Author: Ralph

Subject: Meeting Minutes of March 7, 2017

The monthly March meeting was called to order by President John KA9CAR at 7:00 p.m. on March 7, 2017 in the Crystal Lake Bank meeting room.

NT9E led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

Jack W9MU introduced visitors Mike, K9AJ and XYL Sue, K9XYL to the group. Mike was the speaker for the evening presentation.

President John asked if there had been any license upgrades since last month, with no one responding. John mentioned that there were 2 new hams as a result of the recent testing session, although neither were present.

Pres. John reminded those in attendance that members not paying dues by the March meeting will be dropped from the roster. Treasurer Joe, N9OK was available to collect dues.

Introductions around the room followed. Thirty-five people were in attendance for the meeting.

President John encouraged all to join the club Yahoo reflector, K9RN. Jerry N9AVY is the newsletter editor, and members with newsletter input should submit to Jerry.

The minutes from the February meeting were published for review on the club website by Secretary Roger, KF9D. Jack, W9MU moved to accept the minutes as published, seconded by Ray, N9RWC. The motion passed by voice vote.

Treasurer Joe, N9OK reported a balance of $4995.80 in the club treasury. Paid membership for 2017 stood at 78 at the beginning of the meeting. John, K9JK made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report, seconded by Jim, N7US. The motion passed by voice vote.
Jeff, KC9WSJ is custodian of the club library and has several good books available to club members, including a new book on JT65 mode.

A short Field Day report was given by Chairman Dave, NT9E. President John said that a volunteer is being sought to run the meeting to be held at the FD location as well as coordinate the family picnic.

President John also asked for a volunteer to set up a winter dinner in early 2018.

Under the topic of general announcements, several contests scheduled for this month were mentioned. See the newsletter or QST for further details.

Dave NT9E announced that the Saturday breakfast held on March 4th at the Green St. Café in McHenry had 17 attendees.

It was announced that a ham radio breakfast will be held at the Golden Corral in Algonquin on March 25th at 8 A.M.

Under the topic of Hamfests, Paul W9DWP highlighted several upcoming hamfests in the extended area as well as advanced storm spotter training to be held at DuPage County on Saturday March 25th.

Webmaster Ken, KB9I asked members to notify him if items listed for sale have been sold so that he can remove the posting.

Several members had items for Show and Tell. President John showed a USB TV tuner that he has adapted to use as a Pan Adapter for his HF radio. Paul W9DWP showed a Tytera MD-380 DMR handheld that can be purchased for approximately $100. Mike KC9Q showed a pocket sized signal generator that covers 24 – 6000 Mhz that can be purchased on Amazon for $189.

Everyone was invited to enjoy pizza at the Cottage restaurant following the meeting.

A moment of silence was observed for Skip, K9SA who recently became a silent key.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:17 pm.

After a short break, the club was treated to a fantastic presentation by Mike K9AJ who was a member of the South Sandwich and South Georgia VP8 Dx-pedition team last year. The pictures and videos, along with Mike’s commentary were enjoyed by all.

Respectfully Submitted,
Roger Scott, KF9D, MCWA Secretary

Subject: Meeting Minutes of February 7, 2017

The monthly February meeting was called to order by President John KA9CAR at 7:00 p.m. on February 7, 2017 in the Crystal Lake Bank meeting room.

President John asked if any guests were present. Guests attending the meeting were James AC9PH and Gloria from Huntley along with Matt NM1S from Ingleside.

Mike KB9BIB had upgraded to Extra class since the last meeting. Members congratulated Mike.

Pres. John reminded those in attendance that the new constitution states that members not paying dues by the March meeting will be dropped from the roster. N7US was available to collect dues in the absence of Treasurer Joe, N9OK.

Introductions around the room followed. Thirty-four people were in attendance for the meeting.

President John encouraged all to join the club Yahoo reflector, K9RN. Jerry N9AVY is the newsletter editor, and members with newsletter input should submit to Jerry.

The minutes from the January meeting were published for review on the club website by Secretary Roger, KF9D. Mike, KC9Q moved to accept the minutes as published, seconded by Dave, NT9E. The motion passed by voice vote.

In Treasurer Joe’s N9OK absence, N7US reported a balance of $4865.42 in the club treasury. Paid membership for 2017 stood at 67 at the beginning of the meeting. John, K9JK made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report, seconded by Mike, KC9Q. The motion passed by voice vote.

Jeff, KC9WSJ is custodian of the club library and has several good books available to club members.

President John informed those in attendance of the passing of former club member Bruce Raney, K9KYJ from Wauconda. Mike WB8BZK shared some memories of activities with Bruce.

Under the topic of general announcements, President John announced a VE test session to be held in February 21, 2017 at the Free Methodist Church in Woodstock. Contact Steve KB9OLD at KB9OLD@arrl.net for further information.

Dave NT9E announced a Saturday breakfast on March 4th at the Green St. Café in McHenry.

VP Mike, WB8BZK updated the group on the Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2017 HR555 which has passed the US House and is on the way to the Senate for consideration.

Under the topic of Hamfests, Convention Reports and Announcements, Jim N7US discussed several contests coming up in February. See the newsletter and QST for further details.

Under the topic of old business, Dave NT9E the club Field Day chairman for 2017 reports working with John W9ZE on the possibility of combining efforts with the ARES/RACES group.
John, K9JK made a motion with a second from NT9E that the club approve up to a $500 expenditure for Field Day expenses. The motion carried by voice vote.

