PARA Meeting Minutes 4/9/2018

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association was held  Monday, April 9, 2018 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140, in Paducah, KY.  There were 26 present, including two FCC Amateur License examinees.

The meeting was opened by Club President, Jeff Wielgos followed by each attendee giving their name and amateur call.

Items Discussed and Passed

The business portion of the meeting was as follows:

• Secretary Cowherd reviewed March meeting minutes including items discussed and passed.  In addition, a report was given on PARA members who are participating the ARRL International Grid Contest.  As of 4/9/2018, six club members are on Kentucky’s top 25 of the leader board with five more members listed on the second page making a total of 11 PARA members in the top 50.
• The treasurer’s report of the club’s finances was given by Bruce Huyck and  subsequently a motion was made, seconded and passed to accept the secretary’s and treasurer’s reports.
• Ed Pflueger and Dave Perry showed and gave information about 10 walnut KY QSO Party award plaques which were laser cut to the outline of the Kentucky border.  The unfinished pieces will be finished, appropriately labeled and awarded to the winners of  the QSO Party.
• It was moved, seconded and passed to reimburse Ed Pflueger for the cost of the wood and labor that has been done on the plaques so far.  Dave Perry spoke of one KY club that has volunteered to sponsor a plaque this year.  Other sponsors will be sought to help pay for the award trophies this year and each new year.
• Dave spent quite a bit of time explaining the contest set-up, in terms of operators, (each band, each mode), base, rover and portable stations, etc.  Efficient contest operating skills were reviewed.
• W4NJA Host stations will be located at:  (SSB) Mike Newman’s station, (CW)  Dave Perry, Bruce and Clint ( RTTY).  One of the goals of the KY QSO Party is to encourage the activation of rare counties and grid squares through rover and portable operation.  Also, several volunteers will operate at home in McCracken and surrounding counties.

Net Control Operators for Late April/Early May

Remember:

• PARA meets at Emerging Technology Center, WKCTC on 2nd Monday, 7 pm of each month except December.
• New License and upgrades are offered at the close of each meeting night throughout the year.  See W4NJA web site at w4nja.org.  For info click at the top of the page on About Us, then VE License Testing.
• The Sunday Night Net meets each Sunday night at 9 PM. All amateur radio operators are invited to check in. 147.060 PL 179.9
• KY QSO Party sponsored by PARA W4NJA, June 2nd, 2018
• Field Day, Keilor Park, Paducah, June 23 & 24.
•  PARA membership fees ($20) are due and payable at a future meeting.

PARA Meeting Minutes 2/12/2018

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association was held  Monday, February 12, 2018 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140, in Paducah, KY.  There were 29 present, including 5 FCC Amateur License examinees.  The meeting was opened by Club President, Jeff  Wielgos (KB9BVL).  Jeff invited attendees around the room to introduce themselves with their name and call.

Items Discussed and Passed

The business portion of the meeting was as follows:

• Secretary Cowherd reviewed 2017 end-of- year statistics including club attendance and participation numbers.  In addition, W4NJA.org web usage statistics, provided by WordPress.com, were reviewed.
• President Wielgos gave the Treasurers report in absence of Bruce Huyck.
•  A large portion of the business session was spent in discussion of a motion from Dave Perry (N4QS).  Dave’s motion was:  “that PARA request that it become the new sponsor of the KY QSO Party.”  During the discussion of the motion Dave spoke of the responsibilities and positive outcomes of the project.  Paul Smith continued the discussion with comments on contest software for the event, including Cabrillo log checking.  Mike Newman told of the thrills and great success representing KY at the 2014 ARRL Centennial Celebration held at his QTH.  Dave and Paul volunteered to chair the project with volunteers to take on publicity, award sponsors, etc.  The motion was seconded and later past with the majority of members in favor.
• Club member and insurance agent Beth Gupton (AK4BG) announced that the club’s liability policy payment is due ($254.51)  A motion to pay the bill was made and a vote taken and passed.

