Location: Polytechnic University, Farmingdale, N.Y.

The LIDXA President, Marty, NN2C, called the meeting of November 19th to order at 8:08 PM. Marty welcomed the XYLs of members N2DXJ and N2JE to this meeting. Also welcomed was guest Mike, N2TX. Marty announced that Dan, WA2NDP, had joined the LIDXA. The membership welcomed Dan to the club.

Marty mentioned that LIDXA member Andy, W2VZQ, was recuperating at home following open-heart surgery.

In terms of DX, members reported that the higher bands were usually open to all parts of the world. Ed, K2MFY, mentioned that the 10-meter band was really open during the CQ WorldWide SSB Contest at the end of October. Ed indicated that he had worked 137 countries on 10 meters that weekend, and probably heard at least 150 different countries during the contest. The CW portion of the contest is the last full weekend in November.

Specific DX activities mentioned:

• The crew that just left Spratley Island as 9M6OO/p was now going to operate from Brunei, as V85OO.
• The station TF8GX, operating from Iceland is very active. Bob, W2SF, showed pictures of TF8GX during his recent video at the September club meeting. Bob also reported that his credentials concerning his summer DXpedition as W2SF/TF, were accepted by the ARRL.
• A station from Macquarie Island would operational shortly.
• It was reported that Jim Smith said that in the early part of next year he might be operational from Bhutan. A ham radio station is currently in place in the country.
• A group would be activating a rare island group off the southernmost tip of the Union of Myanmar in the early part of next year.

It was mentioned that a good Web site for QSL managers (especially contest data) is put out by EA5EYJ in Spain: www.arrakis.es/~ea5eyj. In terms of QSL forwarding, several members reported they were very happy with the services of WF5E.

It was reported that famed DXer and former ARRL HQ, former CQ Magazine DX editor, and past editor of the QRZ DX bulletin, had suffered a severe heart attack.

Lenny, KB2HK, corrected information about his net in from the September minutes. The net is called the "Family Hour" and meets on 21.350 MHz

The minutes of the October 15th meeting were prepared in advance by the LIDXA Secretary, Ed, K2MFY, and included in this month’s mailing to the membership. Thanks to the efforts of LIDXA Vice President, Pat, KE2LJ, these minutes also appear in the LIDXA Web site: http://www.qsl.net/lidxa. The minutes were accepted as written.

The LIDXA Treasurer, Russ, W2RL, reported that the club treasury was down to $ 1450.72. Russ just had to pay the annual insurance bills ($ 325 for personal liability and $ 90 for the repeater liability and damage). Russ reminded the membership that dues in the amount of $25 must be paid by the end of the year to keep your membership in good standing for the 1999–2000 calendar year.

In terms of our repeater, although it is operational now, it is very noisy. Pat, KE2LJ, our Repeater Chairman said that the problem has been isolated to a poor feedline or antenna. Marty said that the club would have to get permission from the Melville Fire Department before any new test antenna could be put up on the tower. Until we get someone to climb up the tower and do further testing at the antenna end, the problem will probably exist. Pat said he has contacted a professional rigger and is awaiting a price quote to climb the tower and possibly do repairs.

In the meantime Marty added, the LIDXA has use of the Grumman repeater, on 146.745 MHz.

Frank, N2FF, said that January 23, 2000 has been set for the first "Ham Radio Forum" to be held in the Babylon Town Hall Annex in North Babylon. Seminars will include discussions on DXCC, RFI, Contesting, Packet Radio, RTTY, and many other amateur activities and interests for both the beginner and experienced amateur.

Larry, K2LS, said that he had put up the latest Buckmaster CD-ROM on his packet node (use "SH/BUC" command). This edition has many new features, including e-mail addresses, etc. However there are some format errors that were noticed.

A discussion developed on the news release from Polytechnic University to the fact that the undergraduate program at the Farmingdale campus would be gradually phased out over a period of three to fours years. Concern was made that perhaps this campus, where the LIDXA holds its monthly meetings, would be closed down. Although no definite plans are known at this time, it was felt that this decision would not be made by the Polytechnic University administration for a couple of years.

At this point in the meeting, a discussion developed on where to hold this year’s holiday party, tentatively scheduled for Friday, December 17. The suggestions were to hold it at the Spartan Diner (where it was informally held two years ago), or to it have it catered by the delicatessen recommended by Larry. Some members felt that the diner would provide more selections for dinner (it was pointed out that the diner would issue separate checks if requested). Other members indicated that the classroom at the university would be more informal and less constraining. After discussions on both sides, a vote was taken. The results, which were very close, favored the classroom. It was then decided that Larry should plan to provide catering for about twenty members and guests. To help defray the burden to club’s treasury, it was decided to charge about $ 5 per person for food supplies. John, N2JE, said he would bring soda to the party. Pat, said he would also double check with the school to make sure they would be open on the evening of December 17th.

The business portion of the meeting concluded at 8:50 PM. A video was then shown on the January 1999 ZL9CI DXpedition to the uninhabited Campbell Island. This video was professionally composed and an excellent daily chronicle of the island from both a historical and DX-operational perspective. The club thanked Marty for bringing this video which he had purchased at the recent IOTA Convention in England.

This meeting concluded at around 10:15 PM after all the scheduled business and entertainment had finished.

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