The meeting on July 8th was attended by W1XX, K1DM, NG1G, K3IU, KB1RFJ, KE1J, KS1J, K1PAD, K1HSY, N1EYE, KC1FUU.
After a brief discussion of remote operation and it related ethics, remote operating aficionado KE1J Lars said that he would work on providing a demo. A few pesky details need to be worked out especially with the remote site providers. But Lars thinks this can be done. He will keep us all posted.
K1SD wasn’t available for a formal contesting report but John W1XX provided some final info on our Field Day 2017 efforts. First, one of the goals of Field Day is to expose the public to the capabilities of ham radio. This goal was more than achieved as visitors from our gracious hosts (the Skyscrapers) once again dropped by to see how the FD effort was proceeding. Also we had neighborhood visitors stop in and one young lady engaged in an extensive conversation with Molly KC1FTO. Hopefully her interest will be sustained and she catches the ham radio bug! According to John, we did well on two other fronts. Another goal of FD is to have fun and get members of the club to gather and renew their CTRI interests. Well last year we had a good turnout with 13 visitors but this year we had 26 club members either operating, listening in or just stopping by to rag chew. These were: W1AN, K1DM, W1XX, KB1RFJ, NG1G, KW2G, W1WBB, K3IU, KC1FTO, KC1FUU, WB2VVV, KE1J, KA1CQR (NOW NA1CN – Congrats on the new call Chuck), K1KI, W1YRC, KS1J, NR1H, W1HI, K1HSY, K1SD, K1SX, K1ECU, WF1B, K1FUG, K1JSM. On the second front, we broke last years record despite the crumby rain on Saturday morning. We landed 2062 points compared to last year’s 1954. Bonus points – Public Location (100); Public Info (Banner) – 100; SCM Message (100); K3IU copied Bulleting (100); Alt Power (Solar) – (100); Education- (100); Web – (50); Youth Participation – (40); Social Media (Lars) – (100) and Safety Officer (Bill W1WBB) – 100.
KE1J asked for FD photos so that he might post them on the clubs Facebook page.
K3IU – Ken moved to send $100 to Skyscrapers. This motion passed unanimously. We all greatly appreciate the hospitality the Skyscrapers have extended to us these past two years.
KB1RFJ Mike reported that the balance of the club treasury was $8,855.81. FD expenses were $129.06. KS1J extended thanks to Mike on behalf of the entire club for his commissary work and overall FD participation. Great Job Mike!
It was announced that Jule Knappik KB1YTT was the first recipient of the ARRL Memorial Scholarship sponsored by CTRI in memory of Chris. A thank you note was received.
K1JSM John is updating the website as time permits. When it is ready, he will let all know.
We had a good extemporaneous EME discussion. EME is possible with good yagi and 200 watts. Jon offered to bring his gear to a location to demo and would be willing to go to member’s homes as well. . This would be another great club project.
Kind of along the same subject, KS1J asked about JT65 and CTRI members who might be using for other than EME purposes. Pat NG1G said that he would exhume an old presentation that he had on meteor scatter propagation in which JT65 was used. Mike K1DM said a demo could also be setup using two laptops .
Mike K1DM reminded everyone that the upcoming Solar Eclipse will be the basis for a ham radio QSO party designed to generate data on the eclipse’s impact on propagation and the ionosphere. This will be on August 21. More details will be in the August QST.
The next meeting (August 12) will be at John W1XX QTH. Actually it is an antenna party disguised as a club meeting. We will be asked to resurrect John’s 160 antenna!
Finally the subject of the upcoming Boxboro Hamvention was raised. KS1J asked if the club would be interested in setting up a Flea Market table. It has been a while since this was done and I am sure there could be enough in our junk piles to populate a table. Further the table always served as a meeting point for members. However, it is a pain since it has to be manned all time. We will decide at the next meeting.
Next meeting is August 12
Downscope and 73
Jim KS1J