Net Control Operators for Late February/Early March

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

February 18         Jay KD9HRH      15 check-ins

February 24    Garry KD4GCY  16 check-ins to called Emergency WX Net

February 25         Eric K4YUS         15 check-ins

March 4                Logan KG4VKB    15 PARA, 12 ARES

March 11               Ken KSW4DI    12 check-ins

ARRL International Grid Contest

(Leaderboard Results shows Ky position and Total Grid count as of  3/12/2018)                                                                    

1.  N4QS Dave Perry, 2278 grids, 48/day;  14. AI4EY Fred Carter, 797 grids, 14/day;  16. K4GYD Ron Cowherd, 750 grids, 14/day;  18. KO4XJ John Hudson, 715 grids, 15/day;  19. W4WWS  Steve Parmley, 560 grids, 9/day;   21. KS4V Bruce Huyck, 508 grids, 8/day.

Current grid contest results may be found at:  https://igc.arrl.org/leader-board.php

Kentucky QSO Party News

The PARA Kentucky QSO Party web site, kyqsoparty.org  is now up and running, thanks to Paul Smith.  Please check the Side Bar link often for latest news.

New License and Upgrade Successes

We are happy to report that five individuals successfully passed their FCC Amateur Radio license exams at the close of the February meeting.  Results are:  Lloyd Watson (KD4DFM) Extra; Mark Thorn (KN4HYV), General;  Michael Hicks (N9ARK) , General;  Eric Jones, Technician; and Michael Keller, (not pictured) Technician.  Congratulations to all.

Remember:

• PARA meets at Emerging Technology Center, WKCTC on 2nd Monday, 7 pm of each month except December.
• New License and upgrades are offered at the close of each meeting night throughout the year.  See W4NJA web site at w4nja.org.  For info click at the top of the page on About Us, then VE License Testing.
• The Sunday Night Net meets each Sunday night at 9 PM. All amateur radio operators are invited to check in. 147.060 PL 179.9
•  DX Engineering Skype presentation scheduled for March 12th meeting.
•  PARA membership fees ($20) are due and payable at a future meeting.

PARA Meeting Minutes 1/8/2018

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association was held  Monday, January 8, 2018 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140, in Paducah, KY.  There were 20 present, including 2 visitors.  The meeting was opened by Club President, Jeff  Wielgos (KB9BVL).  Jeff invited each attendee around the room to introduce themselves with their name and call.

Items Discussed and Passed

The business portion of the meeting was as follows:

• The  Secretary’s report was given by Ron Cowherd  (K4GYD) followed by the Treasurer’s report by Bruce Huyck (KS4V).
•  Secretary Cowherd told of an article requested by Steve Morgan (W4NHO), KY State Section Manager, regarding PARA being selected for ARRL Kentucky Section Club of the Month.  The article appears on the PARA web site:  December Happenings 2017.  The article, as it appeared on the ARRL Kentucky News page can be seen at:  www.arrl.org/sections/view/kentucky   Be sure to scroll to very, very bottom of page and click on NOV 2017 SECTION NEWS.
• It was suggested that we update the “Show Us Your Shack” page on the W4NJA web site.  Let’s build another page from scratch.  Send your old and new shack and antenna pictures, to roncowherd@aol.com.
• Ed Pflueger (AB4IQ) and President Jeff gave us  facts about the Bouvet 3Y0Z DXpedition which is expected to begin in late January.  This location ranks number 2 worldwide on the DXCC Most Wanted List.  Check QST 2018 issue, page 92 for four other January Expeditions.
• Mike Newman (WD4EFZ) gave us an update on his new antenna installation which sports a 3 band yogi (80 – 30 & 40 mtrs.)  Mike said it was huge, weighing in at almost 500 lbs.  He told us of the extra strong components that were necessary to support the size and weight of the beam, boom and and elements.
• President Wielgos commented on the ARRL Grid Contest and described a web application that will read an ADIF file and map the contacts on a Google map.  The app can be activated by clicking on www.www.levinecentral.com
• Upcoming ham fests
• Silent Keys:  Gerald Wyatt (K4UNW) Homer Gerald Wyatt, 77, of Paducah died at 9:37 a.m. Wednesday, December 20, 2017, at Lourdes hospital. Clyde Elrod (W4XCE Clyde Elrod, 93, of Kevil passed away on Thursday, December 21, 2017 at Life Care Center in LaCenter.
• The election of officers for 2018 was brought up by President Wielgos.  It was suggested that all the present club officers be nominated.  The present officers were polled and found to be agreeable.  A motion was made, seconded and voted upon.  Jeff Wielgos, pres.; Ken Wontor, v.pres.;  Ron Cowherd, Sec. and Bruce Huyck, treas. were elected for the 2018.

