PLEASE NOTE WE ARE MEETING AT WINDCOVE AT 7PM STARTING THIS MONTH Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur Association (NIRAA/W0MG) Meeting Minutes, February 2018 The February gathering of the Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur's Association (NIRAA) was called to order at 7:01 PM February 10, 2018 by Harold Lucas (N4HRL). There were 18 members (17 ARRL) and 5 guests in attendance this evening, listed below. MINUTES ------- Adjustments to last month's minutes: - Jan Fitkin should be listed as on the committee to look at the bylaws & the committee about the IWARN & field day. Minutes accepted with adjustments (N0TKC/N8TWO) TREASURER'S REPORT ------------------ Dave reports we have $1991.46 in the general fund plus $218.18 in the repeater savings fund. There is also one outstanding check to be cashed (an old one discovered in with some paperwork) Report accepted (N8TWO/N0TKC) REPEATERS --------- Bill (W0GEN) reports all of his are working fine Chuck (W0ALO) repots the same, his are also up and running fine Scott (WA0TPN) gave a more detailed report of the DMR repeaters. There are no outage, a new server for DMR is up. Also discussed the many recent and ongoing improvements in DMR hotspots and related tech. COMMITTEES ---------- Bylaw Changes (N0TKC/W0VJVB/KE0IWP/NK0T) Taryn (N0TKC) reports there is just a word or two of changes remaining, she will have the final proposed changes for review and approval next month. (bylaw changes require a 2/3 majority at the meeting to be accepted) Field Day 2018 (W0GEN/AE0TB) Bill (W0GEN) reports we have met with iWarn and they're okay with us doing field day this year with them. Dave (W0EL) has a 120ft portable tower he can loan us, in addition to our solar trailer and logging laptops. Motion to conduct field day with iWarn (NK0T/N0TKC) NIRAA Swap Meet 2018 (N0ZYC/KZ0MBI/N8TWO) Nathan (N0ZYC) reports they will be meeting to start plans for this year's meet before the next meeting. OLD BUSINESS ------------ Recording and publishing of meeting presentations was revisited. Nathan (N0ZYC) is looking at various options for hardware including standalone and web cams. Bill (W0GEN) has a Go Pro we can use, that will provide better recording. We'll try that next month. Mark (N8TWO) reminds us this year's spring camporee wil be on May 5, and they are looking for around 7 hams to participate at Camp Ingawanis between noon and 5pm. There will be a Scouts Emergency Dril and an ARES drill. We will probably be using simplex 147.55, 147.45, or UHF. Kip Lodges will be coming up to join us as well. Please contact Mark if you'd like to assist. NEW BUSINESS ------------ Dave (K0CQH) suggests we should start thinking about our November dinner/meeting, as last year's went a lot smoother since it wasn't as rushed as it has been in the past. (this year it will be on November 10) In addition to the dinner and meeting, we may want to try to plan on a little mingling with appetizers prior to sitting down. Motion to start plans with consideration of the same location again this year (WA0TPN/N8TWO) Tom (AE0TB) reports the NIRAA page on the ARRL web site hasn't been updated in quite some time, we need to get some current information up. Nathan (N0ZYC) will look into updates. Also, testing is scheduled for next week at the CF Public Library, Feb 17, 10AM. Contact Tom to sign up. Al Jones is also organizing a tech class, though we don't have any details yet. He'll need several sign-ups before he can commit to a class. The EOC is booked for the second Saturday evening of the month for the rest of the year so our yearly EoC/FEMA presentation will be done this year by Maureen coming to us instead of us coming to the EoC. Dick (W0HHF) reviewed the merits of the ARRL and the club maintaining a good percentage of ARRL membership. Remember to renew your ARRL membership this year. Vicki (W0VJB) is looking into working ham radio into STEM and educating youth and making them aware of ham radio. They usually bring up the subject of ham radio when technology is discussed, and