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Minutes of Member’s Meeting – Nov 9, 2019

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The monthly meeting of the CTRI Contest Group was held at the North Kingstown Free Library in idyllic Wickford, RI on Saturday, 9 November 2019. Club president Charlie, K1ECU, called the meeting to order at approximately 0915. NOTE: The Secretary neglected to type up these minutes immediately after the meeting, and with the holidays he forgot about them until just before the January meeting. As a result, these minutes depend on the Secretary’s ability to read his notes without benefit of recollection.

In attendance were:
Pat, NG1G; Rick, K1PAD; Lars, KE1J; Tim, KC1AYQ;
Mike, NG1M; Ken, K3IU; Dean, K1HSY; John, W1XX;
Matt, WE1H; Chris, WB2VVV; Charlie, K1ECU; Andy, AB1BX;
John, W1AN; John, K1JSM; Jim, KS1J; Jim, K1IR

Donuts and coffee were provided by NG1G. K1ECU volunteered to bring them to the next meeting. Remember that New Year’s resolution you made about losing those extra pounds? You can start up again on Sunday.

Club President Charlie, K1ECU opened the meeting with an appeal for contributions. While the club’s bank account has a significant balance, as Treasurer Mike, NG1M has shown, it won’t last long given our spend rate.

K1ECU also talked about having a few breakfast meetings, and some locations were thrown around. More to come.

Some members experienced an Error 500 on the club’s web site, which, according to John, K1JSM, indicates a server error. To the Secretary’s best recollection, the issue has either been resolved or we need to wait to see if it happens again.

Club Secretary Pat, NG1G read the minutes from the 19 October meeting.

NG1M reported that the club’s bank account balance is $8,475.00. He presented a budget plan, which and discussion focused on the club’s liability insurance through the ARRL and if we still need it. Tim, KC1AYQ recommended that we review the coverage. NG1M reported that the annual premium is $200, which the Secretary recalls is paid by Mike, K1DM and reimbursed by the club. K1ECU recommended putting the information on the web site for members to ignore. K1DM agreed to send the policy info to K1ECU, who will post it. NG1M will send K1ECU the budget spreadsheet for posting to the web site as well. As of the writing of these minutes, those do not appear to have happened yet.

The Secretary notes that there are numerous excellent posts on the web site regarding recent contests, and several posts by Chris, WB2VVV, including details of a 160M antenna that is worth studying. He even included a drawing!

Jim, KS1J attempted to begin a discussion of income planning, but was immediately shot down (in a gentlemanly manner) by K1ECU, as Jim, K1IR was ready to give his presentation.

K1IR gave an excellent presentation on tower safety, something none of us should take for granted. His analytical approach is very difficult to argue with, especially since his assumptions are fairly conservative. KC1AYQ recommended that the club have a safety officer, who can provide a safety checklist and proper training for those of us involved in tower activities. KS1J asked K1IR about sources for safety harnesses, and K1IR said they are tough to find. NG1G volunteered to be the club’s safety POC should we decide to get more involved (the Secretary would like to point out that this is NOT the same thing as a safety officer, which no doubt includes responsibilities NG1G would refuse to have levied upon him). K1IR said that RI Section Manager Bob, W1YRC, is in the loop on this safety initiative.

K1ECU tabled further financial discussions until next meeting, and said we would be reviewing the club’s constitution as well. He advised all members to read it, and noted that it is posted on the web site.

We finally had the raffle for the 24th edition of the ARRL Antenna Book graciously donated by Rick, K1PAD. John, W1XX, who may very well have written the first edition in 1939, won the book. Congratulations, John!

The meeting was adjourned, but at what time is lost to the Secretary’s spotty memory. Respectfully submitted,
Pat, NG1G
CTRI CG secretary

Proposal for Field Day 2020

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Proposal: Virtual Field Day 2020
By John Lindholm, W1XX

Large sections of the United States and Canada will likely be under lockdown or still practicing “social distancing” in response to COVID-19. This will no doubt have a large negative impact on Field Day 2020 activity. In response, ARRL suggests that participants “try something new…employ a new approach that is in line with our currant conditions.”

I propose that the CTRI Contest Group suggest to ARRL the creation of a special “virtual” category for Field Day 2020. It would preserve the continuity of normal club participation. For example, here’s how it would work for clubs – the mainstay of FD operations.

All operations by club members signing the club’s callsign would be from their individual home stations which would be QRV according to a time block matrix developed within the club – similar to W1AW/# operations in 2014. This could be set up on the club’s website or simply by telephone. The matrix would be designed to allow X number of stations to be on-the-air simultaneously on a different band/mode. The FD exchange would be the same as usual – the number of stations on at the same time and ARRL/RAC section.