Net Control Operators for Late January/Early February

January 14          Dave W4WKN     12 check ins

January 21           Jay KD9HRH        13 check ins

January 28           Frank KY4LDS    11 check ins

February 4          Logan KG4VKB      5 check ins

February 11        Jeff KB9BVL          12 check ins

ARRL International Grid Contest

(Leaderboard Results shows Ky position and Total Grid count as of  2/12/2018)                                                                    

1.  N4QS Dave Perry, 1477 grids;  10. KO4XJ John Hudson, 483 grids;  11. K4GYD Ron Cowherd, 478 grids;  17. KS4V Bruce Huyck, 393 grids;  18. W4WWS  Steve Parmley, 367 grids;  20. AI4EY Fred Carter, 349 grids.

6 PARA club members make up 30% of top 20 KY entries.

Remember:

• PARA meets at Emerging Technology Center, WKCTC on 2nd Monday, 7 pm of each month except December.
• New License and upgrades are offered on meeting nights throughout the year.  See W4NJA web site at w4nja.org.  For info click at the top of the page on About Us, then VE License Testing.
• The Sunday Night Net meets each Sunday night at 9 PM. All amateur radio operators are invited to check in. 147.060 PL 179.9
•  DX Engineering Skype presentation scheduled for March 12th meeting.

The annual PARA Christmas Dinner was celebrated Monday, December 11, 2017 at Casa Mexicana Restaurant on Village Square Drive in Paducah.  The special occasion has traditionally convened in lieu of a formal December club meeting.  Snapshots of the approximately 26 members and guests in attendance enjoying excellent food and spirited conversation are shown below:  (click on image for slide show)

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

W4NJA Selected for ARRL Kentucky Section “December Club of the Month”

In late October, Steve Morgan, ARRL Kentucky section manager, informed us that PARA had been selected “December Club of the Month.”  Steve asked us to submit an article that including text and pictures that best represented what our club is about.  The following is the article submitted to Steve, prepared by Ron Cowherd.

All About PARA (W4NJA )

The Paducah Amateur Radio Association (PARA) Paducah, Kentucky, received the ARRL Charter of Affiliation on July 10, 1953, with the call of W4NJA. The club currently meets at 7 PM on the second Monday of each month in the Emerging Technology Center Building of the West Kentucky Community and Technical College. All amateur radio operators and their guests, along with anyone interested in finding out about the exciting hobby of amateur radio are encouraged to attend.

PARA is very active, providing opportunities for club members to learn about the many facets of amateur radio. We feel that we have something to offer each and every one. Club activities include:

Meetings – Our monthly attendance averages 22. Meetings include a business segment followed by a variety of activities including discussions and live demonstrations. Recently we had a Skype conference with DX Engineering representative concerning emergency operations. We have DXCC and WAS card checking and VE testing available after each monthly meeting. 23 new licenses or upgrades were produced in 2016.

