Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur Association (NIRAA/W0MG) Meeting Minutes, Sept 2015 The September 2015 meeting of the NIRAA Northeast Iowa Radio Amateur's Association was called to order at 7:08 pm on September 11, 2015 by Mark Colby / N8TWO. We had 12 members (11 ARRL) and 3 guests, for a total of 15 in attendance. Last month's meeting minutes were approved as emailed Treasurer's report of $865.35 was accepted K0DV / N0CF OLD BUSINESS ------------ discussion of field day - long summary from K0DV, overall good - discussing other location options - possible camp inguanus - committee to scout next year's location? - motion to form committee n0tkc/ka0dig jambouree on the air next month - 3rd weekend in oct, 16-18 - need volunteers to run stations - get together people to meet michael has a bucket truck for field day and red cross antenna maintenance repeater status - nocf - "eh" - linking status: need ant at water towner, uhf link yagi, wire up controller to uhf cmiter, tie into water tower - we have the yagis (chris) brown bottle sign up sheet around for headcount - going to just go with full menu each, individual tipping - sign up sheet passed around elmers - no progress from Curt - elmers net? station remote - currently still on hold NEW BUSINESS ------------ A request was made to resume including an attendance list at the bottom of the meeting minutes. (Secretary's Report) This request was quicky approved and seconded K0DV/N0TKC EOC: Marianne would like all NIRAA members to take several of their courses in emergency operations and communications. FEMA's IS-100, 700, 200, and 800 are all free, open book, and available online. CERT tests IS-315 and 317 are also requested. NIRAA meeting facilities, specifically the state of the Red Cross, were discussed at length. Construction is chaotic, and it's unlikely that we will be able to resume meeting at that location. In many ways it was already poorly suited for our use, being non-handicapped accessible (with a LONG flight of stairs and no landing), limited key access, no internet, small radio room, and poor communications with site management. Chuck and Tom have already stopped over and removed all at-risk NIRAA-owned equipment. There is still some minor hardware there, as well as our antennas and tower. Future club meeting locations were again discussed, but nothing concrete determined at this time. For now we will continue meeting at the EoC. (this may end up being a long term or possible permanent solution) Our club status as non-proffit was also discussed at length. This requires us to file and maintain (bi-yearly) a form 503-C, at a cost of $40 per filing. (avg $20/yr) There were no objections to seeking this certification. and numerous benefits discussed. It was unclear why we allowed this to lapse, as it's not especially difficult or expensive to maintain. Chris and a few other members are persuing re-establishment of our NP status. Ideas for future club meetings were explored, including mesh networking, which seem to have a high interest. (Dave Huff in CR may be willing to present on this?) We have had an (unofficial?) "programs committee" in the past to keep a number of programs in queue but that hasn't been in effect in awhile. We may be assembling a committee on this again to insure a consistent stream of quality programs for meetings. W0ALO reported on Ragbrai results. It sounds like we had an efficient, effective effort this year. We were charged with 75 radios, 52 of which we handed out and got returned. This has also improved our visibility and relations with UNI. The Waterloo Courier mails out announcements for our monthly meeting since it has been entered into their community calendar of events, but needs to have the location updated since we are not longer at the red cross. N0ZYC will make those adjustments. motion to adjourn K0DV / N8TWO NIRAA welcomes our newest member, Linda Tackett, KE0DBT Linda is a resident of Waterloo, a Technician class, and hass interests in emergency services CALENDAR -------- Regular events: - ARES net check-in is at 9pm every Sunday night, on 146.94/34 - hams meet informally at 9am every Monday morning at HyVee on University Ave - hams meet informally at 12pm every Tuesday for Taco Tuesday at Taco John on University Ave - Iowa Digital Net runs every Tues night at 7pm on 3572.5 / 3574 ctr USB Upcoming Events: - Jambouri on the Air is on Oct 16-18 Ingawanis scout camp northeast of janesville (west of Grand and Hilton) taking sign ups for that also - Ron Sindric notified me of an upcoming Maker's Faire: In November from 06 through 08 there will be a MINI RETAIL MAKER'S FAIRE at the local Waterloo BARNES & NOBLE. It will be similar to the one in CR http://makerfairecedarrapids.com/about/ http://makermedia.com/ This activity has HAM RADIO marked all over it. Pass it on. I am sure some members will be interested. You can contact the store manager at the Waterloo store too. - November (14th) club meeting to be held at The Brown Bottle elections for 2016 officers will be held at this time. any current club members can vote for or run for office ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The NIRAA club meets on the 2nd Saturday of every month, currently at the EoC, 1925 Newell St, Waterloo. Anyone interested in ham radio is welcome to attend. Our primary club repeater is on 146.94 mhz, negative offset, PL tone of 136.5 hz, with coverage centered in Black Hawk County. Officers may be contacted over the air or via email: President, Mark Colby, N8TWO, pres(a)w0mg.net Vice President, Curtis Wilson, NKØT, vp(a)w0mg.net Secretary, Nathan Fisher, NØZYC, sec(a)w0mg.net Treasurer, Scott Lowe, WAØTPN, treas(a)w0mg.net Director, Chris Conklin, NØCF, dir1(a)w0mg.net Director, Stan Johnson, WØSJ, dir2(a)w0mg.net Director, Tom Bicket, AEØTB, dir3(a)w0mg.net Members in attendance at this month's meeting: N0ZYC Nathan Fisher N0CF Chris Conklin W0ALO Chuck Angel K0DV Doug Vernier K0CQH Dave Knittel NK0T Curt Wilson KE0DIG Harold Lucas AE0TB Tom Bicket W0VJB Vicki Bicket N0TKC Taryn Colby N8TWO Mark Colby KE0DXX Michael Chapman Guests: N0RXB Wendell Wagner KB0RSW Randall McClain KE0FHP Jonathan Wbant-Kelley - Nathan Fisher Secretary, W0MG