Author: Ralph

Subject: McHenry County Wireless Association
Regular Meeting minutes – May 3, 2016

The May meeting was called to order by President Jim, N7US at 7:00 p.m. on May 3, 2016 in the Crystal Lake Bank meeting room.

The Pledge of Allegiance kicked off the meeting, led by Jim, N7US.

President Jim extended a welcome to all and asked if there were visitors or guests present. Visitors and guests included Don N4TTD from St. Charles and Mark WB9MAI from Crystal Lake.

Introductions around the room followed. Forty-two people were in attendance for the meeting.

President Jim encouraged all to join the club Yahoo reflector, K9RN, visit the club website at mcwa.org, and join the MCWA Facebook page to keep up on club news and information. Jerry N9AVY is the newsletter editor, Dave NT9E keeps the Facebook page up to date while Ken KB9I is the webmaster.

The minutes from the April meeting were published for review on the club website by Secretary Roger, KF9D. Dave NT9E moved to accept the minutes as published, seconded by Ken, KB9I. The motion passed by voice vote.

Treasurer Joe, N9OK reported a balance of $4567 in the club treasury. Paid membership for 2016 is now up to 88 plus 2 associate members. Kent K9KMD made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report, seconded by Dave, NT9E. The motion passed by voice vote.

Under the topic of announcements, Jim reported the passing of Ed Stipulin, KB9GIN of Cary. Ed had been a regular at meetings until recently. Jim sent a sympathy card to the family on behalf of the club and received an appreciation note in return.

Regarding public service, in exchange for the use of the shelter Emricson Park for Field Day, MCWA has agreed to provide communications for the Woodstock Challenge Run on June 11. Ken KB9I volunteered to coordinate the communications event for the club. Members who indicated interest in participating included N7US, WB8BZK, K5JRD, KA9OZP, KA9TVU, N9ITO, KA9CAR, KC9Q, NT9E, and KC9WSJ. Ken will coordinate preparation for the activity via email.

Paul W9DWP announced that there will be a meeting of parties associated with the Valley Amateur Repeater Association (VARA) at the Colonial Café on McLean Blvd in Elgin on May 6th with dinner at 7:00 pm.

Further announcements, Gary KD9FML has upgraded to general. The members congratulated him on the accomplishment.

VE testing will be conducted on May 17th at the usual location.

Jack W9MU announced the W9DXCC Convention in Schaumburg on Sept. 17th which will be proceeded by DX University and Contest University on Sept. 16th. A great line-up of speakers has been planned for these events.

Operating activities and upcoming hamfests, contests, and DX-peditions, are well covered in the club newsletter.

Jeff, KC9WSJ, has previously volunteered to take over the position of club librarian. The material has been cataloged and a list of available material is on the club website. Members wishing to check out material should contact Jeff in advance so he can bring the requested material to the monthly meeting.

A short Field Day planning update was given by Roger, KF9D. Sign-up sheets for time slots on the 4 planned stations were circulated. John KA9CAR made a motion that the club authorize up to $500 to be spent on Field Day expenses at the discretion of FD Chairman Roger, KF9D. The motion was seconded by Joe N9OK and approved by voice vote.

The Dayton Hamvention is quickly approaching on May 20-22. President Jim asked for a show of hands on members planning to attend the event.

Jack W9MU informed the members about programs in the planning stages for future meetings. These include Field Day preparation at the June meeting, and further future programs on digital modulation modes, power amps, software defined radio, and a program from the ARRL division Vice-Director, W9XA.

President Jim invited everyone to join the group that meets at the Cottage in Crystal Lake immediately after the club meeting for pizza and camaraderie.

There was no old business.

For new business, our new club Constitution approved last month establishes a Board of Directors. This includes the current officers, past president and 2 directors to be elected by the membership. Dave KA9OZP has volunteered to head the nominating committee for the director positions. If interested in a club director position, contact Dave. The election will be held at the June meeting.

