As was announced on the W9UVI Sunday night net tonight, John Zandowski has tendered his resignation as PAARC treasurer. The PAARC Board of Directors sincerely appreciates John’s service to the club, and we are looking forward to working with him again in the future. In the meantime, John plans to stay as active as possible with the club so he won’t be a stranger.
The PAARC BOD is deeply grateful to Tanya Knapp (KD9YMP) for agreeing to be the new treasurer.
Independence Day 2023 is quickly approaching. Be safe and have a great holiday!
I have a strong desire to POTA with a Foxhunt! I plan to have this on Saturday the 15th of July, 2023. Location TBD. Watch Facebook for further updates.
Field Day 2023 was a success, mostly. We did shut down early because of the threat of severe weather. I want to thank everyone who came out, especially those who helped set up and tear down. There’s no way I could do that without you.
We had several new members come out and make their first HF contacts. Micah made his first DX contact as well! Congrats to you all!
Again, have a great holiday and be safe! We dont need anyone to get hurt.
June 8, 2022, American Red Cross – Justin Flick, N9WX, Club President called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.
Tom Hunt, W8NWG, made a motion to approve the Meeting Minutes as published in BandBits. Darren Weir, KD9HZZ, seconded the motion. A vote was taken, and the motion passed.
Treasurer Report – John Zdanowski, KD9QQU, submitted his report to Justin Flick, who read it to those in attendance.
A motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report was made by Mark Suhs, W9WGN, and seconded by Jon Dainty NMO0. A vote was taken, and the motion passed.
SuperFest Report – Justin Flick, N9WX, and Darren Weir, KD9HZZ, spent some time today considering various SuperFest issues. They believe we need some 13-14 signs to be made up to direct folks at the new site. A draft of a new “Midwest SuperFest” banner was passed around for review. There were no objections to the design, so expect such to be prepared.
Repeater Report – Earlier today, a group from the club moved the entire D-Star cabinet from the Groveland site to the Garage Radio Room at the Bunker. As a result of that move, the VHF D-Star Repeater will be taken off the air, and the UHF D-Star Repeater will be put on the air, serving the Greater Peoria Area/Central Illinois. The Bunker had a folded dipole VHF antenna at 240’ height available free-of-charge, courtesy of the Woodford Repeater Association. Thanks to those club members who worked with the Woodford group to make this possible, including but not limited to Steve Grob, KD9AER and Justin Flick, N9WX. And thanks to those folks who came out today to perform the move.
Justin Flick, N9WX, also reported that the next step at Groveland will be to get 2 antennas down from the tower, at some future time. Expect to get the bill in July for the antenna for the W9UVI repeater located at the 160 ft position.
Matt Behnke, KD9ERS, reported that the relocated UHF D-Star machine is running just locally right now, as the computer in the D-Star cabinet is not working. A replacement computer will be configured and installed soon to connect the UHF D-Star machine to the Internet and restore full functionality.
It was also reported that a laptop has been built for the Glasford repeater Wires-X station.
Old Business – Darren Weir, KD9HZZ, and Andy Day, W9DAY, are planning to assemble the new antenna that the club has for a replacement of the damaged antenna recently taken down at the Red Cross.
New Business – We will hold Field Day on June 24-25 at Illinois Central College in East Peoria in the Visitor Parking Lot. Hoping to run on battery power only. Planning to have 2 stations set-up, with IC-7300’s and antennas. The club’s 10 x by canopy will be used. Hope to set up HAMRS logging software on a laptop or tablet to record QSO’s. Justin says he expects to start setting up on Saturday about 11 AM, and would welcome any and all help. Bring a Folding Chair!
Program Report – From Scott Tranchitella, K9XJT
Who is aware of the TEMU App/Website? This is a chance for first time shoppers to get a Baofeng UV5R for only $2.99. Throw some antenna options in too. We can give these away to new folks who pass the Technician Exam, and get them on the air quite cheaply. Everyone should jump on this to help out new hams.
Three future Program Subjects include:
1) RTTY
2) POTA Session, possibly instead of a meeting night
3) Fox Hunt (we have a low power 2 meter transmitter to use)
Send other program ideas you have to Justin’s email.
Scott then presented tonight’s program on how to use DroidStar on Android and ios devices. Simply put, this app provides D-Star capability on an Android phone, over the Internet, no radio needed. The demo included contacted a ham on D-Star in California. For ios device, one can use an app called TestFlight which will run DroidStar, does take some luck to get it set-up and working.
July 5, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater July 12, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater July 19, ARES On-line Conference @ 7:00 PM CST (Watch your email for Zoom conference info) July 20, Emergency Expo 4:00-7:00 PM at Grand Prairie Shopping Center
Call or email Rich if you are not on the ARES Roster and desire to join the Zoom Conference.
Meeting Agenda includes: Infrastructure Activities, Training Documentation, Repeater & Simplex Testing, NVIS Exercise, Winlink News, Volunteer Opportunities, Emergency Expo, and more.
Please submit your Training Documentation form.
ARES website: http://www.peoriacountyares.org/
Rich Holtman, KD9ANU, Emergency Coordinator for Peoria County ARES email: kd9anu@arrl.net Winlink: kd9anu@winlink.org Cell: 309-256-4272
I want to say thanks to those of you who have reached out already volunteering for different positions at Superfest, anyone else who would like to request certain positions, feel free to contact Deb Suhs WD9EB@arrl.net.
Please make sure you have Superfest on your calendar and please plan on helping during it, without Superfest our ability to keep our repeaters is in jeopardy, your help is greatly needed and appreciated.
Since most of the positions/help needed were listed in the May Bandbits, and some definitions were in the June Bandbits, here is the explanation for the rest of the jobs/positions.
Flea Market Spot Sales and General Assistance – checking in the flea market vendors, selling/assigning spots if needed, and assisting flea market vendors with finding their spaces.
