Metro DX Club Meeting Minutes—Meeting via Zoom
May 15, 2020 7:30pm
Thanks again go out to John K9EL who hosted the ZOOM meeting and coordinated checking in members.
The meeting was called to order by our President Jim N9TK. Those checking in besides Jim were K9EL, W9ILY, WA9LEY, K9CJ, WB9JYZ, NE9A, K9ARZ, K9DRS, W9PDS, K9PY, KA9IUC, N2BJ, WB9EDP, KC9ARP, W9KXT, WB9BZK, K9AJ, K9XYL, K9NB, K9ZO, WT2P, K9RE, N2WB, W9AEB, W9MK, K9EGS, N7US.
We had quite a few visitors this month.
Each person had a chance to say a few words. Some of the topics were recent DX on the air, 6 and 10 meter openings this week, home projects, State QSO parties, antenna projects and shack upgrades. Some members have ventured outside to begin their spring gardening.
ANNOUNCEMENTS Jim N9TK finished his bathroom remodeling project and will now be able to get more on air time. He also installed a 6 meter beam in his attic and hopes to join many members who have been reporting nice openings on 6.
OLD BUSINESS
TREASURER’S REPORT John W9ILY gave a report of the Club income/expenses for the month. We had dues income from a new member and had no expenses. Detailed Treasurer reports are filed on our groups.io site.
WUST No updates this month.
CONTEST UNIVERSITY Many members watched online and gave it good reviews. For those unable to attend, the presentations are now on YouTube.
NEW BUSINESS
COVID19 One of our visitors, WB9EDP, who is a physician talked about some of the safety issues to consider during the pandemic and answered questions. He suggested listening to the the MARCO emergency COVID net that meets at 0030Z on 7.222 Mhz. He was also a guest on episode 451 of Ham Nation discussing virus issues. METRO PICNIC Unfortunately, our Club picnic has been cancelled for this year. Thanks again to Val NV9L and Jerry WB9Z who had offered to host the event.
W9C SPECIAL EVENT JUNE 19-21 Our special event is going on as planned, using W9C from your home stations. Our plans have been submitted to QST. Matt K9BBQ has designed a really nice QSL and certificate for the event. John W9ILY has set up an online spreadsheet for members to use to reserve operating slots so W9C isn’t operating on the same band/mode at the same time. Email John your interest in operating W9C and he will send you a sign up spreadsheet.
2020 FIELD DAY JUNE 27-28 Field Day gathering as a Group has been cancelled this year. Everyone is still encouraged to operate on their own. There are many ways to participate including using your home station using commercial power ( 1D) (note that this year 1D stations cannot contact other 1D stations for contact credit), using battery power (1B ), emergency power (1E ), or mobile (class C). See ARRL site for more info.
HAMVENTION QSO PARTY It’s being held this weekend 7am – 7pm. John W9ILY went through the rules and logging info. A participation certificate is being offered.
DXPEDITIONS Many have been cancelled or postponed. Check DXWorld.com for current info.
CONTESTING Congrats to plaque winner CJ WT2P for 1st place, Central Division, Sweepstakes CW. In CQWW RTTY, our Metro team placed 29 of 39 teams. WA9LEY reached the Gold level in State QSO party participation so far in 2020.
METRO KING OF THE HILL Member scores in this week’s Hamvention QSO party will decide the winner of the May King of the Hill. Make sure you submit your scores to 3830 and also W9ILY.
VE SESSION W9KXT and NE9A held a couple of VE sessions in Steve’s garage resulting in 9 new hams.
NANO VNA Several members have purchased this device including Mike W9MK and CJ WT2P who talked about some of its features. We may have more discussions and a demo at a future meeting.
After some additional discussion , the net was closed. Thanks for the participation.
Submitted by Lee WA9LEY