METRO DX CLUB MEETING MINUTES – February 17, 2012

 The meeting this evening was a combination pizza party and short business meeting. After all members present had filled their plates, President Bob Jacobson began the short meeting. John, W9ILY, Secretary/Treasurer, read the treasurer’s report. As of February 1 we have $225.01 cash on hand and $1,268.85 in the bank. A brief report of the success and current status of our WUST Award was given. We have issued 29 awards to hams other than club members. DXers from JA and DL have requested the award in addition to U.S. hams. An application received from a JA ham was shown to the members due to its unusual format. Our award was written up in CQ last fall and will be again in March. The mention in QRZ-DX resulted in approximately 15 applications.

There was no contest report as our contest chairman was ill. A report will be sent by email.

Members present introduced themselves as two new members were present. We welcomed George Zurbacken, K9CC, and Joe DiGrazia, KC9RNK, as new Metro members.   

Health & Welfare: Bob, K9MDO, gave us an update on Roger, K9RB, Bob, W9LNQ and Dot, N9ALC. K9RB attended the Orlando Hamfest and reported it was good.

Old business: N9ORD announced that he and N9LAH will again have a “Metro DX” booth at Dayton at no cost to the club. The Metro banner will be displayed as well as information about the WUST Award. Bob had obtained pricing for a large print of the award for display at Dayton . W9ILY will check with the printer to see what their prices would be for a large print.

New Business: K9CJ suggested that two or three Metro members attend the Hamfesters meeting on March 3 to advertise out WUST Award. K9CJ will attend.

A letter was received from Joe Serocki, the ARRL Affiliated Club Coordinator. He described several areas in which he and the ARRL could provide assistance to the club such as discount legal counsel, club insurance and others.

The Metro DX Challenge will be continued through 2012 as well as a new Diamond Award. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the year. Send your totals to W9ILY so they can be entered on the WEB page. A sample of the Diamond Award log sheet from the ARRL was passed around. It can easily be found on our Metro Yahoo Group page in the “files” area.

K9PY brought his certificate for 1^st Place in the 9^th Call Area in the ARRL-Int’l CW-2011 on 40 meters for all to see. He will scan it for our WEB site.

N9LAH explained what Clublog is and how it is used by major DXpeditions. There are many advantages to Clublog other than just finding if you are “in the log” of a Dxpedition. Competition between our club members, DXCC analysis, propagation charts, your personal QSO analysis, etc. are some of the many features. This is a free service that is supported by contributions. The yearly cost for its operation is approximately $5,500.  K9MDO moved that $50 be donated to Clublog. The motion passed. W9ILY will make the donation on behalf of the club. It was asked if the club has a PayPal account. We do not.

K9MDO reported that Bill, N9WK in Oshkosh , now has a new TS-590. W9ILY reported that AI9L and AF9H are busy in Arizona with antennas. Jess says that working JA on 160 is not hard from AZ.

It was moved by K9CJ and seconded by N9ORD to end the business meeting. Motion passed. Meeting adjourned approximately 7:55.

K9AJ presented a very interesting program highlighting his trip with Rick K6VVA to Point Lay, NA-242, that is close to Point Barrow, Alaska. 3,860 QSOs were completed while the “bear watchers” kept a sharp eye open for the beasts. None were seen. Mike also displayed his impressive CQ-DX Hall of Fame plaque that he received at the Visalia DX Convention. Thanks, Mike.

Members present: K9AJ, K9CJ, K9MDO, K9PY, KC9RNK, N9AKR, N9LAH, N9ORD, N9TK, N9XR, W9ILY, W9NJB, W9YYG and WF9V.

Respectfully submitted by John Holmes, W9ILY, Secretary/Treasurer.