Metro DX Club Meeting Minutes

October 19, 2018

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

In attendance, besides Jim were Rick W9NKV, Mike K9LSH, Mel NE9A, John K9DRS, Jerry K9PY, Carl K9CS, Susan K9XYL, Mike K9AJ, Ron KB9JYZ, Steve W9KXT, Jerry K9LOT, Bob K9CJ, John W9ILY, Lee WA9LEY.

Guests: Steve K9SGB, Ed WA9GQK

OLD BUSINESS

The MINUTES of the previous meeting were approved.

The TREASURERS REPORT was distributed by John W9ILY and it was approved and seconded. Our income was $45 (3 dues payments) and our expenses were $27.23 for web costs. Possible Club donations for the new year were discussed. In addition to our regular yearly donations some of the following were brought up for consideration including DX Maps, DX World, DX Watch and NG3K. These sites are free to view and many members regularly use them. The board will discuss and bring up a future meeting.

WUST No new certificates were awarded.

ANTENNA ON MEETING PLACE ROOF There has been some discussion whether we should proceed looking in to this. It's apparently not in the Village's budget at this time. It may be brought up in the future.

CONTESTS Reported by W9ILY Many members have participated in a number of contests like CQWW, NAQP and many state QSO parties. NAQP RTTY our club was 24 of 47 in our class. NAQP CW 52 of 99 entries in our class. NAQP SSB we were in the middle of the pack CQWW SSB coming up soon.

Also, CONGRATS to the multi single group at NV9L who placed #1 in the USA in their class during CQ WPX SSB.

LOCAL REPEATER NC9T 442.025 tone is 100hz up 5 mhz. Many members hang out there and make DX call ins.

NEW BUSINESS

Outbound QSL Service Jerry K9PY, is forwarding member's QSL's to the ARRL. See previous posts for details.

NOMINATIONS Our current officers have agreed to stay on for the next year. Anyone interested in running should come forward between now and the November meeting when the election will be held.

BOUVET Flex and Acom equipment from the DXpedition are now back in the states and are being offered at discount prices. See previous reflector posts for further details and where to check if any are still available.

W9C SPECIAL EVENT 10/15-10/21 Celebrating the Illinois Bi-Centennial. All members are encouraged to operate. E-Mail John W9ILY who will send a link to the on line sign up sheet. The event details will be in Oct QST. Matt K9BBQ is designing our QSL/certificate again this year. Many members seem to be interested in operating this event from home. Be sure to E-Mail W9ILY to reserve your time slots.

NEW ADDITIONS TO STATIONS John K9DRS installed his tower and is working on running cables. Hopes to be on the air soon with his new antenna setup. John W9ILY mentioned he installed USB surge suppressors for protection at his station. He found them for $23 at LCOM.

TRI-TOWN Jerry WB9JYZ announced that they have moved their meetings from the 3rd Friday each month to the 4th Friday of each month. Some members of Metro are also Tri-Town members and vice versa. This change will allow attendance to both club's monthly meetings. Will find out when this becomes effective.

METRO BADGES Several members are interested in getting a Metro DX Club badge. John W9ILY will be placing the order. Contact him if interested. An announcement will be made on the reflector.

DX ON THE BANDS Lots of DXpeditions on the bands now and more coming up. Check NG3K or your favorite DX site for more info.

CONTACT SPORT After a QSO with N3BB, WA9LEY received a note and a flyer promoting his book, Contact Sport. The book describes the exciting world of amateur radio competition and the intriguing characters of the 2014 World Radiosport Team Championship. The flyer was passed around with info on where to get the book if interested. It was mentioned that it may be available at some public libraries.

The meeting was adjourned for refreshments followed by our program.

PROGRAM Ed WA9GQK gave an excellent presentation on various aspects of QSLing. He had interesing stories to tell about memorable QSO's and the followup QSL's he received in return. He also passed around samples of DX and special event QSL's and certificates he has received.