Vendor Assistant – checking with the indoor vendors, making sure they don’t need anything, watching their stuff if they need to use the facilities, especially if an indoor vendor is alone, getting food for them, answering questions, genera support as needed.
Forum Assistant – making sure the guest speakers have what they need, answering any questions, and making sure they don’t go over into the next session.
Ticket Barrel Sales – selling extra stubs, answering questions and assisting Matt & Brett with prizes if needed.
Rapid Fire Giveaway Assistance – help listen for responses when the numbers are called and help pass out prizes won.
Table takedown, clean-up – are what they sound, after the indoor vendors are done, we need to take the tables down and clean up after ourselves.
The next Midwest Superfest meeting will be on Thursday July 27th at 7pm via Zoom on the Club Meetings page.
It’s already June! That means it is almost Field Day 2023 time! We are going to be at Illinois Central College main campus in the Visitors Lot. 1 College Drive East Peoria, IL. Setup starts at 11:30am and I can use all the help we can get. This year I’m wanting to run off Battery Only. If you have a battery box and want to see how well it performs, bring it on out! I have 2 inverters that I will bring for AC power. We will have Water and most likely get pizza later in the day. Feel free to bring your own dishes/snacks/drinks to share. Please Bring Your Own Chair!
In other news, the UHF D-Star machine is moving to the Bunker! This is thanks in large part to the Woodford County Club allowing us access to their site and antenna. This will save our club on tower rent, get the D-Star higher than it is currently and further our relationship with the Woodford Club. I want to thank Steve Grob and Brad Haney for working with PAARC to get this accomplished. For more information, see the story lower on this page.
I want to thank several other members for their hard work and dedication lately. Darren KD9HZZ and Ben KD9RYH have helped with getting the Cub Trailer cleaned out and organized. Darren helped put lights inside and out so we can see at all hours during events. Ben helped take down the leaning HF antenna at the Red Cross. We have another antenna to go back up that needs to be assembled. Thanks to the late Fritz Bock WD9FMB for purchasing said antenna before his passing.
In July, I hope to have a Foxhunt and a Club POTA event so be on the lookout for those!
Board of Directors: In attendance: Tom, Darren, Justin, Steve, Deb, Rob, Matt, Adam, Casey, Doug
No Bandbits approval needed due to no board meeting last month.
Superfest committee: ⁃ Deb is still trying to have Chris get us our info for the raffle license… will try to meet him in person soon. We need it so we can get the tickets printed and mailed. ⁃ Adam and Deb will meet Sunday afternoon to discuss getting payments set up for Superfest site… ⁃ Deb also needs to reserve Porta Potties. ⁃ Justin will call to confirm that we got an additional golf cart for Darren. ⁃ Rich has been great at sending out gift certificates and fliers. ⁃ Tom and Deb will talk about trademark stuff for the club… they’re wanting us to file electronically. There’s an 8.5 month wait for new applications, though. ⁃ Darren has heard back from quite a few of the vendors he’s sent messages to… he’s been forwarding the prize offers to Matt. After this year’s SuperFest, he’s going to build a spreadsheet to make this easier next year. Darren is also going to network at Dayton this year on our behalf. ⁃ Matt reports that we’ve hit $2,000 in prizes so far ⁃ Justin will go with Darren to the Sign Guys
Other business: ⁃ Justin may have found another mailbox key that he’ll return
Repeater business: ⁃ Will talk in executive session
Treasurer’s report: We don’t have our treasurer’s report due to John’s absence and the banking site being down. ⁃ Replacement tires for 16-year-old ones on trailer: $263.12 ⁃ Paypal transaction to Bionics: $115 (foxhunt transmitter that was approved over 2 years ago) ⁃ Small solar panel charger for trailer (lights + radio): $35 ⁃ Savings: $545.43 ⁃ Checking: $1869.87 ⁃ Money market: $10939.29 ⁃ PayPal: $731.51 ⁃ ARRL insurance is due June 18th (we’ll need to send a copy to ICC for Field Day, along with certificate of liability)
Tom makes a motion to approve the report, Deb seconds. Everyone approves.
Old business: ⁃ Justin is going to confirm that we have ICC available for Field Day (already in contract, just making sure) ⁃ John is still looking for a cheap filing cabinet for the radio room for us (Darren may have one; he’ll check) ⁃ 501(c)3 for the club: Tom still needs to talk to his daughter about it… she’s been busy lately. Darren mentioned that he has some experience getting that set up for the motorcycle club 25 years ago, so he will assist Tom in the effort.
Tom makes a motion to move to executive session at 7:30 to discuss the D-Star repeater agreement.
Membership Meeting: Tom and Scott are running the show tonight in Justin’s absence!
We start the meeting with a presentation by Rob Orr (K9RST) on Chicago Marathon ham support and public service (hamradiochicago.org)
May Bandbits – Rich makes a motion to approve, Scott seconds. All are in favor.
Treasurer’s report – John is absent, so no report this time.
Superfest: ⁃ Deb is working on getting the SuperFest website live. ⁃ Also working on getting our raffle license for the county.
Repeater committee: ⁃ Matt is working on getting the 85 repeater in Glasford set up for Fusion/Wires-X and get it back on analog as well. We still need internet access. ⁃ Working on a couple of other exciting things as well to be announced soon.
Scott then polls tonight’s attendees on what digital radios they have… he’ll be giving away some gear soon to those who do not.
Additionally, Scott shows us what’s inside his emergency kit full of Dollar Store supplies. He’ll be making versions of his to give away at a future meeting.
Finally, Scott previews DroidStar – something he’ll demonstrate at the June club meeting.
Rich makes a motion to adjourn, all are in favor and we are done at 8:22 p.m.!
June 7, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater June 14, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater June 21, ARES On-line Conference @ 7:00 PM CST (Watch your email for Zoom conference info)
Call or email Rich if you are not on the ARES Roster and desire to join the Zoom Conference.
