MCWA Meeting Minutes of January 3, 2023
President Dan Larson (KD9M) called the January 2023 hybrid meeting (in-person and by Zoom) to order at 7:01 PM. Dan noted that the program would be recorded. The Pledge of Allegiance followed, led by Dave Holmgren (K9AT). Dan then asked everyone to introduce themselves.
Board members present were Kent Dulaney (K9KMD), Dean Hettel (WC9C), Ralph Iden (WB9ICF) (online), Gary Kaatz (W9TD), Dan Larson (KD9M), Mike Metroka (WB8BZK) and David Whiteside (N9BSA).
A total of 44 members were in attendance and 3 guests: Ron Rogers (KC0ZN), Mark McCormick (N4RK) and Erich Kramer (KC9CUK).
Approval of Minutes
The meeting minutes from the December 2022 meeting were previously posted to the MCWA website for review. Sam Haldiman (KC9GPY) moved to accept the minutes and John Kalenowsky (K9JK) seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the minutes were approved.
Membership and Financial Reports
Treasurer Dean Hettel (WC9C) presented the membership and financial reports for December. MCWA has a membership of 136 full members including 10 family members and no Associate members.
| Opening Balance | $10,918.62 | |
| Deposits | $509.40 | ($409.40 dues and $100 donation) |
| Expenditures | $300.00- | (Pizza – Mike Metroka (WB8BZK)) |
| $6.53- | (Digital Ocean) | |
| Interest | $0.09 | |
| Final Balance | $11,121.58 |
Dean reminded the membership to pay their 2023 dues by PayPal, check or cash tonight at the meeting. John Cankar (W9JM) moved to accept the treasurer’s report and Kent Dulaney (K9KMD) seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the treasurer’s report was approved. John Cankar (W9JM) inquired as to why the deposits are what they are.
Announcements
The monthly McHenry Ham Breakfast is held the first Saturday of every month at Buddyz in McHenry at 8:00 AM. The next will be January 7th. Contact Dave (NT9E) for more information. Dave Holmgren (K9AT) noted that it is held in a private room.
Two Silent Keys, Bob Swoger (K9WVY) and Alfred Laun (K3ZO) were acknowledged by a moment of silence.
Hamfest and Event Update
Past:
None
Upcoming:
WCRA Mid-Winter Hamfest, January 15, 2023, St. Charles, IL
ORC 43rd Annual Spring Indoor Swapfest, May 6, Cedarburg, WI
DeKalb Hamfest, May 7, Sandwich, IL
Starved Rock Radio Club Hamfest, June 4, Mendota Tri-County Fairgrounds
Midwest Superfest, September 16-17, Chillicothe, IL
Contest Reports
ARRL 160-Meter Contest: KF9D and WB8BZK participated. Mike reported 475 QSO’s
FT Roundup: KC9GPY participated resulting in a second place for Illinois.
ARRL 10-Meter Contest: K9JK reported53 QSOs in 3 ½ hours of QRP SSB.
KD9VUT had 64 QSOs in his first contest ever
OK DX RTTY Contest: No reports
RAC Winter Contest: No reports
Stew Perry Topband Challenge: No reports
ARRL Rookie Roundup (CW): No reports
Straight Key Night, January 1: No reports
Upcoming:
ARRL Kid’s Day, January 7-8
ARRL RTTY Roundup, January 7-8
North American QSO Party (CW), January 14-15
North American QSO Party (SSB), January 21-22
ARRL January VHF Contest, January 21-23
CQ 160-Meter Contest (CW), January 27-28
BARTG RTTY Sprint, January 28-29
Winter Field Day, January 28-29
Upcoming MCWA Presentations
February 7 Youth Safety by David Whiteside (N9BSA)
March 7 ARRL Update by Carl Luetzelschwab (K9LA)
Awards and license upgrades
John Cankar (W9JM) reported that he received the Worked All Brazil award. Mike Metroka (WB8BZK) reported that he achieved the CQ WPX Award of Excellence. Dave Whaley (NT9E) reported receiving the WAZ award. Sam Haldiman (KC9GPY) reported that in the recent FT Roundup he was 2nd in Illinois and 88th in the world.
Old Business
None
New Business
Dan noted that Rep. Bill Johnson introduced H.R.9670, the “Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act”. It would eliminate Private Land Use Restrictions on Amateur Radio.
Field Day 2023 will be June 24 and 25. MCWA will be at Rush Creek again. The budget was set by the Board at $750, an amount which will require approval by the membership. A motion to approve the expenditure was made by John Cankar (W9JM) and seconded by Ken Farver (KB9I) and was approved by a unanimous voice vote. Dan volunteered to be the Field Day coordinator again. Everyone with ideas should email them to Dan at KD9M@Yahoo.com.
Dan informed the membership that groups.io is planning on levying charges on the administrators of new or upgraded groups that exceed 100 members. The charge would be $0.04 per member, per month with a minimum charge of $20. The new pricing model removes features like multiple sub-groups, calendars, wiki and other things that we don’t fully use, although the sub-group “projects” will probably go away. We may be grandfathered in until we upgrade to the Premium plan.
Wrap up
Following the adjournment of tonight’s meeting, John Cankar (W9JM) will be presenting “An Introduction to Successful QSL’ing”. Dan solicited more presentations from the membership.
The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at the Algonquin Township meeting room. Open “eyeball” QSOs start at 6:30 PM, with the meeting starting at 7:00 PM. The program is Youth Safety by David Whiteside (N9BSA). A motion to adjourn was made by Dave Holmgren (K9AT) and seconded by JoAnne Maenpaa (K9JKM). The motion was approved by voice vote and the meeting was adjourned at 7:34 PM.
Prepared by Gary Kaatz (W9TD), MCWA Secretary.