ARCARS
May 2012
Meeting Minutes
The meeting was called to order on May 13, 2011 with 13 members and guests present.
MOTION: To accept the previous minutes by Edgar (KC8VLV) seconded by Ken (KD8PZU), approved.
TREASURES REPORT: our last reported balance was $312.50.
DISASTER REPORT: There are plans to change and add to the emergency siren system and to add tones for tornado warnings. There is a regional mock disaster planned for May 20th.
NET REPORT: Edgar (KC8VLV) reported that check-ins were light last month due to the repeater outage. The nets have been held every Tuesday evening at 8pm on the ARCARS repeater at 146.800MHz. Stacy KB8RNN hosts a second net every Thursday at 8pm. Stacy reported that the attendance on the Thursday nets has been 5 to 9 amateurs checking in.
SPECIAL EVENTS: The feast of the St Clair event is coming up. It is scheduled for May 25th through the 27th. We have some people that have volunteered for the event that requires our presents from 11pm to 6am. This event typically results in a $300 donation to the American Red Cross. If you can support the event even for a few hours please show up at the Pine Grove Park during the times above.
Museum Ships Weekend: This event is scheduled for June 2 – 3. The event will be held at the Huron Lightship. The official hours for the event are 8am to 8pm. EMARC will be operating the radios and plan to be there on Saturday from 10am to 4pm, and Sunday from 11am to 3pm.
The Fall Harvest Days: The event will mark our 4th year participating. The event is scheduled for August 24th through the 26th. A signup sheet was passed out to get an idea of the level of participation. This event requires us to be present at all times during the hours of operation.
Field Day: This annual event is coming scheduled for June 22nd through the 24th. It will be held at the St Clair County Park in Goodells MI near the butterfly garden. The official time to set up to tear down is 2pm Friday and 2pm Sunday. We are cleared to begin camping on Thursday evening. Next month’s meeting will be focused on this event. Please plan to attend the meeting June 3rd.
CLUB STATION: The K8ARC radio room has been totally remodeled. A wall was removed to create additional room. The walls were resurfaced and repainted. New cabinets and a continuous countertop has been installed. The electrical service points have been rearranged and new carpet installed. Improvements were made to allow continuous communication and monitoring of American Red Cross national disaster relief efforts like Hurricane Katrina or the Haiti earthquake.
NEWSLETTER: The weather line has been updated. The web pages are located at www.qsl.net/arcars and www.bandopening.com/arcars . There is a wealth of information available on the website including the RSS feed.
CLUB PROJECT:
OLD BUSINESS: The Clean Sweep event was held the first weekend of May. ARCARS was there to assist in the operation and to provide communication. The event was successful and is intended to become an annual event aimed at cleaning and improving the local cemeteries.
NEW BUSINESS: We will be posting the times and plans for the 4H fair and the level of support we plan to provide. We will be covering the upcoming Boat Night and Family Night parking lot attendance program scheduled for July 12th and 13th.
DX SPOTS/ SPECIAL EVENTS: KG8OU made DX contacts to Japan, India, and Kazakhstan mainly on 40 meters.
MOTION TO ADJOURN: by Edgar (KC8VLV), seconded by Suzanne (KB8GFY) Adjourned at 7:58pm.
ANNOUNCEMENTS and other info:
The ARCARS & International Traders Net is held every Tuesday evening at 8pm on the 146.800 K8ARC repeater. The ARCARS DStar repeater is now operational on frequency 146.690MHz.
NEW: There is a second ARCARS net held every Thursday evening at 8pm. 146.800MHz with a100Hz tone. Please join in!
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