Meeting Minutes - November 17, 2007

Nixa Amateur Radio Club
November 2007 Meeting Minutes

Meeting commenced by President Chris Cochran, KB0WZC, at 18:15.

Chris welcomed everyone to the Thanksgiving meeting of the Nixa ARC at the Nixa Pizza Hut, the place where it all began.

Congratulations to those that passed their Tech test and to those that upgraded their license.

Jeff Morrissey began with the Treasurer's report:

408.01 Beginning Balance
148.00 IN (48.00-2008 Dues, 100.00, Joe Hargis Donation)
182.30 OUT
( 32.00 PO Box, 53.25 Parts for 220 Tone Board, 97.05 Completely Assembled AMI-2 Board In Enclosure)
373.71 Ending Balance

Chris Cochran, KB0WZC, has been working diligently to find grants we can apply for. He found out that our 501(c)(3) had been labeled "inactive" due to some mail that was sent to his old address and returned to the IRS. He has contacted the IRS and is in the process of getting it re-activated. This re-activation doesn't require any money, just the time and effort to fill out the forms necessary. Once this is complete, he will be able to apply for several grants. Currently, we have two grants pending, one with Allstate and one with the Nixa Community Foundation with others on the horizon. These grants would be used to pay for the remainder of the 220 MHz repeater project, the club HF station, repeater linking projects, and IRLP on the 224.280.

Jeff Kerr, KC0VGC, then took the floor and announced the new 6-meter net to be held on Monday's at 8:00 p.m. The first net will be Monday November 19th. The net will be held on the 53.270 repeater, input 51.570, PL 162.2 Hz. The net will be a roundtable of all things 6 meters and below. After the net, for those of you who just can't get enough of 6-meters, there will be a “Post Net Ragchew” on 50.125. If the band is open, it will move to 50.165. Thanks to James French, KC0TQD, and Jeff Kerr, KC0VGC, for coming up with, developing and taking the idea full circle to completion. You can check out their website at http://www.6meter.net.

We need volunteers to run the 145.270 net starting in January. We would like to have 4 net control operators so each person runs the net once a month (theoretically). Please sign the sign-up sheet when it comes by if you are interested. We'd like to at least add 2 people that haven't done the net before so they can also get experience handling traffic. The 145.270 net is held every Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.

In addition to the 2007 NARC net sign up sheet, we are also passing around an "initial interest" form stating activities we plan on doing for 2008. If any of these interest you, please sign up and either Jeff Kerr, KC0VGC, or James Adkins, KB0NHX, will be contacting you soon. We'd like to see as many different people active in this as we can. Not only is it fun, it also builds friendships and helps you get to know other club members better. So, please find something you're interested in and sign up. We don't care if you have experience or not, someone will help teach you if you ask.

Our final order of business is the election of a new club treasurer. Jeff Morrissey, KB0WVT, has served as our treasurer for the final part of the 4-year term that was held by Dave Beckler, WA0SAP, and Dean Gaines, KC0SQD.

(Jeff Kerr, KC0VGC, passed out the ballots)

Jim Adkins, KC0IYI, and Jeff Morrissey, KB0WVT, have been nominated as possible candidates.

Congratulations to Jeff Morrissey, KBØWVT for being elected as treasurer.

Meeting adjourned and Pizza enjoyed by all by Chris Cochran @ 18:55p.m.

Meeting Minutes - October 27, 2007

Nixa Amateur Radio Club, Inc.
October 2007 Meeting Minutes

Call to order

James Adkins, KBØNHX called to order the regular meeting of the Nixa Amateur Radio Club, Inc at 18:06 on October 27, 2007 at the Nixa Fire Station.

Roll call

Jeff Kerr, KCØVGC conducted a roll call via a sign-up sheet. The following persons were present:

Members in attendance:

Al Gallo, WØERE, Jim Adkins, KCØIYI, Dean Gaines, KCØSQD, Rod Kelley, WU4P, Shawn Baker, KAØRZE, Randy Jordan, KCØUKB, John Copelin, KCØQNM, David Vogt, KDØBEM, Dick Higinbotham, KØGL, JR Duncan, NØRLP, Dave Beckler, WAØSAP, Joe Hargis, WSØE, Bill McNamee, KBØWHN, Fred Bell, NØLU, Jeff Morrissey, KBØWVT, James Adkins, KBØNHX, John Bonnot, WBØLTE

Guests in attendance:

Ralph Baldi, KF6ALT, Charlie Ware, KØPGC, Mike Ballentyne, KC5MNP, Connie Ballentyne KBØZSG, Allen Busiek, WF5U, Adam Fast, KCØYLK

Open issues

1. The EchoLink upgrade is making good progress. The Lees Summit end of the link has already been upgraded. Joe Hargis, WSØE donated $100.00 toward the Nixa end of the link to purchase the interface.
2. The amplifier for the six meter repeater was received back from John Rayfield and installed back at the six meter site. All is working as expected.
3. The 220 repeater installation is waiting on word from Cox as to when it will be OK to install the repeater on top of their facility.

