Nixa Amateur Radio Club
April 2008 Meeting Minutes

Chris Cochran, KBØWZC called to order the regular meeting of the Nixa Amateur Radio Club at 18:15 on April 28, 2008 in Nixa Fire Station.

Jeff Kerr, KCØVGC conducted a roll call. The following persons were present:

KCØVGC, Jeff Kerr Gerald Johnson, KEØKI Jim Adkins, KCØIYI James Adkins, KBØNHX
Ralph Baldi, KF6AHT John Kreymer, K5LKM Chris Cochran, KBØWZC Dave Beckler, WAØSAP Dean Gaines, KCØSQD Emily Kerr, KCØYOO Joe Hargis, WSØE David Williams, KE7ABH David Bowman, WBØQIR Bill McNamee, KBØWHN John Bonnot, WBØLTE Randy Jordan, KCØUKB John Copelin, KCØQNM Thomas Harper, KDØCUT Chris Raymond KCØTLE Kim Adkins KCØGKP

Visitors Present:

Jeannine Bowman, N5SPX Allen Busiek, WF5U Rachel Busiek

Jeff Kerr, KCØVGC filed the minutes from the last meeting. The minutes were approved as posted on the club website.

Open issues :

a) Chris Chochran, KBØWZC recognized that on this day in 1946 Gerald Johnson, KEØKI was first licensed as a radio amateur 62 years ago. Those present also recognized and celebrated this even with unanimous applause.

b) The Nixa Sucker Days event was discussed and the following items were decided for the event.

• There will be information present on SkyWarn and related activities.
• It was decided to have a station setup to operate from the Sucker Days location. 2m FM rig and an HF rig.
• John, N5LKM volunteered an FT-1500 for 2m use, Rich, KB9YZE volunteered an FT-920 for HF and Fed Bell, NØLU will provide an R7 vertical for the HF station. James, KBØNHZ will provide a tripod for mounting the R7 vertical.
• Volunteers are need to work the booth. Jim Adkins, KCØIYI and Dean Ganes, KCØSQD volunteered to take the first watch from 8:00am to noon on Saturday. More volunteers are needed to cover the afternoon and evening.

c) James Adkins, KBØNHX opened the discussion on Field Day

• The DPS command bus has been reserved
• The NØA special even callsign has been reserved
• It was recommended to have three stations phone, cw, and HF digital
• It was recommended to get the sissor lifts as last year to support the antennas
• Dean, KCØSQD was asked to inquire on food donations.
• Cost of fuel for the command bus was estimated to be near $325.00

d) Dean Gaines, KCØSQD presented the following information on the HF station

• He recommended that the tower be lowered to 50' from 60' to avoid permits and fees associated with installing a tower of 60' or higher in the city.
• Chris Cochran, KBØWZC announce that a grant for the purchase of equipment for the HF station is being applied for with the ARRL.

e) Jeff Morrissey, KBØWVT presented the treasurer's report

Beginning Balance $605.14
Credits
$20 Donations
$48 Dues
$2.26 Dividends
Ending Balance $675.40

f) Chris Raymond, KCØTLE was asked to discuss the benefits of CERT training. Chris did mention the benefits of CERT training and the benefits associated with it including building searches and fire supression. It was also mentioned that training was concluded by conducting a mock disaster.

g) Allen Busiek, WF5U was asked to talk about the fox hunt that he and several others participated in earlier in the day.

The fox hunt consisted of three teams consisting of 10 individuals total. The next fox hunt event will be two weeks from today. More information can be found on the Yahoo! group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SWMOFoxhunters

There will be one fox hunt per month to be conducted on the 2nd Saturday.

It was suggested that K5QQ be asked to present information to the club on fox hunting equipment and techniques.

Adjournment

Chris Cochran, KBØWZC adjourned the meeting at 19:25.

Minutes submitted by: Jeff Kerr, KCØVGC, Secretary Minutes

approved by: Chris Cochran, KBØWZC, President

N.A.R.C. Monthly Meeting

The Nixa Amateur Radio Club will be holding the monthly meeting on Saturday, April 26th at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Nixa Fire Department District Headquarters, 301 S. Nicholas Rd., Nixa, Missouri.

Directions:
From US 160 and MO 14 in Nixa, go west to RT M (also called Nicholas Rd--this will be the second stop light west of US 160 on MO 14). Turn south and go about 1/2 mile and the fire department is on the west (right) side of the roadway. There are only about 10-12 parking spots at the fire department, but we are welcome to use the parking lot at the strip mall right south of the fire department for parking as well.

