Present: K1TA, WB2JVB, W1PPL, AI1V, N1DPD, ND1L, AA1XV, K1WYQ, N1ZD, N1JFF, KB1YYE, K1RF, KB1YOZ, KC1AUH, W1FSM, KC1YL, K1DCG, K1CYW, W1CAH, AC1FM, KA1WBN
Meeting opened at 7:30 by K1TA.
Minutes of last meeting approved as posted.
Department Reports:
Finance: Spent over $1000 on Field Day including $500 for food, $200 for new tires for the trailer, $100+ for a new barbecue grill. Also tables, tents, and miscellaneous supplies.
Technical: N1PLH feels DMR receiver is weaker than it was a few months ago. Testing so far has not anything wrong with it. K1TA agrees with N1PLH, thinks it’s dropping out a little closer Norwalk than used to, but no specifics. No other problems. Please report problems to W1FSM, N1LLL, or N1PLH.
As previously noted, we are planning to put up an end fed multiband antenna from the tower to a tree located on the property for lower frequencies.
Education: Expect to have a General license exam in the fall.
VE Session on July 7. We had 4 people take exams. We had 1 new Tech, 1 Upgrade to General (12 year old Payton Noe KC1IVR), 1 upgrade from General to Extra, and 1 who went from unlicensed to Extra in 2 hours (Carlos Rios of Shelton – who had one question wrong on the Tech, and no wrongs answers on either the General or Extra).
Special Events: All radios used for Field Day have been returned to the Comm Center and have been reinstalled in the radio room. We do have to test the digital mode connections.
Ham support for the MS Ride (June 10) and the Fairfield Half Marathon (June 3) were very successful, with both events thanking us and the MS people going on record that they feel they could not properly support their event without us.
The Lighthouse on the Air is scheduled for Saturday Aug 18. We can take 4-5 people. Notify Paul WB2JVB if you want to participate.
We are expecting the Lighthouse to Lighthouse kayak race in Sept. More info as soon as we hear from the sponsors of the event.
Membership: 116 members – 86 paid, the rest comp or life members.
AUGUST MEETING WILL BE HELD ON SUNDAY AUG 12 FROM 12-3 AT THE HOME OF W1LYZ. An announcement will be sent out to the reflector in the near future including location. Please bring a dish (side dish or dessert). We may have an antenna launcher competition.
Meeting closed at 7:54
Presentation by AA1XV regarding Field Day.
We operated 3A from Veteran’s Park in Norwalk.
Setup started Saturday morning. It was smooth and flawless and we were ready with time to spare. The pre-Field Day organization of the equipment and antennas prior was great; it enabled us to get everything set up quickly and correctly the first time.
We were short on operators this year and we had more people for setup and for takedown than for operating. There were significant periods of time during which one or more stations were off the air, especially during the period 11pm to 7am. There was a spirited discussion about whether the club should approach Field Day as a fun event or as an event for serious contesters.
Takedown also went smoothly and we were out of there by 3pm.
There are still some numbers to be crunched, but it appears that we’ll be somewhere in the area of about 7500 points (versus about 8400 last year).
We have to figure out what we’re going to do about the beam. Technically the beam trailer. The issue is getting it licensed. We were able to get a temporary permit for this year but there is concern about how much we would have to spend to get the trailer into shape for a permanent license.
Presentation ended about 8:45
