ARCARS

August 2007

Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order on August 5, 2007 with 7 members and guests present.

MOTION TO ACCEPT MINUTES: of the July meeting approved by Edgar (KC8VLV), seconded by Gene (NA8I), approved.

TREASURES REPORT: Our treasure was not available for this meeting.

DISASTER REPORT: There were a few fires locally. There were no disasters reported that required the call out of amateur radio assistance.

NET REPORT: Edgar (KC8VLV) continues to do a great job with the weekly net. He reported that net participation has been light this summer. Please make note to join in Tuesday evenings at 8pm, on 146.800MHz.

SPECIAL EVENTS: none reported at this meeting.

CLUB STATION: Everything is working well except the 2 meter radio that still needs to be replaced. Mark recommended that one of the mobile ready ICOM dual band units should be installed on the operator bench until another unit is purchased. The dual band unit was previously used as to quickly install in Red Cross vehicles that are responding to emergencies as require amateur radio support.

NEWSLETTER: Mark (N8EGJ) has just added a mobile link on the website to allow viewing the minutes on most cellular phones. Give a try at http://www.bandopening.com/arcars/mobile.wml . Our newsletter and web page is available at www.qsl.net/arcars and www.bandopening.com/arcars . We have a wealth of information available on the website including the RSS feed.

CLUB PROJECT: There were some improvements made to the command center. During the construction the coax to the radio installed was removed. We are planning to run a coax out of the building and attach to the tower.

OLD BUSINESS: The County is in the process of updating to an 800 MHz communication system for emergency services.

The 147.320 MHz Skywarn repeater antenna is likely to be moved to the newly installed tower in Goodells.

NEW BUSINESS: The records from Field Day indicate that the most CW contacts were made by Trippy (WD8OEP), and the most voice contacts were made by Ron (KC8TXC). Edgar presented patches as rewards for making the most contacts. (WD8OEP) was not present at the meeting so Edgar will give it to him at a future meeting.

DX SPOTS/ SPECIAL EVENTS: Conditions on HF have been poor as we are at the bottom of the current solar cycle. Contacts can be made but it seems like there has been a lack of dx activities lately. The Leonid Meteor Shower is predicted for November 18^th and should create interesting dx opportunities. The next meteor activity is the Perseid's on August 12. This year there’s no moonlight to interfere. The best time to watch is from 11 p.m. August 12 until dawn the next morning. The best direction to watch is wherever your sky is darkest. If you have a dark sky, you may see a meteor once a minute on average. The shower is also active for several days before and after its peak. (http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors/).

MOTION TO ADJOURN: by Edgar (KC8VLV) seconded by Gene (NA8I)

ANNOUNCEMENTS and other info:

The ARCARS & International Traders Net is held every Tuesday evening at 8pm on the 146.800 NA8I 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 8pm on 3.932 kHz

The AC8W DX Cluster on 144.970 MHz is available. Check it for HF activity.

Swap List provided by Frank, VE3FBH