Here’s a typical example:
The CTRI Contest Group, KE1S, operates 2020 virtual Field Day in the 2-transmitter class from Rhode Island. Member KS1J is penciled in to operate from home on 20-meter CW from 1800 to 2000 UTC while AA1AC is on from his home on 40-meter SSB at the same time. They both sign the club’s call KE1S. Both send exchange “2A RI” or “2 Alpha Rhode Island.” For uniformity, member K1DM in Connecticut would send “RI.” The rest of the 24-hour matrix would be filled out for all the club members who want to operate.

The free VHF station time blocks could be allocated in the same manner, perhaps in bigger blocks. To honor “social distancing,” the GOTA station (with coach) would probably have to be scrapped. For simplicity the bonus points may best be saved for another year. “Virtual” entries could possibly be differentiated from “real” entries in the score listing results with an asterisk (*). The precise details of implementation of a “virtual” Field Day would best be left to ARRL to determine.

Any suggestions on the validity or tweaking of the concept would be welcomed. Click on “Comment”.

Minutes of Members Meeting on October 19, 2019

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The monthly meeting of the CTRI Contest Group was held at the North Kingstown Free Library in idyllic Wickford, RI on Saturday, 19 October 2019, on a fall day that was far too nice to be indoors. Club president Charlie, K1ECU, called the meeting to order at approximately 0915.

In attendance were: Pat, NG1G

Chris, WB2VVV Andy, AB1BX John, W1XX

Mike, NG1M Rick, K1PAD John, K1JSM Kevin, NZ1I

Matt, WE1H Dean, K1HSY Charlie, K1ECU John, W1AN

Chuck, NA1CN Lars, KE1J Bill, WB1WBB

Donuts and coffee were provided by W1XX. Thanks, John! NG1G volunteered to bring them to the next meeting, despite the fact that he isn’t supposed to even sniff donuts, never mind purchase them.

K1ECU opened the meeting by announcing that the club had received a request from club member Andy, KA1VMG to have someone climb his tower to orient his tribander to the NE and remove his Butternut antenna.

K1ECU informed the members that we do not have a location for the 11 January, or 1 February meetings. NG1M said he would look into reserving the room at the Peace Dale library for the January meeting. NG1M, W1WBB, and NA1CN all said they would seek a venue for the other two, which means we might have to split our membership among three locations for those meetings.

K1ECU asked if, due to recent spam issues on the web site (the hijacking of, and unauthorized posting from, a member’s account, not the tasty canned meat adored by all), we should be disabling or deleting inactive users. At the time, the secretary did not think to mention that disabling users would likely violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, but deleting them almost certainly wouldn’t, leaving the latter as the best course of action. At any rate, K1JSM stated that he “deactivated” the member’s offending account, leaving the secretary to wonder how many verbs could be used to describe what we are willing to do to our members. After discussion, it was decided that K1JSM will warn all members that any accounts that have been inactive for 2 years will be deactivated within 60 days of the notice. This discussion led WE1H to inquire later about his member status, as the time elapsed since his last meeting attendance can be measured in geologic time. NG1G took the opportunity to point out that we do not enforce the club’s Bylaws with regard to membership (or anything else, for that matter). It seemed to be the sense of the membership that WE1H remains a member, despite having lived in Canada (ok, in the Burlington, VT area, which is close enough to Canada as to make no difference) for far too many years and may in fact not even be a US citizen at this point. Inquiries to ICE are forthcoming.

K1ECU asked what the ARRL’s Eligibility List is, and how it is being managed. W1WBB and NG1G, knowing the answers to both questions but being cagey about it, politely obliged each other to respond. To summarize what W1WBB said, the Eligibility List is a list (duh) of an ARRL-affiliated club’s members who are eligible (also duh) to enter League-sponsored contests and have their scores counted for their club. As such, it does not apply to CQ-sponsored contests, or anyone else’s for that matter. The two times it should be updated is either right before an ARRL-sponsored contest, or when there has been a change in membership, such as a member being added, or disabled, deleted, or deactivated (or any other “d” verb with negative connotations we might inflict upon a member). W1WBB edits the list from within an application on the ARRL’s web site, and then NG1G receives an email in which he clicks on a link to validate the list.

W1WBB then gave an excellent presentation on the half-square antenna, which led to many interesting questions and discussion, and to the secretary wishing he’d spent more time paying attention in geometry class. (“Isn’t half a square a rectangle?”)

K1ECU invited the membership to think about presenting topics at future meetings. W1XX mentioned that Richard, K1MD, will soon be presenting on a topic (that the secretary neglected to write down, but which no doubt will entertain and inform the members). NG1G volunteered to present something at a future meeting, but he has no idea what it will be about or if he will actually do it.

