Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur Association (NIRAA/W0MG) Meeting Minutes, March 2017 The March gathering of the Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur's Association (NIRAA) was called to order at 7:02 PM March 11, 2017 by Mark Colby (N8TWO) in the basement of the Red Cross in Waterloo. There were 14 members (13 ARRL) and 4 guests in attendance this evening, listed below. MINUTES ------- Adjustments to last month's minutes: - Another "November" for the month. - ARRL membership should be 14, not 10. Will get updates from Dave. Minutes accepted as adjusted, (N0TKC / W0ALO) TREASURER'S REPORT ------------------ Dave reports we have $1764.37 in the general fund. Report accepted (N0TKC /N4HRL) OLD BUSINESS ------------ We intend to meet at the EOC in April, we won't be doing a program. (though the EOC might) A notice will be emailed out the morning of the meeting advising where we are meeting that evening. REPEATER STATUS: CHRIS: DMR continues to improve CURT: the 220 repeater is still off the air, busy with other repeater work CURT: KB0VGG has a new yeasu repeater up at Tech Works CHUCK: no problems with his repeaters MARK gave an update on test sessions Field Day is on track, Harold is working with the Salvation Army for arrangements similar to last year. JOTA (Jambouri On The Air) is appraching, we will need to start planning that soon (next meeting?) NIRAA Hamfest is also up the road a bit. DICK: the location is set but we will probably need to solicit some underwriting once more (some donations were collected) It also appears as though the state is going to force sellers to do sales tax permits. This may be a significant issue, we're still looking into it and seeing how other hamfests in the area are handling it. (sales tax charging apparently covers not only tables, but the tailgaiters as well, which seems impractical for us to police) Apparently NCC has had to cancel SEVERAL events already due to this. Suggest we wait for DMRAA and Oscaloosa to see what they do. It looks like Iowa is considering a very broad law that prohibits "handheld electronics" in a vehicle. (unless you are a state employee of course) Everyone agrees this is pretty silly but that hasn't always stopped them from passing a law despite common sense. We'll be keeping an eye on it. Boy Scouts Campouree is in May also, we'll get an update on the next meeting, but the best plan now is to have two stations, one at each of the two locations. (camp and railyard) and have the scouts communicate between the two locations. We're looking for a few more volunteers to assist that day, probably a total of four members. This will be on Saturday May 6, approximately 11am-5pm. NEW BUSINESS ------------ ARES meeting report: Chuck, Bill, and Scott did a presentation on DMR, it was apparently very well-received, and we changed some minds with regard to the usefulness of DMR radio. There were also several other good programs this year, as well as some rule changes. Turnout was good. Weatherspotter training will be on Monday March 27 at 6:30 pm. Same location, Tama Hall out at Hawkeye College. There may also be some spotter training going on April 10 over at the Waverly Civic Center. Details will be posted on the NIRAA website regarding weatherspotter training. Thank you Harold for bringing in some donuts for the meeting. Reminder from Tom, we have a weekly DMR check-in, 7:30 pm Sunday evening, on talk group 3119. It will be added to the regular events list below. Motion to adjourn (NK0T / N0ZYC) PRESENTATION ------------ Tonight's presentation was by Harold N4HRL on Salvation Army (we brought in $540 with bell helping ring bells last year) OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------------- (none) UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS ---------------------- - there will be no March presentation (EOC?) 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 - DMR check-in every Sunday night at 7:30 pm, talk group 3119 VE TESTING AND TRAINING ----------------------- - 2017/04/22 VE testing CANCELLED due to DMRA hamfest conflict - 2017/04/29 one day tech class, contact Tim (N0CKR) iowahamclasses@yahoo.com - 2017/09/16 VE testing, contact Tom (AE0TB) dir3@w0mg.net - 2017/11/25 VE testing contact Tom (AE0TB) dir3@w0mg.net HAMFESTS -------- - DMRAA Hamfest on Sat April 22 at Des Moines Iowa State Fairgrounds http://dmraa.com/hamfest - W0MG Swap Meet on Sat July 8 at Waterloo Gateway Park http://vftp.net/n0zyc/hamfests/W0MG_SwapMeet_2017.jpeg - CVARC Hamfest on Sun August 6 at Cedar Rapids http://w0gq.org/hamfest-2016/ OTHER EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------------------------ 2017/04/10 spotter training at the Waverly Civic Center 2017/05/06 Boy Scout Spring Camporee (need volunteers) W0MG/NIRAA LINKS ---------------- - Club Website: http://w0mg.net - 2017 NIRAA Membership form: http://www.w0mg.net/contact/membershipform2017.pdf - Cedar Valley area repeaters: http://w0mg.net/repeaters/ - W0MG 2017 Hamfest: http://vftp.net/n0zyc/hamfests/W0MG_SwapMeet_2017.jpeg =============================================================================== 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/ . Primary email contact is Nathan at sec(a)w0mg.net Officers may be contacted over the air or via email: President, Mark Colby, N8TWO, pres(a)w0mg.net Vice President, Curtis Wilson, NK0T, vp(a)w0mg.net Secretary, Nathan Fisher, N0ZYC, sec(a)w0mg.net Treasurer, Dave Knittel, K0CQH, treas(a)w0mg.net Director 1, Harold Lucas, N4HRL, dir1(a)w0mg.net Director 2, Stan Johnson, W0SJ, dir2(a)w0mg.net Director 3, Thom Bicket, AE0TB, 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 W0HHF Dick Nelson K0CQH Dave Knittel W0ALO Chuck Angel NK0T Curt Wilson N0CF Chris Conklin AE0TB Tom Bicket W0VJB Vicki Bicket W0DT Don Talaska N0TKC Taryn Colby W0DTD Robert Trettin N4HRL Harold Lucas N8TWO Mark Colby W0VJB Vicki Bicket Guests: KE0IWQ James Fitkin KB0RSW Randall McClain KE0IWP Janice Fitkin KB0MGH John Carstensen Members wishing to pay their 2017 dues (or have paid and are not listed) please contact Dave Knittel.