New business

1. Nominations were taken for club treasurer to be elected at the November meeting. Jeff Morrissey, KBØWVT was nominated by Dick Higgenbotham, KØGL and seconded by Dean Gaines, KCØSQD. Jim Adkins, KCØIYI was also nominated by Jeff Morrissey, KBØWVT and seconded by James Adkins, KBØNHX.

Adjournment

James Adkins, KBØNHX adjourned business portion the meeting at 18:20.

The remainder of the meeting was conducted by Adam Fast, KCØYLK. Adam made a full presentation and demonstration of D-Star to the club.

Minutes submitted by: Jeff Kerr, KCØVGC, Club Secretary
Minutes approved by: Chris Cochran, KB0WZC, Club President

Meeting Minutes - September 29, 2007

Nixa Amateur Radio Club, Inc.
September 2007 Meeting Minutes

Members Present: ( Members)

Visitors: ( Visitor)

Meeting commenced by President Chris Cochran at 5:30 p.m.

James Adkins, KB0NHX, and Jeremy Tannehill, KC0UJZ, gave a briefing of the technical committee meeting held earlier in the day. James advised that we will be working on upgrading the EchoLink connection in Nixa so it operates more like a regular radio. It will consist of a new UHF link to the EchoLink host’s house and will be connected to the link port of the controller. A new interface that features DTMF re-generation and flat audio instead of line-level audio will be used to enhance the transmitted and received audio from EchoLink. Users will notice that they do not have to wait until the repeater drops to answer, thus even further eliminating delays. When we are done, you will have a hard time discerning whether a station is on EchoLink or RF.

Jeremy Tannehill, KC0UJZ, discussed the new linking project that will allow us to link all 4 repeaters together through the 444.275 repeater. This will consist of installing a UHF radio on the 444.275 pair both at the 2m site and the 6m site. The 224.280 repeater will simply link up through the controller. This will allow us to have IRLP or EchoLink on any repeater we wish and we won’t be limited to using it on a single repeater.

As for IRLP, it will be permanently installed on the 224.280 repeater and will be hosted by Jeff Kerr, KC0VGC. We are seeking permission to install the UHF yagi at the same time as the 220 vertical.

Lastly, Jeremy advised he will be meeting with Cox South officials in the coming weeks to hopefully get permission to install the 224.280 atop the hospital.

James then went over the survey results that were sent out earlier this summer. Though he’d liked to have seen a better return rate, 33.3% is generally acceptable for these types of polls. See results below.

Meeting adjourned at 5:48 p.m. (18 minutes)

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2007 State of the Club Survey Results

Surveys received: 11
Total Membership: 33 (not counting officers)
Percent of surveys returned from general membership: 33.3%

Question 1: Do you feel the repeaters ID too often, that they should ID only when in use or is the current programming satisfactory?

Responses Received:

One good reason to ID frequently is so out of town visitors will know the repeater is here. If visitors are just tuning through the spectrum and hear nothing they will just keep going.

Satisfactory.

No, they don't ID too often. I think it's about right. Listened to it for six hours during the ADA ride. I don’t find it annoying. The 6m and 440 are fine as well.

They should ID every 15 minutes. (educational note: This is not legal while a repeater is in operation per Part 97 rules)

Too Often.

Repeaters should ID in accordance with FCC rules / regulations. Every 8 - 10 minutes in my mind is ideal. If a person is talking, the repeater should be programmed to ID once the person drops their mic. If a person starts to talk over the repeater's ID, the repeater should then transmit the ID in Morse code.

Current programming is fine with me.

During the day announcements are good. Weather announcements are most desirable when they are accurate. During night hours (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.) the repeater should talk only when used. This way a few of us can leave the radio on and monitor in case someone needs help. You won’t be disturbed every 5 minutes throughout the night.

Current programming satisfactory.

Officers' Response: Of the responses, 4 of the 11 thought the current programming was ok. Therefore, we saw fit to make some changes to the programming. Unfortunately, the 145.270 controller has quite a few limitations compared to the 53.270 controller, so we couldn't follow the recommendations to the tee. The 145.270 now does not transmit a voice ID and it does not beacon the callsign every 10 minutes as before. We simply get CW ID on the repeater every 10 minutes only while in use. We cannot make it beacon once per hour. The 53.270 repeater has been set to CW ID and it only sends CW ID every 10 minutes while in operation, just like the 145.270. However, we do have a scheduler that allows us to beacon in voice the repeater callsign. Therefore, it was programmed to beacon the call and time on the hour once an hour. The repeater was set to not beacon the callsign and time during the overnight hours.

