April 2020 General Meeting

23/04/20 09:15
Minutes PART Meeting April 21, 2020
Via Cisco Webex 7:30 PM – 8:52 PM EDST
Officers Present: George, K1IG, Pres Andy, KB1OIQ, VP Alan, W1AHM, Treasurer Chauncey, K1OPE, Secretary Bob, W1IS, Director at Large
Attendees: 40
George, K1IG, opened the first remote video meeting of the Club. It worked out very well.
Announcements:
  1. George, K1IG, will wait and see should the Commonwealth maintain the social distancing policy
    what alternatives we have to participate in the June Field Day contest.
  2. Alan, W1AHM, gave a Treasurer’s report: there are 75 paid members and we have $12,745 in
    the bank.
  3. Hugh, N1QGE, reminded us to try to continue contributions to any food bank now more than
    ever. He also remarked on hearing in Westford the quarantine reminder sent by the passing
    train whistles.
  4. We wish to thank Terry, KA8SCP, for all of the work he did on relocating the repeater antennas
    to the new water tower and hooking everything back up. There has been a significant improvement all around. Thanks, Terry!
Screen Shot 2020-04-23 at 9.07.38 AM

First speaker for the evening was Bryan, KE4NTU, LtCol of the 22th Military Police Battalion. He gave us an informative talk on the Covid-19 Response Operations by the National Guard.
  1. Overview of the Armed Services organization:
    • Department of Defense has under it:
      1. US Army
      2. US Air Force
      3. US Space Force
      4. US Navy
      5. US Marine Corps
      6. National Guard is sub-organization of the US Army and US Air Force
    • Department of Homeland Security has under it:
      1. US Coast Guard
      2. US Coast Guard Reserve
  2. The National Guard may be used for law enforcement.
  3. Covid-19 situation overview
    • Cited numerous case and death statistics for the nation and states.
    • A few of their mission responsibilities:
      i. PPE Pickup and distribution ii. Mobile test teams
      iii. Field hospital setup iv. Food distribution
      v. Police operations
  4. The National Guard did 9000 Covid-19 tests in 300 locations in MA.
  5. A DX call came in from Western Australia with a question for Bryan (Bryan had invited him to
    our meeting).
Our last speaker was Bob, W1IS, who along with his collaborator Bob, KC1DSQ, gave a talk on the origin of the Magic Formula for antenna lengths known to all as L=468/F. Using some algebra and two factors – the wire’s Velocity Factor and its K Factor for end effect - Bob showed how we get from the L=468/F (which will leave you with too short a length) to L=470/F that will get you to the closer length.
Bob provided the hard-to-find Dielectric Constants for some wire types the wire found at Home Depot: THHN PVC Dielectric Constant of 3.5 with .02” thickness.
Being no further business the meeting ended at 8:52 PM. Stay safe out there. 73 Chauncey
K1OPE

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