Saturday, July 16, 2016

July 2016 Meeting

Emporia Amateur Radio Society
Science Hall 156, ESU
16 July 2016
FINAL

Meeting Minutes:

1.     Call to Order - David, ADØSF, called the meeting to order at 9:02 am.
       
2.     Meeting Minutes - The 18 June meeting minutes had been emailed to the members prior to the meeting. Dwight, KDØOIX, made a motion to approve the minutes as written, Dean, KDØAZZ, seconded.  George, KDØRII, asked that the meeting minutes be amended with the following corrections/additions:
·         Addition - Section 6 – DK Review – George, KDØRII and Dwight, KDØOIX be added to the list of DK Checkpoint workers as they were left off of the list denoting individuals who assisted with the event.
·         Correction – Section 5 – Lyon County Emergency Management – Correction of RACES requirements being ICS-100 and ICS-700 instead of ICS-100 and ICS-200 as previously reported.
·         Correction – Section 5 – Announcement and Reports – Connie’s call sign corrected to KØUER.
  - Discussion was led by George, KDØRII, regarding the proper procedure for approving minutes including the request for corrections and/or additions.  Discussion was tabled without resolution and/or agreement, thus additional research and/or discussion to be undergone by Exec. Committee.
                                                                                                                                         
3.     Treasurer’s Report – Lonnie, WØNXS, presented the Treasurer’s report. Linda, KCØUVH, motioned to approve, Dean, KDØAZZ, seconded; report was approved unanimously.

4.      Component Corner – Jim, WXØU - SWR
·         Jim, WXØU, opened with show-and-tell of small canisters that diabetic test strips are delivered in that make great small storage containers for misc. items with an offer for anyone to help themselves to several that he brought in.
·         Jim, WXØU, provided an insightful presentation on SWR including the effects of loss in cables.
·         Example 1 - 100 foot section of coax on 2M with a 3db loss / 100ft rating.
o   If a transceiver is transmitting at 10W only 5W will be realized at the antenna.
·         Example 2 – same 100 foot section of coax on 2M with a 3db loss / 100ft rating but instead is an old section of cable that has been laying around outside and subjected to weather elements so now instead of 3db loss/100ft the cable now exhibits 20db loss / 100ft, therefore the same radio transmitting at 10W would only have 1W realized at the antenna.
·         Best way to measure true SWR for the system would be to use a power meter and dummy load at the transmitter end and then again at the antenna end.
·         Another option would be to utilize an antenna analyzer.
·         William, ADØTV, posed a question regarding the use of BALUNs and Jim, WXØU suggested that would make a good topic for a future Component Corner presentation.

5.      Announcements and Reports
·         Executive Committee Meeting – David, ADØSF, presented a summary of the recent Executive Meetings held 06 July 2016.

o   Trailer Update – Lonnie, WØNXS, gave an overview of the current status of the work remaining to be performed on the trailer which includes:
§  Installing the deep cell battery and disconnect
§  Trimming the flooring
§  Fabricating and installing the external coax hatch / mounting plate
§  Tim, KØEMP, also discussed the need for additional cooling / venting in the trailer.
§  Dean, KDØAZZ, said that box fan that he provided for use during the DK200 was to be donated to the club along with the trailer keys that he had made during the setup day prior to the DK.

o   Donation – Tim, KØEMP, said that the club received a $65 donation from an anonymous member to purchase Field Day supplies such as possibly a Handi-Finder antenna for use during the Fox Hunt.  Unfortunately, after checking with the company that makes the Handi-Finder it was determined that we would not be guaranteed to receive the antenna prior to Field Day so we would not be purchasing it at this time.

o   Equipment for Sale – Tim, KØEMP, said that the manuals were the only items remaining to be sold and they were left in Erika’s, KEØGXW, office that morning as she has volunteered to get them listed and sold via the web.

·         Builder’s Corner
o   David, ADØSF, said that very flexible HT antenna that he showed during the last eyeball meeting is now available through Comet.

o   Dean, KDØAZZ, passed around a small tactical-style earpiece that plugs directly into the handheld microphone of many HTs and his initial reports are very positive regarding the sound quality.

·         Introductions - Introductions were made and we had 16 members present and 1 guest, Chuck Wells, ADØUY, who recently obtained his ticket by passing all 3 tests and was licensed as an amateur extra.

·         Calling the Thursday Night Net – Sign-up sheet was passed with the results as follows:

CALL SIGN
NAME
21-Jul-16
KØEMP
Tim East
28-Jul-16
ADØTV
William Wolcott
04-Aug-16
ADØSF
David Claridge
11-Aug-16
KDØAZZ
Dean Binns
18-Aug-16
KDØAZZ
Dean Binns

25-Aug-16
ADØTV
William Wolcott
01-Sep-16
KCØUVH
Linda Wolcott
08-Sep-16


15-Sep-16
KDØAZZ
Dean Binns

22-Sep-16
ADØTV
William Wolcott
29-Sep-16


06-Oct-16


13-Oct-16




·         Next VE Exam Session – held following the eyeball meeting on Saturday June 18th.