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Question 2: Should the 145.270 continue to beacon the weather conditions every 30 minutes when the repeater is not in use or should they only be able to be accessed by DTMF tone?

Responses Received:

Change the time to every hour. If people are complaining about the 30 minutes, where are they? I listen to the repeater most of the day and hear nobody on it -- 'cept me now and then.

Yes, every 30 minutes.

Maybe once an hour or so and on demand.

DTMF only.

DTMF (radios already have 162.400)

Fine with me for continued weather announcements.

DTMF but make the codes available to everyone.

During the day hours only as long as the info is right.

Every 30 minutes if possible.

Officers' Response: The weather station beacon was shut off. The controller allows it to beacon once every 30 minutes when the repeater is not in use and that is not changeable, so it is now only accessible via DTMF tones which are published on our club website, www.nixahams.net , for everyone to utilize. Please remember to ID anytime you access the weather station for data. You do not have to be a club member to utilize the repeater or the weather station.

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Question 3: What attracted you to become a member of NARC and how do you feel we could better attract quality new members?

Responses Received:

I had heard good things about NARC so decided I should visit. I am glad that I did! As for attracting new members, try advertising in the Nixa newspaper -- every week!

We are a close bunch of guys.

I worked with Chris and had an interest in ham radio. I think we have a diverse group of members. However, I like the idea of families getting involved, like the father and son we had visit last meeting. They are eager to learn and don't carry a great deal of ham radio bias. By that I mean, they don't try to tell you why they know so much more than you, or how you build your antennas wrong.

The younger demo eager to have fun. The acceptance of new ham technology. The social experience.

No suggestions, NARC is "The Model" for other local clubs.

Age of club members - close to mine. Most clubs I’ve been with in the past have all had members much, much older than me, and I never felt all that part of things. Other clubs have had open “bickering” at meetings, and I’ve not seen that with the Nixa club.

I'm not a member.

I want to support all local clubs. Don't make the meetings so boring. Print the business info and pass it out at the meeting and e-mail it. Use the meeting time as a learning experience. Have people come in and lecture on different aspects of Ham Radio. Mentor and Elmer.

What attracts me to NARC is the few active members are doers. In order to attract new members we must have a change of direction. I know some of the older members have left over the constant drum of repeaters, repeaters, repeaters. Now that Morse Code has been dropped, many members have upgraded to General Class, but not any further. We need to start teaching new upgrades the fundamentals of HF, so they will not be afraid to get on the air. The older members are willing to teach as long as the new ops are willing to learn. We need to limit the meeting time to 15-20 minutes tops, a training session for the same period of time, and more time for socializing (chips, dip, soda).

Officers' Response: The only real suggestions that came from this were more "ham related" stuff and not as much business. We have tried very hard the last few months to only discuss the pertinent information. Though newsletters and the website are a good way to communicate business items, we feel that those are not sufficient alone. Face-to-face communications are always the best and that way questions can be raised at that time about the business happenings of the club. We also feel this is what sets us apart from other clubs in that we lay it all out there for our membership so they know what's going on and can have immediate input. Out of these suggestions, we are allowing for an open floor / socialization period during each meeting. So far it has been very well accepted.

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Question 4: If you haven’t attended a meeting lately, why?

Responses Received:

I am there at almost every meeting if at all possible.

I have been lately

I have . . .. It's the officers you have to worry about

Too busy. Family, work, and out of town.

Not a priority, time-wise.

I try to attend when I can. However, I'm now working Saturdays, so there may be a few I can't make. I do try to come as a VE when possible.

I'm not a member.

I was absolutely bored to death.

Not applicable. I'm always there.

Officers' Response: As we figured, time is the main issue we face. Though being a younger group of hams is a benefit, it is also the main reason people don’t attend from time to time. Having young families and having to work cause us to miss meetings. Though we really can’t do anything to help this, we felt this was something we needed to ask.

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Question 5: What would you like to see the club do? More info on HF, APRS, or other topics? Repeaters on different bands? More social activities?

Responses Received:

Is anyone interested in using packet on 2 meters? I use packet on a net every Monday evening at 7 P.M. on 145.090 MHz. Billie, KB0WSA, is net control (she is in Branson).

Would like to see more info on HF, APRS, etc and more social events. I don’t see a need for any more repeaters.

Honestly, I really like to learn about new things. I don't think we need to have a rigid class schedule, but a look at this cool thing is neat once in a while. Everyone has a passion, we should share them occasionally. On the repeaters, I'm neutral, but certainly support growth into new bands.

Social activities with other clubs. APRS and HF.

We have repeaters we don't use now. I tried ten days in a row to get a response on 2m to no avail. Perhaps a more technical training toward packet, echolink, HF, etc. . . .

Fox hunting, public classes on kit-building or special projects, antenna building and a BBQ here and there . . . some things like that.

I have no idea about what you have to offer to make a comment.