A motion to adjourn the business meeting by John K9JK and seconded by Harold W9HB was made and approved. The meeting was adjourned at 7:45 pm.

After a short break, Jack W9MU hosted a question and answer session which included various topics of interest.

Respectfully Submitted,
Roger Scott, KF9D, MCWA Secretary

Subject: McHenry County Wireless Association
Regular Meeting minutes – April 5, 2016

The April meeting was called to order by President Jim, N7US at 7:00 p.m. on April 5, 2016 in the Crystal Lake Bank meeting room.

The Pledge of Allegiance kicked off the meeting, led by Jim, N7US.

President Jim extended a welcome to all and asked if there were visitors or guests present. Visitors and guests included Mark, WB9MRB from Streamwood, Joe, KD9FHT from Crystal Lake, John from our MCC class, and Jonathan son of Dave KD9ESL.

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

President Jim encouraged all to join the club Yahoo reflector, K9RN, visit the club website at mcwa.org, and join the MCWA Facebook page to keep up on club news and information. Jerry N9AVY is the newsletter editor, Dave NT9E keeps the Facebook page up to date while Ken KB9I is the webmaster.

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

Treasurer Joe, N9OK reported a balance of $4507.45 in the club treasury. Expenses for the past month included $744 previously authorized by the membership for a new projector. Paid membership for 2016 is now up to 85 members. John, KA9CAR made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report, seconded by Mike, KC9Q. The motion passed by voice vote.

Jack, W9MU gave the members a wrap-up report on the “Introduction to Amateur Radio” class at McHenry County Community College. The 5 members enrolled attended all sessions to the final class. A demonstration night at Jack’s shack took place the week following the final class.
Dave, K9RUF gave a report on the AES Superfest in Milwaukee, saying it was well attended and featured representatives from the big 3 manufacturers. Dave, KD9ESL added that as a ham gathering it seemed small, but the forum speakers were impressive.

President Jim reminded new members that club call sign badges can be obtained through Ken, KB9I at a cost of $10.

On the subject of public service, Al KB9YMD told the group of upcoming ARES training sessions to be held on April 12 and April 16 at the Mental Health Center in Crystal Lake.

Operating activities and upcoming hamfests, contests, and DX-peditions, are well covered in the club newsletter. Two big DX-peditions are on the horizon, VK0EK and FT4JA to keep members occupied. Jeff, KC9WSJ, has previously volunteered to take over the position of club librarian. The material has been cataloged and a list of available material is on the club website. Members wishing to check out material should contact Jeff in advance so he can bring the requested material to the monthly meeting.

President Jim turned the floor over to Vice-President Mike, WB8BZK who give an overview to the membership of the changes to the club constitution that were proposed and distributed last month. Both the current and proposed constitution have also been viewable on the club website. Following the procedure outlined for change given in the current constitution, a quorum, consisting of one-third of current paid members, was necessary to amend the constitution. Thirty-three of the current 85 paid members were present to satisfy the quorum requirement. Ballots were handed out to each paid member present. Thirty-one ballots were collected resulting in unanimous approval for the new constitution.

Ray, N9RWC spoke on behalf of the membership, thanking the officers for their hard work on the new club constitution.

A short Field Day planning update was given by Roger, KF9D.

President Jim invited everyone to join the club member group that meets at the Cottage in Crystal Lake immediately after the club meeting for pizza and camaraderie.

There was no additional new business.

After a short break, Jack W9MU presented a very informative program on non-resonant HF antennas. Using the antenna analysis application EZNEC, Jack showed comparisons of various commonly used non-resonant antennas.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:47 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted, Roger Scott, KF9D, MCWA Secretary

MCWA March 2016 Minutes

The March meeting was called to order by President Jim, N7US at 7:05 p.m. on March 1, 2016 in the Crystal Lake Bank meeting room.

The Pledge of Allegiance kicked off the meeting, led by Jim, N7US.

