 00:29:12 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
In-Reply-To: <010701c6b1bc$1c37e130$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <010701c6b1bc$1c37e130$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <44C9BCC8.8090905@aenet.net>
Rob Hawley wrote:
> I consulted the same tax expert that I use for my taxes. I have used him
> for 10 years because of his expertise in the obscure provisions of the tax
> code that I personally keep bumping into. I paid him $400 for the 2 hours he
> spend researching the law and then 3/4 hours discussing the details with me.
> I will be claiming this as a non-cash donation to the club.
>
> His detailed analysis was furnished to me under non-disclosure. I am
> permitted to share the summary with the board but the details may not be
> published on the mail list (he earns his living giving advice). I depend on
> his expertise for my income and will enforce his non-disclosure wishes.
>
> With respect to your question I consider this answer definitive.
>
> Rob Hawley
Is this about one of my points or Jim's? If you would please always
remember to quote the comment/question that you're referring to, that
would make life easier, and avoid needless follow-ups.
Gary
From robhawley at earthlink.net Fri Jul 28 02:24:58 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
In-Reply-To: <44C9BCC8.8090905@aenet.net>
Message-ID: <002901c6b227$b2445850$0300a8c0@robathome>
This is in reply to Jim's email.
Rob Hawley
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sjaaboard-bounces@sjaa.net
> [mailto:sjaaboard-bounces@sjaa.net] On Behalf Of Gary Mitchell
> Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 12:29 AM
> To: Business list for SJAA board of directors and members
> Subject: Re: [SJAABoard] SJAA auction/swap form
>
> Rob Hawley wrote:
>
> > I consulted the same tax expert that I use for my taxes. I
> have used
> > him for 10 years because of his expertise in the obscure
> provisions of
> > the tax code that I personally keep bumping into. I paid
> him $400 for
> > the 2 hours he spend researching the law and then 3/4 hours
> discussing the details with me.
> > I will be claiming this as a non-cash donation to the club.
> >
> > His detailed analysis was furnished to me under
> non-disclosure. I am
> > permitted to share the summary with the board but the
> details may not
> > be published on the mail list (he earns his living giving
> advice). I
> > depend on his expertise for my income and will enforce his
> non-disclosure wishes.
> >
> > With respect to your question I consider this answer definitive.
> >
> > Rob Hawley
>
> Is this about one of my points or Jim's? If you would please
> always remember to quote the comment/question that you're
> referring to, that would make life easier, and avoid needless
> follow-ups.
>
> Gary
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> SJAABoard mailing list
> SJAABoard@sjaa.net
> http://www.sjaa.net/mailman/listinfo/sjaaboard
>
From robhawley at earthlink.net Fri Jul 28 02:34:13 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Response protocol
In-Reply-To: <44C9BCC8.8090905@aenet.net>
Message-ID: <002b01c6b228$fd615c10$0300a8c0@robathome>
My preferences happen to be different. I would prefer that people trim
their messages to the board list. Remember that everything is logged and we
are taking up room on MoJo's server. Space that is given to us as a
courtesy.
My response was to Jim's question.
Rob Hawley
> Is this about one of my points or Jim's? If you would please
> always remember to quote the comment/question that you're
> referring to, that would make life easier, and avoid needless
> follow-ups.
>
> Gary
From wb6yru at aenet.net Sat Jul 29 01:57:13 2006
From: wb6yru at aenet.net (Gary Mitchell)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Response protocol
In-Reply-To: <002b01c6b228$fd615c10$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <002b01c6b228$fd615c10$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <44CB22E9.30509@aenet.net>
Rob Hawley wrote:
> My preferences happen to be different. I would prefer that people trim
> their messages to the board list. Remember that everything is logged and we
> are taking up room on MoJo's server. Space that is given to us as a
> courtesy.
I'm not saying *everything* needs to be preserved in all responses,
but it's confusing to omit the relevant passages from a follow-up
comment or answer, especially with more than one thread going.
Gary
From robhawley at earthlink.net Sat Jul 29 11:41:22 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Still have not gotten Ephemeris delivery data from many
areas
Message-ID: <003c01c6b33e$9766f890$0300a8c0@robathome>
Please reply off list
The members of this list are pretty well spread across the valley. I have
not gotten any data so far from many zip codes. I am especially interested
in 940xx.
Rob Hawley
From koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net Mon Jul 31 01:00:09 2006
From: koopm at koopm.best.vwh.net (Michael Koop)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Aug Ephemeris Recieved
In-Reply-To: <20060725112121.M89883@koopm.best.vwh.net>
References: <20060725112121.M89883@koopm.best.vwh.net>
Message-ID: <20060731001704.Y89333@koopm.best.vwh.net>
I recieved the Ephemeris on Thurs. July 27th mail, which is usually
dropped off at about 1 PM. Zip 95129 in Tray 2.
