EIDXA Meetings
EIDXA meets quarterly, in January, April, July and October. Normal meeting location is the Mercy Medical Center Hall-Perrine Cancer Center, located south of downtown Cedar Rapids at the intersection of 10th St SE, 8th Ave SE and Mount Vernon Rd SE (a visual aid to this site is provided below). Meetings are occasionally held at alternative sites, which will be clearly announced on this page. The doors open for eyeball QSOs at about 6:30 PM and the formal meeting starts at 7:30. We generally have a program of interest following the business meeting.
Following the meeting, we meet for pizza and refreshments at Godfather's Pizza at 3647 1st Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids (in the Town & Country Shopping Center). Getting to Godfather's Pizza is EASY! Click here for a map and directions.
For minutes of the most recent EIDXA meeting, scroll down the page or click here.
For minutes of previous meetings, see the EIDXA Minutes Archive.
Next EIDXA Meeting:
Date:
A yet-to-be-determined Friday in January 2024.
Time:
Doors open at 6:30 PM; Meeting begins at 7:30 PM.
Location:
Hall Perrine Cancer Center rooms A & B, at Mercy Medical Center.
Program:
A program of interest to DXers will be presented.
We plan to continue using Zoom at the Meetings. Hopefully things will go smoothly.
The
Mercy Medical Center complex is located south of downtown Cedar Rapids,
at the intersection of 10th St SE, 8th Ave SE and Mount Vernon Rd SE
(701 10th Street SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52403). Please see the aerial
photo map of the meeting location provided below. In addition, we have
an interactive Google map of the area.
There is free parking directly in front of the Hall-Perrine Cancer
Center.
Enter
Hall-Perrine Cancer Center through the northeast doors. The conference
rooms are adjacent to the entrance. There are no steps to get to the
conference rooms.
We hope to see all of our club members at the meeting. Please consider
bringing a non-member ham guest!
Following the meeting, we will meet for pizza and refreshments at Godfather's Pizza at 3647 1st Avenue SE in Cedar Rapids (in the Town & Country Shopping Center). Getting to Godfather's Pizza is EASY! Click here for a map and directions.
Meeting
Location: (You may click on the photo map
for a larger version.)
Parking is free in
the parking
lot in front of the Hall-Perrine Cancer Center. Enter from 10th St SE
-- parking is to your right from the roundabout. Please enter
Hall-Perrine through the northeast entrance, as marked above. The
meeting room is adjacent to the entrance, and is stair-free. For a
customizable view of the area, check out this interactive Google Map.
Minutes of EIDXA Club Meeting, October 13, 2023 at the
Hall Perrine Cancer Center at Mercy Medical Center.
CALL TO ORDER AND GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
• Meeting called to order at 7:30 pm by President Gayle KØFLY
• Per the sign-in sheet / introductions, there were 18
members / guests present at Hall Perrine and 6 on the Zoom
video link for a total of 24.
At Hall Perrine:
• Terry Cellman WØAWL
• Tom Lindgre WØWP
• Barry Buelow WØIY
• Gary Toomsen KØGT
• Mike Nowack NA9Q
• Val Lawson WØEFW
• Bob Schafer KA4PKB/Ø
• Scott Augsburger WRØU
• Larry Newby WBØB
• Neale LeMense WØHBK
• Todd LeMense KKØDX
• Rich Haendel W3ACO
• Rod Blocksome KØDAS
• Al Groff KØVM
• Jim Spencer WØSR
• David Christ KØLUM
• Gayle Lawson KØFLY
• George Cooley NG7A
Via Zoom:
• George Carsner WØPPF
• Glen Kesselring KØJGH
• Jeff WØODS
• Frank Baker WØQC
• Fred Benson KØAT
• David Jaksa WØVX
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
TREASURER’S REPORT:
• Mike NA9Q handed out a spreadsheet of the club finances.
