The meeting was called to order with 11 members and guests present.

Motion to accept the February minutes by Suzanne (KB8GFY), seconded by Gene (NA8I) accepted.

TREASURES REPORT: Suzanne stated that the old balance stood at $1,075.92. There was $40 in donations bringing the new balance at $1,115.92.

Motion to Accept the Treasures Report: by Gene (NA8I), seconded by Mike (KA8UXQ), and accepted.

NET: There was no report on the net at this meeting.

The subject of the 440 MHz radios was brought up again. Paul (KG8OU) said that the units were not as easy as expected to modify to amateur use. He found a source that could install the crystals in the channel elements and tune them for $15 per crystal. It was decided that one set of the crystals and a channel element should be sent out to be installed and tuned. Then Paul will send a them to the manufacture and submit the bill for reimbursement. Should the radios prove worthy of modification, a couple would be installed in the Red Cross Emergency vehicles as well as the Communications Trailer.

Motion to send on of the radios to be modified: by Gene (NA8I), seconded by Mike (KA8UXQ), and approved.

CLUB STATION:
We have a new clock added to the radio command center thanks to Jim Relken.

WEB SITE: Mark (N8EGJ) has been working on the Chapters Intranet site and server. Web access is available in the radio command center as well as other rooms in the Chapter house. There have been numerous changes to the Clubs web site as Mark continues the process to add information and make improvements.

OLD BUSINESS: The ARRL Equipment Insurance issue was raised again with concerns that lightning or theft could eliminate this critical equipment. It was estimated that a premium of approximately $125 per year would cover the station. The station consists of the following equipment:

• G7-144 Hustler Antenna,
• Hamtronics Kit controller,
• Motorola 60 watt tube transmitter,
• Hamtronics Kit receiver,
• Sinclair 4 can duplexer,
• Motorola power supply strip,
• auto-patch board,
• carrier operator board,
• dtmf decoder board,
• sub-audio decoder board,
• cw id board,
• and a relay interface board.

Gene is to contact the ARRL via email and secure the insurance and get in contact with Suzanne for reimbursement.

Motion to annualize the purchase of the equipment insurance: by Paul (KG8OU), seconded by Suzanne (KB8GFY), and approved.

The Club Call KC8CXJ should be changed to a call that complements our purpose. We are to look at available calls to secure one before the expected influx of new amateurs later this spring.

Mock Disaster: The club participated in a mock disaster to test our equipment and participation in a simulated exercise. The report was read by the Secretary and is to be published on the clubs web site. The Program Manager read an observation critique from K8MFK indicating some items needed at the radio command center.

NEW BUSINESS: It became apparent at the mock disaster that we require a 2-meter radio to operate on the repeater. And a 220MHz radio is required for packet communications between the trailer and the radio command center for sensitive casualty information during a disaster.

Jim Relken addressed the club regarding the clubs future needs and funding. He also expressed interest to have amateur operators on call for all emergencies. A call up procedure was discussed to contact club members during a disaster. He also expressed gratitude for our participation in the Y2K and Mock Disaster exercises and said he learned more of what value we bring to the Chapter. He went on to inform us that cross training will become available to us for other Red Cross services, and expressed interest to have volunteers visit and possibly participate with the upcoming Field Day exercise.

The subject of a standby frequency be monitored using a sub audible tone to alert members of a disaster. The frequency was decided to be 147.570MHz, but the dtmf tone was not decided upon as of yet.

Motion to Adjourn: by Gene (NA8I), and seconded by Suzanne (KB8GFY), approved.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

The 147.300 repeater is back in operation. We also have the service of the 147.320 and the 444.900 machines in operation in the community. Both machines have been known to occasionally use the 131.8 sub-audible tone.

Amateur Radio Examinations will be held on April 18^th. After that there will be new License Structures as supported by the American Radio Relay League. Please stand by for further information on this subject. A link to the ARRL is on the ARCARS Web Page www.bignet.net/~arcars that includes some more information.

The Friends of Marconi group meets every Friday at 11:30 am at My Place Restaurant in downtown Port Huron. Everyone is welcome to attend. See the web page http://www.tir.com/~kb8wwe.