Meeting Agenda includes: Infrastructure Activities, Training Documentation, Simplex Exercises, Winlink News, Volunteer Opportunities, Emergency Expo, and more.
Rich Holtman, KD9ANU, Emergency Coordinator for Peoria County ARES email: kd9anu@arrl.net Winlink: kd9anu@winlink.org Cell: 309-256-4272 ____________________________________________________
I want to say thanks to those of you who have reached out already volunteering for different positions at Superfest, anyone else who would like to request certain positions, feel free to contact Deb Suhs WD9EB@arrl.net.
Since most of the positions/help needed was listed in last in the May Bandbits, we’re going to explain what some of those jobs/positions are.
Flea Market Marking consists of getting the area between the pavilion and museum turned into several 20×20 spots. We will use utility flags, construction cones and probably marking paint. This will be a learning experience for us, and should be easier than it was in the past.
Gate ticket sales will consists of greeting the incoming vehicle and asking if they have their tickets, if they don’t have tickets asking them if they want a single stub ticket for $10 or a double stub ticket for $15. Once they respond with the type of ticket they want by how many they want, determine the amount owed, collect the amount owed and give them their tickets. After giving them their tickets determine where they need to park, if indoor vendor; flea market or handicap send them straight, if general parking send them to the left.
Table setup and helping vendors load in, are pretty much what they sound like. On Friday morning we will set the tables up according to the layout that will be done ahead of time. Then after the tables are setup we help any of our vendors who would like our assistance with unloading and setting up.
Garbage pickup will consists of a few guys working with Rich KD9ANU, going around in a trailer removing the full bags of garbage and putting in new bags, then putting the bags in the dumpster.
As said last month, other jobs may be added to the list and here are two jobs just added 😎
Parking guides – make sure people park sensibly and in rows
Table pick up/return – we will need some tables picked up from Pekin and probably Peoria Friday morning and returned Monday morning.
More job definitions and possibly more jobs next month.
The Woodford County Repeater Association and the Peoria Area Amateur Radio Club have agreed to the use of the Woodford Club’s UHF antenna and transmission line located at the Peoria Emergency Management Agency site, (commonly referred to as “The Bunker”) for the relocation and operation of the Peoria Club’s D-Star repeater. The W9PIA repeater operates on 443.46875 MHz.
When the move is completed, the D-Star repeater operating on 145.1050 MHz will be shut off and the 443.4675 MHz will be activated.
This move will allow the Peoria Club to save on tower rent and will position the UHF repeater on a higher antenna more centrally located in Peoria County.
Work on this project will be completed early this summer.
June 8 – 7:00 p.m. – Club Meeting: D-Star on your Android device. Before the meeting, please get your free dmrID and Brandmeister ID. Make sure your bring uour Android device – American Red Cross, 311 W John H Gwynn Jr Ave, Peoria
June 17 – 12:00 noon – FCC License Testing: Morton Knights of Columbus, 616 W. David Street, Morton, IL. FRN Required. Bring two forms of identification and a copy of your license (if upgrading). Testing Fee: $15.
June 21 – 7:00 p.m. – ARES Meeting: TBA
June 22 – 7:00 p.m. – Superfest Meeting: Details TBA
June 24 – 25 – Field Day 2023: Illinois Central College. Details TBA. For more information contact Justin, N9WX.
Always check the Upcoming Club Events/Meetings page for the latest additional information or last minute changes.
Foxhunt anyone? We finally purchased a transmitter! It’s very basic, but it has a decent range of 3 to 4 blocks in the city. I can’t wait to get together to build the antennas for it.
This month’s meeting features a presentation on the Chicago Marathon and helping out at that event. Several of our Club Members help out regularly.
Remember, in June we have Field Day 2023! Please make plans now to come help set up and tear down as I can’t do it all by myself. More details to follow.
There is interest in a camping get together. We’ll have to discuss dates and locations soon!
Membership Meeting: At the April meeting, Vice President Scott Tranchitella K9XJT provided an interesting demonstration of the RFinder Radio/Phone.
Club President Justin Flick, N9WX received a commemorative plaque from ARRL recognizing The Peoria Area Amateur Radio Club’s 100 plus years of operation. The plaque was presented by Craig Worrick, K9CEW, ARRL Illinois Assistant Section Manger.
May 3, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater May 10, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater May 17, ARES On-line Conference @ 7:00 PM CST (Watch your email for Zoom conference info)
Call or email Rich if you are not on the ARES Roster and desire to join the Zoom Conference.
Meeting Agenda includes: Infrastructure Activities, Training Documentation, Simplex Exercises, Winlink News, Volunteer Opportunities, and more.
Superfest is 4 1/2 months away, it always gets here faster than we think. Please make sure it is on your calendars, and the 2 days before if you can help us those days. In case you are wondering what type of help we will need, here’s a starting list but there will be some I missed and some that we didn’t realize we needed until we need it 😃
I’m just listing the starting time for the day specified, most things will just keep repeating until we are done. Thanks in advance for your help, it is greatly needed and appreciated.
The fact that it’s April is amazing to me. It seems like a couple weeks ago it was the New Year. With the weather getting warmer, the outdoors is calling. Half and full marathons around the area are happening. A lot of them can use communication support and welcome volunteers. I have 2 lined up that I’m helping with so far.
As most of you know, I love doing Parks On The Air and Foxhunts. I’m working with Scott Tranchitella to set up a class where we can make an antenna and use it for satellite communication and Foxhunts. It’s not your typical tape measure yagi. I hope to have this class towards the end of th month. I am hoping to have a Foxhunt in May along with having a POTA event.
I’m asking for you to give me your input. I’m looking for dates and times that work for you and others. Please feel free to email me your ideas. N9WX.ARES@gmail.com
I’m looking forward to what this year will bring.
Justin Flick – N9WX PAARC, President N9WX.ARES@gmail.com
At 7:06 p.m., we begin our board meeting via Zoom.
