========================= NEW CLUB MEETING LOCATION ========================= We have resumed 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, June 2021 The June gathering of the Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur's Association (NIRAA) was called to order at 7:02 PM, June 12, 2021 on Zoom by Al Jones (KB0VGG). There were 17 members (13 ARRL) and 2 guests in attendance this evening, listed below. MINUTES ------- Adjustments to last month's minutes: (none) Report accepted with no adjustment (AE0TB/N0ZYC) TREASURER'S REPORT ------------------ Dave (KD0DK) reports we have $1,090.18 in checking and $1,771.86 in savings/repeater fund Report accepted (N8TWO/N0TKC) 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 --------- Chuck (W0ALO): DMR was up but internet has died again, 82 is working Curt (NK0T): 220 is still down, club 440 is running on a short antenna right now. Vinton we have the settings and are ready to proceed. Al (KB0VGG): Working on a new PA for vinton, it's up but with just 50 watts and the tree-line the range is limited. Cory (NC0N) helped get the old PA back up and running. It looks like the SWR limit pots weren't set and that's what killed it last time. Those will need to be adjusted so we don't have another failure for the same reason. Ingawanis has an abandoned 4 bay antenna we might be able to do something with. COMMITTEES ---------- Presentation Committee (Curt/NK0T, John/WB0MAR): (no report) OLD BUSINESS ------------ Al (KB0VGG): Lookout Park shelter is reserved, but we won't be able to bring in the solar trailer. (they're not allowing any tires on the grass, the trailer is too wide for the sidewalk that leads up to the shelter, and there's no parking anywhere near the shelter) We haven't formally contacted Mercy One yet regarding setup of 94 on the newer building yet. He knows a welder if needed though for fabrication of a custom bracket for the tower. Tom (AE0TB): has the forma agreement we had drafted for partnership with Hawkeye's tower sites, that should make a good basis for an agreement with Mercy. Chris (N0CF): you can put my repeater/antenna back up if you like, I have no other immediate need for it. Al (KB0VGG) and Curt (NK0T) looked into getting a computer controller for 94 - one that could do d-star, fusion, and analog. It's looking to be around $225. Upgrades are on hold though until we can see if that controller will work, and are sure we'll have internet access at the new spot. (a cell hotspot is also an option) Stan (W0SJ) has a circuit board drafted for a time domain reflectometer, just needs to get some standoffs. NEW BUSINESS ------------ Al (KB0VGG): the scouts are bringing ethernet to the lodge with the above mentioned antenna, one possible use for that site is to link with 440 for better northern coverage, assuming we go for the new controller. Al (KB0VGG): we currently have no training sessions going, though we do have 1 request for an extra class. Mark (N8TWO): no testing scheduled, possibly next one sometime in September. Mark (N8TWO): there's a hamfest in Central City (CVARC / W0GQ) coming up in August (see below for details) Al (KB0VGG): Bill (W0GEN) is starting a "ham radio fellowship breakfast", meeting at the Wendy's at Love's Travel Stop in Waterloo, on Wednesdays at 9AM. Al (KB0VGG): Does the club want to do a hamfest this year, maybe at the CF Pavillion on Main St? They have all the amenities there. Maybe early this fall? (tabled discussion for next month) Club verbally approves Al to schedule a date if he has to with short notice. Chris (N0CF): Belvedere Radio Expo is September 26, 15 miles east of Rockford. Sunday only this year. Motion to adjourn at 7:31 PM (N0ZYC/N0TKC) There was no presentation this evening in leu of Field Day planning FIELD DAY PLANNING ------------------ ARRL rules say operators can run from home using the club call again this year. Just make sure you enter the club info (especially the NAME) exactly or it won't count. We're looking at 2 stations plus one GOTA Lots of volunteers for setup and takedown We'll put up a 75M antenna to get the report - Chuck (W0ALO) has a nice dipole for that We'll bring the club's contest radio as well as Cory's FT991A with auto-tuner, longwire(s), We will leave the club's remote radio (7300) in place for use remotely, since the 7300's are too easy to overload with other nearby radios. This year we will be placing the filters between the tuners and the radios to improve their effectiveness, so this means NO internal tuners. Nathan (N0ZYC) and others have external tuners to provide. Wendel (N0RXB) bring your dual output headphone boxes. Harold (N4HRL) needs a head-count for lunch and dinner, provided by the Salvation Army. Lunch will be at noon, supper at 5:30. Nathan (N0ZYC) will be providing power (solar, inverter, generator) AL (KBVGG) would like to catch the ISS, they are running a repeater this year Please email Al to let him know if you are operating: include time, mode, band. Doug (K0DV) will be sending out a press release to the media and public officials Al (KB0VGG) will announce our event on any net he can Mark (N8TWO): we've got 7 laptops to log with now. Battery condition is unknown however. Also the park does not allow alcohol, and keep your vehicles off the grass. Last time we were out there we lined up our cars West of the shelter - don't do that - keep them in the SouthEast lot. (parking may be a bit tight) 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 Love's Travel Stop in Waterloo. (3301 Greyhound Drive) VE TESTING AND TRAINING ----------------------- contact Mark (N8TWO) for current information at classes@w0mg.net UPCOMING HAMFESTS ----------------- August 7-8: CVARC Linn County Fairgrounds, 201 Central City Rd, Central City IA 52214 admittance: $10 (18 and under free), indoor/outdoor selling: $10 (no VE testing) flyer: https://w0gq.org/2021-hamfest-flyer/ September 26: Belvedere Radio Expo October 30: 3900 Club Hamboree Boone County Fair Grounds,Community Building, 1601 Industrial Park Road, Boone IA 8am - 1pm, admittance: $7 (14 and under free) VE testing flyer: http://www.3900club.com/hamboree2021.php 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: NC0N Cory Hill N4HRL Harold Lucas W0ALO Chuck Angel AE0TB Tom Bicket K0CQH Dave Knittel KD0DK David Kelly WB0MAR John Humpal W0VJB Vicki Bicket N0TKC Taryn Colby KE0IWQ James Fitkin KE0IWP Janice Fitkin KA0DBC Lois Johnson W0SJ Stan Johnson N0ZYC Nathan Fisher N8TWO Mark Colby KB0VGG Al Jones N0RXB Wendell Wagner guests: KE0ZXT Dan Tice N0CF Chris Conklin 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