Mike
On Tue, 25 Jul 2006, Michael Koop wrote:
> The August Ephemeris was dropped off at the post office
> on Tue. July 25th at 9:30 AM.
>
> Mike
>
>
From reade at batnet.com Mon Jul 31 08:59:03 2006
From: reade at batnet.com (Gordon Reade)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] New Email address "GordonReade@hotmail.com"
In-Reply-To: <002901c6b227$b2445850$0300a8c0@robathome>
References: <002901c6b227$b2445850$0300a8c0@robathome>
Message-ID: <61D26BA8-9FDD-41E5-AB76-8B743DC86982@batnet.com>
Dear Friends
I have been having more and more trouble with my old email account.
So I'm switching over to a new email address,
"GordonReade@hotmail.com". Hopfully that will clear up some of my
problems.
Thank you for your understanding & Clear Skies.
Gordon Reade
From craigus at rocketmail.com Mon Jul 31 18:14:02 2006
From: craigus at rocketmail.com (Craig Scull)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] Note taker needed for upcoming board meeting
Message-ID: <20060801011402.54160.qmail@web53810.mail.yahoo.com>
Hi SJAA'ers,
I am going to be visiting family (I wouldn't call this "vacation") from Aug 3-16 so I am going to have to ask if someone else can take notes during the meeting on the 12th. When I return on the 16 I will have limited internet access because I will babysitting fulltime until Elena returns on the 22nd.
I'll send out the "final" meeting minutes from last month in a moment.
Craig
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From craigus at rocketmail.com Mon Jul 31 18:19:07 2006
From: craigus at rocketmail.com (Craig Scull)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] July 8, 2006 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes
Message-ID: <20060801011907.11771.qmail@web53803.mail.yahoo.com>
Here are the final meeting minutes. This is a good template to use for the upcoming meeting on the 12th... Craig
=======================================================
July 8, 2006 - SJAA Board Meeting Minutes - Craig Scull
=======================================================
Reminder 1: Notes should be taken with a text editor to prevent Microsoft Word copy/paste problems with apostrophes.
Reminder 2: For all meeting minutes Craig will print out one copy of the last month's minutes for the upcoming board meeting and send out a final edited version the next day.
-------------------------------------
Members present
-------------------------------------
-Mike Koop
-Rob Hawley
-Rich Neuschaefer
-Gary Mitchell
-Bill O'Shaughnessy
-Lee Hoglan
-Gordon Reade
-Craig Scull
-Dave Smith
-------------------------------------
Treasurer's report
-------------------------------------
Checking: 7852.76
Savings: 402.77
CD1: 5076.34
CD2: 5154.00
CD3 (Obs. fund) 3092.40
petty cash 143.50
PayPal 262.00
Total: 21,983.77
-------------------------------------
Membership report
-------------------------------------
Last SJAA Meeting 7/8/2006
Report Date 7/9/2006
expired 48
May-06 7
Jun-06 16
Jul-06 15
Aug-06 19
Sep-06 20
Oct-06 18
Nov-06 16
Dec-06 19
Jan-07 17
Feb-07 25
Mar-07 23
Apr-07 11
May-07 24
Jun-07 53
Jul-07 10
Aug-07 7
more than 13 months 8
complementary 29
expiring 23
paid(current) 285
email delivery 15
Labels Generated 315
S&T Members 184
New Members since last meeting 5
current + complementary 314
-------------------------------------
Loaner scope program
-------------------------------------
Some activity recently. Mike is going to try the solar
scope one more time before spending money to fix it. Web
site photos of scopes have been updated.
-------------------------------------
Observational astronomy class
-------------------------------------
Started late last month, was really hot in building. Will
be doing telescope types talk next month. Akana will do a
sketching class in the future as well along with an
article to help drum up interest. Same 10 people have been
attending classes.
-------------------------------------
ATM Class
-------------------------------------
Some mirror testing going on. Charles is almost finished
with his 8" which is at approximately 1/4 wave.
-------------------------------------
General Meeting Programs
-------------------------------------
Slide & Equipment night in September. Upcoming meetings
are well planned out right now for speakers. October is in
progress. There are several leads in process right now.
-------------------------------------
Houge Star parties
-------------------------------------
Continued bad luck with fog. 3rd quarter worked out ok.
Building two (with bathrooms) was left unlocked when Mike
arrived one night, so he locked the doors and asked the
park how to proceed.
Mike paid a $50 cleaning deposit to the powers at be. It has been paid at 6 month intervals historically, but instructions from the park have varied. Sometimes we were asked to pay quarterly. He most recently was asked to pay a $30 reservation fee at 6 month intervals.
