PARA Meeting Minutes 9/12/2016

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association was held Monday, September 12, 2016 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140, in Paducah, KY.  There were approximately 25 present plus one prospective FCC examinee.  See picture below.

The meeting was opened by President Jeff  Wielgos (KB9VBL).  Jeff invited each attendee around the room to introduce themselves with their name and call.  The Treasurer’s report was given by Bruce Huyck (KS4V).  The July meeting minutes was read by the President Wielgos  with explanations from Secretary Cowherd as needed.  Both the Treasurer’s and Secretary’s reports were approved by the members present.

Old/New Business

• Treasurer Huyck announced that the club needed to approve the reimbursement of $16.17 to member Rob Larrison for the renewal of the W4NJA yearly web domain fee.  Rob, the former W4NJA web administrator, had automatically paid the fee.  The reimbursement was approved by the membership present.
• Secretary Cowherd gave a report on the plans for the National Parks On The Air activation that had been discussed in previous meetings.  Club officers Wielgos, Wontor, Huyck and Cowherd met before the meeting to finalize the details.  It was decided that one or more days, Monday, October 3 thru Saturday 8,  would be registered with ARRL to activate the Trail of Tears, code number TR12, in Shultz park at the foot of Broadway.  The National Parks Commission has chosen the site for a historical marker to be erected in the near future.  It is planned that two stations will be set up for portable operation.  Club members (operators, loggers and spotters) are encouraged to participate and will be notified by email as final decisions are made about specific day/days of operation.  The following activation description will be posted on the nota.arrl.org web page: “Registered Events Within 10 Days“
• The Paducah Amateur Radio Assoc. will be activating a Trail Of Tears historical site at Paducah, KY on the Ohio River. Paducah, on the trail’s southern route, is the only location where their boat stopped to take on supplies. Activation depends on weather. Operating details will be posted on ARRL NPOTA Facebook page.
• Bruce Huyck announced updated plans for the “Compressed Air Antenna Launcher,“AKA “Spudgun” project with a demonstration.  See Two PDF files concerning building instructions and part list.  Ten members signed up for the project.  See feature picture above.

Net Controls for Late September/Early October

Sunday night nets are at 9:00 PM CDT on 147.060 PL 179.9.  See net control procedures here.

September 18                              Brent W4CHE

September 25                              Frank KY4LDS

October 2                                      Jason KY9I

October 9                                      Ken KW4DI

License Upgrade

Ronald Wilson successfully passed his FCC Technician Exam at the close of the September meeting.  Congratulations Ronald and feel welcome to join us again at future PARA meetings.

NPOTA scores

National Parks On The Air current (9/22/16) Kentucky confirmed contacts:  Bruce Huyck (KS4V) 298;  Ron Cowherd (K4GYD) 140; Dave Dewey (W4WKN) 26; Dave Tucker (NU4N) 19; Dave Perry (N4QS) 9; Ed Pflueger (AB4IQ) 2; Brent Robertson (W4CHE) 2; Paul Smith (ND4X) 1; Gene Summers (N4FZ) 1 and (W4NJA) 1

Next scheduled meeting will be Monday, October 10,2016 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140.

PARA Meeting Minutes 7/11/2016

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association was held Monday, July 11 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140, in Paducah, KY.  There were 26 present.

The meeting was opened by President Jeff Wielgos (KB9BVL).  Jeff invited each attendee around the room to introduce themselves with their name and call.   The treasurer’s report given by Bruce Huyck (KS4V), and the Secretary’s reading of the minutes by Ron Cowherd (K4GYD)  were subsequently approved by the members.

Old/New Business

Items discussed include:

