McHenry County Wireless Association
Propagation report as of Tuesday, October 13, 2026 9:18 AM CDT
MCWA Meeting Minutes of Oct 6, 2026
DRAFT
VP Jim N7US called the Oct 6, 2026 hybrid meeting to order from the suspended Sept 1, 2026 meeting(in-person and by Zoom) order at 7:00PM. The Pledge of Allegiance followed, led by Dave K9AT.
Board members present were:
President Dan Larson KD9M(Z), VP Jim McDonald N7US, Treasurer Joe Robin N9OK, Secretary Lyle Giese W9LRG, Director Gary Kaatz W9TD, Past President Ralph Iden WB9ICF, Director Bob Smetana KE9CFO
There were 31 members in attendance with no guests and 13 members via Zoom
Guests
None
New Member
None
Approval of Minutes
The meeting minutes from the September meeting were previously posted to the MCWA website for review. Motion to accept the minutes John W9JM, Dave NT9E seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the minutes were approved.
Membership and Financial Reports
Opening Balance $10,215.71 as of Aug 31, 2026
Deposit $10.00 (Tim KD9OJP new member)
Withdrawals
$6.00 Digital Ocean
$200.00 ARRL Club Liability Insurance
$169.90 Zoom Annual Subscription
Total $375.90
Final Balance $9,839.81 Sept 30, 2026
Notes:
Membership
Total membership is 145 members. That includes 129 (voting) Members, 14 Family (voting) members, and 2 associate members.
Eric KC9CUK moved to accept the Treasurer’s report and John K9JK seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the treasurer’s report was approved.
Choice 1: Dues are payable via PayPal MCWAPaypal@gmail.com $10/year. Be sure to select ‘Friends & Family’ when paying via PayPal. Please include your call sign, it helps the treasurer to credit the correct membership.
Choice 2: Cash given to Joe N9OK in person at a regular club meeting.
Choice 3: Checks can be sent to:
Joe Robin N9OK
4410 Billingsgate Lane
Woodstock, IL 60098
Be sure to include your call sign!
Be aware we are now charged $0.50 bank fee per check now.
Recent Events
Future Events
2026 Hamfest Calendar by K9MSG is available at:
https://www.w9dup.org/hamfests.html
Amateur Radio Events also publishes a list at:
https://www.amateurradioevents.com/
Contest Activities
For the ARRL America 250th Aniversity, they are tracking contacts with Affliated Clubs. MCWA members can use our club’s K9RN call sign for this purpose. Contact John KA9CAR for more info and to schedule your use of K9RN and for sending in logs related to these contacts.
Member Activity
KC9CUK reports he has moved his meshstatic node to Meshcore. Meshcore is more stable and runs on the same hardware. You just need to reflash your controller with Meshcore firmware.
Ralph WB9ICF reports updating the website and lost some of the pic details in the photo albums and is requresting help identifing people and photos on the website.
Discussion of QSO parties with the upcoming Ill QSO party on Oct 18. Requesting assistance with logs submitted with MCWA as the club. Operating times are 12 CDT to 7:59 CDT. Info can be found at https://w9awe.org/ilqp/
Old Business
New Business
Elections
The Nominating Committee came forward with the following slate for club officers:
President Gary Kaatz W9TD
Vice President Jim McDonald N7US
Secertary Lyle Giese W9LRG
Treasurer Joe Robin N9OK
Director Scott Desantis KB9VRW
Director(not up for election this year) Bob Smetana KE9CFO
Motion by John K9JK to accept the nominations as posted, seconded by John W9JM. New board was accepted by acclaimation.
With the election closed, the September was closed. Motion by Gary W9TD, seconded by John K9JK, approved.
At 7:31pm, the October meeting was offically called to order by President Gary W9TD.
President Gary W9TD thanked Dan KD9M for being the President and generating the slide decks for the meetings.
Next meeting
The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, Nov 3, 2026 at the Algonquin Township meeting room. Open “eyeball” QSOs start at 6:30 PM, with the meeting starting at 7:00 PM.
Motion to adjourn October meeting by Dave K9AT, Seconded by Dave NT9E. Adjorned at 7:43pm.
Program
Batteries by Ralph WB9ICF
Posted by Lyle Giese(W9LRG), Secretary, MCWA
MCWA Meeting Minutes of Sept 1, 2026
VP Jim N7US called the Sept 1, 2026 hybrid meeting (in-person and by Zoom) order at 7:00PM. The Pledge of Allegiance followed, led by Dave K9AT.
