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

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

Meeting Minutes - January 26, 2008

Nixa Amateur Radio Club
January 2008 Meeting Minutes

Chris Cochran, KBØWZC called to order the regular meeting of the Nixa Amateur Radio Club at 18:16 on January 26, 2008 in Nixa Fire Station.

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

Ralph Baldi, KF6AHT Bill McNamee, KBØWHN J.R. Duncan, NØRLP
Lance Riffle, KQØQ John Copelin, KCØQNM John Kreymer, K5LKM
Randy Jordan, KCØUKB Joe Hargis, WSØE John Bonnot, WBØLTE
Dave Beckler, WAØSAP Jeff Morrissey, KBØWVT Rod Kittleman, KØADI
Rich Vogt, KB9YZE

Visitors Present:

Thomas Harper

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

Open issues :

a) The club HF station is in progress. Several present are interested in having a club HF station. The work on this has begun and we are in the process of acquiring the gear. It was decided that the first step should be acquiring and/or building the antenna and getting it installed.

b) The repeater update was read by Chris Cochran, KBØWZC. There is a meeting planned in the first of February to determine the status of the installation for the 220 repeater.


New business:

a) VE Testing session: 1 new Technician Class, 3 new General Class, 1 Extra Class

b) The club received a $1,500 grant from the Nixa Chamber of Commerce. The moneys for this grant are for projects specified in the grant request.

c) Treasurer’s Report

The treasurer's report was presented by Jeff Morrissey, KBØWVT:

November ending balance $385.71 (no report at Christmas meeting)
$379.72in Credits ($1.64 Dividend, $78 Dues, $300.08 Donation,)
$376.09 in Debits ($275 Arcom RC 210, $33.02 repeater parts, $31.77 Sound Blaster for EchoLink, $36.30 shipping for repeater repairs)
January Ending Balance $389.34

d) Rich Vogt, KB9YZE talked about the upcoming WØS special event station.


Adjournment

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

The remainder of the time was turned over to Fred Bell, NØLU for a basic electronics class. Very good information was presented on basic electronics and basic antenna theory.

Minutes submitted by: Jeff Kerr, KCØVGC, Secretary Minutes

approved by: Chris Cochran, KBØWZC, President