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Metro
DX Club Meeting Minutes The meeting was called to
order by President Jim Mornar N9TK with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag at
19:34. In attendance, besides Jim, were John W9ILY, John K9DRS, Carl K9CS with
Christine W9LIZ, Lee WA9LEY, Matt KA9BBQ, Bob K9CJ, Jerry K9PY, Mike K9AJ, John
K9EL, Mike K9LSH, Jim NV9X, Thomas N9IHZ and Jeff KD9APD. OLD
BUSINESS: The MINUTES of the previous meeting as distributed were moved to be
approved by K9CS and seconded by K9PY. The TREASURER’S REPORT was distributed by John, W9ILY. $386.11 is
available for donations. Income of $118.00 was from dues, a donation and 50/50
proceeds. No expenses were incurred this period. A motion to approve the
treasurer’s report was made by K9CJ and seconded by WA9LEY. WUST
award: no activity. SPECIAL
EVENT activation for W9TY
recognizing the Diamond Illinois Mine
Disaster of 1883 to be held Saturday February 6, 2016 from the QTH of W9ILY
in Morris, IL. Operations will be SSB including 20 and 40 meters, 11:00 to 17:00
local time. A motion was made by K9PY
and seconded by KA9BBQ to have PIZZA provided by the club for this event. Motion
passed. http://hinton-gen.com/coal/grundy_diamond.html#disaster Sweepstakes activity planned
by members or perhaps CQWW CW was discussed. Some members worked the
VK9WA DXpedition. Band conditions were discussed. Future
DX report includes: Mike K9AJ gave a report on
South Sandwich VP8STI and South
Georgia VP8SGI.The
equipment is enroute and the team leaves January 7th. Mike reviewed
the travel itinerary with his return February 21st. The equipment
container actually left California in July. The website http://www.intrepid-dx.com/vp8/plans.php lists the equipment,
“wiring” diagrams, and antenna layouts for this event. Palmyra K5P
will operate in mid-January 2016. The airport runway has been downgraded and may
affect the number of operators to be transported. See http://palmyra2016.org/
for the team, including Jim N9TK, Jerry WB9Z, photos and updates on the
activities. 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 WINTER
DINNER will be held on Jan 15, 2016.
WA9LEY is coordinating the location at PAPA JOE’S in Orland Park. A reminder was made about
the most improved DXer contest for 2015 to be awarded at the Winter Dinner. Send
your score to W9ILY January 3rd. CONTEST
RESULTS from the National Contest
Journal (ARRL) were reviewed from previous months. In the NAQP-SSB the Metro
Mayhem team finished #54 out of 77 teams. In the NAQP-RTTY two teams were
fielded and the Metro Mayhem team finished #14 while the Metro Marauders
finished #20 in a field of 39 teams. FIELD
DAY: W9TY finished 17th in class 1A.
Thoughts on Field Day 2016 were shared as well as testing the equipment
currently in the EOC to ensure it still functions. Pat Carr will need to be
contacted as well as Greg AB9MZ for any antenna work. Board
elections: The current Board was unopposed and will continue another year. This was
approved by a verbal vote of the members present. A discussion was held about
recording the program segment of the club meeting for posting on the web.KA9BBQ
will check on providing his HD camera for a trial. The next club meeting will be December 18th with a “Junk Box” GRAB
BAG in addition to the video program. Ideas were discussed for a
Club PROJECT including QRP, tuner,
power monitor, Arduino, etc. Please bring your ideas to the next meeting. Improving CW operating skill
suggestions and methods was mentioned by N9TK. We could possibly have a 2-meter
net for CW practice. Dues were accepted for 2016
at $15.00 per member. Five members have already paid and most in attendance
renewed. NIDXA
and W9DXCC were discussed by K9EL.
Should the Metro DX Club provide program support on a future W9DXCC? Last year
the program was assisted by SMC. (http://www.w9smc.com). There are several opportunities for Metro to get involved and assist.
This will be discussed at a future meeting. KA9BBQ proudly displayed his
certificate from the Papal visit and a middle school club QSL card. KD9APD brought up thoughts
about introducing ham radio to schools or working with the Boy Scouts. It was suggested that early
QSL cards received by members be posted on our web site. Several have already
been posted. Following a motion to
adjourn by NV9X and seconded by KB9BBQ, the meeting was called to a CLOSE
at 20:54. A short break followed by a
presentation by John W9ILY detailing the DXpedition
to St. Martin in October. Of note besides the over 3600 TO1E contacts and
the over 1800 confirmed LOTW entries was an enjoyable local beverage identified
at www.rhummadoudou.com.
Respectfully submitted: John Raiger K9DRS |