2025-12-30 Net Minutes
- opened
- 20:00
- closed
- 20:48
Check-ins (27)
- Matthew Barry (KG5LYE)
- Rich Rychetsky (W5SON)
- Ron Hambric (N5SBN)
- Brian Gaskamp (N5WCT)
- Larry Shiver (KJ5KFU)
- Blake Hearen (K5BAH)
- Brad Snyder (W5BLS)
- Garrett Martin (W5HVS)
- Richard Taylor (KJ5LXI)
- Bill Rose (K5WTR)
- Don Ling (WB5CKO)
- Kevin Walton (N4RMF)
- Troyce Wilson (KC5CBI)
- Lorna Flansburg (KI5FIZ)
- Patrick Zapalac (KJ5ATR)
- Ron Estes (KJ5EFO)
- Mike Wisby (KA5HIA)
- Harold Turbyfill (KG5SDG)
- Michael Bobinski (N5NYL)
- Emery Hyden (K5OWO)
- Jim Laird (KF5YY)
- Phil Gates (N5ZKF)
- Tom Johnson (KI5ZPG)
- Joe Napoli (KG5SDF)
- Matt Robinson (W5XMR)
- Ken Wilson (KE5DFR)
- Jared Cleere (KJ5KGD)
Officer Reports
President
David Bailey (K5DKB)
excused
Vice-President
Tom Johnson (KI5ZPG)
- Last net of 2025!
- “Live for the future and remember the past”
Secretary
Matthew Barry (KG5LYE)
- Minutes will be sent out after the net.
- Reminder: next meeting will be at
- Cooper’s Old Time BBQ, off Hwy 6 [Google Maps]
- 2026-01-17 11:00
- N5ZKF: be mindful of construction: closed exits and reduced speed limit (60 mph)
Treasurer
Lorna Flansburg (KI5FIZ)
- 81 members
- Bank balance: $13,144.75
- Next license exam is 2026-01-25 during Winter Field Day
- Anyone taking the Technician exam must have their FCC Registration Number (FRN)
- Many have already paid their dues for 2026
- Online at https://hamclubonline.com
- Can also be done in-person at Cooper’s
- Next Winter Field Day committee Zoom meeting is 2026-01-07 18:30
Announcements / Comments
Question #256 for conversation: 2025 Year in Review: what do you look back on fondly this year?
(If interested in submitting a weekly question, email n5zkf@arrl.net)
Ron Hambric (N5SBN)
- Thanks to all who have been involved with Brazos County ARES
- No CEOC visit this Friday due to New Year’s holiday.
Joe Napoli (KG5SDF)
- Highlight for the year is my DX QSO with someone in Moscow
- N5ZKF: what band? (20 m)
Matt Robinson (W5XMR)
- Highlight of the year is the community!
- I’ve had lots of fun in the hobby
- Need to make donation to Brazos County ARES trailer
Ron Estes (KJ5EFO)
- It’s going to be cold tonight: low of 31°F
- Highlight of the year: getting Brazos County ARES (N5BRZ) set up as non-profit
- W5XMR: I’ll be in touch regarding what you need
Rich Rychetsky (W5SON)
- I was contacted by one of my favorite YouTube influencers, KI5QCF
Phil Gates (N5ZKF)
- Year in review:
- Had a host of equipment failures this year, but thankfully warranty covered those
- Purchased another home that’s more conducive to putting an antenna up!
- It’s been a good year for ham radio as a whole: lots of growth
- Many CW operators on the air
- The community and club here are also amazing
- Weekly nets! It’s been a pleasure to host and tune into these!
Joe Napoli (KG5SDF)
- Happy New Year to everyone!
Buy / Sell
Rich Rychetsky (W5SON)
- Interested in getting into WIRES-X and C4FM a bit more
- Does anyone have an old mobile Yaesu C4FM-capable radio, I’d be willing to make an offer
- Good on QRZ
Information Exchange
Emery Hyden (K5OWO)
- I have a 3x2 dual-band (2 m / 70 cm) Yagi
- Do I need lightning protection on a Yagi that’s close to / under a barn?
- N5ZKF:
- ARRL has info on “grounding and bonding” on their website: https://arrl.org
- My advice: add that arrestor just to be safe
- Ground at the same point as HF antenna
- Arrestors are expensive; might just unplug during stormy weather
Bill Rose (K5WTR)
- Need some help: I attempted to install Zorin Linux, and it redid the partition table
- There are several partitions that I don’t recognize
- KG5LYE: assuming GUID Partition Table (GPT)…
- Windows has several partitions, and I’m not too familiar with all of these:
- ESP boot partition - NTFS or FAT32
- Recovery - NTFS
C:drive - NTFS- (Optional) “Dev Drive” - ReFS
- While booted into Linux, you can see other partitions and their mountpoints (Note that these will show as “unallocated” to Windows):
/boot/efi(or maybe just/boot) - FAT32- (optional) separate
/boot- ext4 - Root filesystem
/- ext4 or dm-crypt if encrypted
- Any other unused partitions can probably be deleted, but be very careful when doing so!
- Windows has several partitions, and I’m not too familiar with all of these:
Closing Remarks
- Visit us online at w5bcs.radio.