ARCARS

June 2007

Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order on June 3, 2007 with 12 members and guests present.

MOTION TO ACCEPT MINUTES: of the May meeting by Edgar (KC8VLV) seconded by Tom (VE3UKU), approved.

TREASURES REPORT: Suzanne reported that there was no new fund raising activity last month.

DISASTER REPORT: There were three local fires last month. There was one in Fort Gratiot that is under police investigation. In Genesee County there was a large fire that did have amateur radio operators respond for assistance. It is very important that we be prepared to assist rescue operations if requested. In our case that requires staying up to date with the training requirements of the American Red Cross as well as Homeland Security.

NET REPORT: Edgar (KC8VLV) reported that participation has been steady with the weekly net. Please make note to participate Tuesday evenings at 8pm, on 146.800MHz.

SPECIAL EVENTS: The Lightship will host an amateur special event station on June 9^th. Lampton County will hold field day in Marthaville Ont. this year.

CLUB STATION: The 2 meter radio that Paul (KG8OU) thought would be available for club use did not work out. All the other radios are in good working condition.

NEWSLETTER:  Our newsletter and web page is available at www.qsl.net. We have a wealth of information available on the website including the RSS feed.

CLUB PROJECT: Field Day will be held June 23^rd. Our set up will be held at the St Clair County Park in Goodells MI. We have been cleared to begin camping set up on Thursday June 20^th. It was decided that we will closely mimic a real deployment for emergency services, with less emphases on the camping aspect. We are planning to be a 2A set up with a possible addition of 6M / VHF station. There may also be a packet station in service. We will be using the ICOM706 with an HF beam, as well as Kip’s HF radio with assorted antennas. We will be utilizing generated power for the event. It was decided that we will possibly be putting more emphasis in wire antennas than in previous field day events. There has been a request for 12 picnic tables and 5 barrels from the Park. We will be utilizing the trailer and other structures to house the stations. We are planning a potluck dinner on Friday evening. Paul and Suzanne agreed to bring grills for cooking.

OLD BUSINESS: Mark (N8EGJ) reminded the group that we must renew certification for first aid and cpr and de-fibulator training. The certification is necessary to operate and Red Cross vehicles.

NEW BUSINESS: K8WMW is setting up amateur radio operators at the local hospitals to assist if normal communications are interrupted. Contact: ROBERT HERBERT (810)982-1561 Email: K8WMW@ARRL.NET if you are interested in helping with this project.

Mike (AA8K) is holding a brainstorming meeting to investigate how digital communication can be used to facilitate emergency effort assistance. The meeting is to be held at the county administration building room b on June 12^th at 7PM.

FIELD DAY: Kip has offered the use of his Yeasu for CW. Mark is to contact Gene (NA8I) about the logistics of transporting all the necessary equipment to the Field Day site. Paul will be bringing out the old RC trailer to shelter a station.   The Red Cross has offered to allow us the use of generators and fuel if we need them. Final plans for field day will be discussed at the June 3^rd meeting. Please attend and bring ideas and suggestions. Edgar is offering two prizes for the top contact producers. He has a FEMA patch for the top CW operator and a LIFE STAT EMS patch of the top voice contact producer. The prizes will be awarded at the August meeting.

DX SPOTS/ SPECIAL EVENTS: Tom (VE3UKU) reported weak signals on the 10 meter band.

MOTION TO ADJOURN: by Suzanne (KB8GFY) seconded by Mike (N8MIC), adjourned.  

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 144.790 MHz is available. Check it for HF activity.

Swap list provided by Frank (VE3FBH)