PARA Meeting Minutes 1/8/2018
The regularly scheduled meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association was held Monday, January 8, 2018 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140, in Paducah, KY. There were 20 present, including 2 visitors. The meeting was opened by Club President, Jeff Wielgos (KB9BVL). Jeff invited each attendee around the room to introduce themselves with their name and call.
Items Discussed and Passed
The business portion of the meeting was as follows:
- The Secretary’s report was given by Ron Cowherd (K4GYD) followed by the Treasurer’s report by Bruce Huyck (KS4V).
- Secretary Cowherd told of an article requested by Steve Morgan (W4NHO), KY State Section Manager, regarding PARA being selected for ARRL Kentucky Section Club of the Month. The article appears on the PARA web site: December Happenings 2017. The article, as it appeared on the ARRL Kentucky News page can be seen at: www.arrl.org/sections/view/kentucky Be sure to scroll to very, very bottom of page and click on NOV 2017 SECTION NEWS.
- It was suggested that we update the “Show Us Your Shack” page on the W4NJA web site. Let’s build another page from scratch. Send your old and new shack and antenna pictures, to roncowherd@aol.com.
- Ed Pflueger (AB4IQ) and President Jeff gave us facts about the Bouvet 3Y0Z DXpedition which is expected to begin in late January. This location ranks number 2 worldwide on the DXCC Most Wanted List. Check QST 2018 issue, page 92 for four other January Expeditions.
- Mike Newman (WD4EFZ) gave us an update on his new antenna installation which sports a 3 band yogi (80 – 30 & 40 mtrs.) Mike said it was huge, weighing in at almost 500 lbs. He told us of the extra strong components that were necessary to support the size and weight of the beam, boom and and elements.
- President Wielgos commented on the ARRL Grid Contest and described a web application that will read an ADIF file and map the contacts on a Google map. The app can be activated by clicking on www.www.levinecentral.com
- Upcoming ham fests
- Silent Keys: Gerald Wyatt (K4UNW) Homer Gerald Wyatt, 77, of Paducah died at 9:37 a.m. Wednesday, December 20, 2017, at Lourdes hospital. Clyde Elrod (W4XCE Clyde Elrod, 93, of Kevil passed away on Thursday, December 21, 2017 at Life Care Center in LaCenter.
- The election of officers for 2018 was brought up by President Wielgos. It was suggested that all the present club officers be nominated. The present officers were polled and found to be agreeable. A motion was made, seconded and voted upon. Jeff Wielgos, pres.; Ken Wontor, v.pres.; Ron Cowherd, Sec. and Bruce Huyck, treas. were elected for the 2018.
Net Control Operators for Late January/Early February
January 14 Dave W4WKN 12 check ins
January 21 Jay KD9HRH 13 check ins
January 28 Frank KY4LDS 11 check ins
February 4 Logan KG4VKB 5 check ins
February 11 Jeff KB9BVL 12 check ins
ARRL International Grid Contest
(Leaderboard Results shows Ky position and Total Grid count as of 2/12/2018)
1. N4QS Dave Perry, 1477 grids; 10. KO4XJ John Hudson, 483 grids; 11. K4GYD Ron Cowherd, 478 grids; 17. KS4V Bruce Huyck, 393 grids; 18. W4WWS Steve Parmley, 367 grids; 20. AI4EY Fred Carter, 349 grids.
6 PARA club members make up 30% of top 20 KY entries.
Remember:
- PARA meets at Emerging Technology Center, WKCTC on 2nd Monday, 7 pm of each month except December.
- New License and upgrades are offered on meeting nights throughout the year. See W4NJA web site at w4nja.org. For info click at the top of the page on About Us, then VE License Testing.
- The Sunday Night Net meets each Sunday night at 9 PM. All amateur radio operators are invited to check in. 147.060 PL 179.9
- DX Engineering Skype presentation scheduled for March 12th meeting.