Webinar Information

Hey Everyone –

Hope you’re all enjoying this great summer weather! Can you believe August is almost gone? That also means our August Membership meeting is just around the corner on August 31st in beautiful Eau Claire, WI.

However, as we mentioned previously, we’re also going to try hosting this via a webinar as well and so, below is the information you will need to join the online web conference next Saturday.

Meeting Information

Meeting link: https://jamf.webex.com/jamf/j.php?MTID=md69353f8a9bd7b58c975418a154de0e3
Meeting number: 807 702 928
Password: war2019

More ways to join

Join by video system
Dial 807702928@jamf.webex.com
You can also dial 173.243.2.68 and enter your meeting number.

Join by phone
1-866-469-3239 Call-in toll-free number (US/Canada)
1-650-429-3300 Call-in number (US/Canada)
Access code: 807 702 928
Global call-in numbers Toll-free calling restrictions

Please note: This will be primarily one-way this time so you can see and hear what is being presented. But, if we are able we will monitor the chat as well to pass along any questions from those on the webinar to the meeting room.

73
Josh KC9WWH

President’s Report – July 2019

As we break out of July and into August, I wanted to talk about a few subjects.

First, we are just over 30 days before our next WAR membership meeting. It is being held in Eau Claire again, and I encourage everyone who can attend to do so. It will be on Saturday, August 31st promptly at 10:00 AM, so registration will begin at 9:30 AM. Josh posted earlier this month on the specifics, and more details are on both our website and Facebook page.

Next, I drove down to Indianapolis this month to attend the Indiana Repeater Council membership meeting, and had a great time. The meeting was held at the same time as the annual Indianapolis Hamfest, so not only did I get to visit with the IRC, but also got to look around at all the ham radio gear for sale (held firm – didn’t pull out the credit card) and attended many of the forums. One in particular was very good. It spoke of the growing technology of hotspots – something many of you have probably heard of, and perhaps even own one.

On a personal level, while I appreciate the manufacturers helping forge new technologies for ham radio operators to use, I’ve always felt that it was more about branding. C4FM (Fusion) can only talk to other C4FM users, specialized (and therefore more expensive) radios, etc. Thankfully, some of that is changing. With the new set of hotspots, digital technologies can be different, yet still talk to each other. Someone on Fusion can join the same “chat room” as someone running D-Star, or P25, and that chat room trans codes the conversation to each specific user’s technology. Still a lot of work to do, but personally I’d rather have a hobby where everyone can talk to each other versus only people using one manufacturer.

Also, this month WAR also sponsored another conference call with the adjacent states. Indiana is looking at a web-based coordination database, and part of the reason I went to Indianapolis was to see a demo of what they are working on. Illinois is also working on an alternative to Radio Mobile (terrain modeling based on various repeater parameters) that is open source and runs on Linux. I look forward to hearing from our neighbors on how they have been progressing.

Lastly, I want to remind everyone that volunteers are still needed. If you have some time to spare, and are interested in what this organization does, talk to any of our Board of Directors.

Again, I look forward to seeing all of you at your membership meeting in August.

Until next time, 73 de Dean KB7QDI

August Membership Meeting

Attention Members –

As we enter the month of July I wanted to make sure everyone was aware that we will be holding our next bi-annual membership meeting on August 31st back at the Jamf office in Eau Claire, WI. This is the same location we hosted the bi-annual membership meeting in August of 2018.

As a reminder, this location is a secured location. What does that mean? It means that you will need an escort up to what we call “Town Hall” where the membership meeting will take place. We will be opening the doors for registration at 9:30am and the last elevator up will be promptly at 10:00am, at which time we will start the meeting. So please ensure you arrive early so you don’t get locked outside.

Please note: We will also be attempting to stream the meeting live online via web conference. This is going to be our first time streaming, so access is not guaranteed and during this test we are only planning to offer one-way communication and no voting will be allowed over the web conference. We will be posting the details for access to the web conference in the coming weeks. The hope is that it we’ll be able to eventually host our membership meetings across multiple locations with full transparency.

Below, please find a diagram that will explain where you can park in the area. Please also note that on Saturday mornings from 7:30am until 1pm the Farmers Market will be going on across the street in Phoenix Park as well.

There is ample parking in the area and I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful 4th of July! We look forward to seeing everyone on August 31st in Eau Claire, WI.

73,
Josh KC9WWH