Community & Emergency Services – Our club maintains a close relationship with the Paducah/McCracken County Office of Emergency Management. PARA Members supplied 2009 Ice Storm emergency communications during several days of total electric blackout in Western Kentucky.

 

Member Communications – We sponsor and maintain the W4NJA FM repeater system at 147.060 mhz with a tone of 179.9 hz. W4NJA may be found on Echolink, node: 458276. Our Monthly online web newsletter, W4NJA.org includes past meeting minutes, discussion topics, and a calendar of club activities. PARA also sponsors a DX Cluster utilizing VE7CC software. The Cluster Address is: 207.162.164.91, Port: 7373. We advertise our local repeater with two signs on Interstate highway I-24 into Paducah. The Emergency Practice Net meets each Sunday night at 9 PM.  All amateur radio operators are invited to check in. Call W4NJA two meter repeater, 147.060 MHZ. PL 179.9.

Contesting – (local, national and world wide,): PARA sponsors a DX contest for its own members. Several members have participated in WW DXpeditions in six countries. We activated a “Trail of Tears” location for National Parks On The Air.  Our 2017 Field Day results earned W4NJA the top 3A score in KY; had the top score in KY out of 38 entries;was 18th out of 322 3A stations nationwide; was 77th out of all 2,965 stations nationwide. This is quite an accomplishment earned by our 16 operators participating.

Social – Each year the PARA Club December meeting is replaced by the Christmas Party at a local restaurant. Spouses and guests are welcome. In addition, there are two 11:00 a.m. lunch groups that meet each week. Thursdays at Michael’s, 9th and KY Avenue and Lone Oak Road Back Yard Burgers just south of I-24. When visiting in Paducah or passing through you are welcome to come to our club meeting or join us at lunch.

PARA 2016/2017 Meeting and Net Statistics

PARA 2016:17 Stats

Stats ‹ Paducah Amateur Radio Association — WordPress.com

PARA Meeting Minutes 11/13/2017

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association was held  Monday, November 13, 2017 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140, in Paducah, KY.  There were 18 present.  Two came for FCC license testing.  See names and pictures below.

The meeting was opened by Club President, Jeff  Wielgos (KB9BVL).  Jeff invited each attendee around the room to introduce themselves with their name and call.

Items Discussed and Passed

The business portion of the meeting was as follows:

• The Treasurer’s report was given by Bruce Huyck (KS4V) followed by the Secretary’s report given by Ron Cowherd (K4GYD).  Both reports were approved by unanimous vote.
• Paul Smith (ND4X) gave us the good news about PARA’s Field Day results.  The data is as follows:  (1)  W4NJA had the top 3A score in KY.  (2) had the top score in KY out of 38 entries. (3)  was 18th out of 322 3A stations nationwide.  (4) was 77th out of all 2,965 station nationwide.  This is quite an accomplishment earned by our 16 operators participating.  This year’s success will be a huge goal to surpass next year.
• The December PARA Club meeting will be replaced by the Christmas Party at Casa Mexicana, Monday, December 12th, 6:00 pm.  The restaurant is located at 4793 Village Square Drive directly behind Walmart in the Strawberry Hill area.  Spouses are welcome.  No reservations needed.
• Jeff reminded us about the club DX contest which closes at the end of 2017.
• Jerry Oliver (KJ4EU) reported a new amateur radio satellite repeater will be launched Tuesday, November 14th.  Jerry was encouraged to give us a presentation of his satellite operations sometime in the future.
• Some of us are having trouble logging onto the W4NJA EchoLink.  Logan suggested that we should select “relay proxy.”
• Paul (ND4X) reported that he  worked the KY QSO Party the past weekend and worked 116 stations on 40 meters SSB only with a duration of a little bit less than than three hours in the chair.
• Jeff showed a YouTube video of FT8 with discussion following.  About half of the members present have been participating using this new mode.  Bruce made additional comments about the latest version of this popular software.