Everyone is welcome to attend.

N.A.R.C. Testing Session

The Nixa Amateur Radio Club will be holding a testing session on Saturday, April 26th at 4:30 p.m. Testing will be held at the Nixa Fire Department District Headquarters, 301 S. Nicholas Rd., Nixa, Missouri.

To test, please pre-register by contacting Chris Cochran by April 25th by one of the following means: e-mail testing@nixahams.net or over the air on 145.270 MHz repeater, PL 162.2 Hz.

You DO NOT have to pre-pay, just let Chris know you're coming so we can have enough materials for the session. Please remember to bring one valid picture ID or two non-picture ID's and pencils for taking the exam.

Following the test session will be our monthly meeting at 6:00 p.m. in the Nixa Fire Department District Headquarters. Everyone is welcome to attend.

March 2008 Meeting Minutes

Meeting called to order by Chris Cochran, KB0WZC, at 1804 on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at the Nixa Fire Department General HQ

Members Present: Chris Cochran, KB0WZC; James Adkins, KB0NHX; Dean Gaines, KC0SQD; Jerry Johnson, KE0KI; Ralph Baldi, KF6AHT; Randy Jordan, KC0UKB; John Kreymer, N5LKM; Thomas Harper, KD0CUT; Robert Kentch, KC0WSE; John Copelin, KC0QNM; John Perkins, W6OQS; Jim Adkins, KC0IYI; James French, KC0TQD; Kim Adkins, KC0GKP; Al Gallo, W0ERE; John Bonnot, WB0LTE; Bill McNamee, KB0WHN; Richard Vogt, KB9YZE; Fred Bell, N0LU; Jeff Morrissey, KB0WVT; and Chris Raymond, KC0TLE.

Visitors Present: C.W. Stiver, KC0VNT; Jim Young, WA6NFY; Pat Barner, KB0UTY; and Michael Vogt.

Open Business

a) Club HF Station: Dean Gaines, KC0SQD, gave the report. City of Nixa ordinance requires a $100 fee for a ham tower 60' in height. He advised the HF committee would like to get membership involved and build a multi-band HF antenna. Station to be used for training and as a backup for the Nixa EOC to give Nixa HF amateur options during a disaster. The Fire Department EOC station will also consist of a VHF / UHF station. Mike Rains, K0RFI, has volunteered to assist in the running of coax when the time comes. Fred Bell inquired if anyone has experience pouring concrete for tower bases. If you would like to help dig the hole and pour the concrete or know someone that could help out, e-mail hf@nixahams.net. John Bonnot, WB0LTE, has several antennas we could use for the station.

New Business

a) Field Day 2008. Dean Gaines, KC0SQD, has obtained approval for our normal spot at Fountain Plaza in Nixa. James Adkins, KB0NHX, has obtained approval from the State of Missouri to use their DPS command bus again for 2008. More to come in following months.

b) Sucker Days Special Event Station. Operation is one day from 0800 to 2000 on May 17, 2008. Jim Adkins, KC0IYI, advised a booth fee of $45.00. The sucker days committee is willing to waive the $15 fee for electricity since we are a 501(c)3. We hope to obtain a booth in front of Crossroads Auction. Looking to have one HF station and an HF vertical with a tripod on the roof in front of Crossroads. Also want a VHF / UHF station on hand to show off local communications. Anyone with a "go kit" they are willing to show off is welcome, too. Ralph Baldi, KF6AHT, recommended we contact the ARRL for some handouts. James Adkins, KB0NHX, and Jeff Morrissey, KB0WVT, to work on a club handout and Skywarn information.

c) Treasurer's Report by Jeff Morrissey, KB0WVT
Beginning Balance $243.34

$1834.00 Credits
$84.00 Dues
$250.00 Donations ($50 KE0KI, $100 WB0RJR, $100 McKesson,)
$1500 Grant Nixa Community Foundation