Tom (W8NWG), Justin (N9WX), Deb (WD9EB), Rob (KD9DBQ), Casey (KC9IH), Matt (KD9ERS) and Adam (KD9NYE) are in attendance.
Bandbits for March:
Tom moves to approve, Deb seconds. All are in favor and it passes.
Repeater committee:
Matt still needs to go to the repeater site to upgrade software. He’ll check his schedule for a date/time to do so.
Tom says we still need to also move things around physically in the shack.
Treasurer’s report:
$545.02 savings
$4,532.10 checking
$10,921.47 in money market
$594.03 in PayPal
A few board members still need to pay dues, but promise they will! We’ll remind the general membership of this as well. (35 people are paid up for 2023)
Deb moves to approve the treasurer’s report, Tom seconds. All are in favor and it passes.
Superfest Committee:
Deb says they had a good meeting last week at the Red Cross (in person) and got documentation passed out
Rich has gift certificates and flyers to send to different ham fests coming up
Darrin has commercial vendor letters to send out
Matt gave Darrin the most recent list of those sponsoring prizes
Deb is still waiting on Peoria County about our raffle license situation
Our flea market map is finally the way we want on our website. We still need to find out if we can sell tickets without a raffle license… then we’ll turn on the Superfest website by the middle of March.
Old business:
Justin has new membership cards printed, which have our website and repeaters listed on it
We still need to come up with a welcome letter for both new members and renewing members. Deb has something on the history of the club that might be worth using. She’ll send it to Tom for consideration.
New business:
Justin says that we’ll have our summer Field Day at Illinois Central College in parking lot V. We’ll have access to the main bathrooms, power, and campus security will be around. $125 will get us a 25 hour period. It’s also high up on the bluff, which could be good for some propagation. We’re not sure if they’ll have anything else going on that weekend officially, but there will be people on campus regardless.
For our storm spotting meeting this month, Justin says he told Bartonville that we’ll have 30-75 people. Since we normally have treats at this particular meeting, Deb wanted to be sure they’ll be able to handle our hunger and thirst.
Bartonville is aware that this will be our last meeting at their facility before heading back to the Red Cross.
Ham radio and boy scouts: Tom mentions that the radio merit badge is the second most popular one (second to white-water rafting!) There’s a 3-hour class to become a merit badge instructor, which Matt completed. Maybe we can host something in the future?
For our April testing session, we’re going to combine efforts with Woodford for those who completed the Ham-In-A-Day course. This will mean a different date than usual.
Tom makes a motion to adjourn, and Rob seconds. We’re done at 7:40 p.m.
_________________
Membership Meeting
The April Membership meeting was a weather spotter training session, conducted by meteorologists from the National Weather Service office in Lincoln. This was the first live training session in two years due to the Covid pandemic.
Apr 5, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater Apr 12, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater Apr 22, ARES Monthly Meeting @ 7:00 PM CST at the Peoria Red Cross
This meeting will be a chance to meet other ARES Members, as-well-as see the Radio Room at the Red Cross. The following ARES Meeting in May will return to being held via Zoom.
Meeting Agenda includes: Infrastructure Activities, Training Documentation, Storm Spotter Training Review, Simplex Exercises, Winlink News, Volunteer Opportunities, Changes to Our Website, and more.
Please submit your Training Documentation form.
ARES website: http://www.peoriacountyares.org/
Rich Holtman, KD9ANU, Emergency Coordinator for Peoria County ARES email: kd9anu@arrl.net Winlink: kd9anu@winlink.org Cell: 309-256-4272
April 13 – 7:00 p.m. – Club Meeting: Scott Tranchitella, K9XJT will demonstrate the RFinder radio/phone – American Red Cross, 311 W John H Gwynn Jr Ave, Peoria
April 19 – 7:00 p.m. – ARES Meeting: via Zoom. Zoom credentials will be emailed to ARES participants.
April 18 – World Amateur Radio Day
April 22 – 3:00 p.m. – License Testing –This month’s date, time and location are a change from our normal exam schedule: Woodford County EOC, 303 S. Main St., Roanoke, IL. FRN Required. Bring two forms of identification and a copy of your license (if upgrading). Testing Fee: $15.
April 27 – 7:00 p.m. – Superfest Meeting: Details TBA
Always check the Upcoming Club Events/Meetings page for the latest additional information or last minute changes.
Spring weather season is upon us. Can anyone say Severe Weather Season? I’m always excited for this season. Heck, my call has WX in it! We are hosting the National Weather Service this month at our regular meeting date and time. This is our annual spotter training session and it will be open to the public. The American Legion in Bartonville has been nice enough to have the bar and grill open for you to patronize.
CQ POTA, CQ POTA, CQ PARKS ON THE AIR! The weather is turning nice enough to be out in the open air. I’ve already activated 3 different parks this year. I’m hoping to do many more. If anyone wants to set up a meeting date and time to go do POTA, contact me! N9WX.ARES@gmail.com
Daylight savings time starts March 12th! I know I can’t for it to be light out later. Bonfire season… If anyone wants to set something up for an evening out at Jubilee College State Park at their outdoor fireplace, get in touch! N9WX.ARES@gmail.com
As a reminder, the April Club Meeting will be at the RED CROSS building in downtown Peoria.
Attending via Zoom: Rob, Justin, Darren, Tom, John, Deb and Adam
7:04 p.m., we start the meeting!
Justin says thanks to those who came out to Winter Field Day in Morton… it was a great turnout and a lot of fun.
Bandbits: Deb makes a motion to accept, Tom seconds… All are in favor and it is accepted.
Treasurer’s Report from John: Did not have time to prepare a report, but will have it for the general meeting next week. Justin does provide the following:
Savings: $544.81
Checking: $4,532.10 (what recently came out: $100 check for Knights of Columbus Hall, $212 for PO BOX, $78.94 for Winter Field Day pizza)
Money market: $10,914.10
PayPal: $594.03
Repeater committee:
Will have to go back out to the repeater site to move things around after we weren’t able to meet Bill out there…
Still no invoice, so waiting on that before paying.
