ARCARS

ARCARS

May 7, 2006

Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order with 23 members and guests present.

MOTION: to accept the April 2006 minutes by Mike (N8MIC), seconded by Jerrie (KC8YRQ), accepted.

TREASURES REPORT: Suzanne reported that our balance remains at $446.95. There are anticipated disbursements for incidental Field Day expenses in June.

DISASTER REPORT: There were no disaster operations reported.

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

CLUB STATION: Paul (KG8OU) inquired about the crank up tower at the command center. The upper portion is not operational at this time. Andrew (KC8SPD) responded that some work had been done on antennas and feed lines. There is a problem with one of the feed lines length that prohibits full extension of the mast.

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.

CLUB PROJECT: Andrew mentioned that the chapter house is attempting to procure a newer trailer for ARCARS use.

OLD BUSINESS: None discussed.

NEW BUSINESS: JOTA, (Jamboree on the Air) will be held in October. Dennis (KB8OCG) had made contact with Mr. Mac, with the BSA. He assured that he would coordinate the event so the scouts would visit the radio station as one of their compulsory events. Mary (KA8IEO) offered to chair the JOTA committee and make the necessary contacts.

DX SPOTS/ SPECIAL EVENTS: Tom (W8TRC) reported that the solar flux has hovered around 100 lately, making conditions less than optimal. However he made contacts to Chile, Italy and the Canary Islands on 20M and the US Virgin Islands on 17M.

Mike (N8MIC) mentioned that the Tawas MI node on 145.

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

The group will finalize plans for stations at the June 4^th meeting. The event will require four meals to be served to volunteers. Friday evening will be a Pot Luck dinner (bring a dish to pass). Saturday evening will be a spaghetti dinner, and Sunday breakfast, and in the afternoon Leftovers. Last year we served 170 meals.

Andrew will check with the chapter to allow a disbursement for food and expenses.

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
Dayton Hamvention	May 19-21 2006	8:00 am each day	Hara Arena Dayton OH	DARA Reptr 146.94- NVFMA Reptr 146.91- 223.94- and 442.100+ www.hamvention.org
Rochester Hamfest	Jun 2-4 2006	8:00 am	Monroe County Fairgrounds/ Double Tree Hotel Rochester 2695 East Henrietta Road and 1111 Jefferson Road Henrietta NY	146.28/146.88 PL110.9 http://www.rochesterhamfest.org
Central Ontario Hamfest	Jun 10 2006	8:00 am	Fergus & District Community Centre – North of Guelph on Highway 6	VE3ZMG 145.21- VE3KSR 146.97- 146.52 www.hamfest.on.ca
Michigan Antique Radio Club Extravaganza ‘06	Jul 6-8 2006	Dawn	Holiday Inn 6820 South Cedar St., Lansing MI (Cedar St. exit on I-96)
Milton Hamfest Ontario Hamfest	Jul 8 2006	9:00 am	Milton Fairgrounds Thomas Street, Milton ON	147.210+ VE3RSB 146.520

OFF THE SUBJECT: Jim (N8LUV)’s daughter Ashley has been hired by Disney in Florida to be the dancing character of Winnie the Pooh! Way to go Ashley!

Edgar (KC8VLV) had a "heads up" on equipment. He says that Vertex Co. makes marine mobiles with gps installed and has a color screen. They announced that they will soon have 2 Meter version for amateur usage. Expected retail ticket around $1800. Ouch!