Net Control Operators for Late November/December/Early January

November 19          Jay KD9HRH          9 check-ins

November 26          Frank KY4LDS       8 check-ins

December 3             Jeff KB9BVL           8 check-ins

December 10           Ken KW4DI          11 check-ins

December 17           Steve NW9W         6 check-ins

December 24           Christmas Eve–no net

December 31           New Year’s Eve–no net

January 7                  Logan KG4VKB    10 PARA – 10 ARES

Jerry Oliver has received a very nice 10 Meter Contest Certificate.  He received a score of 1,900 points to earn first place in KY section.  Congratulations Jerry.

New License and Upgrade Success

We are happy to report that Mark Thorn and Michael Hicks have earned their Technician licenses at the close of the November meeting.  Congratulations Mark and Michael, well done.

 

Remember:

• PARA meets at Emerging Technology Center, WKCTC on 2nd Monday, 7 pm of each month except December.
• New License and upgrades are offered on meeting nights throughout the year.  See W4NJA web site at w4nja.org.  For info click at the top of the page on About Us, then VE License Testing.
• The Sunday Night Net meets each Sunday night at 9 PM. All amateur radio operators are invited to check in. 147.060 PL 179.9
• The December PARA Club meeting will be replaced by the Christmas Party at Casa Mexicana, Monday, December 11th, 6:00 pm.  The restaurant is located at 4793 Village Square Drive directly behind Walmart in the Strawberry Hill area.  Spouses are welcome.  No reservations needed.

 

PARA Meeting Minutes 10/9/2017

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association was held  Monday, October 9, 2017 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140, in Paducah, KY.  There were 16 present.  No one came for FCC license testing.

The meeting was opened by Club Vice President, Ken Wontor (KW4DI).  Ken invited each attendee around the room to introduce themselves with their name, call and report of ham activities during the past month.

Items Discussed and Passed

The business portion of the meeting was as follows:

• The Treasurer’s report was given by Bruce Huyck (KS4V) followed by the Secretary’s report given by Ron Cowherd (K4GYD).  Both reports were subsequently approved by unanimous vote.
• Ed (AB4IQ) reminded us that the PARA annual Christmas Party is planned for Monday, 6:00 pm, December 12th at Casa Mexicana restaurant located at 4793 Village Square Drive directly behind Walmart in the Strawberry Hill area.  This event will replace the December meeting and testing.  No reservations required.
• Ron Cowherd announced that Jeff Wielgos had gotten a request from Bryan Pickering to come to our November meeting to give a followup on the presentation that he had given at the January 2017 meeting.  The Powerpoint presentation was on the understanding, maintenance and operation of lead acid batteries.  Bryan works at a local Paducah retail battery establishment that specializes in battery and light bulb sales.
• Bruce announced that DX Engineering is scheduled for March 2018 meeting to give another Skype presentation to the club similar to the one given August 2017.  The subject will be on lightning and grounding techniques.

Net Control Operators for Late October/Early November

Presentation

Bruce (KS4V) reviewed Reverse Beacon.net/main.php, a free website of skimmer stations around the world in all modes and frequencies.  Bruce projected the web page and explained how to use the app’s features.

Ken (KW4DI) showed his magnetic loop antenna and MFJ QRP Loop Tuner.

Contest Success

Congratulations Paul Smith ND4X:

Reminders:

PARA meets at Emerging Technology Center, WKCTC on 2nd Monday, 7 pm of each month except December.

New License and upgrades are offered on meeting nights throughout the year.  See W4NJA web site at w4nja.org.  For info click at the top of the page on About Us, then VE License Testing.

The Sunday Night Net meets each Sunday night at 9 PM. All amateur radio operators are invited to check in. 147.060 PL 179.9

Christmas Party, Monday, 6:00 pm, December 12th at Casa Mexicana restaurant located at 4793 Village Square Drive directly behind Walmart in the Strawberry Hill area.  No reservations needed.