MINUTES OF LIDXA INC. MEETING— June 18, 2004

Location: Briarcliffe College, Bethpage, N.Y.

The LIDXA President, Marty, NN2C, called the meeting of June 18 to order at 8:11 PM. Members present (per sign-in on the blackboard) included K2MFY, NN2C, KE2LJ, W2FGD, KD1F, KC2KY, WA2RB, AB2NT, KC2KY, WA2AAW, W2VZQ, N2FF, W2GW and XYL KC2MAU, N2DXJ and XYL. The club also welcomed guest Pete, NA2P.

OLD BUSINESS

In terms of DX, specific activities were highlighted:

• This weekend will start the first Albanian DX convention. It is expected that a number of stations operating from Albania will be heard over the next few days. ZA1DX, operated by Martti, OH2BH, has been very active on all bands.
• Ed, K2MFY, reported that 20 meters has had excellent propagation in the early evening to Europe and the Middle East from about 2100Z to past 0300Z. Also 30 meters opens to the same path until about 0100Z. In the morning, conditions have become spotty with only 20 and 17 meters showing consistent openings. Usually the short path to Asia and the Far East show the most reliable signals at this time.
• The postponed DXpedition to Peter 1^st Island (3Y) has been rescheduled for January 2005.

Starting the business portion of tonight’s meeting was the approval of the May 21 meeting minutes. Ed, K2MFY, the club’s Secretary, corrected a minor error that was sent out in last week’s transmittal of the minutes along with the June meeting notice. After making this correction, these minutes were then accepted as presented. Thanks to the efforts of the club’s Vice President, Pat, KE2LJ, the unofficial minutes also 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. Members currently on the LIDXA roster who have not paid their 2004 dues will be dropped from the June membership and taken off the e-mail address book. John also handed out a new LIDXA roster effective June 19, 2004.

On the subject of dues, Marty reminded the membership that in accordance with our vote in the April 2004 meeting, the annual dues for the year 2005 would be reduced to $20 per member.

NEW BUSINESS

Pat mentioned that the Grumman Amateur Radio Club would be setting up three stations for the annual ARRL Field Day contest (June 26–27). The Field Day site is on the Grumman property off Hazel Street in Bethpage near the new water tower. All interested parties are invited—just let Pat know of your attendance plans so that schedules can be arranged in advance. Details on the Field Day location, etc. can be found on the Grumman web site at http://www.qsl.net/wa2lqo/.

Marty mentioned that the QCWA has made special arrangements for members to visit the “Air Power Museum” at the Farmingdale airstrip on the morning of June 12. Retired World War II and Korean aircraft will be on exhibit, also featuring the old B17, B24, and B29 aircraft. Special price admission is available for those who join the group. Contact Marty if you wish to attend.

Frank, N2FF, our Hudson Division Director, mentioned that the ARRL has put out an Internet video available for downloading on broadband over power line (BPL), entitled “BPL and HF: A Primer.” Check Frank’s latest Hudson Division newsletter at http://www.hudson.arrl.org/ for further details.

On other items Frank mentioned that the League’s “Log Book of the World” (LoTW) has just reached a new milestone. All ARRL-sponsored/administered awards, will now become available. The awards for DXCC, WAS, VUCC, and WAC will be among the first to receive support from the LoTW. As of the beginning of May, LoTW will support the DXCC program.

Details and downloads for LoTW can be found at the site http://www.arrl.org/lotw/. Several members mentioned that they had registered with LOTW and uploaded some of their logs. So far, the ARRL reports that over 7000 users have uploaded logs containing over 46 million Amateur Radio contacts.

Marv, W2LDX, mentioned that the club’s license for W2LDX would be expiring in 2007. As the club’s Trustee, Marv was informed that this license should be renewed.

With the election of new officers for the 2004-2006 term to be decided upon at tonight’s meeting, the final ballot was obtained at this time. The following names were entered as nominees:

· President: Marty, NN2C; Pat, KE2LJ

· Vice President: Pat, KE2LJ

· Secretary: Ed, K2MFY

· Treasurer: John, W2GW

· Directors: Emil, KD1F; Lew, W2BIE; Art, N2KA; Andy, W2VZQ; and Tom, AG2A.

An informal ballot then elected the following officers of the LIDXA for the next two-year term.

· President: Marty, NN2C

· Vice President: Pat, KE2LJ

· Secretary: Ed, K2MFY

· Treasurer: John, W2GW

· Directors: Emil, KD1F; Lew, W2BIE; and Andy, W2VZQ.

The membership warmly applauded the new officers of the club and wished them success over the next two years. Ed said he would forward the election results to the leading DX/amateur radio magazines and web sites.

During this meeting, ARRL DXCC QSL checker, Emil, KD1F, was busy checking the QSLs of some attendees.

A video on the May 2000 A52A DXpedition to Bhutan, “Land of the Thunder Dragon,” was shown. This excellent video not only portrayed the ham radio aspects of this trip, but also presented a remarkable travelogue on this remote country.

This meeting concluded early at around 9:30 PM after all the scheduled business and entertainment had finished. Since tonight’s meeting was the last one before our summer hiatus, Marty wished the membership a good summer and indicated that the next meeting would be held on September 17, 2004.

______________________________________

Ed Whitman, K2MFY

LIDXA Secretary