6.      Continuing discussion and activity items
·         EARS Trailer Update – Lonnie, WØNXS, provided a brief update that nothing new has been accomplished on the EARS Community Service trailer since the last eyeball meeting.
o   Dean, KDØAZZ, inquired if any discussion has been made to acquiring a dual-band antenna for the trailer so we wouldn’t have to continue borrowing antenna’s owned by ADØSF, WXØU or WØNXS.  Lonnie, WØNXS, noted that at least for the time being his X30A will remain in the trailer for use by the club but that there are several potential antenna solutions on the table for discussion by the trailer committee including trailer roof mounted dual band antennas.
·         Field Day Update – Dwight, KDØOIX, provided an overview of the final points submitted to ARRL for the WØEMP Field Day exercise. 
o   It was noted that there were actually 950 bonus points total as opposed to the 850 initial thought as solar counted for 200 bonus points this year.
o   It was also noted that we actually had more bonus points than actual QSO points.
o   Issues that were discussed regarding Field Day were as follows:
§  RF Interference – it was determined that there is a lot of RF interference in and around Emporia so a return to Ross Reservation may want to be considered for next year.  It was noted that a 100 foot tower has been erected there that we could make use of for antennas during Field Day.  Jim, WXØU, suggested if there is a 100 foot tower available we should consider using a beam antenna versus dipoles.  Lonnie, WØNXS, inquired if we were to store the EARS trailer at Ross Reservation again would it be possible to utilize their power for the trailer to keep the on-board battery charged but also put up a dual-band antenna on the tower such that we could have one of the Yaesu repeaters in operation from Ross Reservation.
§  Dwight, KDØOIX, noted that significant SWR was discovered on the 20M dipole on the system Bud, NØII, was running which utilized both an internal and external tuner.  It was believed that possibly the internal and external tuners were causing a conflict with one another as the external tuner was removed from the system and the internal tuner was able to tune the 20M dipole which allowed the solar station to obtain more than the minimum 5 QSOs for the 200 solar bonus points.
o   A round of applause and thanks were given to the following individuals specifically for their efforts in the 2016 Field Day activities.
§  Dwight, KDØOIX, for his organization and efforts to lead the Field Day activity once again.
§  Linda, KCØUVH, for her coordination of the Saturday evening meal and she thanked Julie, KDØLYS, for bringing the pies.
§  Bud, NØII and Belinda, KEØCJU, for the solar station, generator and sponsoring of the porta-potty.
o   It was noted that Field Day is held every year on the 4th Saturday in June so we should all put it on our calendars now.
o   Dwight, KDØOIX noted that the only place we really lost any potential bonus points was due to the fact that we didn’t pass any NTES messages and we didn’t have public service announcements advertising the event.
·         Veteran’s Day KØV Special Event Station – Dwight, KDØOIX, noted that he has already submitted for and we have obtained KØV again for this year’s Veteran’s Day special event station.
o   We have the call sign for 5 Nov through 11 Nov.
o   Club members can operate anywhere and it does not need to be from the ESU Shack as long as we don’t have 2 people on the same band/mode at the same time.

·         Kansas QSO Party – Dwight, KDØOIX, said that we will be operating in the school category for the Kansas QSO party which is scheduled for August 27-28
o   We will be operating as KØE for the “E” in “Sunflower”.
o   We typically operate in 3 hour blocks with 2 person groups.

·         WØEMP on LOTW – Dwight, KDØOIX, reported that he is in the process of getting LOTW (Logbook of the World) setup for the club’s new call sign WØEMP.
o   All QSLs will be confirmed through LOTW as well eQSLs.
o   Dwight, KDØOIX, will be the club’s QSO manager.
o   Note:  Dwight displayed several eQSL cards on the video screen that have already been received.

·         Weather Ready Nation – Dwight, KDØOIX, reviewed the basic requirements for the EARS club to be WRN (Weather Ready Nation) ambassadors, such as agreeing to discuss being prepared with the public.
o   Handouts were available providing additional details
o   Dwight suggested that we all review the information and make a motion at the next eyeball meeting if we want to participate as being WRN Ambassadors.

·         Lunar Kanza Ride – David, ADØSF, presented an overview of the EARS club involvement with the Lunar Kanza ride which will occur later Saturday afternoon and expressed that if anyone was interested in volunteering there were more spots available for additional operators.
o   Current list of volunteers:
§  David, ADØSF
§  Sean, ADØSG
§  Dean, KDØAZZ
§  George, KDØRII
§  Andrew, KDØRTY
§  Sean, KDØWUF
§  Corey, KEØITF
§  Lonnie, WØNXS

·         Wade’s Ride – Lonnie, WØNXS, reported that he has not received a reply from the event organizers regarding our potential participation and will follow up again prior to next eyeball meeting.  Wade’s Ride is a local fundraiser for the prevention of SIDS to be held on 08 Oct.
·         Builder’s Corner (continued) - George, KDØRII, inquired as to when we would be doing the Show-and-Tell portion of the meeting as he had brought something to show.
o    George, KDØRII, presented a Delta Lightning Arrestor Model # LA302R that he had purchased which is rated at 3W / 1 Φ (single phase) costing approximately $25-$40.

·         New Business / Additional Discussions
o   Jack, WØFRU, stated that he is recently unable to connect the 443 repeater to Echolink – Jim, WXØU, said that they have been going through some IP upgrades that may have affected it so he would look into it.
o   Additional community events that EARS could potentially use for Special Events were discussed:
§  Symphony in the Flint Hills
§  25th Anniversary of Main Street Emporia – end of July
§  Great American Market
o   Linda, KCØUVH, stated that the Jackson County ARES club in Kansas City will be helping with a preparedness exercise on 24 August 2016 focused on sheltering in case of an event on the Madrid Fault.
§  Those individuals interested in assisting with the NLE Mass Care Exercise should contact:  Mike Bellinger, K0UAA - 816-363-1118 - MBBelling@aol.com
o   Lonnie, WØNXS, reminded everyone that there will be a special event station (WW1USA) operating from the WWI Memorial in Kansas City.  Licensed amateurs will receive a discounted rate of $5 for museum entrance and 3 guests will be admitted for only pay $5 each as well per licensed amateur.

7. Presentation – No presentation.


8. Adjournment – The meeting adjourned at 10:22 AM.