He noted that to date proceeds from the WB8ZRL estate have
provided the club with over $6,000 and thanked Terry WØAWL
as well as all those that have helped with taking down,
organizing and selling the equipment. Rich W3ACO moved to
accept the report, Tom WØWP seconded the motion and it was
accepted by a unanimous vote.
• Contact Mike – NA9Q with any club treasury questions.
• We are financially solvent!
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE:
• Jim WØSR reported no new applications.
• Jim noted that there was some interest to join the club.
He will follow-up by contacting those individuals.
• No updates on revised application rules.
DXpedition FUNDING:
• No updates.
WEB SITE REPORT:
• No updates.
REPEATER COMMITTEE:
• Terry WØAWL reported that the wind has twisted the antenna
off of vertical. The city of Marion wants the club to fix
this ASAP to avoid damage to the water tower with a loose
antenna twisting in the wind. Two large bolts need to be
loosened, straightened and tightened without damaging the
restraining pipe of the water tower. Terry talked to and
texted Jason NRØX serval times asking if he could climb the
tower. He offered Jason $200 to make the repairs.
• There was much discussion on this topic an done of our
members noted that if the clamp is put together wrong, the
antenna will continue to lean over in high wind. WØSR has a
list of at least 10 climbers. Elevated Technologies and
Murphy Towers were among the many that were mentioned.
• KØVM motioned to identify an alternate climber if Jason
cannot get to it, NG7A seconded and the motion was carried
unanimously.
• Breaking News: as discussions continued, Terry WØAWL managed
to get through to Jason, who confirmed that he could straighten
the leaning antenna on Monday October 16th.
• There was a discussion about insuring the antenna and repeater.
Rod KØDAS will check with the ARRL on antenna insurance.
OLD BUSINESS:
DONATIONS to Mercy:
• Rich W3ACO motioned that donations continue at the same
level as before, Terry WØAWL seconded and the motion
carried unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS:
ELECTIONS
• On behalf of the nominating committee, Rich W3ACO presented
the following slate of candidates:
• Treasurer Mike Nowack NA9Q
• Secretary George Cooley NG7A
• President Glen Kesselring KØJGH
• Vice President Gayle Lawson KØFLY
• David Christ KØLUM motioned that the candidates be elected
for next year’s term, Jim Spencer WØSR seconded and the
motion was carried unanimously.
YL FUNDING
• Rich W3ACO, who set up a ‘HAENDEL YL Operators Fund’, reported
that Page Harper KØPZH will travel to PJ2T next Sunday for the
upcoming SSB contest. Page is a new operator and won a recent
Rookie Round-up.
• The EIDXA donated $500 to the ‘HAENDEL YL Operators Fund’ at
the last meeting.
• Page will join the EIDXA and will present a program on the
contest from PJ2T to the club.
PROGRAM COMMITTEE
• Rich W3ACO and Gayle KØFLY agreed to serve on the program
committee.
• Gayle reported the plan for upcoming presentations as
follows:
• Joe Spinks AAØKW comparing a Flex Radio vs Yaesu FTdx-10
• Bill Caldwell NØLNO 6M Dxing with Meteor Scatter
• Page Harper KØPZH on Contesting from PJ2T
• KØIS on 6M and Satellites
5 MINUTE BREAK
INSURANCE:
• Glen Kesselring KØJGH looked up the insurance rates and
reported that $1M in liability costs $200 per year. Insuring
equipment costs $14 per year for every $1,000 worth of
equipment.
• Al Groff KØVM motioned that the club purchase $3,000 of
insurance to cover the repeater and antenna plus $1M of
liability insurance. Rich Haendel W3ACO seconded the motion
and it was carried unanimously.
PROGRAM:
• "Contesting for a Non-Contester" by David Jaksa WØVX.
ADJOURNMENT
• Larry WBØB motioned to adorn the meeting with Al KØVM seconding.
The motion carried and the meeting adjourned at 9:10 pm.