Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur Association (NIRAA/W0MG) Meeting Minutes, April 2019 The April gathering of the Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur's Association (NIRAA) was called to order at 7:31 PM April 13, 2019 by Harold Lucas (N4HRL). There were 16 members (14 ARRL) and 2 guest in attendance this evening, listed below. MINUTES ------- Adjustments to last month's minutes: KE0RKO is a member, not a guest Treasurer's report had general and savings amounts transposed (again!) There is no STEM committee Field Day committee consistes of W0VJB, KD0DK, NK0T Minutes accepted with adjustments (N8TWO/N0TKC) TREASURER'S REPORT ------------------ Dave (K0CQH) reports we have 2,299.60 in the general fund and 1090.18 in savings / repeater fund. Please contact Dave if you would like to get your dues paid for the year. $22 was reimbursed to Dave Kelley for field day reservation, we now have Saturday reserved. (but not Sunday, we will not be operating overnight or on Sunday) $10 was sent to Lee Garner to compensate for travel to present for us last month We received this year's quote for club insurance from Black Hawk Insurance, $228 (same as last year) is due by May 10. Motion to pay it (N8TWO/N0ZYC) Report accepted (N0ZYC/N8TWO) REPEATERS --------- Curt (NK0T): "220 is still on the air" Mark (N8TWO) is working with Chris (N0CF) to get the D-Star moved to his home tower Joe (W0IW) now has a fusion analog/digital up in Parkersburg, 444.675+/136.5 COMMITTEES ---------- Field Day (WA0ILD/W0VJB/N0TKC/etc) Vicki (W0VJB) handed out a simple questionaire for Field Day operators Stan (W0SJ) commented on field day antenna setup. They have evaluated the location and there's enough room for up to three stations. He can provide long-wires, and we can set up the 6M beam if there's interest. (it's a lot of work to set up, takes a minimum crew of 3) 6 is either on fire or dead, there's usually no in-between and it's very unpredictable which way it will be swinging on field day. OLD BUSINESS ------------ Mark (N8TWO) is finishing prep for the Scout's Camporee on May 4, he's still looking for volunteers. The first scouts will be departingAntique Acres at 7:30, so we'll try to be operational by 7am. Bernie's Archery should expect arrivals by 8:00, be operational by 7:30. We're allowed to do setup the night before if needed. Will use Chuck's 82 repeater for communications, and also try to have an HF station up on both ends in case the scout would like to give it a try. Nathan (N0ZYC), Wendel (N0RXB) and John (WB0MAR) volunteered, this should be enough manpower to handle both locations. We'll be having one final planning meeting at Mark's house Monday Apr 22 at 7pm. Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) status: Wendel (N0RXB) demonstrated a simple code practice oscillator they can make from a kit we can provide, using common parts, for them to get their Radio and Electronics badges. Not sure how many kits we'll need, possibly several dozen, depending on interest. W0SJ/N0ZYC have more parts if Wendel runs short. NEW BUSINESS ------------ "Scout-O-Rama" will be at the Cattle Congress on Sept 29. (no times yet) We can use this as another opportunity to introduce scouts to ham radio. HF and VHF station setup anticipated. The scouts also have a Get On The Air (GOTA) station coming up. GOTA has a special callsign we'll be getting from Al Jones. Hrold (N4HRL) brought up the question of whether or not to do a NIRAA Swap Meet this year. Considering the lack of interest we've had the last few years it's probably best to just go to the CR swaps instead. Motion to suspend local club swaps until further notice (N4HRL/W0SJ) Taryn (N0TKC) was wondering when the next board meeting was expeted to be. June 8 at 6:45. Motion to adjourn at 8:04 PM (N0ZYC/N0TKC) PRESENTATION ------------ Tonight’s presentation was by Nathan (N0ZYC) on quadracopters UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS ---------------------- MAY: Curt (NK0T) presents on QRP JUN: (FIELD DAY PLANNING) JUL: TBD AUG: (FAMILY PICNIC) SEP: TBD OCT: TBD NOV: (XMAS PARTY) DEC: TBD 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 Ansborough 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 usually meets at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Tuesdays at 6:00 pm contact is Al (KB0VGG) 319-243-8819 2ND FLOOR CF LIBRARY 10AM next class: (contact Al) - scheduled club testing for 2019 will be held at the Hudson Library, at 401 5th St in Hudson, from 9:45 am - 1:00 pm on the following dates: -Sept 21 additional testing dates may be added as needed UPCOMING HAMFESTS ----------------- - Cedar Rapids "Junk in the Trunk" Saturday May 11 in the Collins parking lot NO admission, NO tables, NO facilities, NO shelter, NO vendors, NO door prizes, just lots of tailgaiting trunks generally start opening around 8am and pack up by 11 post-even brunch is common, check with others attending to see where and when the forecast is (as usual) for rain, dress appropriately! OTHER EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------------------------ (none) W0MG/NIRAA LINKS ---------------- - Club Website: http://w0mg.net/ - 2019 membership form: http://www.w0mg.net/contact/membershipform2019.pdf - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/waterloo.hams/community/ - Cedar Valley area repeaters list: http://w0mg.net/repeaters/ MEETING ATTENDANCE ------------------ Members: N0ZYC Nathan Fisher N4HRL Harold Lucas AE0TB Tom Bicket WB0MAR John Humpal KE0IWQ James Fitkin KD0DK David Kelly NK0T Curt Wilson N8TWO Mark Colby N0RXB Wendell Wagner W0SJ Stan Johnson KA0DBC Lois Johnson N0TKC Taryn Colby W0VJB Vicki Bicket KE0IWP Janice Fitkin K0CQH Dave Knittel KE0RKO Jane Buck Guests: KE0GTF Wayne Buck KB0QAV Richard Jones Members wishing to pay club dues (or have paid and are not indicated above) please contact Dave Knittel in person at our monthly meeting or by email at treas(a)w0mg.net 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 NIRAA meets most months at Windcove (Western Home Communities) apartments at 5300 South Main St in Cedar Falls. We are meeting on the 2nd Saturday of the month at 7:30 pm, anyone interested in ham radio is welcome to attend. Our primary club repeater is on 146.94 mhz, negative offset, with a PL tone of 136.5 hz, coverage centered in Black Hawk County. Many members are also monitoring channel 3119 on DMR. Our club website is at http://www.w0mg.net/ and the club's primary email contact is sec(a)w0mg.net You're receiving these meeting minutes because you have given the NIRAA club your email address for minutes and announcements. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, please reply requesting removal from one or both distribution lists. - Nathan Fisher (N0ZYC) Secretary, W0MG