Superfest committee:
Deb finally got a copy of the bill from last year and it’s $50 less than expected (hooray!) We owe them $2,329 out of $3,229 total on the bill.
$3,405.81 total profit from Superfest (although less than that for PayPal fees for tickets purchased)
Met with Three Sisters Park yesterday and had a good meeting. We’ve been talking about table arrangements for next year. We will have to rent some tables, since they only have 30 of the 3×8 tables. Deb will call a rental place in Pekin (A to Z) that has a good deal.
Talked to Chris Levine at the State’s Attorney’s office today and they’re checking to see if we can cancel the existing raffle license so we can get a new one issued.
We don’t have to rent a dumpster, but will have to pick up our own garbage and set up our own tables/take them back down.
Nick Kline is who Three Sisters works with for porta potties… will call for a quote. We’re needing four of them.
Any alcohol seen on premise that hasn’t been purchased from Three Sisters will be confiscated
Dwight is printing a few things (flyers, vendor letter, ticket certificate) that Deb will bring to the meeting next week
Rob brings up that they’re closing the bridge in Lacon during Superfest… people will need to use the Henry bridge, so maybe we should add a note to our website to warn folks?
What will we have on the front sign? “Welcome hams!”
Deb plans to turn on ticket sales in March
John will get traffic cones for Superfest, but we need to figure out how many we need.
Old business:
Dwight will print membership cards and bring them to the next meeting
Rich and Tom went to the Red Cross last week to work on WinLink with our TS-2000 rig; we do have a potential offer to sell it for $1,000. Our Yaesu FT-991 is working just fine. Tom still has our Icom 7300 at home after Winter Field Day, but will return.
There’s a chance we’ll have to start paying for American Legion space, so we need to make sure that the Red Cross option is viable and good to go.
Deb would like the March Superfest meeting at the Red Cross as well.
Still nothing new on the trademark front or 501(c)3 effort yet
New business:
John suggests getting an embossed seal for our Superfest ticket certificates… but not sure we need it since we’ll be signing each one in pen. But maybe we want it for other club use?
Adam has made some improvements to site speed on w9uvi.org
Adam has also set up email following for w9uvi.org… will announce for membership at next meeting
8:04 p.m. Tom moves to adjourn, Deb seconds… we’re done!
__________________
Membership Meeting – No membership meeting in February.
Mar 1, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater Mar 8, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater Mar 15, ARES On-line Conference @ 7:00 PM CST (Watch your email for Zoom conference info)
Call or email Rich if you are not on the ARES Roster and desire to join the Zoom Conference.
On-Line Conference Agenda includes: Infrastructure Activities, Training Documentation, Storm Spotter Training, Simplex Exercises, Winlink, Volunteer Opportunities, and more.
Expect to spend most of the meeting time detailing about Volunteer Opportunities. If you are interested in working on ARES radios and computers, please join us.
Please submit your Training Documentation form.
ARES website: http://www.peoriacountyares.org/
Rich Holtman, KD9ANU, Emergency Coordinator for Peoria County ARES email: kd9anu@arrl.net Winlink: kd9anu@winlink.org Cell: 309-256-4272
I want to start off and say a big thank you to everyone involved with Winter Field Day 2023! I think it was a big success. We had 22 people sign the check in sheet. 51 contacts were made.
Thank you to the Morton Knights Of Columbus Hall for letting us use the hall. We very much appreciate it.
I want to remind everyone that in 2 months, at the March 9th Club Meeting at 7 PM, we will be having our National Weather Service Spotter Training event. It’s open to the public so please pass the word along.
Starting in April, we will be moving back to the Red Cross building on downtown Peoria. The American Legion has been good to us. The majority of people I have talked with want to go back to the Red Cross. I am in communication with the Tactical Response Team and they want to work closer with our Club and ARES. More to come on this subject soon.
Thank you again for your participation in Field Day and in any Club event. If really makes the hard work that’s put into planning and running the events worth it.
Board of Directors – January 5, 2023 7:07 p.m. meeting begins with Tom, Matt, Justin, Rob, Deb, John and Adam on Zoom.
Bandbits… Rob makes a motion to accept, John seconds… all in favor other than Deb, who didn’t read it!
TREASURER’S REPORT: $357.67 in PayPal $44.96 x2 for monthly repeater internet, $11.45 for ARRL Field Day pamphlet material, $238 for Rivermen tickets (We still need reimbursed for two tickets from the Rivermen game) $4,132.04 in checking, with about $600 in deposits to be made soon $10,909.50 in money market $544.65 in savings Grand total in club accounts: $16,554.86
***Next week’s meeting includes a demo by Scott on DV Megacast (multi-mode digital radio)
OLD BIZ: Did we get out to Bill’s (repeater site) and move what is needing to be moved? No. We’re going to move the D-Star radio into the rack with the main repeater. Tom and Matt will work out details and let others know if help is needed.
We haven’t done anything regarding the 85 repeater yet.
The noise during the ARES net was due to simplex interference from Winterheat, says Matt.
Trademarks. Tom talked to his daughter about it briefly and she thought it was very simple and easy… going to look into it. Will go ahead and update Midwest Superfest logo with TM mark.
For our 501(c)3 application, there will be more hoops and research to come by our next meeting.
Winter Field Day. Unless someone steps up quickly, we won’t be participating as a club.
SUPERFEST: Nothing new. Deb still needs to arrange a meeting with Susan et all.
Deb called a guy at the State’s Attorney’s office in Peoria and hasn’t gotten a response yet regarding the raffle license for 2023.
Justin asks if we have a flyer for Superfest that we can share to entice speakers? Deb will work on finalizing that.
Matt has a prize donation letter ready and will start sending it out.
NEW BIZ:
Deb will make sure that all board members have access to Google Drive shared folder and email inbox.
Deb will also check on a business card template for membership cards.