Board members present were:
President Dan Larson KD9M(Z), VP Jim McDonald N7US, Treasurer Joe Robin N9OK, Secretary Lyle Giese W9LRG, Director Gary Kaatz W9TD
Absent: Past President Ralph Iden WB9ICF, Director Bob Smetana KE9CFO
There were 24 members in attendance with 0 guests and 14 members via Zoom
Guests
None
New Member
Trevor Fulk N9YM
Approval of Minutes
The meeting minutes from the July meeting were previously posted to the MCWA website for review. Motion to accept the minutes Sam KC9GPY, Gary W9TD seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the minutes were approved.
Membership and Financial Reports
Opening Balance $10,307.88 as of July 29, 2026
Deposit $10.00 (Tim KD9OJP new member)
Withdrawals $6.52 Digital Ocean
$0.50 CLBT Check deposit charge
$95.69 Gil WW9GIL Field Day Expenses
Final Balance $10,215.71 Aug 31, 2026
Notes:
Membership
Total membership is 144 members. That includes 128 (voting) Members, 14 Family (voting) members, and 2 associate members.
Sam KC9GPY moved to accept the Treasurer’s report and Dave NT9E seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the treasurer’s report was approved.
Choice 1: Dues are payable via PayPal MCWAPaypal@gmail.com $10/year. Be sure to select ‘Friends & Family’ when paying via PayPal. Please include your call sign, it helps the treasurer to credit the correct membership.
Choice 2: Cash given to Joe N9OK in person at a regular club meeting.
Choice 3: Checks can be sent to:
Joe Robin N9OK
4410 Billingsgate Lane
Woodstock, IL 60098
Be sure to include your call sign!
Be aware we are now charged $0.50 bank fee per check now.
Recent Events
The picnic for MCWA and SUHFARS on Aug 16th was well attended and enjoyed by all who attended.
Future Events
2026 Hamfest Calendar by K9MSG is available at:
https://www.w9dup.org/hamfests.html
Amateur Radio Events also publishes a list at:
https://www.amateurradioevents.com/
Colorado QSO Party Sat. Sept. 12, 2026
Oct 11 Ham Radio for Chicago Marathon Contact John W9JM@ARRL.NET to volunteer.
Contest Activities
For the ARRL America 250th Aniversity, they are tracking contacts with Affliated Clubs. MCWA members can use our club’s K9RN call sign for this purpose. Contact John KA9CAR for more info and to schedule your use of K9RN and for sending in logs related to these contacts.
Member Activity
Old Business
New Business
Elections
The Nominating Committee came forward with the following slate for club officers:
President Not filled
Vice President Gary W9TD
Secertary Lyle W9LRG
Treasurer Joe N9OK
Director Not filled
Due to the unfilled slots, it was decided to postpone the elections until the October meeting. Please contact the committee at nomcom@mcwa.org, if you are interested or want to nominate someone to the board.
Some discussion was made over adjourning the meeting vs suspending the meeting. It was decided that we should not adjourn the September meeting, but suspended it until Oct 6th.
Next meeting
The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, Oct 6, 2026 at the Algonquin Township meeting room. Open “eyeball” QSOs start at 6:30 PM, with the meeting starting at 7:00 PM.
VP Jim N7US suspended the business meeting until Oct 6th at 7:27 PM.
Program
GPSDO (GPS Disciplined Oscillator) Gary W9TD
Posted by Lyle Giese(W9LRG), Secretary, MCWA
MCWA Meeting Minutes of August 4, 2026
President Dan KD9M called the Aug 4, 2026 hybrid meeting (in-person and by Zoom) order at 7:00PM. The Pledge of Allegiance followed, led by Dave K9AT.
Board members present were:
President Dan Larson KD9M, VP Jim McDonald N7US, Treasurer Joe Robin N9OK, Secretary Lyle Giese W9LRG, Director Gary Kaatz W9TD, Past President Ralph Iden WB9ICF, Director Bob Smetana KE9CFO,, Director Gary Kaatz W9TD
Absent: None
There were 41 members in attendance with no guests and 8 members via Zoom
Guests
None
New Member
James Witt W9WIT (newly minted General and recently received a new vanity call)
Approval of Minutes
The meeting minutes from the July meeting were previously posted to the MCWA website for review. Motion to accept the minutes Gary W9TD, Dave NT9E seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the minutes were approved.
Membership and Financial Reports
Opening Balance $10,284.50 as of June 30, 2026
Deposit $30.00 (Dale KE9FIC, James KE9FZJ, new members), Renewals (Ck 8013 Thomas KD6KHK)
Withdrawals $6.52 Digital Ocean
Final Balance $10,307.88 July 29, 2026
Notes:
Membership
Total membership is 143 members. That includes 127 (voting) Members, 14 Family (voting) members, and 2 associate members.
Sam KC9GPY moved to accept the Treasurer’s report and John K9JK seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the treasurer’s report was approved.
