Metro DX Club Meeting Minutes

March 15, 2019

The meeting was called to order by President Jim N9TK with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

In attendance, besides Jim were Mel NE9A, Jerry K9PY, John K9DRS, Ron KD9FQP, Wayne AC9EF, John W9ILY, Lee WA9LEY

ANNOUNCEMENTS Today is NE9A Mel's birthday. Ron KD9FQP gave an update on his attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail. He is tentatively leaving in December and putting together plans for ham gear to bring along.

HEALTH AND WELFARE Jeff KA9APD underwent an operation on his knee which will have him out of commission for a while.

OLD BUSINESS

The MINUTES of the February meeting were approved.

TREASURER'S REPORT John W9ILY reports it has been a quiet month with $120 in dues received and no expenses. The club still has significant funds available to donate to DXpeditions.

WUST 1 new WUST certificate was awarded this past month. John W9ILY reports that 138 non member WUST awards have been issued all time.

CONTESTS We fielded 2 teams in the NAQP RTTY, Metro Shooters and Metro Snipers. BARTG RTTY is running this weekend with several members saying they will operate. Still looking for more member participation in contests even if only making a few contacts. Make sure you report your results to John W9ILY who posts them on the "Members Contesting" tab on the Metro website.

LOCAL REPEATER NC9T 442.025 tone is 100hz, up 5 Mhz. Many members hang out here.

OUTGOING QSL BUREAU Jerry K9PY is forwarding cards for members. See reflector posts for details or contact Jerry.

METRO ROSTER We have 48 paid and honorary members for 2019. We thanked AI9L who sent in 3 years of dues even though he is an honorary member. A Metro membership certificate was presented to Ron KD9FQP.

NEW BUSINESS

2019 CLUB COMPETITION The Metro Marathon is underway to work the most DXCC countries in 2019 after 3/1. To even the playing field we are limiting power at 100 watts. Logging is on the honor system and you might need to use some kind of checklist if your normal logging program contains contacts at other power levels.

CLUB REFRESHMENTS Jim N9TK and Bob K9CJ have always supplied meeting refreshments at their own expense. In fairness, the club decided to reimburse them at $70 year each going forward.

PITCAIRN Jim N9TK and Jerry WB9Z will be members of the Pitcairn DXpedition in October. The club discussed making a donation. A motion was made to donate $250 but we did not have a quorum. We will vote again at the next meeting with hopefully more members attending. We have a set policy for yearly contributions to several groups, INDEXA, NCDXF and Club Log. $100 to each was voted on and approved.

FIELD DAY Jerry K9LOT is on board with letting us use his motor home again this year. Our previous site in Tinley is tentatively still available. We may look at alternate sites where visitors would be allowed. There is a rumor going around that Bob N9ORD and Jerry K9PY will be running the food tent again this year.

EOC ANTENNAS Talked a bit again about the EOC antennas on the roof of our meeting place. They might benefit the EOC in emergency situations. Will check to see if it is still under consideration.

PROGRAM Lee WA9LEY presented clips from a video of WRTC 2014 near Boston showing all the planning and volunteer effort is takes to put on this once every four year event. It brings together some of the world's best contesters operating with the same antennas, power and similar locations to test their skills against each other.

Submitted by Lee WA9LEY