MINUTES OF LIDXA INC. MEETING— May 21, 2004

Location: Briarcliffe College, Bethpage, N.Y.

The LIDXA President, Marty, NN2C, called the meeting of May 21 to order at 8:10 PM. Members present (per sign-in on the blackboard) included K2MFY, NN2C, KE2LJ, W2FGD, KD1F, N2KA, AG2A, WA2RB, WA2AAW, W2VZQ, KB2HK, W2GW and XYL KC2MAU, N2DXJ and XYL. The club also welcomed guest Neil, KC2KY, Vice President of the Radio Central Club.

OLD BUSINESS

In terms of DX, specific activities were highlighted:

• It was reported that there was a brief operation last weekend from 4U1UN at the UN Headquarters station in New York.
• Monk Apollo, SV2ASP, in Mount Athos was reported working stateside. He is expected to be more active during the next few months as Greek stations prepare for the summer Olympics.
• Ed, K2MFY, mentioned that Tim, BV2A, in Taiwan, usually frequents the 20-meter band around 1130-1230Z between 14.020-14.040 MHz. Another Far East station that is active during this time/frequency is Harry, HL/WX8C.
• Ed also reported chatting with Shelly, K2BS, ex-member and President of the LIDXA. Shelly was operating mobile near his Florida residence. He sent his regards to club members.

• As the solar flux drops, band conditions have gradually been dropping. Propagation seems best on 17, 20, 40 and 30 meters; however there have been limited propagation on 15 meters and few openings on 10 meters. Also some members reported that even when the bands have been open, conditions seemed very noisy.

Starting the business portion of tonight’s meeting was the approval of the April 16 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 May 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. Members currently on the LIDXA roster who have not paid their 2004 dues will be dropped from the membership roles next month. It was agreed to keep the un-paid members on the mailing list until June.

NEW BUSINESS

The main discussion of tonight’s meeting was the recent Dayton HamVention. Club members NN2C, KE2LJ, W2FGD, and KD1F attended this annual convention and presented their views on this year’s event. Although the attendance was down somewhat from last year’s event, and the rains came down on Saturday (as usual!), a good time was had by the attendees and they met many DXers from near and far.

Ed, K2MFY, mentioned that he is getting good results with direct QSL card returns, using the special airmail return envelopes and foreign mint stamps obtained from William J. Plum in New Jersey. In terms of direct QSLs he added that Henryk, SMØDFJ in Sweden, sent Ed two direct QSL cards (in Ed’s s.a.s.e) which were directed to him, but then included about two-dozen W2 QSL cards that Henryk asked Ed to forward to the W2 ARRL bureau. Ed also noted that QSL manger RW6HS, who handles cards for many Russian amateurs, is a real stickler for accuracy and neatness on the incoming card. If a computer label is printed too light or hard to read, or if any erasures or miscellaneous corrections (by hand) are made on the card, RW6HS will reject the card and return it back to sender.

Marv, W2FGD, mentioned that his SWR problems with his antennas and feedline have been corrected. He thanked the membership for referring him to the services of ex-LIDXA member, Larry, W2EJ (ex-WA2YNH).

With the election of new officers for the 2004-2006 term to be decided upon at the June 18 meeting, the following names were entered as nominees:

· President: Marty, NN2C (incumbent); Pat, K22LJ (alternate selection)

· Vice President: Pat, KE2LJ (incumbent)

· Secretary: Ed, K2MFY (incumbent)

· Treasurer: John, W2GW (incumbent)

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

The club’s constitution requires that at least two candidates be nominated for each executive position; however, the club could not get any additional volunteers for certain positions, so it was decided to go, for the time being, with the above slate.

All members were asked to think about these candidates for LIDXA President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Only three Directors can be elected in the June meeting.

This meeting then concluded at around 9:15 PM after all the scheduled business had finished. The next regularly scheduled meeting for the LIDXA is on Friday, June 18, 2004. At this meeting, the last one before our summer hiatus, new officers of the club are to be elected, and their terms effective at this meeting.

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Ed Whitman, K2MFY

LIDXA Secretary