ARCARS

July 2006

Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order with 25 members and guests present.

MOTION: to accept the June 2006 minutes by Shannon (W8CNN), seconded by Gene (NA8I), accepted.

TREASURES REPORT: Suzanne reported that our balance remains at $471.95.

MOTION: to accept the Treasures Report by Edgar (KC8VLV), seconded by Andrew (KC8SPD), accepted.

DISASTER REPORT: There was no disasters reported that required the assistance of ARCARS.

NET REPORT: Dennis (KB8OCG) reported that net attendance has averaged with 5 to 6 check-ins per week. There was a spike just before Field Day with 12 check-ins. Please make note to participate Tuesday evenings at 8pm, on 146.800MHz.

CLUB STATION: A new piece of coax cable will soon be installed at the Red Cross station to allow the full extension of the tower.

NEWSLETTER: Mark (N8EGJ) added a RSS feed to the qsl web site. Our newsletter and web pages remain available. www.qsl.net & www.arcars.us are posted to the Internet. We have a wealth of information available on the websites.

Arcars RSS Feed Link check it out……..loads up nicely in a viewer on-line.

CLUB PROJECT: Reparations to the Field Day HF beam have been completed. The 15M trap was broken. NA8I, WD8DWR, and KG8OU restored and tuned the beam and it worked flawlessly at Field Day. The 6M beam was also tuned and field repairs were made once the antenna was attached to the tower. Thanks to Paul for the spare aluminum parts for the beam repair.

The NA8I repeater has been upgraded with a new receiver and other adjustments. The repeater’s performance is markedly improved. Most users are reporting that now less power is needed to reach the repeater.

OLD BUSINESS: None discussed.

NEW BUSINESS: A sign up sheet was passed around for volunteers to participate in Operation Care. The event lasts over the Independence holiday weekend and its purpose is to encourage safe driving on Michigan’s highways. Our participation is contingent on MDOT approval.

DX SPOTS/ SPECIAL EVENTS: Jim (N8DMW) reported that he has been working stations in the western United States and heard Paraguay on the 6 meter band. Tom (W8TRC) worked Germany during a special event and had a solid contact to Munich.

FIELD DAY: This year’s event was held June 23rd through 25th. Location; the St Clair County Park http://www.stclaircounty.org/Offices/parks/ .

We erected 2 towers. One held the HF beam for side band use, and the other was used for 6 and 2 meter usage. A wire dipole antenna for CW was strung between the towers. There was another 40 meter only station set up at the communication trailer with wire antennas. We utilized the "BIG BLUE" military truck as the shelter for CW and VHF usage. We ran the event as 3A (meaning that we had 3 high frequency stations simultaneously operating and using the same call sign on generated power).

The event had a lot of visitors. The park was a great location for the event. Every station was successful with hundreds of contacts made over the weekend.

MOTION TO ADJOURN: by Victor (WD8DWR)

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 thru Saturday at 9:30pm on the 147.300 repeater.

The Sunday Good Neighbor Net is held every Sunday at 9:30pm on the 147.300 K8DD repeater.

HF: The Great Lakes Emergency and Traffic Net is held nightly at 8pm on 3.932 kHz

The AC8W DX Cluster on 144.790 MHz is available. Check it for HF activity.

Swap list provided by VE3FBH

Swap

Date

Time

Location

Talk-In frequency

Brantford ARC Annual Hamfest

Aug 19 2006

TBA am

Burford Fair Grounds on Park Avenue south of Hwy 53 in Burford ON

VE3TCR 147.150+

Grand Rapids ARA

Sep 9 2006

8:00 am

Kent County Fairgrounds

225 South Hudson

Lowell/Grand Rapids MI

147.26+ PL 94.8

146.52

http://www.w8dc.org/swap.htm

Findlay Hamfest

Sep 10 2006

7:30 am

Hancock County Fairgrounds, Fishlock Street, Findlay OH

147.15+

444.15+

Adrian Hamfest

Sep 17 2006

8.00 am

Lenawee County Fairgrounds

602 Dean St. Adrian MI

145.370- 85.4 Hz. PL

http://www.w8tqe.com

London Hamfest

Sep 24 2006

9.00 am

Western Fair Grounds

Special Events Building

London ON

147.060+ 114.8 Hz PL

Hamilton Amateur Radio Club Hamfest

Oct 14 2006

9:00 am

Marritt Hall, Highway 53 between Southcote Rd. and Kittymurry Lane, Ancaster ON

VE3NCF 146.76-

York Region Hamfest

Oct 28 2006

9:00 am

Markham Fairground (McCowan Road at Elgin Mills Road East)

Markham ON

VE3YRA 145.350-

http://www.yrarc.on.ca

USECA Hamfest

Oct 29 2006

8:00 am

Polish American Century Club

33204 Maple Lane, Sterling Heights, MI 48312

147.180+ 100 Hz PL

hamfest@k8uo.com

Michigan Antique Radio Club Fall Meet

Nov 4 2006

9:00 am

Kalamazoo MI

 

Fort Wayne Hamfest

Nov 18-19 2006

9:00 am

Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Exposition Center

4000 Parnell Ave. at Coliseum Blvd., Fort Wayne IN

146.88-

http://www.fortwaynehamfest.com

 

Observations from the Secretary. Field Day was a great success. One can only attribute that level of success to the hours of preparation by the key members that every year make it happen. (You know who you/they are). This year seemed to go extremely smooth, and it seemed to me that everyone had a great time. Many visitors that attended expressed interest to stay the entire weekend next year. I personally wish to thank everyone that was instrumental in the set up / tear down, preparing equipment, prepared meals, brought out radios and antennas, generators, shelters, etc. Thanks to the County Park for allowing us to set up and use their facilities. The wives and families of the participants also need to be recognized as they encouraged attendance. And finally thank you to the St Clair County Chapter of the American Red Cross, and others that supported this year’s Field Day. Oh yea, I almost forgot; whoever was in charge of the weather did a wonderful job!