•  Field Day (Saturday, June 25) was the focus of discussion through much of the evening’s meeting, starting out with a slideshow with snapshots compliments of Steve and Beth Gupton.
• Paul Smith summarized FD QSO numbers and compared them with 2015 results, (See stats below).
• Bruce Huyck reviewed and explained how the FD 1,250 bonus points were earned.  We will find out later how our total scores compare with the many other clubs in the state and nation.
• Ken Wontor suggested the importance of designating the required pavilions by number on the Kyler Park certification form next year.
• There were many comments of appreciation for outstanding contributions to the success of the 2016 Field Day event, for example:  The McCracken County Emergency Management for the use of their Mobile Command Center, generators and gasoline to run them.  Also named were WPSD TV and The Paducah Sun for their excellent coverage.  It was also mentioned that there were more than adequate club members available this year for station operations and set-up/take-down/cleanup activities.
• Other items that were briefly brought up were upcoming hamfests:  The Huntsville, Alabama Hamfest, August 20 and 21 and The Middle Tennessee Hamfest at Lebanon, Tennessee, July 31.
• Dave Perry (N4QS) told of his latest trip to Aruba to participate in the 2016 CQ World Wide WPX Contest CW.  He also talked of his long friendly association with Zoran, YU7KW from Serbia who also participated with the team.  The group placed 5th in the world in their category.

Net Controls for Late July/Early August

Sunday night nets are at 9:00 PM CDT on 147.060 PL 179.9.  See net control procedures here.

July 17              Jeff KB9BVL

July 24             Ken KW4DI            10 checkins

July 31              Frank KY4LDS      12 checkins

August 7         Logan KG4VKB     12 PARA net – 9 ARES

2016 Field day totals

Band Mode – QSOs

3.5    CW   –   155;    LSB   –   83

7       CW   –   318;    LSB  –  413;   RTTY  –  50

14      CW   –   222;   RTTY  –  75;    USB  –  112

21       CW   –     79;    USB   –     3

Total  QSO’s:  1510

2016 Field Day Slide Show (pictures by Ron Cowherd)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Pictured above in foreground, L to R:  Jason Brambach being congratulated by Ken Krahl (KM4DTS) for Jason’s recent success passing the Technician, General and Extra exams all in the same sitting.

PARA Meeting Minutes 5/09/2016

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association was held Monday, May 9 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, room 140, in Paducah, KY.  Among the 28 attendees present, two came for FCC exams, one came as a new licensee, and another came to upgrade an existing license.   See pictures and names below.

The meeting was opened by President Jeff Wielgos (KB9BVL) followed by the treasurer’s report given by Bruce Huyck (KS4V), which was subsequently approved by the members.  Then Secretary Ron Cowherd (K4GYD) read the minutes from the March meeting, which was also accepted by the members present.  President Wielgos invited each attendee around the room to introduce themselves giving their name and call.

Old/New Business

Items discussed include:

• Field Day (June 25-26) activities at Kyler Park will follow the same procedures that have worked in the past.  The three station rigs and their antennas will be available from last year.  Generators will be supplied by Emergency Services.  Publicity and media will be utilized.  It was moved, seconded and voted upon that $300 will be allotted for food and incidentals that may be needed.  It was brought out that the weaknesses from past years occurred when ops were not available to man stations throughout Saturday night.  Volunteers signed a list circulated among the attendees in hopes that the deficiencies of past years will not be a problem this year.
• It was the opinion of the club that the National Parks On The Air project at the Paducah waterfront should be activated during the month of  September.
• Charlie Richey (W9DUE) Massac Co. Emergency Coordinator, reminded us of the importance of earthquake awareness.  The 3.5 earthquake that we recently experienced should be a warning for ever-ready preparedness.  Charlie also related that amateur radio is exempt from the Distracted Driving Bill that is currently before congress since we do not fall into the “cell phone” category.

Net Controls for late May/early June

Sunday night nets are at 9:00 PM CDT on 147.060 PL 179.9

May 15                        Beth KI4ZAK                    7 checkins

May 22                        Steve NW9W                 14 checkins

May 29                        Frank KY4LDS               11 checkins

June 5                          Logan KG4VKB              13 checkins + 7 ARES

June 12                        Ken KW4DI                     12 checkins

Recent FCC License successes 

Congratulations to the following who are new hams or have upgraded their license:

May 7th:  Bill Brown – Technician;  Randall Potempa – Technician;  James Rasor – General;  Eddy Sobkowiak Jr – Extra;  Pat Gupton – Technician;  Jason Brambach – Technician, General & Extra.

May 9th:  Richard Williams – Technician;  Beth Gupton – Extra.

Contest Success Stats

Paul Smith (ND4X) reported his very admirable Florida QSO Party results:

National Parks On The Air current (6/13/16) scores:

Bruce Huyck, 186 confirmed contacts, 7th in KY;  Ron Cowherd, 104 confirmed contacts, 11th in KY.