Be more open to other area clubs and have joint activities, strange antenna event picnics, fox hunts, advanced weather spotting, etc.

We need more social activities. The more we get to know each other the less chance that disagreements will occur. This will unite the club as a group of hams that will be willing to be more involved in future activities. This is key to our relationship; just talking on the radio is not enough.

Officers' Response: We have heard your requests and have already begun implementing them. At the August meeting, we had a demonstration on packet. At the September meeting, we will be getting a demo on HDTV along with a field trip to the KYTV tower site and a BBQ social event. October will give us a demo on D* by Mike Ballantyne, KC5MNP. November will feature our annual Thanksgiving meeting at Pizza Hut in Nixa with nomination for the new Secretary, and December will be our annual "Christmas Meeting" at the residence of one of our club members. Future demonstrations on APRS, HF and Satellite operation are in the works. A social picnic is also in the works with SMARC / SMARL / MWECA slated for October for those interested in that. As far as repeaters, I can understand that calling with no one answering being a problem. As officers, when we are listening we try to answer anyone we hear and at least say hi and go back about our business. Also, our repeaters have basically become "drive time" repeaters with small groups gathering on them from time to time. There is some activity during the evening, but not as much as in the past. The repeaters are there for any licensed amateur to use. If you want more activity on them, it takes people getting on them and talking. It’s amazing when two people get together and start talking on a repeater the next thing you know 2 or 3 more join you. But, the average ham that scans the bands will not stop on our repeaters and listen if no one is talking. We encourage you to use the repeaters as much as possible. After the 224.280 repeater goes on the air, we really don't have many other options for repeaters that we could put up. The whole idea is to give people options to try out different bands. Honestly, who would invest in 220 gear without a repeater to try it out with? Same can be said about 440 and other bands. Though you may not have an interest in 220 MHz now, maybe you will in the future. It's simply a different aspect of propagation we can all learn.

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Question 6: Are there any projects (proposed or not proposed) that you would have an interest in helping with, such as station install at the Fire Department, planning a Sucker Days special event station, etc.?

Responses Received:

Let the younger hams do these things so they can also learn how at the same time.

Yes, Possibly.

I like the idea of installing a radio at the Fire Department. Special events are neat, but work best in larger groups. We grow the club, we have many to help.

Since I am on the Sucker Day Planning Committee . . . I would like to see a Sucker Day station. I would also like to see more club members and officials participate in other’s special events. Example: Titanic Special Event.

No.

I'm open to helping with various communication needs (e.g., special events) when my schedule allows. I'm very interested in disaster communications. I'm also interested in any kind of medical-ham liaison work (since I work in the medical field).

We need an HF base station for general and emergency use and for encouragement and training of new hams. The Nixa Fire Department would be the most logical location if we can get clearance.

Fox hunts!!!

I would love to help install at station at the Fire Department.

All of these are great projects; you know I will be available for any of them.

Officers’ Response: Looks like we need to proceed with the HF station at the Fire Department. The Fire Chief actually requested we do this, so we already have clearance, just need to work out the details and come up with some equipment. And, since we have a Sucker Day committee member in the club, we will work toward having a special event station at Sucker Day in 2008. If you are interested in working on either of these projects, contact a club officer today at kc0lun@nixahams.net.

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Question 7: Are meetings too long or too short and do they convey the information you think they should?

Responses Received:

NARC meetings last about as long as most other clubs and I like what I hear from the officers.

About the right length.

Actually, they are just about right. I like the latest structure. Not too long and good fellowship.

Should be no longer than 1 hour unless a special "how to" is part of the program.

Have only been to one meeting so far.

This varies. Some meetings have obviously gone longer than others. I wish some meetings could be held on a weeknight rather than a Saturday. But, whatever works for most.

I feel the building of small projects and mentoring by Allen Busiek and others is a great idea to continue with.

No comment.

It's a matter of time, it's how you make that time interesting.

The meetings have been too long, as stated in my previous answer.

Officers' Response: We are trying very hard to keep the actual "business" portion of the meetings to 20 to 30 minutes max, allowing for 30 minutes of open floor / socialization time. So far this has gone well. Allen Busiek and anyone else that has a passion for a particular aspect of ham radio is more than welcome to come to the meeting and give a presentation for everyone to learn from. We only ask 2 things: As soon as you decide you want to do a demonstration, contact one of us at kc0lun@nixahams.net and let us know so we can get you into the agenda for a meeting. Second, please keep the demonstration to 30 to 45 minutes if possible so we can keep meetings within the 1-hour to 1:15 minute time slot we are aiming for.

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Question 8: If you haven’t been coming to meetings lately, is there something we can change that would interest you to come again?

Responses Received:

I am there at almost every meeting if at all possible.

I have been, not applicable.

Actually, I'd like to hear some of the old Pizza Hut stories with you and Morrissey

Meetings are good to go to when there is a planning session for an upcoming activity or event. I'm not interested in talking business.