A brief review of the January 24th Board of Directors Meeting was given by President John. VP Mike is collecting and scanning past club information and hopes to give a presentation to the group on club history next year on the club’s 40th anniversary.

Of note from the BOD meeting is the fact that the regular July meeting would fall on the July 4th holiday. The board decided to forego the July meeting in favor of a gathering on Field Day Saturday June 24th.

Another item from the BOD meeting concerned reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the club meeting. The club members discussed points for and against reciting the pledge. Following the discussion, Dave NT9E moved, with a second from K9RUF, to put the Pledge of Allegiance on the agenda for future meetings. The motion passed by a show of hands.

Jack, W9MU mentioned that the March program is scheduled to be Mike McGirr, K9AJ who was a member on the DX-pedition to two rare VP8 Islands in the Antarctic region. Mike is a well known DX-peditioner and the program promises to be very interesting.

Several members had items for Show and Tell. Dave K9RUF showed the new wireless headset from Apple. President John showed a loading coil he had made in order to bring a 43 foot vertical wire on 160 meters into tuning range for his auto tuner. Steve K9DCI demonstrated an oscilloscope app running on an 8 inch Android tablet. Steve also had an early HT220 for which he had built a synthesizer board. Mike KC9Q showed a 2 meter halo antenna, one of his latest offerings on his website.

Wendell N9REP announce that club members are being sought for the communications and SAG support for the Udder Century Bike Ride held on Sunday June 4th, starting at MCC.

Pierre, K9EYE reminded members of the 6 meter forum held each Wednesday night at 7 pm on 50.130 Mhz. Mike KC9Q commented that a total of 22 different stations have participated to date.
Tom W9NBG requested that if future meetings are changed, he would like to get a text message instead of other electronic notification.

Everyone was invited to enjoy pizza at the Cottage restaurant following the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:52 pm.

After a short break, an Electro Voice noise-cancelling dynamic microphone model 622 donated by Paul W9DWP was raffled off. The winner of the microphone was Dave, KD9ESL. Thanks to Paul for the donation.

After the raffle, Jack W9MU presented a program on propagation which included some theory on propagation along with very useful online and resident tools to predict HF paths to distant stations.

Respectfully Submitted,
Roger Scott, KF9D, MCWA Secretary

Subject: Meeting Minutes of Jan 3, 2017

The monthly January meeting was called to order by President John KA9CAR at 7:00 p.m. on January 3, 2017 in the Crystal Lake Bank meeting room.

President John asked if anyone in attendance had upgraded recently. Mike KD9DLL indicated he had upgraded his license to General class. President John also reminded members that dues for 2017 are being collected at this time.

Introductions around the room followed. Forty-one people were in attendance for the meeting including 2 guests.

President John encouraged all to join the club Yahoo reflector, K9RN. Jerry N9AVY is the newsletter editor, and members not receiving the newsletter via email should notify Jerry.

The minutes from the December meeting were published for review on the club website by Secretary Roger, KF9D. Dave, KD9ESL moved to accept the minutes as published, seconded by Dave, NT9E. The motion passed by voice vote.

Treasurer Joe, N9OK reported a balance of $4500.00 in the club treasury. Paid membership for 2017 stands at 59, while 41 from the 2016 roster remain outstanding. John, K9JK made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report, seconded by Kent, K9KMD. The motion passed by voice vote.

Jeff, KC9WSJ is custodian of the club library and has several good books available to club members.

Under the topic of general announcements, President John announced a VE test session to be held in February 21, 2017 at the Free Methodist Church in Woodstock. Contact Steve KB9OLD at KB9OLD@arrl.net for further information.

John mentioned hamfests coming up later this month, including Saturday January 7th at Waukesha, Wi. and Sunday January 22 at the Kane Co. Fairgrounds sponsored by the WCRA.

Dave, NT9E announced an upcoming ham breakfast in McHenry on Saturday January 7th at 8:30 am at the Green Street Café.

President John read a list of upcoming contest events for the month.

Under the topic of old business, Dave NT9E the club Field Day chairman for 2017 is still looking for a CW station captain and operators.

Jack, W9MU mentioned that the February program is scheduled to be Sanjay KG9FA discussing modulation techniques. Jack floated the idea of having an upcoming “Myth Busters” program covering amateur radio myths. Members should email myth ideas that they would find interesting to Jack.

Pierre, K9EYE reminded members of the 6 meter forum held each Wednesday night at 7 pm on 50.130 MHz.

Paul, W9DWP donated an Electro voice noise-cancelling dynamic microphone model 622 to the club to be raffled or given away at a future time.

Everyone was invited to enjoy pizza at the Cottage restaurant following the meeting.

Club badges are available by seeing Ken, KB9I for a cost of $10.

Desmond, KB3LKM announced that he has an old TV antenna available to anyone interested that could be used for construction of a VHF or UHF ham antenna.

Jack, W9MU discussed the idea of the club collecting antenna ordinance information from the various communities around and creating a data base of the information. This is envisioned as a long term project that members would probably find useful.

A motion to adjourn the business meeting by Pierre, K9EYE and seconded by Bob, KC9JBA was made and approved. The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 pm.

After a short break, Dave K9RUF presented a detailed program overview of Yaesu’s Fusion digital ham radio VHF/UHF system and operation, along with a demo including members Gary KD9FML and Al KB9EQ in Texas.

Respectfully Submitted,
Roger Scott, KF9D, MCWA Secretary