The best attended meeting in recent memory was held at the Crandall House in Ataway, RI, on Saturday, March 12, 2011. Eighteen members enjoyed multiple technical presentations and exceptional cuisine as well as good fellowship.
John, W1XX announced and promoted “Operation NEQP: 1 Million or Bust”, a project to establish an unbeatable record for this contest. Members are urged to ready their stations for the contest which is held in early May. At the April meeting we can count on our esteemed Contest Manager for additional exhortations to surpass our previous efforts and set the bar beyond the reach of others forever.
Mike, K1DM presented his Morse code training regime. He also did a TEST RUN using the RufzXP program to let everyone see another way to improve their code proficiency. Members interested in improving their own CW performance had the opportunity to run the program and establish a baseline from which to improve before the April meeting. There is much of interest about Mike’s methodology to which this short description fails to do justice.
Bob,W1YRC gave a presentation on the way his other club is approaching lifting the level of technical expertise of members and prospective members. It is an unusual way to make real hams out of people who hold a license but whose understanding of ham radio or electronics comes mainly from the license manual. Members found this account to be fascinating and of potential use to CTRI CG. After a long and stimulating discussion it was moved by W1XX and seconded by NG1G that the Executive Committee be directed to study the potential of the club establishing a similar undertaking to the one W1YRC described but with a contest bent and to report back to the membership. Motion passed.
At this point the meeting recessed for lunch provided by Chris, KA1GEU, coffee by John, W1AN, ice cold milk by Pat, NG1G. A special treat was a selection of oatmeal-raisin and chocolate chip-pecan-bourbon cookies by Pam K6NDV, and Bob W1YRC.
After lunch the meeting resumed.
Members were asked what topics would interest them for future meetings:
- A review of N3PU experiences
- LOTW workshop
- Demo of TeamView and remote operation
- Logging programs: XMLOG, DXWIN, DXLABS, N1MM, WriteLog, etc.
- Construction projects
Some discussion surrounded each of these possible topics as well as other general conversations.
Meeting adjourned at 1330
Respectfully submitted,
Ed Haskell W1PN, Secretary