Time is critical.

If I can't come, it's a matter of time and schedule. Actually, I'd like to find more time to get on the air! That way people might get to know me better.

I'm not a member.

Less business and more ham radio related learning.

Not applicable. I'm at every meeting.

Officers' Response: All these requests are being addressed and you should be seeing a difference already. Meetings are trying to be kept as close to the 1-hour mark as possible to allow social time afterwards and groups to go out and eat supper if they please afterwards. We are also trying to make them less boring and more ham related by bringing in people with a passion for a particular sect of ham radio to speak at our meetings. Again, anytime you have a recommendation for a subject, let us know. You don’t have to be the expert to talk; we can find someone (hopefully!). Again, a quick e-mail to kc0lun@nixahams.net would be great.

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Question 9: Are you happy with club leadership? Do you feel they do what is in the best interest in the club and help promote ham radio in general?

Responses Received:

I'm Happy!

I am happy with club leadership and think you do well to promote ham radio in general.

I really think so. Sadly enough, it's just like any other club. There is always going to be someone who thinks they know how to do it better. Ham radio is supposed to be fun. I think as long as we geek out on ham radio and keep politics as free of as possible we will continue to thrive. Regarding leadership, yep, you guys do a good job. As long as we stay positive and professional, we will succeed and have fun.

I would like to see improvement and focused effort to work with other clubs and hams in the area. To build a strong partnership and relationship with the entire ham community. You need to be aware of this: There is a "perceived" spirit of competition with other clubs and hams in the area. There is also an impression that the club is closed-minded to "non club official" ideas, suggestions or activities. Remember, perception is REALITY to some. Finally, I would like to see the NARC president be more active on and off the radio. This would help build the club and attract younger hams to the hobby.

Great leadership, with a real "drive" for increasing other's involvement in the hobby.

I'm not aware of any problems. Everyone seems to advocate for the club’s development and the enhancement of Ham Radio in general.

As a new ham that got my license at your club, and not being a member of any club, I have gone to other club’s meetings. My advice to them is to quit being so political about things. Ham radio is fun. Who cares if you are an Extra or whatever class you may be. I know techs that are better operators than some generals or extras. I mean seriously, do they have to make ham radio a political fiasco??

I believe that the club leadership is sincere in their efforts. Where they fail is not teaching ham radio, the leadership needs to setup more gatherings that involve hands-on learning of ham radio.

Yes to all. I think the leadership has done a great job. However, there has been mention of the President's position coming available due to his jobs, family and family activities. That this position will become available to all in November 2008, a year and a half from now. My question is, if all these things are in the way now, and he feels he is not being an effective leader, then why should the election not take place in November 2007? If all is in the "best interest" of the club, should the current President consider stepping down? Chris has done a great job, is a very likeable person, and a good friend. I ask these questions so he will know more of his intentions for the future of the club.

Officers' Response: In this area, the majority (9 of 11) feel that we are doing a good job representing you as a club. We strive for integrity--if we say we'll do it, then we will. And, as people you elected to represent the club and make business and other decisions, we feel it is our responsibility to do what is in the best interest of the club first and foremost while also doing our best to promote ham radio in general. Sometimes, as one response indicated, it gives a perception of close-mindedness or competition with other clubs, which is not true. Competition, in our minds, is not always a bad thing as it pushes all ham clubs and individual parties to do better which ends up being good for ham radio in general. Our goal is to simply look out for and do what's best for our membership first and foremost. As this survey indicates, we are sincere in looking for input from our membership. The changes that have already been made are proof that we care and are open-minded and care about your opinions. We plan on making this survey a yearly pursuit in hopes of keeping the club up with the changing personalities and members that choose to be a part of the club. As officers, we'd like to see more people willing to serve in leadership. Each year a position comes open. Our example of a leader is someone that is a doer, leads by example and has unquestionable integrity--you must be dedicated to making the Nixa ARC a better club and 100% dedicated to our club, that's the least the membership should expect. When a project is brought up, leaders are the first to get their hands dirty and start working instead of first looking for someone else to do the work. Leaders cannot do all the work, but should be expected to be a part of it and not simply a dictator. We feel as long as we follow our philosophy of doing the best we can at ham radio and doing our own "thing", we won't be plagued with the politics some other organizations look for and enjoy.

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We would like to thank everyone for your input. It has been read and acted upon. We hope more of you will become more active and willing to give input not only at meetings but also on nets and through e-mail. Your thoughts and ideas are always welcomed! Thank you for everything you do to make this not only a great club but also a great group of people to be around.