$1472.20 Debits
$63.39 RF Connection (For Mini UHF to N-Female adapters for CDM radios0
$36.27 Lone Mountain Communications (Polyphaser Lightning Supressor)
$169.20 Pro-Comm Systems (4 Motorola CDM1250 Control Heads)
$45.96 Paul Cornett (Ebay) (10 Motorola CDM Mounting Brackets)
$57.95 Panda Communications (5 Motorola CDM Power Cables)
$20.97 Chrissy Amburgey (Ebay) (Motorola Hand Microphone CDM radios)
$29.53 Stayonline (Middle Atlantic U1-19in. W x 11in D x 1U H Flush Solid Mount Rack Shelf)
$271.49 (2 Motorola CDM1250 UHF Radios for 927.5375 link & IRLP at Cox South)
$120.95 (8 PolyPhaser IS-B50LN-C2's for link radios & club HF station)
$450.00 (Sinclair Q2330E 220 MHz Repeater Duplexers for 224.280 repeater)
$206.49 (1 Motorola CDM1250 Radio for IRLP node at KC0VGC's residence)

Ending Balance $605.14

d) Linking Repeater project update. James Adkins, KB0NHX, advised the linking repeater project is complete, all radios have been installed. The repeaters now link through the 444.275 repeater instead of using a simplex frequency. The 53.270, 145.270, 444.275, 224.280 and 927.5375, EchoLink and IRLP can all be linked together now. The links are set to come on and turn off automatically for the Tuesday night Bible Belt Christian Fellowship net at 8:00 p.m. and for the Thursday night NARC net at 7:30 p.m. Any two or more repeaters can be linked together at will now as needed. For further details, contact James Adkins at technical@nixahams.net.

Open Floor Discussion:

a) Rich Vogt, KB9YZE, and Al Gallo, W0ERE, invited operators to log into the W0S website to log or operate. Shared a story of a high school teacher bringing 15 students that had upgraded to General or Extra as a reward for upgrading. They are coming from the Tulsa area. Teacher is bringing them in two suburbans, flipping the bill for the gas. Rich would like to be able to give the teacher some money for the gas expenses. Anyone willing to donate, contact Rich by going to W0S.org and following the "contact" link.

Meeting adjourned by Chris Cochran, KB0WZC, at 1854.

Minutes submitted by: James Adkins, KB0NHX

Minutes approved by: Chris Cochran, KB0WZC

224.280 Repeater on the Air

The 224.280 repeater was installed high atop Cox South Hospital in South Springfield on Saturday, March 15th and finished Monday, March 17th. The repeater has met expectations and propagation map predictions to this point. 25-W mobile stations have worked the repeater as far south as Saddlebrooke on US 65, Branson West on US 160, as far north as Walnut Grove on MO 123, as far north on MO 13 as Bolivar and as far west as Halltown on I-44.

Club members worked hard to install the 224.280 repeater, and install the IRLP Link radio and the Arcom RC-210 on the 444.275 repeater to make it our UHF Linking Repeater.

Thank you to Chris Cochran, KB0WZC and his father, Jeremy Tannehill, KC0UJZ; Jim Adkins, KC0IYI; John Copelin, KC0QNM; Randy Jordan, KC0UKB; and James Adkins, KB0NHX.

The input to the 224.280 repeater is 222.80, and the PL tone is 162.2 Hz. Unfortunately, we have had to leave the PL tone enabled due to interference coming from the 250-W Midwest Paging transmitter about 20-feet from our antenna. We may try to obtain bandpass cavities in the near future.

High-Altitude Balloon Project 2m/70cm - Saturday

As part of a high-altitude balloon project being run by several local
individuals (some of whom are ham-radio operators), a cross-band 2m/70cm
repeater will be flown on a small aircraft this Saturday. We would like
as many people as possible to check in to a net we will be running through
this repeater while it is airborne. The procedure will be similar to
working stations cross-band on satellite. If you've never worked
satellites before, this might be a good opportunity for you to learn
something about how it is done - DON'T BE SHY!

The UPLINK (your TX) frequency is: 446.450 MHz
The DOWNLINK (your RX) frequency is: 146.450 MHz

Date: Saturday, March 8, 2008 (weather permitting)
Time: 10:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. (or thereabouts)
Location: Rolla, MO and environs

The web page with details is at:

http://www.batee.com/balloon/crossband/

N.A.R.C. Monthly Meeting

The Nixa Amateur Radio Club will be holding the monthly meeting on Saturday, March 29th at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Nixa Fire Department District Headquarters, 301 S. Nicholas Rd., Nixa, Missouri.

Directions:
From US 160 and MO 14 in Nixa, go west to RT M (also called Nicholas Rd--this will be the second stop light west of US 160 on MO 14). Turn south and go about 1/2 mile and the fire department is on the west (right) side of the roadway. There are only about 10-12 parking spots at the fire department, but we are welcome to use the parking lot at the strip mall right south of the fire department for parking as well.

Everyone is welcome to attend.