Meeting Notice — May 14, 2011

The next meeting will be held May 14,  at the Crandall House in Ashaway, RI, from 1100 to about 1400.

No one seems interested in discussing Field Day assignments. If the club wants to proceed or not will have to be decided at the meeting.

It is hoped that John,  W1XX, will expand on his expected report about 1 Million Points or Bust by giving his thoughts on how we can maintain the momentum gained by involving practically the entire membership in the NEQP. Related to that we have the CQWW WPX CW contest coming up at the end of May and the IARU contest in July. Rick had suggested that we get a special call for this. A decision must be made at the meeting.

We are enjoying a resurgence in meeting attendance to levels not seen since early in KS1J’s administration. Each of us should prepare our thoughts on why attendance is up so we can discuss it at the meeting.

Since we now have internet at the meetings, W1PN will give a review of some functions on the new web site that members may be unaware of or have not tried to use. Q&A will follow on anything related to how to use the site.

John (W1AN) may talk off the cuff about his dreams for a club station location in Rhode Island. Several of us are interested in John’s vision for that station. If all of us hear what he has shared informally it would have the possible effect of turning up potential sites that would otherwise never be discussed.

The structure of the new website is different from the two sites it is replacing. This causes us to think of old ways of doing things in a new light. The two principal vehicles of communication are Posts and Forums. Pat, NG1G, explained the differences briefly in an email last month and is considering how he could expand on his thoughts about Forums versus Posts at the meeting. I thought his explanation was the best I’ve ever seen. Even if he isn’t prepared to present his thoughts formally we can discuss the subject informally at the meeting to our mutual benefit.

At the last meeting Pat said he could put together some pictures to show our members what NP3U looks like. This will be nostalgic for those who have operated from there and enlightening particularly for newer members.

The prospect of using Crandall Field during WRTC was raised during the April meeting. Jack, K2RS has inquired about locations in general and I hope will have some news for us on that front during the meeting.

Mike, K1DM, observes, “since the next big contest is the end of the month, I can give a few words about the other program (Morse-Runner) I use, and we can give it a try.  It could be lots of fun if we use speakers, and use group-think to decide what station was calling.  It’s pretty intense when you have five or more stations all calling at once, and it’s interesting to see who copies what in a pileup.  If you’ve never done that, it’s a VERY interesting experience.”

Jim Bowman, KS1J, will bring some “sangwich” makings for the meeting on Saturday; Pat, NG1G, will bring donuts; Mike K1DM will bring coffee and a pot to brew it, along with the  fixings for coffee.

6 comments on “Meeting Notice — May 14, 2011

  1. I logged in and read this as ASAP as I could. Was that fast enough?

    73,
    Pat, NG1G

  2. It was a little slow, but since you were the first one I can let it ride. This time.

  3. Lots of items for good discussion…thanks for the overview Ed. Regret I’ll be unable to attend due to my older son’s youth baseball — priorities!!

    I’ll be mostly MIA during the upcoming CQWW WPX CW due to my father (N4MKJ) visiting from away and other activities. It’s a fun contest though and I encourage folks to get on for it — lots of activity, some good DX and interesting point scoring (with your final tally slowly building seemingly exponentially as you accumulate more Q’s and mults).

    Bill W1WBB

  4. I read it. Sounds like it will be an interesting meeting – as usual.

    I don’t know how much chair time I will get in the WPX contest – I have several conflicting opportunities that weekend, and will be leaving for Florida the next week. Oh the joy of veing retired!

    Mike, K1DM

  5. Sorry to say I am unable to attend Saturday’s meeting because friends from out of state are coming for a three day visit. I’m still up from NEQP and would like to keep the momentum going by attending the meeting.

    Jeff, K1NEF

  6. Looks like we have will have some good discussion items for us Saturday. I will arrive a little early and setup the internet bridge and a little 2.4GHz dish off the router to help the signal strength. I hope the spring foliage won’t hurt the 900Mhz link. The projector will come too.

    Mike, I have cups, sugar and stuff for coffee, so let me know what you need me to bring before putting any money out. And guys,thanks for volunteering!

    Looking forward to seeing all of you!

    John

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