Meeting Minutes - May 19, 2007

Nixa Amateur Radio Club, Inc.
May 2007 Meeting Minutes

Members Present: (14 Members) James Adkins, KB0NHX; Jim Adkins, KC0IYI; Shawn Baker, KA0RZE; Chris Cochran, KB0WZC; John Copelin, KC0QNM; J.R. Duncan, N0RLP; James French, KC0TQD; Joe Hargis, WS0E; Gerald Johnson, KE0KI; Randy Jordan, KC0UKB; Jeff Kerr, KC0VGC; Brooke Morrissey, KC0YVF; Jeff Morrissey, KB0WVT; and Chris Raymond, KC0TLE.

Visitors: (1 Visitor) Jennifer Cotner-Jones.

Meeting commenced by President Chris Cochran at 6:07 p.m.

We had one individual test for and receive their Technician license. Congratulations!

Chris Cochran (KB0WZC) then in welcomed Jennifer Cotner-Jones from the American Diabetes Association. They are requesting our assistance with communications for a bike ride on June 16th. Their initial request is for 10 ham operators to participate with handling messages to and from the rest points and along the bike path. We will need one ham operator stationed at each of the five rest stops; one to ride with the "SAG" car behind the last rider on each of the three routes; one person at the main tent; and one person with the supply and gear tent. The event starts and ends at the Island Green golf course in Republic. We would need to be there at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 16 and the event will be completed by 2:00 p.m. that day. They will be providing us with a very nice catered lunch. If you are interested in helping with this event, please contact James Adkins at (417) 840-5261 or by e-mail at kb0nhx@nixahams.net. So far, we have one person that has volunteered to help, John Copelin (KC0QNM).

Jeff Morrissey (KB0WVT) then gave the Treasurer's Report for this month. The following is a list of deposits and debits in the last month:

Ending total for this month has $796.54 in the treasury with $95.00 in donations ($50 from Chris Cochran for a future repeater project, $25.00 from Joe Hargis (WS0E) for fuel for the Field Day command bus, and $20.00 from Jerry Johnson (KE0KI). We also collected $12.00 in dues as J.R. Duncan, N0RLP, renewed his membership. We had no debits for the month.

Jeff Morrissey also noted that we have $32.00 in Price Cutter community bucks collected and that we need to get 18 more before we can turn them in to collect our $50 free dollars. PLEASE turn them in at the next meeting, as the deadline is June 30. Contact Jeff Morrissey at kb0wvt@nixahams.net to turn in your bucks at any time.

In case you have already noticed, the 444.275 and 53.270 repeaters did not make the 2007-2008 ARRL Repeater Directory. Not getting a response from our frequency coordinator, James Adkins contacted the K.C. area coordinator Bryon Jeffers (K0BSJ) and asked him to look into it. Turns out the repeaters were not sent to the ARRL for publication. Bryon fixed that and updated the club's address and James' e-mail address as the trustee for the repeaters and they should appear in next year's directory as open repeaters.

As for Field Day, James Adkins, along with many others, has been busy coordinating this year’s event. Going with our theme of "Public Safety", we have received appearance confirmations from the following agencies:

• Department of Public Safety’s mobile command center
• Convoy of Hope
• Christian County Sheriff’s Department with a patrol car
• Nixa Police Department with a patrol car on hand
• Nixa Fire Department with a fire truck
• Christian County EMA tentatively committed to being on hand with their new emergency communications trailer
  

Invitations to Cox Ambulance, National Weather, and the Missouri Highway Patrol are pending confirmation but currently under consideration. We hope to have these agencies present from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. with vehicles from their respective agencies. This will allow the public to come view and meet some of their public servants and thank them for their hard work, as well as attract more people to our Field Day event.

Dean Gaines (KC0SQD) has obtained a $50 donation from Price Cutter and $25 from Wal-Mart for food. In addition, Lamars Doughnuts will be providing three-dozen assorted pastries for breakfast on Sunday morning for our crew. Dean has also obtained an anonymous donation from a spouse of a club member for $100 for the purchase of fuel for the command bus. Great job and thanks to Dean for these donations. James French (KC0TQD) will be providing bottled water and soft drinks for the event. Food and drinks are pretty much wrapped up.

Jeff Kerr, KC0VGC, then gave a presentation entitled, "Field Day Logging 101 – An Introduction to the N3FJP Field Day Logging Software." Please see the website downloads section to view a copy of his presentation in PDF format. Jeff's main point was that it is very important that anytime you sit down to operate to make sure the mode, operator initials, and band are correct as this is how the software keeps score. All seven PC's will be networked together via a server, provided by Jeff. This will allow us to see "real time" results for points obtained during the Field Day event. Thanks to Jeff and Randy Jordan (KC0UKB) for all their hard work on this.

Thanks, Jeff, for that thorough presentation on Field Day and Logging.

