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Metro
DX Club Meeting Minutes In attendance, besides Jim,
were John W9ILY, John K9DRS, Carl
K9CS with XYL Christine W9LIZ, Lee
WA9LEY, Matt KA9BBQ, Bob K9CJ, Jerry K9PY, Mike K9AJ, Kurt WB9FMC, Bob K9MDO,
Bob N9ORD, Thomas N9IHZ, Mark K9TP, Mike K9LSH, Jim NV9X, Jeff KD9APD, Bob N9AKR
and Joe KC9RNK. OLD
BUSINESS: The MINUTES as distributed of the previous meeting were moved to be
approved by K9TP and seconded by K9CJ. The TREASURERS REPORT was distributed by John, W9ILY. $386.11 is
available for donations. Income of $171.00 was from dues, Winterfest Dinner, a
Gold Certificate and 50/50 proceeds. No expenses were incurred this period. A
motion to approve the treasurer’s report was made by K9MDO and seconded by
N9IHZ. Health
and Welfare: Nothing to Report WUST
awards had no activity. SPECIAL
EVENT activation for W9TY
recognizing the Diamond Illinois Mine
Disaster of 1883 to be Saturday February 6, 2016 from the QTH of W9ILY in
Morris, IL. Certificates and QSL cards will be issued for verification.
Operations to be SSB including 20 and 40 meters, 11:00 to 17:00 local time. The
club will provide pizza. Since the mining disaster happened over one hundred
thirty years ago, contacting family members appears unrealistic. The deaths were
due to unexpected flooding of the mine and the men drowned. For more info: http://hinton-gen.com/coal/grundy_diamond.html#disaster (Since the meeting I have
contacted the webmaster for this site and he has posted our event on his
Facebook page) NEW
BUSINESS Upcoming
events include The ARRL CW Rookie
roundup scheduled for Sunday December 20th, Straight Key Night
scheduled for January 1st, the ARRL RTTY Roundup January 2nd and CQ
160 CW January 29th. The results from 2015 WPX
were given with a comparison of scores by clubs. We placed 42 out of 60 with
combined CW & SSB scores. Our standing in the ARRL
International Phone contest was listed and club member Val NV9L earned second
place in the multi-single high power category. Newest
Member
: W9LIZ,
Christine was warmly welcomed. Future
DX report: Mike K9AJ gave an update
report on South Sandwich VP8STI
and VP8SGI.
The equipment is enroute to the
Falklands and the team leaves January 7th. Mike reviewed the travel
itinerary and he returns February 21st after six weeks. The equipment
is on the Braveheart after actually leaving California in July. The website http://www.intrepid-dx.com/vp8/index.php
lists
the team, the equipment, “wiring”
diagrams and antenna layouts for this event. Palmyra
K5P is in mid-January 2016. Jim N9TK
gave an updated status report on the operation. Since the airport runway has
been downgraded, it requires a smaller plane and will reduce the number of
operators. See http://palmyra2016.org/
for the team, including Jerry
WB9Z, photos and updates on the activities. N9TK is an alternate. Palmyra is an
atoll in the North Pacific located south of Hawaii, 5 degrees north of the
equator. For current and scheduled DXpeditions check out: http://www.ng3k.com/Misc/adxo.html WINTERFEST
DINNER is scheduled for Jan. 15, 2016. WA9LEY is coordinating the location at
PAPA JOES in Orland Park. Lee has obtained prizes from vendors. A reminder was
made that the most improved DXer award for 2015 is to be awarded at the Winter
Dinner. Get your score to W9ILY January 3rd. More ideas came up about a Club
PROJECT. December QST has a wide band SDR radio using an available dongle
receiver which was discussed. Dues were accepted for 2016
at $15.00 per member. FUTURE
MEETING:
W9MU, our guest from NIDXA, will make a presentation on G5RV antennas and
feed lines at the March meeting. Two videos were identified
as being on YOUTUBE reflecting Metro DX Club.
One is from our Field Day event and the other from the N1MM+ meeting
presentation. A description of the OQRS,
the Online QSL Request System, which is an efficient method to exchange QSL
cards, was given. This is built into CLUBLOG. The EOC antenna is still on
hold. We are planning to check the
equipment at the February meeting. Issues with incorrect logs
were discussed to avoid losing QSO points in contests such as WAE. Propagation possibilities
for the upcoming DXpeditions was mentioned as well as ideas on obtaining your
ATNO report for 2015. Following a motion to
adjourn by NV9X and seconded by K9MDO, the meeting was called to a CLOSE at 20:28. A short break followed by a presentation from John
W9ILY sharing overview videos on the use and application of Clublog
by KJ6GHN and OQRS by G7VJR. A
look at YOUTUBE will yield similar videos. Respectfully submitted: John Raiger K9DRS |