From Adam: Could we come up with “greetings” email from club to new AND renewing members, letting them know handy links available on w9uvi.org, social accounts, etc? Also asking for feedback on what they’d like to see from the club. Deb will look into any existing documents and put them together; Adam will help update.
John brings up that some of the nets he participates in opens with a prayer. Wanted to know if something we’d want to try… but consensus was that it’s better to leave religion out of the club to avoid causing debate or division.
Winterheat competition. John asks if anyone else is participating… Deb thinks that Mark is.
7:44 p.m. Tom moves to adjourn, Deb seconds. We’re out!
__________________
Membership Meeting – January 12, 2023 7:02 p.m., our meeting begins at the American Legion in Bartonville.
From Justin: A big thank you to all who paid their dues. If you haven’t renewed yet, please do so by March.
Winter Field Day is happening!… Justin is taking the day off work on Saturday, January 28. Location is TBD: May be here at Bartonville Legion or in the community center in Hopedale, 12 p.m. until 10 p.m./midnight-ish. Details will be posted on w9uvi.org and our Facebook page. We plan to have one or two stations set up; if interested in helping or coming out (likely ordering pizza!), let Justin know.
The next SuperFest meeting will be in two weeks… January 23 on Zoom, with the possibility that it’ll be in-person at the Red Cross (check our website and social.)
We still haven’t gotten our bill from Expo Gardens for the 2022 SuperFest.
Treasurer’s report via Justin (since John isn’t at meeting): Savings = $544.65 Checking = $4,743.04 PayPal = $500.45 Money market = $10,909.50
Tom makes a motion to accept, Jim seconds. All in favor, and it passes.
Repeater committee update:
Still need to get equipment moved between racks. We still don’t have a bill for our tower rent, but it will be coming due soon.
Justin was talking to ETSB in Peoria County about moving to the Peoria Heights tower where the .61 repeater is located, but it isn’t looking promising due to logistics.
We can stay where we’re at, too. Not sure if rent will remain stable or go up, though. (Last we checked, tower rent was $1,130 for six months for two antennas.)
Also need to address our antenna connection issues on W9UVI (075)… but waiting to piggyback on other tower work to save the club money.
Other business:
We need to decide whether we’re officially staying at the Red Cross or making the American Legion our new permanent home.
We already have a memorandum of understanding with the Red Cross and antennas on a tower. But we need to make sure that we have reliable access.
Rich will get Justin contact info for the Red Cross to make sure that access problems are solved.
Group consensus seems to be that we’d prefer to have both as our locations.
Bandbits:
Jim makes a motion to accept, George seconds. All in favor, and it passes.
Jim makes a motion to adjourn, Rich seconds…. the regular meeting is over before 7:30 and Scott starts his digital radio presentation on DVMEGA Cast.
Feb 1, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater Feb 8, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater Feb 15, ARES On-line Conference @ 7:00 PM CST (Watch your email for Zoom conference info)
Call or email Rich if you are not on the ARES Roster and desire to join the Zoom Conference.
On-Line Conference Agenda includes: Infrastructure Activities, Training Documentation, Storm Spotter Training, Simplex Exercises, Winlink, and more.
Please submit your Training Documentation form.
ARES website: http://www.peoriacountyares.org/
Rich Holtman, KD9ANU, Emergency Coordinator for Peoria County ARES email: kd9anu@arrl.net Winlink: kd9anu@winlink.org Cell: 309-256-4272
Superfest activities are gearing up more and more, please make sure you have the dates blocked off on your calendars Thursday Sept. 14 through Sunday Sept 17 and plan on helping that weekend. We are so excited about our new home and while it is going to be challenging it is also going to be great for the club. The next Superfest meeting will be on Thursday 2/26 at 7pm via the Zoom link on the Club Meetings page.
February 1 – 7:00 pm – ARES Net on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater
February 2 – 7:00 pm – Board of Directors via Zoom
February 8 – 7:00 pm – ARES Net on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater
February 9 – Club Meeting – Demonstration of the RFinder radio/phone – Bartonville American Legion, 4501 S Airport Rd, Bartonville: Details to Be Announced.
February 15 – ARES Meeting: via Zoom. Zoom credentials will be emailed to ARES participants.
February 18 – 12:00 noon – FCC License Testing: Morton Knights of Columbus, 616 W. David Street, Morton, IL. FRN Required. Bring two forms of identification and a copy of your license (if upgrading). Testing Fee: $15.
It’s a New Year! Wow, 2023. For this new year, I hope to have the membership be more involved. For starters, join us for Winter Field Day at the American Red Cross building, 311 W. John H Gwynn, Jr. Ave., Peoria. This is a ONE DAY Only event. Come for Radio and Pizza! Hope to see you there
I need your ideas, wants, likes and dislikes. I want our Club to have a lot of fun this year. POTA activations, camping trips, satellite communications, a high altitude balloon launch… These are suggestions.
We have the National Weather Service Lincoln coming in March for our Weather Spotter class. This is open to the public and will be at the American Legion in Bartonville. It’s going to be at the normal date and time as our club meeting. The bar and grill will be open. Spread the word!
It’s time for our annual dues. Without them, we won’t have funds for many things. We have tower rent, monthly internet and other costs. Please consider donating as well. Every little bit helps our club.
This year is also the year of Midwest Superfest at Three Sisters Park in Chillicothe! Join the committee and get your ideas heard. We can always use the help!
Bandbits: Deb makes motion to approve. Matt seconds. Approved!
Treasurer’s report: Nothing much has changed, since John is away.
Repeater committee:
Matt plans to get to repeater site to reinstall TeamViewer on the machine or install AnyDesk
Will also move equipment as needed
Justin talked to Bill… we’re not certain when the next tower rental bill will be – but he will send an invoice.
Will do two more 6-month contracts for 2023; also specifically said that he would not be kicking us off unless we want to go. We still need to get a longer contract to lock in a decent price.
Need to fix the Brimfield repeater site by getting an old computer in place for Wires-X.
