========================= NEW CLUB MEETING LOCATION ========================= This month we will resume meeting in person at the Waterloo Airport, in the old restaurant. Parking is available at no cost in the short-term lot. (3 hr free limit) Meetings will be at the usual day and time, 7pm on the 2nd Saturday of the month. Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur Association (NIRAA/W0MG) Meeting Minutes, May 2021 The May gathering of the Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur's Association (NIRAA) was called to order at 7:30 PM, May 8, 2021 on Zoom by Curt Wilson (NK0T). There were 18 members (13 ARRL) and 2 guests in attendance this evening, listed below. MINUTES ------- Adjustments to last month's minutes: Added back in a missing digit in a balance (KD0DK) Corrected spelling on "Grinell Mutual" (KE0IWP) Added callsign to treasurer's report acceptance (KE0IWP) Report accepted with 3 adjustment (KA0DBC/N0TKC) TREASURER'S REPORT ------------------ Dave (KD0DK) reports we have $1,090.18 in savings/repeater fund and $1,969.86 + $60 in dues, less $25 for CF Rec Center reservation and $233 for insurance, ending share-draft balance is $1,771.86 Dave has also sent our updated club information to the ARRL. Report accepted (KB0VGG/WB0MAR) 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/ REPEATERS --------- Curt (NK0T): 220 is still down, haven't had a chance yet, but it will be back as soon as the PL is installed. The office area it's in keeps tripping the squelch otherwise. Chuck (W0ALO): DMR repeter is up but still doesn't have internet, so it's only working as a local repeater. We have 100w PA sitting on the bench for the Vinton repeater, needs to run some tests and get shutdown modes working properly. Al (KB0VGG): mine's doing OK, need to get it up a bit higher to get over the trees in the area. Chris's 900 is currently down, if a new location can't be found he's probably going to relocate it closer to his home. COMMITTEES ---------- Presentation Committee (Curt/NK0T, John/WB0MAR): (no report) (the Waterloo Airport room has internet, which should improve our options) OLD BUSINESS ------------ Curt (NK0T): we're beginning preparations for field day, please contact Al with a description of what field day equipment you will be bringing. We have the shelter at Lookout Park reserved. Mark (N8TWO): our tentative schedule is antenna setup starting at 10am, work 1-8pm. (Saturday only, June 26) We will need some people to hang around for tear-down. We're not going to be coordinating with any other groups this year, it's just W0MG. Mark (N8TWO): Our General class finished, testing was today. We had 6 candidates, everyone got a new license or upgrade. The Waterloo Airport facility worked well for testing. Short-term parking allows parking for up to 3 hrs without charge, that was adequate for testing. NEW BUSINESS ------------ Al (KB0VGG): Mercy is being very receptive to us setting our repeater back up on top of their Medical Arts Building. (mainly office space, which may give us more quiet on our receive) The repeater cabinet location has UPS power. It also has an ethernet drop, but we don't know if we'll be able to use it or not. (will likely require their IT people to set it up on an isolated VLAN) The previous tower we took down was pretty seriously water-damaged, and we need to look around for new tower sections. This may be a good time to explore a folding tower setup, to reduce or eliminate the need for climbers when doing antenna maintenance. We don't know at this time if Chris's 900 will be going back up. If not, we may just need the one tower. Other options include upgrading to Rohn 45 and using outriggers, for multiple antennas. There's a concrete wall at that location we may be able to bolt the tower directly to, instead of going the tar-pot route. Estimates for new tower sections: $150/10ft for Rohn-25, $300/10ft for Rohn-45. Tom (AE0TB): we should make sure we provide them with updated proof of insurance, and establish some sort of written agreement of who is responsible for