ARCARS
August 2, 2009
Meeting Minutes
The meeting was called to order with 18 members and guests present.
MOTION: to accept the July minutes by Edgar (KC8VLV), seconded by Angela (KD8HMS), approved.
TREASURES REPORT: Suzanne reported that our balance remains at $484.00.
DISASTER REPORT: ARCARS were not called out for assistance in July. There were a couple of Red Cross call outs for mutual aid to assist other agencies.
The county marine rescue radio call outs will be transmitted on the fire frequency; 154.415MHz
NET REPORT: Edgar (KC8VLV) reported that net participation has continued to improve. There are newly licensed hams checking in with the regular participants.
SPECIAL EVENTS: Bonnie (KC8SPA) reported that the search and rescue event (originally scheduled for August 9th) has been moved to August 30th 9am to 4:30pm at the Marysville park. A sign up sheet was circulated for amateur operators that can be available to work with the search and rescue dog teams that are planning to hold a live search and a marine cadaver recovery exercise.
The Fall Harvest Days will be held on August 28th through the 30th. Mark (N8KPV) announced that set up can be done on Thursday August 27th. There will be a pot luck dinner on Saturday August 29th at 5:30pm. Russ (KD8FRE) and Andrew (KC8SPD) are currently working on a certificate that will be awarded to contacts that work our special event station upon request. There were some give away items for children that attend the event ordered but had not yet arrived. Andrew will be meeting with the park authorities to locate any underground services that could be disturbed by our set up. The talk in frequency is 146.52MHz simplex.
There will be a local amateur trunk sale/swap scheduled for August 9th at 9am. The swap will be held at Vantage Point in Port Huron with free admittance.
The Blue Water Ramble bicycle event is normally scheduled for the first Sunday in October. That event always needs ham radio operator assistance.
CLUB STATION: There was a brief discussion about moving our local packet frequency to 144.95MHz to coincide with the emergency packet stations down river. We are not clear if the intent of that frequency use is for general packet operations. More investigation needs to be done before the move is made.
NEWSLETTER: Our newsletter and web page is normally available at www.qsl.net/arcars and www.bandopening.com/arcars , and www.arcars.org. There is a wealth of information available on the website including the RSS feed.
CLUB PROJECT: Materials are still being gathered for the white truck interior renovation project. There have been too many events in the last month or so to complete the task. The drive on tower support has been completed by Gene (NA8I) and Dennis KD8LMM and it was used at the 4H Fair event to hold a 40' tower and antenna. It worked flawlessly.
OLD BUSINESS: Paul (KG8OU) distributed some Cd's that contained photos of this year's Field Day event.
Victor (WD8DWR) brought everyone up to date on the progress he and Gene are having in the 146.800MHz ARCARS/NA8I repeater. The machine has been down for a while but progress has been made. Victor reported that the exciter, PA system, and heater for the duplexer are all working perfectly. The last piece is the controller, and efforts are being made to secure one that will allow expansion well into the future. The entire system is being designed to work on 12 volts. A new cabinet has been fabricated to house the unit. There was some talk about a possible auto patch and weather station to be integrated into the repeater. Victor went on to say that the old equipment may be held as stand by parts in case they are needed.
NEW BUSINESS: Mark (N8EGJ) inquired about the red cross' plans to deal locally with a pandemic event of H1N1 'swine” flu. A plan should be made in case of a local breakout.
DX SPOTS/ SPECIAL EVENTS: Paul (KG8OU) has been working stations from his mobile station. He reportedly worked Germany on 20M, Calgary on 40M and the upper peninsula on 75M last month.
MOTION TO ADJOURN: by Jerry (KC8YRQ) seconded by Angela (KD8HMS)
ANNOUNCEMENTS and other info:
The ARCARS & International Traders Net is held every Tuesday evening at 8pm on the 147.300 K8DD 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.
New Frequencies digipeaters at Belle River K8MCS
Packet frequencies are: 144.95, 223.4 and 430.55.
The 144.95 frequency was set up by the
District 2 Emergency Coordinators.
FM voice is 147.32 + offset. May have a
PL of 131.8, but is carrier access right now.