Location:
Briarcliffe College, Bethpage, N.Y.
The LIDXA President, Marty, NN2C, called the meeting of
September 17 to order at 8:13 PM. Marty
welcomed all members and guests back after the summer break. Members present (per sign-in on the blackboard) included K2MFY,
NN2C, KE2LJ, W2FGD, WA2RB, AB2NT, AG2A, W2VZQ, W2GW and XYL KC2MAU, N2DXJ and
XYL. The club also welcomed guest Ken,
N2ZN.
In terms of DX, specific activities were
highlighted:
Starting
the business portion of tonight’s meeting was the approval of the June 18
meeting minutes. These minutes were
accepted as presented. In addition, the
minutes were prepared in advance by the club’s secretary, Ed, K2MFY, and sent
out to the membership with the club’s September meeting notice. Thanks to the efforts of KE2LJ, Pat, the
minutes appear in the LIDXA web site at: http://www.qsl.net/lidxa.
Club Treasurer, John, W2GW gave a Treasurer’s report. There were no expenses for the present reporting period. Guest Ken, N2ZN was also given an application to join the LIDXA. Ken was reminded that per the club’s constitution, members who join the LIDXA after April 1 need pay only one-half the annual dues rate.
The
club was surprised to hear that long-time member and present LIDXA board
member, Lew, W2BIE, was recently admitted into the hospital with stomach
pains. The club was not sure if the
cause was a bleeding ulcer, or not, but Lew has lost much blood and
weight. His condition is stable at the
present time. Marv, W2FGD, said he
would forward a get-well card to Lew’s family from the club.
It
was mentioned that the club now has available two official DXCC QSL card
checkers. Besides Emil, KD1F, member
Tom, AG2A has also been recognized by the ARRL as an authorized DXCC card
checker. One or both members are
usually present at the monthly club meetings.
Marty
stated that at the end of next month he would be attending the annual RSGB HF
Convention at Gatwick, England. Of
special importance at the convention will be the 40th anniversary of the
IOTA. A special program is being
planned that will present major new IOTA developments. In addition a number of DXers will be
presenting highlights from their recent trips and DXpeditions.
Pat mentioned that he had
recently attended a kick-off planning meeting on the next 2005 Ham Radio
University (HRU). HRU 2005 is scheduled for either Sunday, January
9, or January 16, 2005. They will not
be having it at the old site at East Woods School in Oyster Bay. A possible site considered is Briarcliffe
College. Last year the club
hosted the DX Forum at the HRU. Pat
said we would probably present the same agenda.
Ed mentioned that he was
interested in replacing a few of the ground rods for his tower and was
wondering if there were any local supply sources. Several members indicated that Home Depot does carry
ground rods and clamps. A discussion
then ensued on the proper method to install ground rods and their connection
together into an overall ground system for the station. Bob, N2DXJ, indicated that the Web reflector
“Towertalk” is a good source of information. This reflector is devoted to the discussion of towers, antennas
and transmission lines. It can be accessed at http://lists.contesting.com/_towertalk/.
A video on the recent March–April 2004 DXpedition to Rodrigues Island as was shown. This multi-national DXpedition grossed over 150,000 contacts during their almost one-month DXpedition.
This meeting concluded early at around 9:30 PM after all the scheduled
business and entertainment had finished.
The next meeting will be held on October 15, 2004.
______________________________________
Ed Whitman, K2MFY
LIDXA Secretary