At this point, the secretary recommended to the president that at future meetings he (the secretary, not the president) should read the minutes from the last meeting, and warned members that he (again, the secretary, not the president) would be employing humor in the minutes (in order to direct the members’ attention away from the fact that the secretary doesn’t pay enough attention during meetings to accurately record what was said). K1ECU agreed that reading the minutes would be a good thing, apparently not realizing that one should never give the secretary an opportunity to read anything he has written. The secretary also reminded the members of the last meeting’s election results: K1ECU, president; W1WBB, vice president; NG1M, treasurer; K1SX, contest manager, and NG1G, secretary. W1XX is the immediate (and future) past president.

NG1M gave the treasurer’s report, in which he stated the club has $8,475 in its account, and that due to the recent change in the Bylaws, he can no longer afford to take a vacation to the Cayman Islands. As a reminder, the club is donating $1,000 per year to the ARRL’s scholarship foundation in memory of Chris, KA1GEU.

Due to K1SX’s absence, K1ECU gave the contest manager’s report. CQWW Phone is next weekend, and the ARRL Sweepstakes CW contest is 2-4 November. W1AN will have his station open if anyone wants to join in a multi-op effort, in which W1WBB expressed an interest. Anyone else?

Moving on to the proposed changes to the Bylaws, NG1G, a member of the committee appointed by then-president W1XX to look into adding to the Bylaws a section on disbanding the club, and not beating a dead horse while going about it, read the proposed changes for the membership’s consideration and approval. After some discussion that not at all resembled beating a dead horse as we are prone to do on matters of significance or insignificance, minor changes were made live on NG1G’s laptop. W1XX made a motion to accept the sum total of the changes made without anyone actually seeing what was on NG1G’s computer screen, and was seconded by K1PAD, also a member of the committee. The motion passed and the new Bylaws will be posted to the web site for all to see what they actually voted on.

K1PAD has graciously donated to the club a copy of the 24th edition of the ARRL Antenna Book. The members discussed raffling off the book to make money for the club. Various prices per raffle ticket were bandied about, with no settled amount. Canadian member WE1H recommended that rather than raffling off the book at the current meeting, we should notify the membership that we will do so at the next meeting. The secretary is unsure if anyone agreed to post that notice, because the secretary doesn’t pay enough attention during meetings to accurately record what was said. K1ECU put out a call for more donations. NA1CN, whose magnificent beard commands respect when he speaks, recommended that we hold a 50/50 raffle at each meeting as a way of generating more revenue. No doubt NG1M saw this as another opportunity to fund his vacation in the Caymans. NG1G volunteered to bring the club’s raffle tickets and fancy commemorative donation can to the meetings from now on, leaving members to wonder why we have a fancy commemorative donations can and what other CTRI club property NG1G has stashed at his house. K1PAD left the meeting with his book. Apparently, one can’t even give books away any more.

K1ECU asked to get a sense of the members’ feelings toward our now-usual Field Day site, and if we wanted to continue clearing the back 40 so that the Skyscrapers could eventually subdivide their land or perhaps go into farming. K1ECU pointed out that with our spider beam antenna and a couple of dipoles, we could do just as poorly at FD as we have in the past, but without all the heavy breathing and Lyme disease. It seemed to the secretary that the members agreed that this was not an enjoyable use of their time, perhaps reflecting the fact that the average age of our members is somewhere north of retirement age and they’re all set with yard work unless it’s officially on their “honey do” list.

At around this time, NG1G made a motion to adjourn the meeting. His motion was seconded by NG1M and K1ECU almost simultaneously (because K1ECU had another activity to attend and was anxious to be relieved of his duty) and approved by vote at 1105, proving that a meeting can be efficiently run despite hams’ proclivity for endless banter.

Respectfully submitted, Pat, NG1G
CTRI CG secretary

Meeting Notice

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CTRI Contest Group holds its next meeting on Saturday, Oct 19, at 0900 at the North Kingstown (Wickford) Free Library, 100 Boone Street, North Kingstown, 02852.

Agenda: Regular business meeting, reports from committees.

All guests welcome.

Minutes of Members Meeting – Sept 21, 2019

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CTRI Contest Group
Minutes of Meeting Sept. 21, 2019

Meeting Location: N. Kingstown Public Library

Attendees: (14) W1XX, NG1M, K3IU, AB1BX, W1WBB, NZ1I, NA1CN, W1AN, K1JSM, AJ1DM, K1ECU, K1PAD, K1PAM, NG1G

The meeting called to order at 0915 by W1XX, President.
K1JSM was appointed recording secretary for the meeting by the chair.

