May 17, 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, John K9DRS, Kurt WB9FMC, Mike W9MK, Ed K9EGS, Ron WB9JYZ, Mike K9LSH John W9ILY, Lee WA9LEY

Visitors: Rob KD9JBT, Steve K9SGB

HEALTH AND WELFARE George W9OA is recovering from two back surgeries and is at home. He will be glad to hear from his ham radio friends. His contact info can be found on previous reflector posts.

Former member Bob AK9Y passed away recently. He was a very active member in the early years, His obit can be found online.

OLD BUSINESS

The MINUTES of the April meeting were approved.

TREASURER'S REPORT John W9ILY reports the following expense in April, the club made a $200 donation to the VP6D DXpedition. Jim N9TK and Jerry WB9Z are members of the team going to Pitcairn Island later this year. There was no other income/expenses for the month.

WUST No new WUST awards issued this past month. John W9ILY says there is at least one interested party that is looking for someone in his area to check his cards.

CONTESTS We fielded 2 teams for NAQP SSB. Metro Mumblers placed 54 of 88 entrants, Metro Screamers placed 58 of 88. Our Metro team for NAQP CW in August placed 53 in their group. For those not familiar with the publication National Contest Journal, it's a good ARRL publication that has good articles on antennas, tech stuff and contesting. The NCJ is worth a look. Still looking for more member participation in contests even if only making a few contacts. Make sure you report your results to John W9ILY who posts them on the "Members Contesting" tab on the Metro Website.

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

OUTGOING QSL BUREAU The ARRL is dropping their service fee for outbound cards beginning 5/16. After that date, there will no longer be an advantage to have the Club forward QSL's for our members. Thanks to Jerry for his previous efforts forwarding cards.

NEW BUSINESS

2019 CLUB COMPETITION The Metro Marathon is underway to work the most DXCC countries in 2019 after 3/1. To even the playing field we are limiting power at 100 watts. 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. Please forward your progress to John W9ILY at the beginning of each month. Your score is DXCC countries worked plus Zones worked. Confirmations are not required. There are a possible 340 DXCC counties and 40 zones out there to contact. John has received a few updates but we are hoping this club activity picks up.

SHACK TOURS We would like to occasionally have programs highlighting member ham shacks. Nothing fancy, just a few photos of your station/antennas. You can include videos if you like. Ideas of showing your "early days" station and highlighting awards earned can be included. We hope to get member participation on this. If you don't have a way to get them in a form to present, you can email them to Lee WA9LEY who can put them in a Power Point format to view at a meeting.

FIELD DAY Unfortunately, we learned that our Tinley site will not be available to us this year. But, all is not lost. Jim N9TK volunteered his work site in Alsip as an alternate location. His site includes a flag pole and trees for stringing antennas and we have the use of air conditioned office space inside for operating. There's a covered port outside for the generator. Our plan is to enter as 2A with a VHF/UHF station. A big thanks to Jim for saving the day! Our FD chairman Bob K9CJ will be circulating a spreadsheet with items needed. We will be using 2 K3's.

FT8/FT4 FT4 is in test mode, not fully released until probably in June. It's designed for contesting, much faster, 6 seconds per transmission and 3 transmissions per contact.

K7Y Mike K9AJ along with a friend activated a new IOTA in Alaska and has reported making approx 2700 Q's in just a few days on the island. We look forward to hearing more about his experiences.

METRO PICNIC Jerry WB9Z has volunteered to host our picnic again this year. After some discussion, July 27th was selected as our tentative date. There will be no regular meeting in July. More to come. MEMO: Following Minutes' publication to club members, it was realized that the picnic paragraph should have noted that our picnic will be hosted by NV9L, K9TP and WB9Z at the WB9Z & NV9L QTH in Crescent City. K9TP has again agreed to be our picnic chairman. Val and Jerry could not host this event without Mark's help. Thanks to all!

AUGUST MEETING We will have our annual joint meeting with NIDXA on August 9th. More details will follow.

The meeting was adjourned for refreshments.

PROGRAM Lee WA9LEY presented information on the beginning E skip season which peaks in June and July but openings can continue into August. Resources like DX maps were discussed. Slides of some simple 6 meter antennas we used during previous Metro Field Days were shown. We hope members will give 6 meters a try.

Submitted by Lee WA9LEY