2022-01-11 Net Minutes

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
    • 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

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