date

2022-01-11

opened

20:00

closed

20:28

Check-ins (23)

• Matthew Barry (KG5LYE)
• Don Ling (WB5CKO)
• David Bailey (K5DKB)
• Avery McIntosh (N7ALM)
• Jeff McDowell (KI5CES)
• Ernest Laney (K5ENL)
• Ron Hambric (N5SBN)
• Joe Napoli (KG5SDF)
• Kevin Bolton (W5KVN)
• Dick Zimmer (W5DZ)
• Lorna Flansburg (KI5FIZ)
• Ralph Cobb (W5RYC)
• Rick Pfeil (W4RDP)
• Robert Carter (NC5R)
• Harold Turbyfill (KG5SDG)
• Bill Rose (K5WTR)
• John Walpole (K5ZY)
• Phil Gates (N5ZKF)
• Bennie Naiser (KA5TWB)
• Chris MacCannell (W5FN)
• Travis Scott (KI5TMS)
• Nick Watson (KC5IMW)
• Marshall Walpole (KG5IQY)

shout out to KC5IMW, checking in all the way from Buffalo, TX!

Officer Reports

President Phil Gates (N5ZKF)

• Diamond X-300 Antenna is up!
  • Not much activity on 20 m
  • Actively listening to Costa Rica on 40 m
• Annual January Meeting / Annual Luncheon
  • 2022-01-15, This Saturday!
  • food at 11:00, meeting at 12:00
  • Different venue: Cooper’s Old-Time Pit Barbecue in College Station
    • 3055 Earl Rudder Fwy S, College Station, TX 77845
    • Llano Room
  • We’ll need quorum for ratifying amendments to constutution and by-laws
• On-the-Air
  • HF contests for Malaysia, Hungary
  • ARRL January VHF Contest

Vice-President Rick Pfeil (W4RDP)

• Let us know if you have ideas for additional after-meeting presentations
• Save the Date: Field Day 2022 will be on 2022-06-25
  • always looking for additional help with the Field Day Committee
  • N5ZKF: ARRL is surveying amateur radio operators whether rule changes from prior years should remain in place.
• Looking forward to seeing everyone on Saturday!

Secretary Matthew Barry (KG5LYE)

• Expect minutes at the conclusion of the net as usual
• Correction to minutes from last week:
  • Don Hutchcraft (KE5ADX) is not giving presentation at January meeting
  • We’ll see if we can get it scheduled for February meeting
• I’m sad I won’t be able to make the meeting this weekend due to a funeral
  • I will also miss next week’s net

Treasurer Lorna Flansburg (KI5FIZ)

• Current balance: $6,953.93
• Ended 2021 with 71 members
  • Member dues are … due … at January 15 Meeting
    • $15 for regular membership
    • $20 for family
    • $5 for student
• Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Announcements / Comments

Question for conversation: Have you been on a fox hunt?

Don Ling (WB5CKO)

• after we got repeater up back in 1973
  • used to have fox hunts on the weekend and going out for ice cream
  • cemetaries, parks, that area behind Groesbeck/Leonard by the old Knights of Columbus Hall
• short center lead of coax to sheath for very low-sensitivity antenna

Matthew Barry (KG5LYE)

• First and only fox hunt was at Radio in the Park a few years ago
• learned a few fox hunting tips:
  • tuning 3rd and 5th order harmonics when you get close
    • alternative to using an attenuator
  • using your body as a shield if you don’t have a directional antenna
  • If you have a very directional antenna, getting “vectors” from two points and finding where they intersect

Dick Zimmer (W5DZ)

• Been on quite a few fox hunts (both hunting and hiding)
• One of the best hiding spots we’ve found was in a red traffic cone in a construction zone

Information Exchange

Don Ling (WB5CKO)

• Lesson-learned (this could happen to you):
  • plugged speaker in and couldn’t get any volume
  • turns out there was a little corrosion in the gain control
  • check contacts on switches and dials in your rig if it’s been a while since you last used it