President Jim extended a welcome to all and asked if there were visitors or guests present. New licensees Gary, KD9FML and Craig, KD9FOU introduced themselves to the group.

Introductions around the room followed. Thirty-three people were in attendance for the meeting. Treasurer Joe, N9OK was asked to read a list of unpaid members for the year 2016.

President Jim encouraged all to join the club Yahoo reflector, K9RN, visit the club website at mcwa.org, and join the MCWA Facebook page to keep up on club news and information. Jerry, N9AVY is the newsletter editor and Dave, NT9E keeps the website and Facebook page up to date.

The minutes from the February meeting were published for review on the club website by Secretary Roger, KF9D. Kent, K9KMD moved to accept the minutes as published, seconded by Dave, KD9ESL. The motion passed by voice vote, with one abstention.

Treasurer Joe, N9OK reported a balance of $4426.62 in the club treasury. Expenses for the past month included $744 previously authorized by the membership for a new projector. Paid membership for 2016 is now up to 75 members with 25 remaining unpaid from last year. John, K9JK made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report, seconded by Dave, NT9E. The motion passed by voice vote.

Jack, W9MU informed the club that the  “Introduction to Amateur Radio” class at McHenry County Community College has begun in room A241 on Thursday nights at 7 pm with 5 people enrolled in the class. Three class enrollees were present at the March club meeting.

President Jim announced that a ham breakfast will be held on Saturday March 19th at 8 am at the Golden Corral in Algonquin on Randall Road. Anyone with an interest in ham radio is invited to attend along with their family.

President Jim reminded new members that club call sign badges can be obtained through Ken, KB9I at a cost of $10.

Operating activities and upcoming hamfests, including upcoming contests and DX-peditions, are covered in the club newsletter.

Jack, W9MU stated that the program for next month will be on the topic of non-resonant antennas. He also asked the club if there was interest in a program on the incoming QSL bureau. He will contact K9QVB and try to arrange this for a future program.

Tom, W9NBG moved that the club offer a free one year membership to anyone giving a program during 2016 or 2017. Ed, K9TX seconded the motion. Following much discussion on the topic, the motion failed to pass in a show-of-hands vote.

Jeff, KC9WSJ volunteered to take over the position of club librarian. John, KA9CAR suggested cataloging the material and putting a list of available material on the club website. Members wishing to check out material should contact Jeff in advance so he can bring it to the monthly meeting.

On the topic of Field Day, as announced at the previous meeting, a new site is likely needed for this year. Members were asked to give suggestions, and several were received. Roger, KF9D told members that a group has looked at sites and decided that the Hilltop shelter at Emricson Park in Woodstock is a good candidate. A site map and pictures of the area were shown at the meeting. Ken, KB9I has reserved the shelter with the Parks and Recreation organization for the Friday through Sunday of Field Day weekend. The site is offered free to the club in exchange for providing communications to the Woodstock Challenge Run on June 11^th.

President Jim informed the group that the officers have been working on rewriting the club constitution during the previous month. Jim turned the floor over to Vice-President Mike, WB8BZK who give an overview to the membership of the suggested changes. Both the current and proposed constitution can be viewed on the club website. Following the procedure outlined for change given in the current constitution, the proposed constitution was submitted in writing at the March 1^st regular meeting by the officers. Copies of the proposal were distributed to all members who desired a hard copy at the meeting. President Jim took the assignment to email copies of the proposed constitution to all club members soon after the March meeting. Members are allowed to vote by mail in advance of the vote that will take place at the April 5^th, 2016 meeting. Mailed votes should be sent to the Secretary, Roger, KF9D.

President Jim invited everyone to join the club member group that meets at the Cottage in Crystal Lake immediately after the club meeting for pizza and camaraderie.

There was no additional new business.

After a short break, Roger, KF9D presented a very informative program on resonant HF antennas. Using the antenna analysis application EZNEC, Roger showed comparisons of various resonant antenna types at different heights.