Minutes – August 2018

Subject: Meeting Minutes of August 7, 2018

The August meeting was called to order by President Mike, WB8BZK at 7:01 p.m. on August 7, 2018 in the Crystal Lake Bank meeting room.

The Pledge of Allegiance kicked off the meeting, led by Dave K9RUF.

President Mike, WB8BZK extended a welcome and asked if there were visitors or guests present. We had 5 guests 2 of which became memebers: Tim KD9LEX, Bob KD9KZW, Tom KD6KHK, Dale KD9LBY, Jen KD9FMJ.

President Mike, WB8BZK asked for any License Upgrades, New awards etc. issued since Last meeting. Mike ND9G completed triple Play All states CW/Phone/Digital, LOTW confirmed.

Introductions around the room followed. 41 members + 3 guests were in attendance for the meeting.

Minutes from the June meeting were posted on the mcwa.org website for review at the meeting by Vice President Mike, ND9G. David N9BSA moved to accept the minutes, and the motion was seconded by Roger KF9D. The motion passed by voice vote.

Treasurer Joe N9OK read the Treasurer’s June report: Started with $5032.70, had $40 of dues, Field Day expenses 330.41, and $1.26 interest. Ended with $4743.55. Member count is now 96 Voting members, and 9 family members. John K9JK moved to accept the Treasurer report, and the motion was seconded by Mike ND9G. The motion passed by voice vote.

Announcements
President Mike WB8BZK Gave the highlights of the Board of Directors meeting highlights.

Approved maintaining MCWA dues at $10 for 2019
Approved non-Field Day K9RN callsign usage (with Trustee permission)
Approved MCWA 40th Anniversary Celebration
Approved the auction of Donated Equipment with proceeds going to the club
Approved planning of a December Social / Diner
Approved MCWA Members Only Reflector starting Jan 1st 2019
Approved the shifting of our January 1st Meeting to January 8th

mcwa.org getting some fresh updates from the Webmasters: Ken Farver KB9I and Mike Ricketts ND9G.

Several Ham Fests/Gatherings over the next couple months.

    • Quincy IL Hamfest – Paloma, IL August 11th
    • Racine Megacycle Freefest – Racing, WI August 11th
    • Ozaukee RC’s Fall Swapfest – Cedarburg, WI September 8th
    • W9DXCC Convention – Schaumburg September 14th

Contests

    • WAE DX Contest, CW August 11-12
    • ARRL 10 GHz and Up Contest August 18 – 19
    • North American QSO Party, SSB August 18-19
    • ARRL Rookie Roundup, RTTY August 19
    • Hawaii QSO Party August 25-26
    • 50 MHz Fall Sprint August 25-26
    • See the contest calendar for more…

President Mike WB8BZK anounced the September MCWA Auction with some of the items with a full list to be released on the reflector.
President Mike WB8BZK anounced the Dinner Social at Village Squire Nov 6th. Will be individual checks 6PM starts social and 7PM dinner.
President Mike WB8BZK asked for people to think about presentations for Feb and March 2019. Planned presentations are as follows: September – Auction, October (Jack W9MU) Antenna Analysis Software, December (Dan KD9M) Intro to Software Defined Radios.

September will also be Officer & Director Elections, and the MCWA 40th Anniversary.
Please talk to Jim N7US if you are interested in serving on the board. Jim is chairing the nomination committee.
Please make plans to attend the meeting, and inform your fellow members that may have missed the announcement.

Other Announcements
President Mike WB8BZK informed everyone the Boy Scout Radio Merit Badge Project is on. The District is planning a STEM day for October 20th. Part of this will include the Merit Badge. MCWA will develop a program to ensure that the scouts meet the requirements in an achievable way.

Field Day Update
President Mike WB8BZK gave a quick presentation on Field Day for K9RN.
Kent K9KMD and Wendell N9REP did a great job cooking food for the weekend!
Great turn out for setup operating and tear down.
K9RN totals for Field day were 1369 CW, 0 Digital, 818 Phone, 1160 Bonus Points, total points 8272!
Excellent Teamwork by all!

John K9JK Visited several Field day sites made 67 contacts and had fun!
Gary KD9FML gave results from W9VB Field Day. They performed 2A CW they did old school no macros Used N3FJP for Logging, Worked in pairs to encourage all to participate.
Made 108 CW, 505 Phone for 2458 Pts total. All had Fun!

The meeting was adjourned at 8:01 PM.

Following a short break, Ralph WB9ICF gave a presentation on “An introduction to the Raspberry Pi”. The program wrapped up at 9:20 PM.

Minutes recorded by Secretary Dan, KD9M