That concluded the business portion of this month's meeting

Meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m. (53 minutes)

Meeting Minutes - April 28, 2007

Nixa Amateur Radio Club, Inc.
April 2007 Meeting Minutes

Members Present: (15 Members) James Adkins, KB0NHX; Dave Beckler, WA0SAP; Chris Cochran, KB0WZC; John Copelin, KC0QNM; Matthew Eliff, KC0QJJ; James French, KC0TQD; Dean Gaines, KC0SQD; Al Gallo, W0ERE; Joe Hargis, WS0E; Jerry Johnson, KE0KI; Randy Jordan, KC0UKB; Emily Kerr, KC0YOO; Jeff Kerr, KC0VGC; John Kreymer, N5LKM; and Chris Raymond, KC0TLE.

Visitors: (1 Visitor) Fred Bell, N0LU.

Meeting commenced by President Chris Cochran at 6:06 p.m.

Congratulations to everyone that upgraded or received their ticket at today's VE session. Al Gallo (W0ERE) is the only one here that upgraded and he is now an Extra. Great job Al!

Thanks to everyone that went down and operated at the W0S special event station. Everyone had a great time and ham radio had a great showing.

Our next event, Field Day, is coming up soon. James Adkins (KB0NHX) received a letter from the Department of Public safety indicating we would be able to use the DPS command bus again this year. So far, Rich Vogt (KB9YZE) is slated to drive the bus down and back for us. Dean Gaines (KC0SQD) has secured some monies from Wal-Mart for food and is working on others. James French (KC0TQD) has advised that his company, Premium Beverages, will supply soft drinks and water for the event. If anyone has some contacts with getting cash donations to cover the fuel expenses for the command bus, contact Dean. We are still in need of a donation of doughnuts for breakfast on Sunday morning and for cash or food for the event for lunch and supper on Saturday. If anyone would like to help obtain these items, let Dean know after the meeting.

Also, wanted to let everyone know that Rod Kittleman (K0ADI) is in the hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. Thanks to Bill Chambers (W8KIR) for letting us know. We wish Rod a quick recovery.

We do not have any updates or information on repeaters this month. All appear to be working as normal. As a policy change, Alltel has made a company wide statement that insurance is necessary to be on their towers. Luckily, we already have the required liability insurance so we are good to go.

Due to work conflicts, Jeff Morrissey (KB0WVT) was unable to attend the meeting this evening. Therefore, Chris Cochran (KB0WZC) took the floor to present the Treasurer's Report.

Since the last meeting, we received the following monies:

$ 36.00 Dues
$260.00 Donations
$ 1.56 Dividend

Our expenditures were as follows:

$320.00 Insurance
$ 1.69 Receipt Book

Therefore, our club treasury balance is $796.64 with $475.00 earmarked for a specific future repeater project to be named later.

Chris then turned the floor over to James Adkins for a report on his latest project.

James has been working on an EchoLink node in Lee's Summit that will allow the National Weather Service (NWS) in Springfield to communicate directly with the National Weather in Pleasant Hill. If you remember at last years SMARC hamfest, this was mentioned as a project of interest by Steve Runnels of NWS. During normal operation, the link will operate on 146.535 simplex, PL 173.8 Hz. When needed, it will be switched to the Kansas City Sky Warn, KC0SKY, backup repeater, the 146.700, PL 107.2 Hz. The radio utilizes a Cushcraft Ringo Ranger at the 150' mark on the MSHP tower in Lee's Summit. The Lee's Summit School District will be providing high-speed internet for this project at no cost. If you would like more details, see James after the meeting.

Thanks, James, for the update. We now will enter our open floor time. Anyone have any questions or comments about club related business?

Dave Beckler (WA0SAP) commented that we need more operators for the Titanic event for next year and would like to see us more active. The "Titanic 4" are looking for comments and ideas on how to make it an even bigger event for ham radio next year. The group will be traveling to Dayton Hamvention to talk for 45 minutes at the Icom forum. Dave has also had two telephone interviews with PBS about the event. Dave made mention that almost half of those that signed up and committed to operate never showed up and that was disappointing. However, due to the cold weather conditions, he understood why that probably happened. Jeff Kerr (KC0VGC) commented that next year they should break down duties into categories and go to the EARS group and specifically ask if they can do a certain thing, and also approach other clubs in the same way. He feels that leaving it open ended like they did tended to make people not volunteer to help because they did not know what they could do. James also commented that if you can direct the volunteers in such a way, you will probably get more operators as when people help with something like that then they tend to take pride in it and want to see the project all the way through. Lastly, the group has only seen about 1/3 of the money come in that they anticipated in the QSL requests and some are not even sending SASE's or correct postage. Next year they want to make sure and get the word out that the $1.00 IS necessary to get a QSL. Also, they have leftover Icom hats and Icom world maps with DX zones for sale for $5.00 each. Get with Dave Beckler at wa0sap@cebridge.net if you would like to purchase one. All proceeds go to cover the group's expenses at the Titanic event.