we should take that opportunity to foster some new hams. Scott (WA0TPN) suggests we find an "angle" in ham radio that today's youth would find interesting. Bill (W0GEN) was approached by family of a silent key, they would like our assistance in finding a new home for some gear. They've requested we handle this discretely, please contact Bill for more information. Harold (N4HRL) discussed programs for upcoming meetings. Possibly a program on ARES in May? Joe Hoepfner may want to do something. Tom Rice (out of Des Moines) is a liaison to the National Weather Service and may be able to present on NWS this year. Tom (AE0TB) will reach out to him and see if he's interested. Chuck (W0ALO) discussed RACES. It's a variation of ham radio but with several unique features, and requires a separate license. Maybe a presentation topic? Dick (W0HHF) woud also like to see a presentation on MARS. Maybe combine this with a RACES presentation? Additional information on digital modes like Olivia are also of interest. Motion to adjourn (N0ZYC/N0TKC) PRESENTATION ------------ Tonight's presentation was by Curt (NK0T) on SWR UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS ---------------------- March's presentation TBA 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 Tuesday night at 7pm, 3.5885 MHz USB / 1500 Hz WF (Olivia 8-500) << NOTE! FREQENCY HAS CHANGED EFFECTIVE FEB 2018 >> - DMR checkin 7:30 pm Sunday night on talk group 3119 VE TESTING AND TRAINING ----------------------- - ongoing tech-to-general class UPCOMING HAMFESTS ----------------- - Mahoska Hams Swap Meet: March 18, 8:00-11:30 American Legion Hall, 302 High Ave East, Oskaloosa IA https://www.facebook.com/events/1310732659042610 http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/mahaska-hams-swapmeet - Dayton Hamvention: May 18-20 Greene County Fairgrounds and Expo Center, 210 Fairground Road, Xenia OH http://hamvention.org - Cedar Rapids Junk in the Trunk: Saturday May 26 - CVARC Midwest TechFest: August 4-5 Linn County Fairgrounds, 201 Central City Rd, Central City IA http://w0gq.org/hamfest-2016/ OTHER EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------------------------ (none) W0MG/NIRAA LINKS ---------------- - Club Website: http://w0mg.net/ - 2018 membership form: http://www.w0mg.net/contact/membershipform2018.pdf - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/waterloo.hams/community/ - Cedar Valley area repeaters: http://w0mg.net/repeaters/ =============================================================================== This month's meeting attendance: Members: N0ZYC Nathan Fisher KE0OMN Darci Hartke W0VJB Vicki Bicket AE0TB Tom Bicket N0TKC Taryn Colby N8TWO Mark Colby K0CQH Dave Knittel WA0QXF Clark Willoughby KD0DK David Kelly N4HRL Harold Lucas W0ALO Chuck Angel W0HHF Dick Nelson KE0IWQ James Fitkin KE0IWP Janice Fitkin NK0T Curt Wilson N0RXB Wendell Wagner W0GEN Bill Dedic KB0RSW Randall McClain Guests: Randy Hartke WA0TPN Scott Lowe KG5RG Garetson Rus W0EL David Welch KZ0MBI Michael Chapman Members wishing to pay club dues (or have paid and are not indicated above) please contact Dave Knittel. Officers may be contacted over the air or via email: President, Harold Lucas, N4HRL, 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 2016, Taryn Colby, N0TKC, dir1(a)w0mg.net Director 2017, Stan Johnson, W0SJ, dir2(a)w0mg.net Director 2018, Dave Kelly, KD0DK, dir3(a)w0mg.net The NIRAA club has changed meeting and location time as of March 2018. Please join us at Windcove (Western Home Communities) apartments at 5300 South Main St in Cedar Falls. We are meeting on the 2nd Saturday of every month at 7:30 pm, please note the change im time. 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. Many members are also monitoring channel 3119 on DMR. Our club website is at http://www.w0mg.net/ . Primary email contact is Nathan at sec(a)w0mg.net 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 these emails, please reply requesting removal from one or both distribution lists. - Nathan Fisher Secretary, W0MG