IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ===================== Windcove has temporarily closed to outside groups. (probably for coronavirus concerns) As a result, tonight's meeting will be held at The Salvation Army, at 89 Franklin St in Waterloo. Same time (7:30 pm) ===================== Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur Association (NIRAA/W0MG) Meeting Minutes, Feb 2020 The February gathering of the Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur's Association (NIRAA) was called to order at 7:30 PM February 8 2020 by Harold Lucas (N4HRL). There were 10 members in attendance this evening, listed below. MINUTES ------- Adjustments to last month's minutes: Joe (AE5EI) emailed me with an update, the Iowa Digital Net has changed the day and time they meet, the new schedule is Sunday at 4pm. I have adjusted the net list on the minutes to reflect the new schedule. N0RWY is a paid member. (Nathan needs to coordinate with Dave on the 2020 membership / ARRL membership list) Minutes accepted with 2 updates (N0ZYC / N0TKC) TREASURER'S REPORT ------------------ Dave (KD0DK) reports we have $1,090.18 in the savings/repeater fund and $2,263.20 in share-draft $200 wa received in deposits (mainly 2020 memberships) Dave is about out of checks, will be spending $20.45 to order a box of checks. Please contact Dave if you would like to get your dues paid for the year. Our club membership form is also available on our club website at http://www.w0mg.net/ Report accepted (N0ZYC / N8TWO) REPEATERS --------- Al's repeater is running fine, currently located at his house since having to be taken down from its former location Curt (NK0T): DMR is ok, 94 is good too COMMITTEES ---------- Repeater Swap Committee (Jan/KE0RKO, John/WB0MAR, Curt/NK0T): (waiting for spring) Presentation Committee (Curt/NK0T, John/WB0MAR) OLD BUSINESS ------------ Stan (W0SJ): No progress yet on prepping the radio for the Readlyn Library. (Patrick isn't ready for it yet anyway) Curt (NK0T) will be picking it up when it's ready. Mark (N8TWO): no updates on scout-o-rama yet. We do have two scouts that are interested in tech classes. There will be a VE testing session next Saturday (Feb 15) at the Hudson Library from 10-12. The next testing session is scheduled for Sat April 18. NEW BUSINESS ------------ Curt (NK0T): Remote ham setup is working again on the club station at Bill's shed. There was a problem with RF coming into the shack from the (unburied) internet cable, this has been fixed. We have discovered that the club radio cannot be turned back on remotely if it momentarily loses power. There was discussion of installing a UPS or other solution to prevent complete power loss. Minor discussion of field day 2020 preparation Harold (N4HRL): lets discuss this at the March meeting when we have more members present and are closer to the event. Harold (N4HRL): We received a flyer announcing the DNR is celebrating their 100 year anniversary this year and will be hosting a variety of events in state parks throughout the year. This will include some parks setting up ham radio stations. Unlike events like JOTA, this event is not coordinated to one specific week state-wide, so if we are going to participate we can choose the week as well as the park, since we have several DNR parks in the area. Mark (N8TWO) is reviewing options with Al (KB0VGG), we need to decide if we are going to participate, how long (10 hr? 24 hr?) Some suggested locations include George Wyth and Big Big Woods Lake. Field day is the weekend of June 20, if we want to do this before then May 16 or June 6 was suggested. We'll need to contact the DNR and get clearance / find out what rules we need to follow / where in the park we can set up. Event details can be found at http://www.w0dbq.org/rules Chuck (W0ALO): Ragbrai is coming through Waterloo this year. Last time they were in town, RC Communications provided radios and we provided support. Chuck will check with ARES to see what the plan is for this year. Mark (N8TWO): the Hiawatha Hamfest is coming up on Feb 29 in Perry IA. Mason City is also organizing a hamfest, no details yet. Cabin Fever Reliever hamfest is on the 15th in St Cloud MI. Oskaloosa on March 21. (at the Legion Hall) Chuck (W0ALO): We had a presentation from Ottumwa ~6 yrs ago on low power, he may be interested in doing it again this year for us. Curt (NK0T) will contact him to see. Motion to adjourn at 8:05 PM (WOSJ/W0ALO) PRESENTATION ------------ There was no presentation for this month's meeting UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS ---------------------- April: Cedar Falls High School Rocket Club 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 Sunday night at 4pm, 3.5885 MHz USB / 1500 Hz WF (Olivia 8-500) (note new day and time as of Feb 2020) - DMR checkin 7:30 pm Sunday night on talk group 3119 VE TESTING AND TRAINING ----------------------- Sat Feb 15, 10-12 at the Hudson Library Sat April 18, 10-12 at the Hudson Library contact Tom (AE0TB) for current information UPCOMING HAMFESTS ----------------- Sat March 21: Mahaska ARC Swapmeet American Legion Hall, 302 High Avenue East, Oskaloosa Talk-In: 145.490-600 (PL 146.2) vstanley@iowatelecom.net Sat April 25: DMRAA Hamfest Walnut Center, Iowa State Fairgrounds, 3000 E. Grand Avenue, Des Moines Talk-In: 146.940 (PL 114.8) info@dmraa.com Sat May 23: 3900 Club Hamboree Boone County Fair grounds, 1601 Industrial Park Road, Boon http://www.3900club.com Talk-In: 146.850 (no tone) w0fs@arrl.net Sat Aug 8: CVARC Hamfest, ARRL Iowa State Convention Linn County Fairgrounds, 201 Central City Road, Central City http://w0gq.org/hamfest/ Talk-In: 146.745 (PL 192.8) nm0s@nm0s.com Mason City hamfest (TBD) OTHER EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------------------------ Weatherspotter Training Monday March 23 at 6pm, at Hawkeye College (Tama Hall) W0MG/NIRAA LINKS ---------------- - Club Website: https://www.w0mg.net/ - 2019 membership form: https://www.w0mg.net/contact/membershipform2019.pdf - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/waterloo.hams/community/ - Cedar Valley area repeaters list: https://www.w0mg.net/repeaters/ MEETING ATTENDANCE ------------------ Members: N0ZYC Nathan Fisher N4HRL Harold Lucas KD0DK David Kelly WA0QXF Clark Willoughby N8TWO Mark Colby KB0RSW Randy McClain N0RWY Dennis Orona W0ALO Chuck Angel W0SJ Stan Johnson KA0DBC Lois Johnson Guests: (none) Members wishing to pay club dues (or have paid and are not indicated above) please contact our Treasurer 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 Kelly (KD0DK) - treas(a)w0mg.net Director 2018: John Humpal (WB0MAR) - dir1(a)w0mg.net Director 2019: Stan Johnson (W0SJ) - dir2(a)w0mg.net Director 2020: Jan Fitkin (KE0IWQ) - 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, with coverage centered in Black Hawk County. Many members are also monitoring channel 3119 on DMR. Our club website is at https://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