Metro DX Club Meeting Minutes

February 15, 2019

The meeting was called to order by President Jim N9TK with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

In attendance, besides Jim were ,Bob K9CJ, Mel NE9A, Mike W9MK, Jerry K9PY, Jim NV9X, Mike K9LSH, John K9DRS,  Matt K9BBQ, Ron WB9JYZ, Ed K9EGS, John W9ILY,  Lee WA9LEY.

HEALTH AND WELFARE Jerry K9PY spent a few days in the hospital this month after suffering a concussion. He says he went out to get the mail and felt a bit disoriented.  His wife noticed he had been bleeding on the back of his head and took him to the hospital. He must have fell but has no recollection of falling.  He is doing well now. 

OLD BUSINESS

The MINUTES of the December meeting were approved.

WINTERFEST  32 members and guests gathered at Papa Joe's in Orland Park for our Winterfest dinner. We were in the banquet room this year which gave us more room to move around.  There were plenty of door prizes, enough for everyone to win something.

TREASURER'S REPORT  John W9ILY reports that our treasury is in good shape.  We received a donation from Jerry WB9Z and Val NV9L as well as recovery of a significant portion of the club's 3Y0Z DXpedition donation. Also, most members have now paid their dues for 2019.  Our expenses included the Winterfest grand prize, December pizza party, W0AIH memorial scholarship donation and a donation to the Dave Kalter Youth Adventure.

WUST  2 WUST certificates were awarded and 2 more seem probable soon.

CONTESTS  We fielded 2 teams in the NAQP SSB contest.  We would like more member participation in these events.  You can make a handful of contacts or whatever you time allows. 

ARRL DX CW contest is this weekend.

LOCAL REPEATER  NC9T 442.025 tone is 100hz, up 5 Mhz.  Many members hang out here.

OUTGOING QSL BUREAU  Jerry K9PY is forwarding cards for members.  See reflector posts for details or contact Jerry.

2019 DUES  While most members have paid their $15 club dues for 2019, some haven't.  We have set a deadline of February 28 after which our member roster will be updated listing the paid up members.

NEW BUSINESS

2019 CLUB COMPETITION   Ideas were discussed including most new countries, DX Marathon, POTA, IOTA.  We decided on DX Marathon, countries and zones.  To even the playing field we are limiting power at 100 watts and the competition begins on March 1. Logging is on the honor system and you might need to use some kind of checklist if your normal logging program contains contacts at other power levels.

JEANNA SOCRATES KC2IOV  We talked about her feat for setting the record for the oldest woman to sail around the world.  See https:svnereida.com/blog

PITCAIRN  Jim N9TK and Jerry WB9Z will be members of the Pitcairn DXpedition in October.  The club is considering a donation and will discuss further at the next meeting.  Jerry K9PY recalled that Pitcairn residents Tom Christian and his family attended a Metro DX Club meeting years ago.

ORLAND PARK TEEN CENTER  Bob K9CJ says he believes they are booked with programs this year and are off in the summer.  We will bring it up again in the fall, possibly doing a ham radio demo.

NEW MEMBERS  Mel NE9A talked about having the club sponsor a VEC group to attract new members.  More discussion to follow.  Also talked about adding YouTube links to our website on various topics like DX, contesting, etc.  John W9ILY said he would look into it.

BLAST FROM THE PAST  Lee WA9LEY reported receiving an e-mail this week saying he was one of this person's 2 Elmers. It was kind of surprising since he didn't know anyone considered him as their Elmer.  Back in 1967,  the e mailer said as a 13 year old,  he took the bus or rode his bike to Lee's house to learn the code well enough to get his novice license. (Lee was 19 at the time). His novice test was administered by his other Elmer,  Elmer "Bud" Frohardt W9DY or maybe W9GFF at that time.  Bud was a mentor to many.  The e mailer now living in Minnesota said he bought a car and his new plates had LEY in it which prompted him to do a look up in QRZ and write a note.

PROGRAM  Mike W9MK made a very interesting presentation of his DXpedition to St. Martin along with John K9EL, Paul K9NU and John W9ILY.  They had 3 stations set up at a beautiful Villa overlooking the infiniti pool and ocean and made lots of contacts.  From the pictures, it looked like like they took full advantage of the local cuisine.

Submitted by Lee WA9LEY