ARCARS
April 2010
Meeting Minutes
The meeting was called to order on April 11, 2010 with 16 members and guests present.
MOTION: to accept the November minutes by Angela (KD8HMS), seconded by Edgar (KC8VLV), approved.
TREASURES REPORT: Suzanne reported that our balance stands at $605.00.
DISASTER REPORT: There weren't any call outs for the disaster team in March.
NET REPORT: Edgar (KC8VLV) reported activity on the net has been off a little.
SPECIAL EVENTS: April 15th ARCARS will participate in a career day event held at the Avoca Elementary School. The event is scheduled from 8am to 4pm with lunch included. The purpose of our participation is to introduce amateur radio roles in responders activities.
CLUB STATION: The 146.800 (K8ARC) repeater is operational and working well. Some inter modulation interference issues have been observed and a decision has been made to put a pl tone of 100Hz on the signal. This will be completed soon.
NEWSLETTER: Our newsletter and web page is normally available at www.qsl.net/arcars and www.bandopening.com/arcars . There is a wealth of information available on the website including the RSS feed. Mark (N8EGJ) encouraged everyone to visit the bulletins page to view new information and links that have been added.
CLUB PROJECT: The radio room is operational. The truck table project is scheduled to be completed by Paul (KG8OU) with the help of other members early this month.
OLD BUSINESS: The wire antenna and VHF antenna at the Chapter house are still waiting to be serviced.
NEW BUSINESS: Edgar reminded that the Feast of the St Clair event is coming up. It is scheduled for May 27th through 29th. We will need volunteers for all three nights. We will be participating between the hours of 11pm to 6am. Four volunteers will be needed for ample coverage.
We will also need help for the 4H Fair event scheduled for the last weekend in July.
Andrew (KC8SPD) came up with a proposal to generate funds for the American Red Cross and specifically to fund ARCARS activities and purchases of needed equipment. The idea if approved by the Red Cross administration could generate funds to cover all our immediate needs including an alarm for the truck and a trailer to hold antenna tower sections and other items needed for field deployment.
MOTION TO: hold fund raiser events this year by Edgar and Angela, approved.
Andrew and Mike (AA8K) are working on a repeater linking project that would allow simultaneous radio transmissions for emergency efforts on the 146.800MHz and the 147.32 repeaters.
DX SPOTS/ SPECIAL EVENTS: Tom (W8TRC) reported that a recent solar flair has all but eliminated high frequency long distance radio transmissions.
We received some QSL cards from a chapter of the German Red Cross radio club inviting us to work them on IRLP. An appropriate response is in the works.
MOTION TO ADJOURN: by Mark (N8EGJ) and Tom (W8TRC)
FIELD DAY: This topic will be covered in greater detail in the next scheduled meeting. The equipment is being gathered and reparations are being made to assure a successful event. Andrew was pleased to announce that public service announcements will be made on local commercial radio stations with respect to our Field Day activities.
ANNOUNCEMENTS and other info:
The ARCARS & International Traders Net is held every Tuesday evening at 8pm on the 146.800 K8ARC repeater.
The International Friendship Net is held every Thursday at 9pm on the 145.370-VA3SAR repeater
The Thumb / Mid Michigan Nets are held Monday through Saturday at 9:30pm on the 147.300 repeater.
HF: The Great Lakes Emergency and Traffic Net is held nightly at 6pm on 3.932 kHz (temporary time change from the customary 8pm slot)
The AC8W DX Cluster on 144.970 MHz is available. Check it for HF activity.