opened

20:00

closed

20:42

Check-ins (26)

• Matthew Barry (KG5LYE)
• Avery McIntosh (N7ALM)
• Joe Napoli (KG5SDF)
• Garrett Martin (W5HVS)
• Patrick Zapalac (KJ5ATR)
• Paul Bilke (KF5WGJ)
• Tom Johnson (KI5ZPG)
• David Bailey (K5DKB)
• Brian Gaskamp (KA5BKG)
• Jeff McDowell (KI5CES)
• Don Ling (WB5CKO)
• Skip Glueck (K5ZUA)
• Lorna Flansburg (KI5FIZ)
• Curtis Pool (KD5HEY)
• Ralph Cobb (W5RYC)
• Ron Hambric (N5SBN)
• Robert Carter (NC5R)
• Harold Turbyfill (KG5SDG)
• David Vickers (KI5WEH)
• Jon Edwards (KI5YZR)
• Phil Gates (N5ZKF)
• Pierre Catala (WA1UAT)
• Jerry Xu (KI5VYD)
• Bill Rose (K5WTR)
• Kerry Miller (WD5ABC)
• Becky Miller (K5BEC)

Opening Remarks

• Shout-out to Patrick Zapalac (KJ5ATR), new ham, and first of the “KJ’s” that I’ve contacted!

Officer Reports

President

David Bailey (K5DKB)

• thanks to all who came out to the meeting this weekend!
  • Presentation by David Wisby (KI5SHY) about Parks on the Air
• Raffle tickets are on sale!
  • Contact me if interested at k5dkb@outlook.com
• N5ZKF:
  • congrats on upgrading to Extra
  • Prizes are…
    • $500 Burdett & Son Outdoor Adventure Gift Certificate
    • $400 Visa gift card
    • Wouxun KG-UV980P Quad Radio
    • Yaesu FT-60R
    • $100 Casa do Brazil gift card
    • 100th Anniversary Special Edition handbook

Vice-President

Paul Bilke (KF5WGJ)

• Field Day Posters are available
  • Let me know if you have a location where you can post it before field day (and take it down after)
  • paul@conspiracy.net

Secretary

Matthew Barry (KG5LYE)

• Minutes will be sent out after the net.

Treasurer

Lorna Flansburg (KI5FIZ)

• 60 members
• Bank balance: $7,001.59
• After-meeting VE session report:
  • 8 VEs: thank you for helping out!
  • as mentioned earlier, K5DKB is now /AE
  • 4 new technicians

Announcements / Comments

Question #128 for conversation: Have you ever used a tree for an antenna support?

(If interested in submitting a weekly question, email n5zkf@arrl.net)

Matthew Barry (KG5LYE)

• I use trees almost exclusively
  • they’re tall
  • they’re everywhere
  • they’re generally non-conductive and usually don’t cause RF interference (depends on frequency)

Skip Glueck (K5ZUA)

• Works great, but it moves around a lot if you pick a small limb and can break antennas

Phil Gates (N5ZKF)

• Put a pully in a volunteer tree that has been carried up 30 ft as it has grown
• Counterweight and monofilament line to keep tension, but will snap if pulled too hard

Buy / Sell

Skip Glueck (K5ZUA)

• Announced a couple weeks ago, still have:
  • Copper clad steel wire
    • Still have a big roll that I’ll give away to anyone who wants
    • Good for building antennas; doesn’t stretch
  • Couple pieces of test equipment
    • Military grid-dip M10 meter
    • DC ammeter, DC volt meter, micro meter
  • Push-up poles in fair shape; been in attic for 8 years
• Contact me at glueck@suddenlink.net if interested

Information Exchange

David Vickers (KI5WEH)

• Need help with batteries:
  • Can batteries with low voltage cause spurious reception or emissions on a radio? (Icom IC-7300 on 12 V)
  • Anyone with experience using battery boosters?
• KG5LYE:
  • Have not experienced problems with that radio on 12 V
  • Specification is 13.8 V ± 15% (minimum 11.73 V)
  • But it might be fluctuations in the battery as it struggles to provide amperage)
    • Requires 21 A at full power, and drawing that much at once might lower the voltage a bit, too
• WD5ABC:
  • Break from SKCC Sprint tonight
  • Maybe try turning down the power when at lower voltages
  • Can still do a lot with, say, 25 W
• KD5HEY:
  • Batteries can be a pain to bring around, but you can try running multiple in parallel to make up for low amps