[SFDXA] July 1 Meeting

[Mail service]

 To: SFDXA Officers, BOD and Members - 
My view and comments -
I am surprised to see that there is any opposition to incorporating a Virtual Meeting  format into SFDXA meetings.  Particularly at this time when physical meetings are prohibited in many circumstances.  Even when we can return to regular meetings, adding a Virtual media link so that members out of the area, or otherwise not able to attend physically can enjoy the meeting, see a presentation, and interactively join the session.   
I regularly participate in my old Northern Illinois DX club (NIDXA) and those sessions focus on DX, and DXing.  The presentations are usually of broad interest or may be a "How To" session for setting up equipment and/or new Modes.  In addition it is a chance to get a glimpse of a members"shack". I I am sure many spouses would be happy to see a more tidy 'shack') 
The use of the repeater (or an HF band) was referred to as a way to have an "on the air" meeting, but that leaves me out, and others - Steve W4DTA, John W4MAN, Doug W4OX, Mikem W4UM and I bet many other current, former and WTB SFDXA members.  What a way to reward an Associate member classification (and their dues) by giving them a way to 'virtually' sit  in on any of the club meetings.  It is a great adjunct to any organization to add content to their function.  - It was also commented that "on the air meetings" do not provide Presentation capability- a key element of any meeting.
Consider how it could be possible to invite a 'guest' presenter like you may see at Visalia, or Dayton and have them deliver their program via a virtual meeting media, and it would be interactive as well!  
It was commented that we are not an Internet club?? Hmm, By The Way, effective  DXing is highly dependent on the internet, DX clusters, Reverse Beacons, Propagation reporting, etc. etc.  - you can not separate today's DXing from the internet and be effective.
I  also noted the concern about  cost?  Well 45 minutes of Zoom are free, and one could have a rolling enrollment as time ran out, or just invest (club expense) in a unlimited account.  I think members would  gladly fund that if adopted.  Or as most of the organizations do, is use the account of one of its members who has one for business or other needs.  
I would be willing to bet that 'new members' and their dues would cover the annual cost.
I would have expected that there would be unanimous acceptance of the this available technology as an useful addition for today and future meetings.

SFDXA has been very successful club, and in a very large part do to the support and involvement of many of it's members for nearly a half century- Let's look ahead to the next 46 years and put in place the tools to achieve that objective.
Regards,
Norm W4QNFounding Member

======================================    On Friday, June 26, 2020, 05:38:22 PM EDT, Eric Spero via SFDXA <sfdxa at mailman.qth.net> wrote:  
 Randy and all members,
This reminds me of the discussions when WSJT-X was added to our ham 
radio tool box, allowing us to make QSOs with low level S/N signals, 
modes like JT65 and FT8 and FT4.   Many Old Timers said "Oh, that is not 
real ham radio" , now those modes are accepted by most of the ham radio 
groups, and even used for contests and DX contacts. I know many Old 
Timers personally who said that to me, and after a time, many of them 
started contacting me to Elmer them setting up their stations to 
operated these new Sound Card modes to help them make DX contacts during 
the low sun cycle we are in and use these modes to fill in DXCC band 
slots that they needed.

Remember this is just our monthly meetings, to discuss our hobby, learn 
from each other, and share our knowledge of the hobby and if we meet on 
zoom, it has no impact on how each of us use our stations related to the 
hobby. We don't use RF to meet each other eye to eye at the hospital and 
at this time it is dangerous and life threatening for us to meet for 
some of us. Many are now working from home, using this new virtual 
meeting technology, and I am willing to bet that this will be the future 
of working from home and I think new technologies should be applied to 
even our ham radio hobby.

Listed are a few positives:
1. The idea that everyone can join us, no matter where they are located, 
on vacation, out of state or out of the range of the repeater, or can 
not make a meeting contact via HF due to band propagation issues.

2. A benefit also mentioned is we can ask some other DXers outside of 
our club to do a presentation, making our meetings even more inviting 
and interesting to others who might not be members yet, they can join us 
in our meetings.

