Metro DX Club Meeting Minutes for 6/16/2011

The June meeting was held at the Southfork Family Restaurant in Orland Park as a temporary location and was called to order at 7:12 by President Bob Jacobson, K9CJ. Bob announced that a new meeting place has been secured for Friday, July 15, and onward. Meetings will be at the Orland Oasis Restaurant, 14306 Union Avenue in Orland Park. This is located west of Lagrange Road on the corner of 143rd Street and Union Avenue. Bob reported that a neighbor owns the restaurant and it's open only for breakfast and lunch, so it will not be open for business in the evening and there will be no cost to the club. Bob had sent out 40 letters to various locations in an attempt to secure a location, with no result. We are fortunate that Bob located the Orland Oasis.

There was no treasurer's report tonight or reading of minutes as our Secretary/Treasurer was unable to attend.

Bob, K9CJ, passed around a Region 3 Award that he had received.

John, W9ILY, passed around the finished W.U.S.T. Award that will be sponsored by Metro plus informative pages that will accompany the award with information about the 16 locations. The endorsement stickers were also shown. All members present agreed that everything looked very nice. The club should make a small profit from each award.

Frank, K9BWQ, commented on the reported possibility of a prolonged solar minimum. DX Sherlock and DXSCAPE web cluster were noted as good resources for DX spots and conditions.

Jim, NV9X, reported on his experiences at the Dayton Hamvention and Frank, K9BWQ, estimated that attendance was up between 1,000 and 2,000. The Hamvention featured an astronaut as a speaker and there was more ham gear available in the flea market area than computer stuff.

Bob, K9MDO, reported that there has been no change in the health condition of Roger, K9RB.

Congratulations to Jerry, K9PMV, for graduating Summa Cum Laude from Moraine Valley Community College as an Associate in Arts. Jerry plans to continue at Governor's State for his Bachelor's Degree. Great job, Jerry!!

DXpedition activity was given by John, W9ILY. This included a current operation from Antigua, V25, by our member Tom, W9AEB, through June 28. Tom's call is V25TP and he is operating with V25DD (K9UK) and V25DR (W9DR). They have been spotted on 6 meters and heard on 20 Meters.

A new DXCC country, Southern Sudan, will become a reality sometime after July 9 as a group of 18 operators will operate 24/7 using seven stations. Frank, K9BWQ, moved that the Metro DX Club send a $50 donation to this operation. The motion was seconded by W9ILY and passed.

Several QSL cards that were received by W9TY were viewed by the members.

The annual Metro Picnic will be held Saturday, August 27 at Jess and Patti's home in Braceville (AI9L/AF9H). After a lengthy discussion, Jerry, K9PY, volunteered to be the Picnic Chairman. Attendees are requested to bring their own drinks, a side dish to share and chairs. The club will pay for the main meat dishes. Further information will be coming from Jerry.

Since this location was not conducive to our having a program, it was decided that it would not be given. Instead, lively conversation was held between the members present and the meeting adjourned approximately 8:40.

Present were K9CJ, K9MDO, W9NJB, NV9X, K9PMV, K9BWQ and XYL Delores, K9PY and W9ILY.

Respectfully submitted by W9ILY in lieu of our Secretary who was unable to attend.