Superfest committee:
Deb called and left a message for a guy at the state’s attorney’s office, then learned the courthouse was closed due to water main break. She did go by the post office and we still do not have a bill from Expo.
Will need to pay the rest of the deposit for Three Sisters Park after the first of the year.
Deb has a certificate made for Rich to start sending flyers to different ham fests. Instead of getting tickets, they will get a certificate to mail back for tickets.
Other business:
14 people have signed up for the Rivermen game so far
There’s an ARRL grant we might qualify for: https://www.arrl.org/club-grant-program
Jan 4, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater Jan 11, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater Jan 18, ARES On-line Conference @ 7:00 PM CST (Watch your email for Zoom conference info). Call or email Rich if you are not on the ARES Roster and desire to join the Zoom Conference.
On-Line Conference Agenda includes: Infrastructure Activities, Training Documentation, Winterheat Event, Storm Spotter Training, Simplex Exercises, Winlink, and more.
Please submit your Training Documentation form.
ARES website: http://www.peoriacountyares.org/
Rich Holtman, KD9ANU, Emergency Coordinator for Peoria County ARES email: kd9anu@arrl.net Winlink: kd9anu@winlink.org Cell: 309-256-4272
Winterheat: Open to all Licensed Amateur Radio Operators. This is a Technician-friendly event. Get-on-the-air!
The goal and purpose is to make as many FM voice contacts as possible over a month-long period of time using only designated simplex frequencies. Repeat those same contacts and more the next day.
This will be the fourth year for this event. Runs from January 1st to the 31st (UTC time).
Online QSO Logging system on the web is easy to use. Logs contacts instantaneously and displays data in real time. Participant list, leaderboard statistics, map showing your contacts, link to propagation stats, & more resources.
Go to https://hamactive.com to learn more and sign-up. Check out the logging system and resources provided.
Some Peoria area operators plan to gather daily on Simplex frequency 145.570 MHz at 7:00 PM starting December 31st to get regular local contacts quickly completed, and move on to concentrate on distant contacts. We realize that not everyone may join in at that time every day, and may change the time to optimize as we hear from more Peoria area Winterheat operators. Please join us there.
January 4 – 7:00 pm – ARES Net on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater
January 5 – 7:00 pm – Board of Directors Meeting – Zoom
January 11 – 7:00 pm – ARES Net on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater
January 12 – 7:00 pm – Club Meeting: Demonstration of DVMEGA Cast Multimode IP radio for DMR, D-Star, and Fusion. Bartonville American Legion, 4501 S Airport Rd, Bartonville
January 18 – 7:00 pm – ARES Meeting: Details to Be Announced
January 26 – 7:00 pm – Superfest Meeting – Details to be announced
January 28 – Noon – 11:00 p.m. Winter Field Day: NEW LOCATION: Morton Knights of Columbus Hall, 616 W. David St, Morton. This is a ONE DAY Only event. Get on the air and meet other hams! Food and Drink available for purchase. For information, contact Justin, N9WX.
Check Upcoming Club Events/Meetings on w9uvi.org for updates.
One more month before the end of the year. Normally we get together for dinner in December, but this year we are going to a Rivermen game! Thanks to VP Scott, we are getting discounted tickets at $17 each. This will be on Friday, the day after our normal meeting day. More information can be found on the website or on Facebook. The reservation deadline is December 1. You can email your reservation to w9uvi@arrl.net
Elections for next year: Everybody remains in the same position.
I want to personally think Vice President Scott for his hard work and dedication this past year. He has come up with some really interesting ideas and presentations for the club. I can’t wait to see what happens next year!
Planning for the Fritz Bock Memorial Balloon Launch is in progress. Please contact Rich Holtman (KD9ANU) with any questions you may have. There are a lot of things that need to be planned for with this launch and any help is much appreciated!
The radio room cleanup is in process and well underway. Rich is updating the computers and I will be reorganizing the room a bit. If anyone wants to ever use the radio room to get on HF, contact myself or a Board member. We are hoping that members, old and new, will start taking advantage of this room again.
Thank you for everyone’s participation in the club. Without you and your hard work, we wouldn’t exist. As a reminder, dues are requested to be in by January 1st. You can pay online (small convenience fee) on our website or via check and snail mail.
I want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and I hope you have a great holiday season!
Lisa Offutt, KB9YYC, of Mossville passed away in late November from ALS. Lisa and her husband Peter, KB9YYD were former members of the Peoria Area Amateur Radio Club.
7:01 p.m. on Nov. 10, the regular PAARC meeting begins with introductions
Bandbits approval… a motion by Jim (W9JDP), Jon (NM0O) seconds. All are in favor.
TREASURER’S REPORT: $16,104.80 total in all accounts $10,901.03 in money market $535.44 in savings $196.94 PayPal $4,471.39 in checking (For November, had some withdrawals for tower rental, internet and Expo Gardens rental.)
Tom makes a motion to accept the report, Brett (KD9PXZ) seconds. All are in favor.
SuperFest meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom this Thursday.
Nothing new from the repeater committee. But…
Jon brought up maybe having a fundraiser idea for our potential tower move. But we need to figure out if we actually want to still move towers.
We’re still having issues with the .075 antenna, but will have a tower climber look at it when they’re up for other business.
NEW BUSINESS:
At next month’s meeting, Scott will lead discussion on two different types of digital radios (one with no RF, one that does DMR with no code plugs)
Scott might get the group free Rivermen tickets for our yearly social event (will check… had 41 people last year for social event)
Fritz Bock Memorial Balloon Launch sometime in Spring 2023 to honor a former member of our club who died in 2019. Planning will begin with some upcoming Zoom meetings, then face-to-face to start building the kit. Let Rich (KD9ANU) know if interested in helping. $640 was donated in Fritz’s name to do this launch, but we will need to budget out the rest of the gear we will need.
