[EIDXA] Jan 20 2017 minutes

[Rich Haendel]

Minutes of the EIDXA meting Jan 20, 2017

1. Meeting called to order at 7:30 PM by our president Joe, K8OM. 21 
Hams were present.

2. Discussion of the newsletter, congrats to Bob, W0GXA for putting out 
a first class effort.

3.  Jim, NO0B achieved DXCC,  now he is a full member, congratulations !

4. Rich , W3ACO gave the treasurers report. Was accepted.

5. DX funding discussion, There were no short term DXpeditions 
identified. The next one scheduled is KH1, as noted in the NG3K 
announced operations.  The club decided not to make another contribution 
to 3Y0Z at this time.   There was a notice that someone will be going to 
San Felix, but no details were given.

6. Jeff Woods, W0ODS joined our group, welcome Jeff.

7. Repeater committee, Al, K0VM reminded everyone that the 
re-installation of the repeater is now scheduled for sometime in 
February. We will need insurance to cover the effort. Joe, K8OM will pay 
the $200 premium by credit card. And the club will reimburse Joe.

8.  By law changes.  The club voted  to accept the new by laws. This 
will provide for 4 officers, President, Vice President, Secretary and 
Treasurer.  The secretary position was not voted on, so Rich W3ACO will 
continue to perform  secretary duties  until the next meeting.

A clarification regarding donations and use of the Tom Hise fund. A 
donation shall be initiated from the general fund, then matched up to 
200% from the Tom Hise fund.  Funds shall not be withdrawn ONLY from the 
Tom Hise fund.

9. Discussion of alternate venues for future meetings. Kirkwood now 
charges $80.00 per meeting. Two alternates were discussed, First was the 
Ely library which would be free. A second alternative was suggested,  
use of St. Luke's Hospital (and Mercy Hospital) meeting rooms. 
Supposedly at no charge. St. Luke's has nearby free parking. Joe, K8OM 
will investigate further with assistance.

10. Web page discussion .  The club now uses Iowa Solutions which has 
limitations and the web master cannot delete files. K0CF and NR0X will 
look at alternates. Also, costs for domain registration of EIDXA.ORG 
were highly variable. Iowa Solutions charges $50.00 annually. It appears 
that there are lower registration fees offered by others. NR0X and K0CF 
will investigate.

11. EIDXA reflector.  The club now uses mailman.qth.net, it is free but 
has severe limitations.  Limited messaging size, no attachments allowed 
no pictures, etc. Google groups may offer better alternatives. K8OM and 
K0CF will investigate. We may also choose to do a beta test and use BOTH 
during a trial period to see which works better.

12.  Club apparel:  A Marion company , “Cotton Gallery” and Embedded 
Memories , W5HB, samples were shown.  Both companies have the EIDXA 
logo. Individuals may order a wide selection of embroidered clothing 
from either one as desired.


13. Club QSL cards. Earlier cards  were printed by Rockwell and U of 
Iowa.  UX5UO has the EIDXA logo and can supply single sided full color 
cards at $59.00 per thousand.  Individuals can make up their own cards, 
single sided, full color or two sided and include the EIDXA logo as 
desired. Two sided cards, glossy full color front + B&W back are < 
$80.00 and shipping from Ukraine is included.  E-ham review shows 5.0/5.

14. Discussion of mentoring for new hams /members.  If interested, 
please contact Joe, K8OM.

15.  Recruiting new members.  Joe, K8OM asks the club members to become 
active and recruit new members, especially younger ones as the average 
age of our club is 69 !

16.  Bob, W0GXA and Jeff,  W0ODS gave an excellent presentation on using 
chicken wire mesh for ground returns on an 80 meter vertical. Field 
testing showed that there was measurable improvement in far field gain 
compared to a number of ground radials.  Great job fellas !

Submitted
Rich W3ACO