PARA Meeting Minutes 4/10/2017
The regularly scheduled meeting of the Paducah Amateur Radio Association was held Monday, April 10, 2017 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140, in Paducah, KY. There were 18 present including 1 prospective FCC examinee. See examinee picture and exam result below.
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The meeting was opened by Vice President Ken Wontor (KW4DI). Ken invited each attendee around the room to introduce themselves with their name and call. The Treasurer’s report was given by Bruce Huyck (KS4V). The March 2017 meeting minutes was read by Secretary Ron Cowherd (K4GYD). Both treasurer and secretary reports were accepted without vote.
Old/New Business
- Gary Wheatley reminded us of the McCracken ARES will offer General Class upgrade study sessions to be held at the County ARES Emergency Meeting Room, 3700 Coleman Road, Paducah. There will be two training sessions, Saturday April, 29th and Saturday, May 6th starting at 9:00 am, continuing until approximately 2:00 pm. A General Class Study Guide will be available for purchase at the sessions. The participants may then take the FCC General Class exam on the following May 8th PARA Club at the end of the meeting. Observers are welcome.
- It was announced that the National Weather Station will present a Web Spotter’s Class, Tuesday, April 18th, 6:00 pm in the big meeting room at the weather station located near Barkley Field. Registration will be required. A registration form may be found on the internet by Googling the National Weather Service Paducah.
- The question was asked as to the number of paid-up members of PARA. Treasurer Bruce Huyck said there were 54 paid-up members as the end of 2016 and there are 37 members currently for 2017.
- Charlie Richey (K9DUE) announced that the Metropolis hams along with the Illinois ARES are planning a Fort Massac Encampment Special Events Station during the festival October 20th, 21st, and 22nd. ARRL & FCC will grant them a special call and special QSL cards will be sent out to those who request them. The purpose will be to help celebrate the occasion by raising awareness of the history of Southern Illinois as well as the Amateur Radio Emergency Service. Charlie invited PARA members to join in with them; they have more radio equipment than they have hams. Additional info available from Charlie by calling (270) 816-5551 or email k9due@k9due.net.
Demonstration
Paul Smith and Ed Pflueger showed us the Club Log app by bringing it up on the overhead projector. The program can be easily accessed by typing in clublog.org in the web address and follow the simple registration instructions. You may then create an ADIF file from QSOs on your original log book and upload the data to the Club Log app. There are a number of ways to view your contacts by selecting specific filters that create charts with the info you need. For example, you may select only your confirmed 20 meter CW DX contacts over a certain period of time or practically any other specific data. In addition there are many tables and logging tools available in the program. It will be valuable for our club DX contest. At the end of the contest period we can simply submit our DX charts to Paul so he can quickly determine the winner.
Net Control Operators for Late April/Early May
Sunday night nets are at 9:00 PM on 147.060 PL 179.9
April 16 Jeff KB9BVL 7 chk-ins
April 23 Frank KY4LDS 14 chk-ins
April 30 Brent W4CHE 12 chk-ins
May 7 Ken KW4DI 12 PARA – Logan KG4VKB 9 ARES
New License and Upgrade Success
We are happy to report that Richard “Allen” Poole passed the FCC Technician exam at the close of the April meeting. Congratulations Allen. You are cordially invited to join us again at future club meetings.
Remember our next Scheduled Meeting will be Monday, May 8, 2017 at the WKCTC Emerging Technology Center, Room 140, Alben Barkley Drive, Paducah, KY.