Choice 1: Dues are payable via PayPal MCWAPaypal@gmail.com $10/year. Be sure to select ‘Friends & Family’ when paying via PayPal. Please include your call sign, it helps the treasurer to credit the correct membership.
Choice 2: Cash given to Joe N9OK in person at a regular club meeting.
Choice 3: Checks can be sent to:
Joe Robin N9OK
4410 Billingsgate Lane
Woodstock, IL 60098
Be sure to include your call sign!
Be aware we are now charged $0.50 bank fee per check now.
Recent Events
Future Events
2026 Hamfest Calendar by K9MSG is available at:
https://www.w9dup.org/hamfests.html
Amateur Radio Events also publishes a list at:
https://www.amateurradioevents.com/
Colorado QSO Party Sat. Sept. 12, 2026
Plans are continuing for a picnic for MCWA and SUHFARS group. Aug 16th is the target date. More info is on the reflector(https://groups.io)
Oct 11 Ham Radio for Chicago Marathon Contact John W9JM@ARRL.NET to volunteer.
Contest Activities
Mike WB8BZK talked about ARRL’s activities around America 250th anniversary. He also encouraged using the club call sign K9RN for affliated club contacts. Please coordinate the usage of K9RN with John KA9CAR.
Member Activity
Seth KD9TAW has been building Ham station software called Nexus and is looking for users for beta testing. It can be downloaded here: https://github.com/kd9taw/Nexus/releases/latest
More info is available here: https://hamradiotools.io/nexus/
With group discussions here: https://discord.gg/rfBMQesfy
Old Business
New Business
The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, Sept 1, 2026 at the Algonquin Township meeting room. Open “eyeball” QSOs start at 6:30 PM, with the meeting starting at 7:00 PM.
Sam KC9GPY made a motion to adjourn, Dave(Ruffers) K9AT seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 7:27 PM.
Program
MMANA-GAL Antenna modeling software by Dan KD9M
http://gal-ana.de/basicmm/en/
Posted by Lyle Giese(W9LRG), Secretary, MCWA
MCWA Meeting Minutes of July 7, 2026
President Dan KD9M called the June 7, 2026 hybrid meeting (in-person and by Zoom) order at 7:00 PM. The Pledge of Allegiance followed, led by Dave K9AT.
Board members present were:
President Dan Larson KD9M, VP Jim McDonald N7US, Secretary Lyle Giese W9LRG, Director Gary Kaatz W9TD, Past President Ralph Iden WB9ICF, Director Bob Smetana KE9CFO
Absent:
Treasurer Joe Robin N9OK
There were 31 members in attendance with 3 guests and 4 members via Zoom
Guests
Jim Witt, no license
Steve K9DCI
Dale KE9FIC
New Member
Approval of Minutes
The meeting minutes from the June meeting were previously posted to the MCWA website for review. Motion to accept the minutes Eric KC9CUK, Dave NT9E seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the minutes were approved.
Membership and Financial Reports
VP Jim N7US(in Joe N9OK’s absence) presented the membership and financial reports for June 2026.
Opening Balance $10241.12 as of May 31, 2026
Deposit $56.57 (Carl KC9KUA, Phil W9KXR, Robert KS9W new members), Renewals (Desmond KB3LKM, Mike W9MR), N9OK (See Note 2)
Withdrawals $13.19
$6.52 Digital Ocean
$6.57 N9OK (see note 2)
Final Balance $10,284.50 June 30, 2026
Notes:
1: The $15.00 Bank Credit in May was reimbursement for pash charges. The bank had already reimbursed MCWA but the wanted to reimburse the club again.
2: I have received several Facebook lawsuit settlements payouts. For some reason FB links my name to the MCWA Paypal Account, so the payments appear here. I simply transfer them to my account.
Total membership is 140 members. That includes 124 (voting) Members, 14 Family (voting) members, and 2 associate members.
John K9JK moved to accept the Treasurer’s report and William AF9I seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the treasurer’s report was approved.
Choice 1: Dues are payable via PayPal MCWAPaypal@gmail.com $10/year. Be sure to select ‘Friends & Family’ when paying via PayPal. Please include your call sign, it helps the treasurer to credit the correct membership.
Choice 2: Cash given to Joe N9OK in person at a regular club meeting.
Choice 3: Checks can be sent to:
Joe Robin N9OK
4410 Billingsgate Lane
Woodstock, IL 60098
Be sure to include your call sign!
Be aware we are now charged $0.50 bank fee per check now.
Recent Events
Field Day reports
MCWA Total score 10,021
Total QSO’s 2207
CW = 1407
Phone = 201
Digital = 599
Future Events
2026 Hamfest Calendar by K9MSG is available at:
https://www.w9dup.org/hamfests.html
Amateur Radio Events also publishes a list at:
https://www.amateurradioevents.com/
Colorado QSO Party Sat. Sept. 12, 2026
Plans are continuing for a picnic for MCWA and SUHFARS group. Aug 16th is the target date. More info to follow.
