[PVRCNC] April 3 minutes

[Jim Price WW4M]

Posting to the NC reflector first in case there are any errors I need to
catch before posting it to the PVRC list to make it official.

73, Jim WW4M

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   PVRC/NC Meeting Minutes 
   3 April 2003, Ryan's Steakhouse, Crossroads Plaza, Cary 

   Members in attendance: Guy K2AV, Pete AD4L, Jim K4QPL, Gary W2CS, Alan
KO7X with XYL Eileen K7MZY, Bob K4HA, Chuck K4NYS, Bill K4CIA, Bert N4CW,
Ron N4XD, Jeff NX9T, Wes K4WES, Jim WW4M 

   Official Business: 

   We will again have 2 tables at RARSfest, which will be held April 13 at
the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. Anyone signing the log or attending the
11am meeting will receive credit for attending a PVRC meeting. There will
be room for members to sell gear. If you anticipate having a lot of gear,
please contact WW4M ASAP.  Donations to cover the $43 cost for the tables
and electric hookup will be gladly accepted. 

   Also, K4CIA and N1ND will be checking cards at RARSfest. Bill and Dan
will be having dinner the night before at Mama Dip's in Chapel Hill, and
anyone interested is invited to join them. 

   Member News: 

   This was KO7X's last meeting before he moves to Cheyenne, Wyoming. 
Alan operated during the recent WPX contest and announced he plans to give
out the WY mult during November Sweeps, operating 3 khz above VY1JA.  Mark
KI7WX already has a buyer for the house Alan has been living in and will
be taking down the towers the last weekend of April.  Everyone present
joined K2AV in expressing our warm wishes to Alan and Eileen on their move
back to the city where they were married. 

   K2AV has been taking care of his father in Kentucky, who apparently had
a small stroke and is experiencing Alzheimer's-like symptoms.  His father
is now in a smaller facility closer to home where his friends can visit
him.  Guy will be part of the team at N4AF for WPX-CW. 

   NX9T operated in the WPX-phone contest.  He said he spoke with  someone
from Yaesu at the Charlotte 'fest who said the key clicking problem with
the FT-1000 series may be resolved by tweaking the ALC circuit. He was
told it's on the top of Yaesu's list of problems to fix.  

   There followed a lengthy discussion of technology and key clicking. 

   N4CW is happy that MP has finally come back from the shop.  He also
passed along greetings from neighbor N4TL, who is recovering from surgery. 

   K4CIA has been busy with yard work.  He'll be doing card-checking again
at RARSfest (see above).  He was also happy to report that he worked ST�RY
on 160 during WPX. 

   K4NYS had fun in the WPX contest.  He's been working on reconditioning
a TH-7 that's almost ready to go up, and has plans for a 160m sloper for
his tower, which he's been modelling with EZ-NEC. 

   K4HA got on the air for a while during WPX, but mostly he's been doing
honey-do's.  Bob is looking forward to seeing everyone at RARSfest. 
Everyone congratulated him on his recent appointment as Section Traffic
Manager for NC. 

   W2CS has been looking forward to operating with the Guy, Howie and Jim
'QPL at N4AF during the CW portion of WPX. He's also been getting into
amateur astronomy and described some of his activities and new toys for
that hobby. 

   K4QPL hasn't been doing much hamming lately (been cleaning up from the
ice storm damage) but is looking forward to WPX. 

   K4WES didn't hear many Europeans in WPX but will be installing a
50-foot tower and Force 12 C4XL, so maybe that will change.  He brought
some QSLs to the meeting for Bill to check, which put him over the top for
DXCC-RTTY (using all wires!). 

   AD4L has fixed the damage to his barn roof caused by the ice storms and
is getting ready to put his shack back together. He recently discovered
that a former coworker has discovered ham radio and contesting and he was
happy to be able to make a sked with NE1V (in Vermont) on HF.  Pete also
lamented living beyond the range of cable and the connection problems that
result from using satellite internet connections.  K2AV lives not far away
and has a broadband connection, so they pledged to look into using
802.11b/WiFi on 2.4 GHz (outlined in April 2003 QST) to get faster service
for Pete. 

   WW4M outlined the details concerning our tables at RARSfest.  AD4L will
again bring a computer with RUFZ (tests your ability to copy high-speed
CW). 

   73, Jim WW4M