PARA Meeting Minutes 2/13/2017

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association was held  Monday, February 13, 2017 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140, in Paducah, KY.  There were 23 present including 3 prospective FCC examinees.  See examinee pictures and exam results below.

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 was given by Bruce Huyck (KS4V).  The January 2017 meeting minutes was read by Secretary Cowherd (K4GYD).  Both treasurer and secretary  reports were accepted, moved and seconded.

Old/New Business

• Secretary Cowherd reported on the letter written to Kevin O’Neill, Dir. of Community Education, WKCTC.  The letter was written in January to express the clubs appreciation for the use of the two classrooms in 2016.  Dir. O’Neill replied with a very nice note as follows:  “Ron, I received your letter this week.  It is a pleasure to be able to provide space.  You can rest assured that you can have the space again in 2017.  We are happy to do so.”  Kevin.
• There was discussion concerning the Intra-club contest.  The rules are:
       1)  Work as many countries and states as you can during calendar year 2017, January 1, 2016 thru December 31, 2017.  If your 1st contact was in February, the month the contest was announced, then you may use February 1, 2017 thru January 31, 2018.                                               
       2)  Log all contacts so they may be uploaded to LOTW / EQSL for verification.  
       3)  Each verified country counts once per band, 1 point per QSO.  (include RST} 
• Garry Wheatley (KD4GCY) announced that the McCracken Co. ARES group is planning to sponsor another training session this spring as they did very successfully last year.  The difference being, this year’s session will concentrate on the FCC Amateur General Class License.

Net Control Operators

February 19            Logan KG4VKB          6 check-ins

February 26            Frank KY4LDS          13 check-ins

March 5                    Jeff KB9VBL      11 PARA.   9 ARES

March 12                   Ken KW4DI

Bryan Pickering Battery Presentation

Ken Wontor (KW4DI) introduced Bryan Pickering from a local Paducah retail battery establishment that specializes in battery and light bulb sales.  Their stock is extensive in both categories and repair practically all the modern day battery packs.  Bryan brought us a most enlightening PowerPoint presentation covering all the parameters of understanding, maintenance and operation of lead acid batteries.  Bryan suggested that more information could be found at batteryuniversity.com.  The PowerPoint presentation may be seen here:  battery-radio-club-sanitized

New License and Upgrade Successes

We are happy to report that three fellow hams that passed their FCC Technician exams in January, have passed their General License this February.  Congratulations to all.

Left to Right:  Gerald Wasko, Jay Smock, and Devon Caldwell.

Remember our next Scheduled Meeting will be Monday, March 13, 2017 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140, in Paducah, KY.

PARA Meeting Minutes 10/10/16

The regularly scheduled meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association was held Monday, October 10, 2016 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140, in Paducah, KY.  There were approximately 17 present plus one prospective FCC examinee.  See picture below.

The meeting was opened by Secretary Ron Cowherd (K4GYD) in the absence of President Wielgos.  Ron invited each attendee around the room to introduce themselves with their name, call and a comment on their amateur activities since the last meeting.  Everyone participated in the hobby in some way, so a Tootsie Roll was given to each as a reward for their efforts.  The Treasurer’s report was given by Bruce Huyck (KS4V).  The July meeting minutes was read by Secretary Cowherd, with explanations as needed.  Both the Treasurer’s and Secretary’s reports were approved by the members present.

Old/New Business

Secretary Cowherd reported on the Tuesday October 4th activation of the Trail of Tears, NPOTA code number TR12, at the Paducah Ohio River site in Schultz Park.  There were 61 contacts made with most QSOs accomplished early and late in the day.  The first two contacts were 5/9 from Italy and Slovenia.  Since band conditions were poor during most of the day, the pile ups that occurred during the late afternoon were quite welcome.  All contacts were made using 20 watts SSB to a vertical antenna.    See featured picture above.

Bruce Huyck reported on the Spudgun project with seven of the ten guns completed at Jerry Foland’s (WA4TTL) workshop.  Bruce also suggested a follow-up project that would make good use of  the new “compressed air antenna launchers.”  He sketched out a diagram on the white board of a 40 meter vertical monopole.  The two elevated radials could be easily launched with the new spudguns that recently have been constructed.  This may be a very easy future club construction project for a great DX antenna.

Frank Baumer (KY4LDS) told of a worthwhile exercise that he added to the last  Sunday evening training net in which he was net control.  Before the net closed, Frank asked for anyone that wanted to test their “direct” operation ability by calling in for a signal report.  Frank was emphasizing the need for all of us to know our rigs well enough that we can easily operate “direct”in case of emergency.  We also found out that successful direct communication is highly dependent on antenna height and power on both ends of the contact.

It was reported that the manager of “Batteries and Bulbs” offered to come to a future meeting to give a program.  This new business is located close to the intersection of Olivet Rd, and Rt. 60 in the strip mall close to Fire House Subs.

Net Control Operators for Late October/Early November

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

October 16                        Brent W4CHE            7 checkins

October 23                        Jeff KB9BVL               11 checkins

October 30                        Frank KY4LDS            5 checkins

November 6                     Logan KG4VKB      6 reg/8 ARES

November 13                    Frank KY4LDS            4 checkins

License Upgrade

James Oliver successfully passed his FCC Technician Exam at the close of the October meeting.  Congratulations James and feel welcome to join us again at future PARA meetings.

ARRL Centennial Success

Congratulations are in order to John Hudson (KO4XJ) for earning the ARRL Centennial Challenge Award, First Place in Kentucky with 18,939 points.  Way to go John, we are proud of you.

NPOTA Chaser News

National Parks On The Air current (11/14/16) Kentucky confirmed contacts:  Bruce Huyck (KS4V) 334;  Ron Cowherd (K4GYD) 200; Brent Robertson (W4CHE) 194;  Dave Dewey (W4WKN) 47; Dave Tucker (NU4N) 22; Dave Perry (N4QS) 12; Jeff Wielgos (KB9BVL) 10;  Ed Pflueger (AB4IQ) 2;  (W4NJA) 2;  Paul Smith (ND4X) 5; and Gene Summers (N4FZ) 1.

Next scheduled meeting will be Monday, November 14,2016 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140.

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                   10 checkins

September 25                              Frank KY4LDS                  10 checkins

October 2                                      Logan KG4VKB        ARES 7 checkins

October 9                                      Logan KG4VKB                    4 checkins

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) 310;  Ron Cowherd (K4GYD) 150; Brent Robertson (W4CHE) 61;  Dave Dewey (W4WKN) 36; Dave Tucker (NU4N) 20; Dave Perry (N4QS) 11; Jeff Wielgos (KB9BVL) 10;  Ed Pflueger (AB4IQ) 2;  (W4NJA) 2;  Paul Smith (ND4X) 1; and Gene Summers (N4FZ) 1.

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