Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur Association (NIRAA/W0MG) Meeting Minutes, Sept 2016 The September 2016 meeting of the Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur's Association (NIRAA) was called to order at 7:07 pm on September 10 2016 by Mark Colby (N8TWO). There were 14 members (11 ARRL) and one guest in attendance this evening, listed below. Corrections to last month's minutes, all to do with upcoming dinner: - you do not have to select a meal in advance, the meal list provided was simply an FYI on which dishes will be available for you to choose from when you arrive - there will be NO sandwiches on the menu - there will also be some gluten-free options minutes with revisions accepted (AE0TB/N0TKC) Treasurer's Report: We have $934.34 in the general fund. (no changes since last report) We received an acknowledgement from the salvation army for our $100 donation. Treasurer's report accepted, (N0ZYC/N0TKC) OLD BUSINESS ------------ VE testing reminder: sat Sept 17 at 10am at the CF library Christmas party: the chicken marsal and pork chops can be served gluten free, be sure and reques this when you order the night of the dinner if you want it. Field Day: final selection of location for next year was discussed. Ingawanus will NOT be available. Bill Dedic (W0GEN) has offered his location, it's across from the PEC. It has shelters, restrooms, and even a shower. Stan also approves of the antenna setup options at that location. Motion to select bill's location for 2017 field day (W0ALO/N0TKC) Jambori On The Air (JOTA): we have a few volunteers but could use more help, contact Mark if you'd be willing to help. It's Fri-Sun Oct 14-16, though we will likely only be there for the first two days. We will be working by the main dining facility at Ingawanus. Mark gave a report on our recent hamfest. We had about 100 attendees (70 hams) We didn't break even this time but Dick has partially refunded the underwriters. (65%) Everyone seems to have liked the location and thinks it went well, but there's still concerns if the location willl be available next year. Will table further discussion for next year's location next meeting. Taryn is summarizing available options for food at the christmas party, we have prices now: - chicken marsala $14 - baked salmon $17 - pork chops $15 - chicken pot pie $9 - three cheesse pizza again you will be able to pick what you want the evening of the dinner, this is just the menu you will have to pick from. Gratuity is included. NEW BUSINESS ------------ Laptops for field day: the club would benefit from having dedicated (inexpensive) laptops available for logging on field day. Attendees aren't too anxious to leave their laptops and getting several individuals' laptops set up and retrained every year is causing problems with usage. Discussion of obtaining 4-7 laptops for club use for field day, at upcoming hamfest and sales. Motion to form laptop acquisition committee (KZ0MBI/N0ZYC): Billm Curt, Stan will be looking into this. Mark has found someone to do a presentation on mesh networking for next month's club meeting but we have no other presentations in queue. If you're interested in doing a presentation for an upcoming meeting, please contact Mark. Kicked around some ideas for presentations: - basic soldering - RF connectors (soldering and crimping) - QRP - basic hand tools Along the lines of the presentation, another thing we're considering is a kit build presntation. Ideas: - basic receiver - swr meter - low battery alarm Motion to adjourn (NK0T/N0TKC) --- This month's presentation was on QRP by NK0T. Curt brought in an impressively large collection of different QRP rigs, covering a wide variety of bands and design approaches, from very basic DIY to high-end. --- REGULAR EVENTS -------------- - ARES net check-in is at 9pm every Sunday night, on 146.94/34 - hams meet informally at 9am every Monday morning at HyVee on University Ave - hams meet informally at 12pm every Tuesday at Taco Johns on University Ave - Iowa Digital Net runs every Tues night at 7pm on 3572.5 / 3574 ctr USB VE TESTING AND TRAINING ----------------------- SEPT 17 VE TESTING (contact Mark N8TWO) technician classes upcoming, to be announced HAMFESTS -------- - Southeast Iowa Hamfest http://www.waarc.net/SEIAHamfest/index.html Sunday Oct 2 2016, Muscatine County Fairgrounds admission $7, age 14 and under Free, VE testing $10 tables, outside tailgaiting free with admission 1815 F Ave, Muscatine IA 146.16/76 no tone OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS --------------------- - Christmas Dinner will be on Saturday Nov 12 at 6:00 pm at the Waverly Diner =============================================================================== The NIRAA club meets on the 2nd Saturday of every month at 7pm in the basement of the Red Cross building (2530 University Ave) in Waterloo. Anyone interested in ham radio is welcome to attend. Our primary club repeater is on 146.94 mhz, negative offset, PL tone of 136.5 hz, with coverage centered in Black Hawk County. Our club website is at http://www.w0mg.net/ Officers may be contacted over the air or via email: President, Mark Colby, N8TWO, pres(a)w0mg.net Vice President, Curtis Wilson, NKØT, vp(a)w0mg.net Secretary, Nathan Fisher, NØZYC, sec(a)w0mg.net Treasurer, Dave Knittel, K0CQH, treas(a)w0mg.net Director 1, Chris Conklin, NØCF, dir1(a)w0mg.net Director 2, Stan Johnson, WØSJ, dir2(a)w0mg.net Director 3, Tom Bicket, AEØTB, dir3(a)w0mg.net - Nathan Fisher Secretary, W0MG You're receiving these meeting minutes because you have given the NIRAA club your email address for minutes or announcements. If you no longer wish to receive email, please reply requesting removal from one or both distribution lists. This month's meeting attendance: Members: N0ZYC Nathan Fisher K0CQH Dave Knittel W0VJB Vicki Bicket AE0TB Tom Bicket KD0DK David Kelly W0SJ Stan Johnson NK0T Curt Wilson W0ALO Chuck Angel N3CAH Craig Hoepfner N4HRL Harold Lucas N0TKC Taryn Colby N8TWO Mark Colby KZ0MBI Michael Chapman W0GEN William Dedic Guests: Michael Chapman III