Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur Association (NIRAA/W0MG) Meeting Minutes, May 2017 The May gathering of the Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur's Association (NIRAA) was called to order at 7:05 PM May 13, 2017 by Mark Colby (N8TWO). There were 10 members (9 ARRL) and 3 guests in attendance this evening, listed below. MINUTES ------- Adjustments to last month's minutes: NONE! Minutes accepted with no adjustments (K0CQH/N0TKC) TREASURER'S REPORT ------------------ Dave reports we have $1246.44 in the general fund plus $200 in savings. (this includes one new member's dues) He has received and paid this year's insurance bill for $208. (payment was pre-approved last meeting) Dave will be using the savings to keep donations earmarked for repeater maintenance separately accounted for than from the general fund. Report accepted (N0ZYC/N0TKC) OLD BUSINESS ------------ W0ALO had a quick DMR repeater status: 21 are up and more on the way. The national weather bureau has a DMR radio now also so we may be able to use it to report severe weather. The Des Moines repeater will be changing frequencies soon, both the current and new zones are in the most recent codeplug maintained by Scott/Tom/Bill. Chuck's DMR repeater has gone down briefly a few times recently but should be on the air now. Covenant has been bought out so our repeater may be undergoing some changes. We'd like to get internet to it sine the rack next to ours has internet, but that's up to them if they want to share. N0TWO: Recent tech classes have produced two new technicians. There will be a tech class the last Saturday in August. Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) is coming up, we're looking for volunteers, Mark would like to send out an email invitation to club members to get some names down. RECENT TECH CLASS YIELDS TWO NEW TECHS LAST SAT IN AUG NEXT TECH CLASS JOTA COMING UP NIRAA HAMFEST REPOT? W0HHF: NIRAA Hamfest: Things are looking good. $110 has been paid for the hall rental, and we will need to make a temporary damage deposit of $250 the morning of the event. (we'll get it back three days later) We do need volunteers for the cleanup crew, to make sure we get that deposit back. Add another request to that email going out for JOTA. Mark thinks some scouts may be willing to assist with cleanup, though there may not be all that much to do. So far we only have two indoor table reservations. Motion to pay $250 damage deposit and purchase a $120 DMR radio (from W0GEN) for grand door prize. (N8TWO/W0ALO) N8TWO: The scouts thank us for assisting with their spring camporee, we didn't lose any scouts despite their best efforts to dodge our check-in and check-out processes. Reminder that this year's field day will be out at Bill Dedic's (W0GEN) properly just across from the PEC. It looks like we have plenty of volunteers to help with field day. N4HRL: Salvation Army is looking into assisting with food again this year, with the same mutually-beneficial bell-ringing exchange as last year. Field Day was discussed in more detail. We're going to try for another solid 24 hours of operation again this year, operating at least 2A + GOTA + VHF. Unfortunately, the bands are unlikely to be very cooperative this year if the present trend continues. No one has heard from Chris Goeller regarding solar power, but N0ZYC has some to bring this time around. Chris's bucket truck was handy last year but may be unnecessary considering Bill's facilities. W0HHF has a generator to bring also if needed, though we suspect W0GEN (G.E.N.) has that under control. W0SJ (our Field Day Antenna Tzar) is warming up the filters and expects to use mark's 40m vertical a horizontal 9:9 un-un on 20M. If we don't wind up with any beams we should be able to do fine with verticals and longwires fine. We'll be using the club's FT-897 and Bill will likely be providing at least one radio. We shouldn't have a shortage of stations. W9DRR will probably be working digital again this year. We still need to figure out where the calling frequencies are for the digital modes. Based on previous experience: - label all coax for band and type - get some dual volume control headset adapters for the caller/logger - caution tape on all ground wires (N0ZYC to bring) - white lighting - mosquito defense (W0GEN sprays for them) Field day logging: - W0GEN has purchased five used ASUS E1005NA laptops, W0SJ replaced bios batteries from N0ZYC, and Mark is looking into getting additional RAM for them. We are CRITICALLY SHORT on sign-ups for operators and logging this year! There's a void from 3-9pm, from 1-10am, and we have no one for tear-down. If you plan on participating please contact Mark Colby. N0TKC: Christmas Party report - we can have our party at Corner Cafe in Reinbeck (formerly TJs). Dianne Reynard owns it and is willing to open just for us at no additional charge. They'll have an open menu and bar. The menu includes sandwiches, wraps, etc, gluten-free options. Parking is good, wheelchair-accessible. Should be fairly quiet in Reinbeck on a Saturday night too. They'd like a headcount estimate in advance though so they can staff appropriately. Food ordering should be pretty flexible, but they can't do a buffet. This is by far the best alternative we've explored. Brown Bottle CF is off the list due to loss of basement in the recent floods. Brian on 4th was another option considered and has a good capacity but has a limited menu and charges up-front for the event. NEW BUSINESS ------------ NONE Motion to adjourn (W0HHF/W0ALO) PRESENTATION ------------ There was no presentation this evening in leu of field day preparation and logging software training OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------------- (none) UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS ---------------------- There will be no June presentation in leu of final Field Day preparations 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 checkin 7:30 pm Sunday night on talk group 3119 VE TESTING AND TRAINING ----------------------- - ongoing tech-to-general class - 2017/09/16 VE testing, contact Tom (AE0TB) dir3@w0mg.net - 2017/11/25 VE testing contact Tom (AE0TB) dir3@w0mg.net HAMFESTS -------- - 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/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2017CVARC_HamfestFlyer.jpg OTHER EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------------------------ (none) 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 N0TKC Taryn Colby W0EL David Welch K0CQH Dave Knittel W0ALO Chuck Angel W0HHF Dick Nelson N4HRL Harold Lucas KD0DK David Kelly N8TWO Mark Colby W0SJ Stan Johnson Guests: KB0MGH John Carstensen K8ZAM Leean Colby WA0QXF Willoughby Clark Members wishing to pay their 2017 dues (or have paid and are not indicated) please contact Dave Knittel.