Following ensued a very good and in-depth discussion of Field Day 2007. We received a confirmation that barring some emergency, we will have the MSHP DPS command bus. We would like to get away from using Chris Cochran's tower as it is hard to erect and dismantle safely. James and Jeremy will see about using the Alltel C.O.W. again this year. As for the other structures, we need two 30' scissor lifts to act as support structures. John Copelin (KC0QNM) is going to check with RSC and James Adkins is going to check with Handyman Rentals. We will allow them to hang their banners from them. John has a 16' trailer we can use to haul them in. Our theme for this year's event is a "Salute to Public Safety". We hope to have a Fire Truck, a Police Car, an Ambulance, and possibly a Helicopter there at different times. James will also contact the Christian County Sheriff and Christian County EMA director to invite the Sheriff as our elected official and for show and tell of one of his vehicles and the CERT trailer to try to get more people involved in CERT. John Copelin is going to check into the possibility of us getting a spotlight for the event. Wal-Mart has donated $25 for food. Dean will check with Daylight Doughnuts for a donation of 3 to 4 dozen doughnuts and will also get with Price Cutter for a food donation. James French (KC0TQD) has said that his company will provide all the beverages for the event. In the event that Rich Vogt (KB9YZE) cannot take off work to drive the event, both James French and John Copelin are qualified and volunteered to drive the bus. On our public information table, we want fliers about ham radio, about the Nixa ARC, and about the Titanic event. We would like to have a club banner hanging from that table and will need someone to man the table during the busy times during Field Day (probably Saturday afternoon and evening). As for the refreshment table, we would like a banner for Wal-Mart, Price Cutter, Premium Beverages and whoever else donates to the event for our food. Chris Cochran will provide his large tent to place over and around the beverage table. As far as generators, the DPS bus has one generator that can be used to power the equipment for the Phone stations. Jeff Kerr and John Copelin have portable gasoline generators and will provide them as backups if needed for the event. The "surprise" that Fred and Dave are bringing will have an 80-kw generator as well and will house the CW stations. The CW stations will be a Kenwood TS-2000 and a Yaesu FT-1000. Dave is bringing a Mosely TA-33 beam for CW and if Alpha Delta comes through we will have a wire antenna for the other CW station. Right now we plan on having two phone stations. We are hoping that Rich Vogt, KB9YZE, will afford us the use of his Yaesu FT-920 for one of them. Dave Beckler has said he has a Kenwood TS-140 we can use for the other. For one phone station, we will use Chris Cochran's Cushcraft A3S. We still need an antenna for the second phone station, preferably a wire multi-band antenna like a DXCC. There is an interest in doing digital this year, so James Adkins has afforded us the use of his Yaesu FT-920 with RIGblaster and BWD 1.8-30 160-10 meter dipole for that station. It will either be set up in the command bus or in a tent outside with the QRP solar station. Al Gallo will provide the 5 watt 40-meter QRP station and solar panel to run it. We will also run a 6-meter Phone/CW station this year. We need a radio for that station. Fred Bell (N0LU), has offered to let us use a 3-element beam he constructed for 6-meters. As for coax, the club has a stockpile of Belden 9913 and 1/2" superflex that we can use. In addition, Dave Beckler offered up two 250' pieces of RG-8X.

All in all, Field Day is coming together well. Jeff Kerr is working on the logging PC's for the event and networking them together. Looks like we will need a total of 7 PC's for the event. Jeff has 3 already and is in need of 4 more. If anyone has an old PC that they are not using that we could use for the event that would be a great help. Contact Jeff Kerr at kc0vgc@nixahams.net.

James Adkins will be heading up the Field Day planning this year. Callsign for the event will again be N0A. If you can help, here is a break down of what is needed:

• Radio and power supply for 6-meter station
• HF Phone radio, power supply and multi-band wire antenna
• An operator, possibly from CCARES, that has the ability to send and receive NTS traffic
• Someone with a contact at Cox Hospital to see if we can get Air Care to come down for an hour on Saturday if they are not busy with calls
• A couple of people to help Dean Gaines obtain food donations for the event and fuel or money for fuel for the DPS command bus
• Lots of manpower to set up and tear down the event
• QRP CW operator enthusiasts to operate the solar powered CW QRP station
• Operators with an interest in Digital modes such as PSK-31 to operate our digital station
• Media contacts to try to get media coverage points for the event
• A large piece of Plexiglas to put on our information table so we do not have to try to keep paperwork from blowing away. Handouts will be in the clear plastic sleeves if anyone wants to take one with them
• Not only do we need CW and phone operators, but we also need loggers. It is a good way to start out by getting your feet wet in HF contesting and work your way into operating later in the event
• Coolers and Ice
• Extension cord
• 20 amp or larger power supplies

Instead of being just a fun event, we want to make this a contest this year and go for the gold to score as many points as possible. Though we plan on having a blast during setting up, operating, eating and tearing down the event, we want to have a great field day showing.

Meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m. (79 minutes)