[ADXA] ADXA 3rd Quarter Meeting Reprt

[w5zn at w5zn.org]

Greetings ADXA Folks,

Thanks to everyone who made the meeting yesterday. We had an outstanding 
group of 32 attending. 8 came down from northwest Arkansas, 7 from the 
Searcy area plus a good group from the Little Rock area and of course, 
Russellville! It was great to have new ADXA members Dennis, W9DCT, and 
Bob, K1TU (and Dorothy N5REK) attending and to meet them in person. 
Thanks to George, WB5JJJ, for arranging the details with our meeting 
venue. Brown's Catfish Restaurant has become an excellent place for us 
to meet and the owner is very thankful for our business.

Here are a few of the high points:

DXpedition funding:
ADXA will donate an additional $500 to the 3Y0J Dxpedition effort. We 
will continue to monitor the FT5/W Crozet effort for possible additional 
funding as it progresses. Our financial condition is very strong given 
that very few DXpeditions meeting our funding criteria have occurred 
over the past 3 years. DXpedition activity is slowly increasing and ADXA 
is hopeful it will continue to improve.

ADXA Most Needed:
Please update your most needed DXCC countries. We have a list on our 
website (link on the home page) but it is now almost four years old. Of 
course, you old dogs who have worked 'em all won't have an update 
however we have several new members and members who have been very 
active during this time picking up some new ones. J, N5LKE, takes care 
of this for us. The list on the web page is a pdf document. We have a 
spreadsheet you can use to update your list. It is not currently on the 
web site so we will get it posted and let you know when it is available 
for use. The importance of this list is its use in determining whether 
the ADXA Board should propose to fund a DXpedition effort. While Club 
Log maintains a list of most needed it is not specific to Arkansas or to 
ADXA members. If an entity is planned for activity and is very low on 
the Club Log needed list it may very well be very high on the ADXA most 
needed list. Both are important!

ARRL Membership:
In accordance with our Articles of Association, ARRL membership is 
required for membership in ADXA. It is also required for DXCC 
participation since DXCC is an ARRL awards program. We have two members 
who have let their ARRL membership lapse (yes, we have ways to check!!) 
so please take care of this. This is a simple reminder and we won't 
mention it publicly again (unless it is a recurring matter) but will 
address it with the individual member if it is not resolved.

ARRL Report:
ARRL Delta Division Director David Norris, K5UZ, and ARRL Arkansnas 
Section Manager J Fergusen, N5LKE, presented an update on ARRL. David 
noted the excellent work by ARRL CEO David Minster, NA2AA in 
"modernizing" many of the HQ operations and departments. He reported on 
LoTW and the planned work to update the system. We had an extensive 
discussion with feeback on the issues ADXA members are experiencing and 
also some of the excellent qualities of LoTW that should be retained. 
While LoTW does have issues its design is more than 20 years old and 
usage has grown far beyond what was envisioned. Even so, it still is 
light years ahead of having to wait 6 months for a paper QSL card to 
arrive via the USPS and then waiting months for DXCC credit after 
mailing the card to ARRL HQ for verification! AR SM J N5LKE highlighted 
the upcoming solar eclipse in 2024 that will have Arkansas in total 
darkness. ARRL President (and ADXA member) Rick, K5UR, sent his regrets 
at being unable to attend due to a previous personal commitment. ADXA is 
extremely fortunate to have our ARRL elected officials as not only ADXA 
member, but VERY ACTIVE members as well. Thanks to all of you for your 
support of DX, DXCC, and ADXA!

Annual Meeting:
ADXA is still ramping back up "post-COVID" for in-person meetings and 
details for our annual meeting are not yet firm. We will have an annual 
meeting however it will not be at the level of past annual 
meetings/conferences. Details and the venue will be forthcoming.

Officer & Director Nominations for 2023:
The current slate of officers and directors were nominated for 2023. At 
the annual meeting the floor will be opened for additional nominations 
with the election to follow.

ADXA Callsign Badge:
If you would like to order an ADXA callsign badge please contact Roger, 
N5QS, at n5qs at ncaars.org

Meeting Programs:
A program was not planned for this meeting. Instead, ideas were 
solicited for future programs. We want to ensure we are providing 
programs on DX and technical matters you want to hear. This generated an 
excellent discussion. If you have a program topic you would like to add 
please let me or Pat, W5VY (or both of us) know and we will add it to 
the list. The topics identified at this meeting were:
Logging software and LoTW
Antennas (any topic!)
Antennas for the Little Pistol or stealth (or HOA residents)
IARU - What is it and how does it function
How to build an effective station regardless of size
Remote operation for those who live in restricted areas

Thanks again for attending. The complete minutes will appear in the 4th 
Quarter ADXA Newsletter in late November. I look forward to seeing 
everyone at the annual meeting (details forthcoming).

73 Joel W5ZN
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