Oct 11 Ham Radio for Chicago Marathon Contact John W9JM@ARRL.NET to volunteer.
Contest Activities
Old Business
New Business
The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, Aug 4, 2026 at the Algonquin Township meeting room. Open “eyeball” QSOs start at 6:30 PM, with the meeting starting at 7:00 PM.
Gary W9TD made a motion to adjourn, John W9JM seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 7:27 PM.
Program
USA 250th celebration and eyeball QSOs.
Posted by Lyle Giese(W9LRG), Secretary, MCWA
MCWA Meeting Minutes of June 2, 2026
President Dan KD9M called the June 2, 2026 hybrid meeting (in-person and by Zoom) order at 7:00 PM. The Pledge of Allegiance followed, led by Dave K9AT.
Board members present were:
President Dan Larson KD9M, VP Jim McDonald N7US, Treasurer Joe Robin N9OK, Secretary Lyle Giese W9LRG, Director Gary Kaatz W9TD, Past President Ralph Iden WB9ICF, Director Bob Smetana KE9CFO
Absent:
There were 41 members in attendance with 1 guests and 7 members via Zoom
Guests
New Member
Carl Bloomer KC9KUA, Bull Valley
Approval of Minutes
The meeting minutes from the May meeting were previously posted to the MCWA website for review. Motion to accept the minutes John K9JK, Dave K9AT seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the minutes were approved.
Membership and Financial Reports
Joe Robin, N9OK presented the membership and financial reports for June 2026.
Opening Balance $10.232,74 as of May 1, 2026
Deposits $15.00 Bank Credit
Expenditures $6.62 Digital Ocean
$6.62 Total Expenditures
Final Balance $10,241.12 May 31, 2026
Total membership is 136 members. That includes 121 (voting) Members, 13 Family (voting) members, and 2 associate members.
Dave NT9E moved to accept the Treasurer’s report and Rick W9XB seconded the motion. Hearing no objections, the treasurer’s report was approved.
Choice 1: Dues are payable via PayPal MCWAPaypal@gmail.com $10/year. Be sure to select ‘Friends & Family’ when paying via PayPal. Please include your call sign, it helps the treasurer to credit the correct membership.
Choice 2: Cash given to Joe N9OK in person at a regular club meeting.
Choice 3: Checks can be sent to:
Joe Robin N9OK
4410 Billingsgate Lane
Woodstock, IL 60098
Be sure to include your call sign!
Be aware we are now charged $0.50 bank fee per check now.
Recent Events
2026 McHenry Century Bike Ride was conducted on Sunday May 24th. Wendell N9REP lead the effort to support the race. 332 riders were signed up to participate. Ham operators helping Wendell:
Mike KC9VGJ Jeff KC9UKZ Jon KC9OO Mike WB8BZK John KA9CAR
Keith KC9ZON Ralph WB9ICF Noel KE9AU Bob KD9ANJ Jim W9JWM
Neil N9NL Mike KD9MZ
Future Events
June 21st & 22nd 2026, The year of the Club “Club QSO Party”
2026 Hamfest Calendar by K9MSG is available at:
https://www.w9dup.org/hamfests.html
Amateur Radio Events also publishes a list at:
https://www.amateurradioevents.com/
K9RN Field Day committee has been hosting zoom meetings and making progress with the 2026 Field Day preparations. We are planning to have our FD at Rush Creek in Harvard again and are still looking into additional sites for 2027. Next FD zoom meeting will be June 15h 7pm. Use the reflector Field Day subgroup if you are interested in helping this effort.
Sam KC9GPY announced that the 415 group once again made the cover of the ARRL QST Magazine for the June Field Day issue.
The 415 group will operate on Field Day on Bay Road. All welcome.
The MCRACES group will be operating on Ware Road near RT 47 on the North side of Woodstock for Field Day.
SUHFARS.org will operating at Marengo Ridge for Field Day.
Plans are continuing for a picnic for MCWA and SUHFARS group. Aug 16th is the target date. More info to follow.
Contest Activities
Old Business
New Business
The next regular meeting will be Tuesday, July 7, 2026 at the Algonquin Township meeting room. Open “eyeball” QSOs start at 6:30 PM, with the meeting starting at 7:00 PM.
Sam KC9GPY made a motion to adjourn, Joe N9OK seconded. The meeting was adjourned at PM.
Program
Trap Antenna design using COAX traps, DAN, KD9M
Posted by Lyle Giese(W9LRG), Secretary, MCWA