Mark (W9WGN) makes a motion to adjourn the regular meeting, Jon seconds. All are in favor and we’re done.
Dec 7, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater Dec 14, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater Dec 21, ARES On-line Conference @ 7:00 PM CST (Watch your email for Zoom conference info)
Call or email Rich if you are not on the ARES Roster and desire to join the Zoom Conference.
On-Line Conference Agenda includes: Infrastructure Activities, Training, Winterheat Simplex Event, Winlink, and more.
Please submit your Training Documentation form.
ARES website: http://www.peoriacountyares.org/
Rich Holtman, KD9ANU, Emergency Coordinator for Peoria County ARES email: kd9anu@arrl.net Winlink: kd9anu@winlink.org Cell: 309-256-4272
The December meeting will be Thursday Dec 22 at 7pm on Zoom. You can join the meeting by clicking on the Superfest link on the Club Meetings page.
We are beginning the process to trademark Midwest SuperfestTM if anyone has any experience with trademarks, your assistance would be welcome. If you can assist, please contact Deb, WD9EB@arrl.net.
December 1 – 7:00 pm – Board of Directors Meeting – Zoom
December 7 – 7:00 pm ARES Net on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater
December 9 – FRIDAY – 7:00 pm: Club Meeting Social Event: Peoria Rivermen Hockey (vs. Huntsville Havoc) at Carver Arena at the Peoria Civic Center. Spouses welcome! Tickets are $17 each. Please reserve your tickets by email: w9uvi@arrl.net by December 1.
December 14 – 7:00 pm ARES Net on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater
December 17 – FCC License Testing: Morton Knights of Columbus, 616 W. David Street, Morton, IL. FRN Required. Bring two forms of identification and a copy of your license (if upgrading). Testing Fee: $15.
December 18 – Happy Hanukkah!
December 21 – ARES Meeting – details to be announced
I would like to start off by reminding everyone that elections for the Board of Directors are coming up quickly. I do plan to run for President again for 2023. That being said, I welcome anyone to run against me. There will soon be a list of available positions posted. Please consider running for a position. If you are currently on the BOD and do not wish to run for next year, please inform me ASAP so we can list your spot as open.
We have a great Club. Let’s keep it going with participation! I welcome any and all ideas for classes and events. Even if you don’t think your idea is a good one, please tell me about it! I love learning and doing new things. Even going back to the roots of becoming a ham for the first time. Someone may have the same question that you do, speak up!
Introductions around the room for those who have joined us tonight…
Time to approve the last meeting’s minutes in Band Bits… Tom moves, Deb seconds. All in favor and it passes.
Club elections are coming up… so if you want to join the board, put your name in the hat. (President, VP, secretary, treasurer will be up) Let Justin or any board member know if you want to run – same for current board members who want to stay in their positions.
Justin moves $400 from checking to savings, $2500 from checking into our money market account.
New balances: $535.37 savings $4,200.23 checking $10,898.63 money market
Mark accepts the report, Jim seconds. All are in favor and it passes.
Repeater committee update:
Now operating on our 160-ft tower position, which was originally our D-Star antenna. (1.5 SWR)
180-ft original position has high SWR (6 to 1 with 100 ohm impedance)
Need to get original position looked at when other tower work is being done.
Still sounds good and has decent coverage.
Have had recent trouble on Sunday nets due to tropo ducting.
Other work on repeaters to come…
Superfest:
We still haven’t gotten the bill from Expo Gardens.
We did a lot better than Deb expected at the 2022 Superfest. Around $3500 from Superfest once we get money back from the East Peoria site.
The W9UVI website has been updated with the main Superfest page looking different than the rest of the site.
There is a price change for 2023. Tickets will be $8 in advance for two raffle stubs, $10 at gate for one stub. If wanting two stubs at the gate, will be $15. (Two stub option at the gate was an experiment this year that actually worked!) Tables will be $25 like they have been, but only up until July 1, 2023 – then $35/table.
We’re not going to charge for site electricity because we aren’t going to be charged as a club (we were at Expo for 2022)
Flea market will be $10 for first space, $5 for each additional space until July 1, 2023. Then just $10 for any spot.
Tower Electronics is a lock for 2023!
Anybody who wants to join us in camping for 2023 fest, Deb is renting an RV, Tom and Justin are bringing theirs… There’s a campground in a wooded area that will be the club’s area.
Tom, Rich and Deb have worked on a vendor letter for 2023 that mentions electrical hookups for people on-site, along with off-site accommodations.
Next Superfest meeting is in two weeks.
Spoon River Drive report:
The special event station was during the first and second weekends of October… Justin and Ben the first weekend. Tom, Mark, Deb, Rich on the second weekend.
We had QSOs with 37 people the first weekend, with 10 the second weekend.
The director of Spoon River Drive was real happy that we participated.
We had a lot of people that stopped by our table, including some lapsed hams.
Event coming up…
Saturday, October 22: PAWS Giving walk/run. Bring your HT to help run the race at Junction City. 4pm, done by 6:30 in the evening. Can email Rich (KD9ANU) if you have questions.
JOTA is on Saturday.
Rich and Jim move to adjourn, Deb seconds… the meeting ends at 7:23 p.m.
Nov 2, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater Nov 9, ARES Net @ 7:00 PM CDT on the W9UVI (147.075) repeater Nov 16, ARES On-line Conference @ 7:00 PM CST (Watch your email for Zoom conference info)
Call or email Rich if you are not on the ARES Roster and desire to join the Zoom Conference.
On-Line Conference Agenda includes: Infrastructure Activities, PAWS Event on 10/22 – Review, Training Documentation, Economy Windows Computers for Hams – Update, Using GPS Position Reports in Winlink, and more.
Please submit your Training Documentation form.
ARES website: http://www.peoriacountyares.org/
Rich Holtman, KD9ANU, Emergency Coordinator for Peoria County ARES email: kd9anu@arrl.net Winlink: kd9anu@winlink.org Cell: 309-256-4272
