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 [email protected]

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