The rules seem to vary depending on who is in charge at
the park.
-------------------------------------
School star parties
-------------------------------------
No star parties due to clouds. Next one will be in
August.
-------------------------------------
Observatory committee
-------------------------------------
Next star party scheduled for Jul 21/22. The August
date is TBD, but highly likely.
We will ask for a donation of $5 per person for the next
star parties to see if we can cover the cost of the port
a potty.
There was a difference of opinion recently as to how many people would
be invited to attend the July star party. A conclusion
was reached that we should try to accomodate as many people as possible, a minimum of 30, so that we do not turn off people from the site entirely and so that we can make progress toward building a community of interest around the site that can turn into subscribers.
A composting toilet is losing value as an option because
it requires power and a source of water to spray water
(1/2 gallon) every day - which introduces more points of
failure.
The possibility of private observatories would be a
unique selling proposition for the site.
An alternate plan was proposed for a series of Summer
"mini-calstars" that would give observers an opportunity for dark-sky observing and it would require no infrastructure to manage, no insurance, etc. Heat and dust and a 1 hour longer driving distance are distinct disadvantages. Overall there was not much interest in this approach.
Mike put forth a motion to approve the $150 port a potty
fee per star party for the upcoming July and August star parties. The motion was seconded by Rich with no objections or abstentions. Rob will make the call next week and we will begin taking reservations.
One idea discussed was to have private observories that
consisted of shipping containers. A shipping container
might also be used for a toilet.
The easement is still an open issue which will impact
insurance and MOA.
-------------------------------------
Calstar
-------------------------------------
Rolling along just fine so far.
-------------------------------------
Ephemeris distribution
-------------------------------------
The last team has officially resigned. Rob and Mike have
looked into a new system called Postage Saver Pro which
costs $50. A specialized sort (not just by zip code) is
necessary for bulk mail along with a lot of arcane sorting
rules. This program will make the sorting process easier, will print the labels, etc. Converting the zip codes to 9 digits will also be necessary. The post office offers a class on how to do bulk mail that will be attended - it
really is that complicated!
The software will also tell you where to put the rubber bands.
Bill made a motion to spend $50 for Postage Saver Pro and
the motion was seconded by Rich with no abstentions or
objections.
There was some discussion about the notice Rob submitted
to the ephemeris that people would have the option to
receive an electronic copy of the newsletter and that new
members would receive the electronic version by default.
Rob pulled the notice due to some gripes by a few people.
The final decision on this topic was not made, but the
general feeling was that the board still felt this was the
right direction to go in.
To process the next batch of newsletters Bill will do pickup and Mike and Gary and all will meet at Monday the 24th at 7:30pm. Rob may or may not be able to attend.
-------------------------------------
Coyote star party
-------------------------------------
Last week's star party went well, there were 10-12 scopes
and the BBQ went well. There were 30-40 people there. The
park ranger seemed happy. Next star party is the 29th
this month.
-------------------------------------
Calendar
-------------------------------------
ATM class on the 13th of this month, Gary will most
likely be able to cover it.
Many things going on, on the 21st. Rich could go to the
Hoagie park star party on Friday. Bill may be able to attend and Gordon can definitely make it and can carry the key.
Mike will ask Bob Havner if he can cover the Astronomy
class.
Fremont Peak star party BBQ is next month. Mike made a
motion to donate $100 to FPOA for the BBQ. The motion was
seconded by Rob. There was 1 abstention and no objections.
-------------------------------------
PA System
-------------------------------------
Rob picked up a cordless Mike and speakers that we will
try tonight.
-------------------------------------
SJAA Announce and Chat Lists
-------------------------------------
There was some discussion about the appropriateness of
each list for different kinds of communications. The controversy from one person was around the posting of a job recently to the announce list. Another person noted that the job was "astronomy related" and therefore appropriate.
The meeting was ajourned at 7:50pm
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From robhawley at earthlink.net Mon Jul 31 18:32:23 2006
From: robhawley at earthlink.net (Rob Hawley)
Date: Sat Sep 30 03:57:34 2006
Subject: [SJAABoard] July 8, 2006 - Final SJAA Board Meeting Minutes
In-Reply-To: <20060801011907.11771.qmail@web53803.mail.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <012001c6b50a$57357760$0300a8c0@robathome>
Postage Saver just does the sort and prepares the USPS documents. The
labels are printed using a Word Mail Merge Template.
Since I already have approval to get the program I will proceed to do so. I
will also do an initial CASS of the database ($10). This is mostly to
convert all of the addresses to standard format instead of my doing it
manually. It will also then allow me to continue further testing with USPS.
Rob Hawley
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