1. Around the table introductions: name, call, QTH.

2. Officer’s reports: Treasurer & Contest Manager.

3. Donuts & Coffee: next meeting primary donut getter is W1XX; backup is K1JSM.

4. Committee Reports:
W1AN discussed some history re: the scholarship funds.

NG1M presented the scholarship committee’s recommendations, discussion followed. Vote taken and the following approved: the scholarship shall be $1,000 offered every year while funds last, it will be offered through the ARRL to an applicant with a General or Extra license, with first preference to a New England applicant, second preference to any applicant.

NG1G presented the Bylaws Committee’s recommendations for changes having to do with the club’s disbandment and disposition of assets — should that ever become necessary. Discussion followed with suggestions offered. Taking these under advisement, in accordance with the C & BL, the recommendations will be revisited at the next meeting and MAY be presented for approval of the membership.

5. Election of officers for 2020. The following were elected:
President, Charlie Estabrooks, K1ECU
Vice President, Bill Bliss, W1WBB
Secretary, Pat Atwood, NG1G
Treasurer, Mike Visich, NG1M
Contest Manager, Dave Eckerson, K1SX

Meeting adjourned at 1115.
Submitted by J. Mills, K1JSM

Members Meeting

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Saturday’s Sept 21 meeting, 9 – 11 AM at the NK Library venue as usual. Important business meeting: Reports and recommendations from both the Scholarship and Constitution/By-Laws Committees.

Also ELECTION OF OFFICERS. If you are not there, you will be an officer in 2020!
Please consider offering your services to the club. Coffee/Donuts.

Members Meeting, Sat Aug 24th

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CTRI Contest Group holds its next meeting on Saturday, Aug 24, at 0900 at the North Kingstown (Wickford) Free Library, 100 Boone Street, NK, 02852.

Agenda: Regular business meeting, reports from committees, and SURPRISE PRESENTATION by John, W1XX

All guests welcome. You don’t want to miss this.

CTRI Field Day 2019

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CTRI Field Day 2019
By John Lindholm, W1XX

When: Saturday/Sunday – June 22 – 23. All hands on deck at 9 AM Saturday.
Note: FD is NOT the last weekend. Field Day is always held on the 4th weekend in June.

Where: Seagrave Memorial Observatory, 47 Peeptoad Road, North Scituate, RI 02857

This year marks the 5th year that CTRI operates Field Day on an annual basis at the Seagrave Memorial Observatory in North Scituate. We are indebted to Skyscrapers who have continued to ask us back.

Having developed this operation as pretty much a routine drill, we have not needed to over-plan it as in recent years. Everyone just pitches in as before. But we welcome first-timers.

A couple of things have been worked on diligently behind the scenes in preparation. TNX to W1AN and K1ECU, we expect to have a viable satellite station effort. TNX to W1AN and K1SX, we will have a viable FT8 6-meter operation. TNX to the efforts of K1HSY, K1DM, K1JSM, one will find the so called “back 40” area – home to the 40/20 mega wire antenna – cleared out of brush to a far greater degree than in previous years, making antenna installation far easier than in previous years.

Let’s touch on the particulars:
Call: KE1S
Category: 2A This means we are in the 2 transmitter class with 2 HF stations – usually one on CW and one on SSB @ 100 watts with set up of radios/computers by W1AN with K3IU. Plus we will have a “free” 6-meter station on SSB/FT8 with K1SX overseeing operation. Plus a satellite station with K1ECU in charge.
Antennas: 4-el 20M/2-el 40M wire beam; 20/15/10 “Folding Antennas” Hex-beam; 80M dipole; 6M Moxon; Satellite antenna.
Power: Honda 2000 generator with NG1M in charge; Solar panel by K1DM.
Commissary Duties: NG1M chief cook and bottle washer. See separate posting on human fueling.
Safety Officer: K1HSY.
Philosophy of operation: We strike a balance between striving for a high contest score utilizing our best operators while giving everyone the opportunity to operate regardless of skill and experience level. Split earphones capability with a second op monitoring has also proved helpful. FD Chairman W1XX posts a clipboard operating schedule. We welcome everyone’s participation however they may contribute. It takes many hands to set up as well as take down – an issue respected by all in previous years.
Time: Some may have family obligations that cut into their time to give. We can live with that. Do what you can. Overnight ops are usually sparse. We’re indoors so if you can stay overnight, bring a cot/sleeping-bag. Want to invite some other hams? By all means!
Field Day has proven to be the premier operating event of the year for CTRI. We’ll see everyone at 9 AM sharp Saturday, June 22.

“CQ Field Day.”

Field Day Menu

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We need help if you want fuel up on Field Day. The boxes in bright yellow are unfilled and needed. Please contact Mike Visich, NG1M, at visich4zoo@nullgmail.com or (401) 782-6536‬.

Click on the image to see expanded & readable copy.

FD2019-Menu-People.jpg