San Bruno, Calif. — Members of the San Bruno Amateur Radio Club voted Tuesday night to begin charging membership dues for the first time in years, ending a lengthy and at times pointed debate over how to fund an organization that has relied almost entirely on voluntary donations since its founding.

By a show of hands, members approved a $25 annual fee for individuals and $35 for households, with the new schedule set to take effect alongside separate bylaws changes that will come up for a formal vote next month. The tally was close to unanimous — one member voted no.

A Budget Running on Fumes

Club President Dave Dornlas, KN6KOO, opened the meeting with a financial accounting that framed the rest of the evening's discussion. Last year the club brought in $2,180, including $1,518 in donations, plus interest from what he described as a roughly $10,000 "semi-endowment" — $5,000 raised from the eBay sale of a deceased member's radio equipment, and another $5,000 gifted from Dornlas's brother's estate. Expenses ran about $2,037, leaving a $143 surplus on paper. But he noted the real cost of running the club is higher, since items like web hosting and AI tools have been paid for out of pocket rather than through club accounts — an unreimbursed gap he estimated at roughly $800 a year.

Of the club's 94 listed members, only 86 are licensed, and just five people had made donations this year — $520 total, $400 of which came from a single member. Dornlas said donations appear to be "drying up," and that he can personally identify only about 30 to 35 of the 94 names on the roster.

The Dues Debate

The proposal to institute dues drew the most extended discussion of the night. Dornlas pointed to comparable local clubs — the Cordilleras Amateur Radio Club (referred to in discussion as "Coside") charges around $25, while the Mount Diablo club, which owns a repeater, charges $45. He initially floated $30 for individuals and $40 for households before settling on $25/$35 after members argued a lower number would be easier to sell, especially to prospective new members.

One longtime member spoke at length against dues on principle, noting he has donated cash, sold personal equipment for the club's benefit, and would prefer to give through in-kind contributions rather than a fixed annual fee. He suggested the club rely on a stronger donation appeal instead. Dornlas agreed in spirit — saying he "totally" shared the preference for donations over dues — but argued that repeated appeals have not moved the needle: donation requests have appeared on every meeting announcement this year, yet only five of 94 members responded.

Other members, including Ron, N6YWU, suggested the club avoid pricing itself above comparable clubs, build in a grace period for new members so the upfront cost doesn't discourage sign-ups, and consider listing a suggested donation alongside dues on membership forms, arguing that approach tends to raise more money than dues alone. Leadership agreed to consider a grace period for lapsed members so they can remain on the mailing list even after nonpayment, in hopes some will donate later.

The club currently uses a free Mailchimp account for email communications, which caps the number of contacts it can reach; exceeding roughly 120–125 active members would force the club to pay for a subscription, estimated at $140–$150 a year. That constraint was cited as one practical reason to trim the rolls of members who no longer participate.

Bylaws Changes to Follow

Separately, the club plans to amend its bylaws to shift its membership and fiscal year to run October 1 through September 30 (mirroring the federal calendar), with dues due by October 1 and considered delinquent after December 1. New members joining after July will receive credit for a full year. The bylaws would also move officer nominations to October and elections to November, ahead of the current December schedule, so incoming officers are settled before the new year begins.

Because bylaws changes require two weeks' notice and a two-thirds vote, that measure will not be decided until the club's September meeting. The dues schedule itself, by contrast, only required a 51 percent vote of members present and was approved Tuesday night.

Net Control Gets a Technology Upgrade

A significant portion of the meeting was devoted to a demonstration of new tools built into the club's member website for managing "net control" — the volunteer role of running the club's regular radio check-in sessions. The new system lets members sign up for net control shifts online, then walks them through starting a net, checking in participants from a pre-populated, mobile-friendly roster, flagging members with traffic to report, and automatically archiving the log when the session ends. New or guest check-ins are added to the list and folded into the standing roster once they've checked in twice within five weeks.

Members who have served as net control said the new system was an improvement over the club's previous paper-based process, which quickly went out of date as members moved away or stopped participating. The system currently supports the club's UHF and VHF nets, with HF support planned once early bugs are resolved.

ARES and Emergency Preparedness

The club also discussed pursuing formal recognition as an ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) group. The push followed an incident in which county disaster-preparedness organizers declined the club's offer to participate in a "Disaster Day" event at the fairgrounds, reportedly telling the club they already had enough ham radio clubs involved and that ARES-affiliated groups take priority. Club leadership noted that no ARES group currently covers northern San Mateo County — including San Bruno, Millbrae, South San Francisco, Daly City, Brisbane and Pacifica — while Half Moon Bay and South County each have their own.

Becoming an ARES-affiliated group would require members to complete a series of FEMA and ARRL training courses, and the club would need to designate an Emergency Coordinator, a role that remains unfilled after an earlier candidate stepped back once she saw the training requirements involved. Several members who have already completed FEMA coursework described it as lengthy and dense but useful for understanding the incident command system used in real disaster response.

Members debated how urgent the need actually is, with some arguing the club's relationship with the San Bruno Fire Department is already strong — city fire officials know several club members by name and the department provides free meeting space at Narita Plaza — while others countered that stronger training and formal recognition would demonstrate the club's readiness and value if a real emergency occurred. The club has also applied for Special Service Club designation through the ARRL, which recognizes clubs that meet certain service benchmarks the club already largely satisfies.

Website, Photo Gallery and Other Updates

Dornlas also walked members through other additions to the club website, including a "swap shop" listing donated radio equipment for sale (with proceeds benefiting the club), a photo gallery, and a member directory that remains sparsely filled out despite repeated requests for members to add photos and update their information. He noted the site now tracks member logins, which he has used to gauge participation — and found that most members have not engaged with the requested updates.

Login has reportedly been simplified: members enter their call sign and the last four digits of their phone number, or set a custom PIN, and remain logged in for 180 days. The site is accessible at both sbamradio.org and 94066hams.org.

Dornlas also mentioned building an online Extra-class licensing course using AI tools, which he described as a significant time investment he intends to reserve for paying members going forward, and said he hopes to eventually build similar courses for General and Technician licenses.

What's Next

Next month's meeting will feature a presentation on DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) from Ralph, KC6YDH, along with the formal vote on the bylaws changes governing the fiscal year and election calendar. Pierrot, N6MSY, expressed interest in a CW (Morse code) net, and Dornlas admitted he's considering building a CW course, and said he is researching logging software for net control that the club may offer members for free.

To see the PowerPoint presentation for the meeting: https://www.sbamradio.org/files/august_2026.pdf