date

2022-10-11

opened

20:00

closed

20:41

Check-ins (17)

• Matthew Barry (KG5LYE)
• Bill Rose (K5WTR)
• Avery McIntosh (N7ALM)
• Don Ling (WB5CKO)
• Jeff McDowell (KI5CES)
• Travis Scott (KI5TMS)
• Ken Reeves (KE5FIV)
• Dick Zimmer (W5DZ)
• Lorna Flansburg (KI5FIZ)
• Mike Wisby (KA5HIA)
• Kevin Walton (K5BTX)
• Danna Dyess (W5DRD)
• Joe Napoli (KG5SDF)
• Harold Turbyfill (KG5SDG)
• Vic Pears (KX8V)
• Phil Gates (N5ZKF)
• Bennie Naiser (KA5TWB)

Officer Reports

President Phil Gates (N5ZKF)

• Last Call: N5TC
  • Passed away 2022-09-22
  • Amateur Extra
  • LtCol in Air Force
  • Professor Emeritus in ETID
  • ARRL Vice President
  • Long-time participant in W5BCS and W5AC
• Long list of calendar items:
  • 2022-10-15 09:30 – Next W5BCS club meeting
    • American Legion Post 159
    • VE Session at 08:00
  • (after meeting) – Radio in the Park
    • Tanglewood Park, 3901 Carter Creek Pkwy, near the southeast end
    • Weather looks great, Remember to put on sunscreen
    • Bring any equipment you want
  • 2022-10-22 07:00/14:00 – Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Hazardous Household Waste collection
    • old TI building (off Harvey Rd on the other side of Hwy 6)
    • bring batteries, cans of paint, electronics, etc.
• Upcoming special events
  • BSA Jamboree on the Air (JotA) this weekend
  • 2022-10-17/18 – ARRL School Club Round-up
  • 2022-10-29/30 – CQ Worldwide DX SSB contest
  • 2022-10-11 (Tomorrow) – Birthday of US Navy
    • W5KID – USS Kidd (museum ship) on the air
• Officer elections coming up
  • need temporary nominating committee (now until January)
  • maybe just 2 people
  • contact n5zkf@arrl.net if you would like to help

Vice-President Rick Pfeil (W4RDP)

proxy Phil Gates (N5ZKF)

• Please keep his wife in your prayers
• Please send any ideas for after-meeting presentations

Secretary Matthew Barry (KG5LYE)

• Net minutes will be sent out at conclusion of net as usual
• Looks like I’ll be present at October club meeting after all
• Special thanks to Robert Carter (NC5R):
  • calling from a new HF/VHF base station
  • gifted me an ICOM IC-746 HF/50m/2m transceiver

Treasurer Lorna Flansburg (KI5FIZ)

• 59 members
  • Please renew your membership if you have not done so yet
• Current bank balance: $8,229.93
  • Please set W5BCS as your charity on Amazon Smile!

Announcements / Comments

Question #96 for conversation: If you use an HF amplifier, what do you recommend? Solid-state or tubes?

Dick Zimmer (W5DZ)

• Have a solid-state amplifier
  • Tokyo Hy-power
  • 120 V, 740 W

Vic Pears (KX8V)

• Tube amplifier
  • Keeps the shack warm when it’s cold out 🙂

Bill Rose (K5WTR)

• solid-state and (ceramic) tube-type
  • prefer solid-state, but can’t afford a big solid-state amp (price)
  • Have tubes in a Heathkit SB-220

Mike Wisby (KA5HIA)

• Winter Field Day 2023-01-28/29
  • Lorna Flansburg (KI5FIZ) held a Winter Field Day committee planning meeting this evening
• have been on the USS Kidd many times
  • moored in Baton Rouge
  • Has been very well restored to how it looked WWII days
• Battleship TX dry-docked in Galveston for some maintenance
  • Bennie Naiser (KA5TWB) made some contacts from that ship

Buy / Sell

Jeff McDowell (KI5CES)

• getting back into HF
• looking for 30 ft of Rohn tower
• contact me via email at jeffjmcdowell@gmail.com

Phil Gates (N5ZKF)

• Still have my West Mountain Radio CLRdsp ClearSpeech noise reduction processor
• sells for $200, asking $80
• send me an email at n5zkf@arrl.net if interested

Information Exchange

Matthew Barry (KG5LYE)

• solid-state vs. tube amplifiers: What are the pros/cons of each
• Bill Rose (K5WTR), Phil Gates (N5ZKF):
  • cost of replacement of tubes is expensive
  • transistors are very forgiving of mismatched loads and don’t give out as easy
    • Dick Zimmer (W5DZ): solid-state is more well-protected (idiot-proof)
  • you don’t have to tune a solid-state, but you have to tune tubes to your transmit frequency
  • solid-state is much lighter, smaller, and runs cooler