3. Many members already have zoom APP on their tablets or PCs. and have 
used it for other meetings.

4. Other ham clubs and organizations have been using Zoom to do their 
presentations.

5. The younger age group who are all computer geeks (LOL) in today's 
world, will be more likely to join our ham radio meetings online and 
maybe become members. Remember they are our ham radio future, and we 
should do whatever we can to get them interested and involved in our 
hobby. Younger age individuals will be more likely to attend a Zoom 
meeting with us then go to a meeting in person.

73
Eric/wa1sxk

On 6/26/2020 12:57 PM, The Romagni's wrote:
> Bill and all...
>
> I think both sides have a point, yet we are in a different time today. I
> have been attending zoom meetings for the past 3 months for work, and for
> the local clubs here in the Memphis area as well as abroad. No issues, no
> fuss, as soon as this goes back  to normal all will be ok.
>
> You cant do presentations via the repeater. you cant show a video of an
> expedition over the repeater ( we are a DX Club after all right?), you cant
> have a dxers do a presentation via the repater.
>
> Visalia this year will be virtual this year, and Dayton well if there is a
> Dayton next year might go the same route.  What is going to happen for
> members outside the repeater coverage?
>
> This argument reminds me when we had the dx clusters and the pros and cons
> of it of linking them to the other clusters. It is the 21st century, use
> the tools available at your hands to your advantage. Read this month QST,
> as this same issue is being addressed, and even Radio Exams now are being
> done on a beta testing level via the internet.
>
> Zoom allows for 45 mins free session if the issue is spending the money,
> which I think that is not the case. The hosts can always restart the
> session at the end of the 45 mins. Also think of it this way, having a zoom
> paid account will also give the club the chance to invite famous dxers to
> meetings without having to pay travel expenses (yall remember when we used
> to do that for the dx forum?).
>
> Again, use the technology at hand to help your membership at moments like
> this.
>
> 73
>
> Steve
> W4DTA
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 26, 2020 at 11:06 AM Bill <bmarx at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
>> Mickey,
>> Well, using that same thinking the Dayton Hamvention should be online as
>> well as the ARRL Convention, now scheduled for Orlando. Meetings in
>> person are for camaraderie and the interaction and exchange of ideas.
>> Nothing can replace that.
>>
>> My thinking is the spirit and basis of a Ham Radio club is not internet
>> based. I'd say less than 10% of active members cannot reach the 2 meter
>> repeater so I suggested HF as the alternative.
>>
>> Asking for our thoughts and ideas is what Randy asked for...and I added
>> mine.
>> 73,
>> Bill Marx W2CQ
>>
>>
>> On 6/26/2020 11:40 AM, Kai wrote:
>>> Hi Bill,
>>> We are also not a hospital group either, but that was how we met prior
>>> to the pandemic. Many of us are out of range of the K4FK repeater, and
>>> HF is not practical (except for some people, after sundown using NVIS
>>> techniques on 160 m or 80 m and perhaps as high as 40 m depending on
>>> foF2), but again, for several of us without home stations, our primary
>>> station is the currently unavailable K4FK station. That's why I joined
>>> the club! Also, on-air meetings lack video presentation capability!
>>> *We don't have to buy or subscribe to anything to use zoom
>>> professional edition:* our ARRL director said in a previous mail that:
>>>
>>> If the group would like to try Zoom on July 1, I would be happy to
>>> host the
>>> meeting with my ARRL Zoom Account.
>>> Let me know.
>>> 73,
>>> Mickey Baker, N4MB
>>> Director, Southeastern Division
>>> ARRL
>>>
>>>
>>> Please, let's try zoom.
>>> With kindest regards,
>>> Kai, KE4PT
>>>
>>> On 6/24/2020 13:18, Bill wrote:
>>>> We are an Amateur Radio DX Club formed in 1974. We have one of the
>>>> best repeaters in South Florida. We are not an Internet Club. To have
>>>> to buy or subscribe to something to use the internet to hold a
>>>> meeting seems very odd to me. I never found the need myself for a
>>>> microphone or camera on the PC. The SFDXA held weekly nets and
>>>> various round tables on the repeater for over 20 years.
>>>>
>>>> The repeater has a wide range, but if we want to include those out of
>>>> range, then maybe hold the Meeting on perhaps 10 Meters or 75 or 40.
>>>> We all have radios and Antennas if we are interested in DXing, don't we?
>>>>
>>>> Bill W2CQ
>>>>
>