what. We should also push for dated renewals, so we don't find ourselves under the gun again to get our equipment out in a hurry lest it get thrown away. Mark (N8TWO): we should check with Chris to see if he wants to keep his 900 up, or possibly turn it over to the club or something of the sort. Nick (KD0WVN): It'd e nice to have a wires / fusion in town too Nathan (N0ZYC): do we want to re-establish the link with the CF site? Al (KB0VGG): the link hardware is shot, it can't just be reinstalled, it needs to be completely replaced. (a new link setup will cost around $1,500 - $2,000) WB0MAR/AE0TB: have experience on agreements, worked with Hawkeye getting things in writing, might be able to use that agreement as a basis for Mercy. Curt (NK0T): we should plan this out carefully before making / submitting any proposal. For now lets table the hospital upgrades, assemble a team to work on a proposal. Curt (NK0T): the latest testing sessions went well at the airport Tom (AE0TB): the Airport Director is very interested in us using the room, as it will increase airport traffic and community visibility. Also Bill has a projector and screen we may be able to use for presentations there. Nathan (N0ZYC): Is there any way for users to participate in the meeting over zoom? Doug (K0DV): we probably don't want to include Zoom, to encourage people to attend the meeting in person. Lois (KA0DBC): do we want to change the meeting time to earlier than the usual 7:30? Motion to change meeting time from 7:30 to 7:00 pm (N8TWO/W0ALO) Stan (W0SJ): I've found someone that's made a printed circuit board for a time domain reflectometer, contact me if you need one. (check out his article in the May issue of QST) Motion to adjourn at 8:29 PM (N0ZYC/W0ALO) Tonight's presentation was by Mark (N8TWO) on our new field day logging software UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS ---------------------- (TBD) REGULAR EVENTS -------------- - ARES net check-in is at 9pm every Sunday night, on 146.94/34 - 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 temporarily suspended: - 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 - W0MG Virtual Breakfast, now meeting every Monday morning 8:45am – 12:45pm https://zoom.us/j/94876565904?pwd=RnlhMzBkMWhCaEkzRUc0YW4yaDMxUT09 or open the Zoom app and join with meeting ID 948 7656 5904 passcode 592204 or dial in by phone, 312-626-6799 (Chicago) - Ham Radio Fellowship / Breakfast every Wednesday morning at 9AM at the Wendy's at Loves Truck Stop in Waterloo. (3301 Greyhound Drive) VE TESTING AND TRAINING ----------------------- contact Mark (N8TWO) for current information at classes@w0mg.net UPCOMING HAMFESTS ----------------- (none) OTHER EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS ------------------------------ (none) W0MG/NIRAA LINKS ---------------- - Club Website: https://www.w0mg.net/ - Membership form: http://www.w0mg.net/contact/membershipform.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 KD0DM David Morrow KF0FGL Aaron Howard W0SJ Stan Johnson KD0WVN Nick Miller N0TKC Taryn Colby KF0FGL Aaron Howard NK0T Curt Wilson K0DV Doug Vernier KE0IWP Janice Fitkin KE0IWQ James Fitkin AE0TB Tom Bicket KD0DK David Kelly WB0MAR John Humpal W0VJB Vicki Bicket KB0VGG Al Jones KA0DBC Lois Johnson W0ALO Chuck Angel guests: KB0MGH John Carstensen N0AJS Andrew Schneider 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: Curt Wilson (NK0T) - pres(a)w0mg.net Vice President: Al Jones (KB0VGG) - vp(a)w0mg.net Secretary: Nathan Fisher (N0ZYC) - sec(a)w0mg.net Treasurer: Dave Kelly (KD0DK) - treas(a)w0mg.net Director 2019: Stan Johnson (W0SJ) - dir2(a)w0mg.net Director 2020: Jan Fitkin (KE0IWP) - dir3(a)w0mg.net Director 2021: John Humpal (WB0MAR) - dir1(a)w0mg.net NIRAA meets most months at Windcove (Western Home Communities) apartments at 300 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 Our meeting has been temporarily moved to Zoom due to covid-19, see announcement at the top of these minutes for meeting information. 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