MCWA Meeting Minutes of May 2, 2023
DRAFT
President Dan Larson (KD9M) called the May 2023 hybrid meeting (in-person and by Zoom) to order at 7:02 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), Gary Kaatz (W9TD), Dan Larson (KD9M) and Mike Metroka (WB8BZK).
A total of 44 members were in attendance and 1 guest: Craig Peterson (KD9FOU).
Approval of Minutes
The meeting minutes from the April 2023 meeting were previously posted to the MCWA website for review. John Cankar (W9JM) moved to accept the minutes and Keith Schreiter (N9QDS) 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 131 full members including 11 family members and no Associate members.
| Opening Balance | $11,202.97 | |
| Deposits | $70.00 | ($20 Dues, $50 rotor donation) |
| Expenditures | $6.53- | (Digital Ocean) |
| Interest | $0.08 | |
| Final Balance | $11,266.52 |
Dean reminded the membership to pay their 2023 dues by PayPal, check or cash tonight at the meeting. Ron Delpiere-Smith (KD9IPO) moved to accept the treasurer’s report and Kent Dulaney (K9KMD) seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the treasurer’s report was approved.
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 May 6th. Contact Dave (K9AT) for more information.
The ARRL is conducting a survey on a dues increase this month. All members are encouraged to participate at www.arrl.org/take-dues-survey. This is a member-only page. Members need to be logged into the ARRL website to take the survey. Members who are not logged in may select the Login button on the top of the web page, and they will be prompted to enter their ARRL website username and password. If they have not logged in since April 2022, they should use these Login Instructions www.arrl.org/login-instructions.
Ralph Iden (WB9ICF) reported on the recent Maker Faire at College of Lake County – 6 members participated plus ARRL Central Division Director Carl Luetzelschwab, our affiliated club coordinator Jim Hull (W9JGH) and his wife Dawn (KA9ERS).
MCWA Field Day 2023 will be at Rush Creek June 24-25. We plan on operation class 2A with GOTA, CW, SSB + Digital, VHF and Satellite. The GOTA station is for anyone new to the hobby, coming back to the hobby or inactive on HF. The next planning meeting will be on May 16.
Wendell Smith (N9REP) is coordinating the McHenry County Century Ride to be held on May 28 in Lake in the Hills. He is looking for volunteers to help.
Sam Haldiman (KC9GPY) reported on the 415 Winter Field Day results and noted that they finished 18th worldwide, 5th in 2O and 1st in Illinois.
Hamfest and Event Update
Past:
Madison Area Repeater Assn Hamfest: no reports
Upcoming:
ORC 43rd Annual Spring Indoor Swapfest, May 6, Cedarburg, WI
DeKalb Hamfest, May 7, Sandwich, IL
Hamvention 2023, May 19-21, Greene County Fair & Expo Center, Xenia, OH
Starved Rock Radio Club Hamfest, June 4, Mendota Tri-County Fairgrounds
Six Meter Club of Chicago Hamfest, June 11, DuPage County Fairgrounds
Ron (KD9IPO) and John (K9JK) have advance tickets
South Milwaukee ARC Swapfest, July 9, American Legion Post #434, Oak Creek, WI
Karsfest, July 16, Northern Indiana Event Center, Elkhart, IN
Peoria Superfest, September 16-17, Three Sisters Park, Chillicothe, IL
Radio Expo, September ?, Boone County Fairgrounds, Belvidere, IL
Contest Reports
UHF/VHF FT8 Activity Contest: no reports
IG-RY World Wide RTTY Contest: no reports
Michigan / Nebraska / North Dakota QSO Party: no reports
Rookie Roundup (SSB): no reports
10-10 Intl Spring Contest (digital): no reports
Upcoming:
Microwave Spring Sprint, May 6
Indiana / Delaware / 7th call area QSO Party, May 6-7
VOLTA WW RTTY Contest, May 13-14
50 MHz Spring Sprint, May 13-14
CQ WW WPX Contest (CW), May 27-28
VOTA, all year long: WB8BZK, W9JM and W9TD all are hunting for VOTA QSOs
Upcoming MCWA Presentations
June 6 – TBD
Future – Pico Balloons and Youth in Ham Radio by the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade
Awards and license upgrades
Angelo Cusinato (KD9WZB) received his Technician license, Scott Desantis (KB9VRW) received his General and Ron Rogers (KC0ZN) received his Extra.
Old Business
Note that at the April meeting we voted to skip the July meeting as it would fall on the 4th.
New Business
Gary Dembski (W9GD) noted the low interest received from our bank and suggested that the Board investigate putting some of our funds into certificates of deposit. John Cankar (W9JM) made a motion for the Board to do such, and Mike Metroka (WB9BZK) seconded it. The motion passed unanimously.
Wrap up
Following the adjournment of tonight’s meeting, Dan Larson (KD9M) will be presenting “Node-Red and How it Works With Ham Radio”. Dan solicited more presentations from the membership.
The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, June 6, 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 TBD. A motion to adjourn was made by Ralph Iden (WB9ICF) and seconded by John Cankar (W9JM). The motion was approved by voice vote and the meeting was adjourned at 7:58 PM.
Prepared by Gary Kaatz (W9TD), MCWA Secretary.