ARCARS

November 2007

Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order on November 4, 2007 with 9 members and guests present.

MOTION TO ACCEPT MINUTES: of the October meeting by Edgar (KC8VLV), seconded by Kip (KB8WWH), approved.

TREASURES REPORT: Our treasure was not available for this meeting.

DISASTER REPORT: There were three fire calls that the Red Cross responded to and average response time was 25 minutes. There were no disasters reported that required the call out of amateur radio assistance.

NET REPORT: Edgar (KC8VLV) reported that net participation has been a little better lately with 9 or 10 check-ins. Please make note to join in Tuesday evenings at 8pm, on 146.800MHz.

SPECIAL EVENTS: JOTA was held the weekend of October 20^th. There was 2 meter radios and packet set up for the event.

CLUB STATION: The 2 meter mobile unit that has been used for voice communications was evaluated and found to be beyond repair. It was disposed of and our mobile (ammo can) mobile was put into service as a replacement.

NEWSLETTER: Mike (AA8K) provided an introduction and brief instructions on local IRLP usage. That piece is included in this newsletter and plans were made to make it available as a link on the web page. The mobile link that Mark (N8EGJ) added on the website allows viewing the minutes on most cellular phones is working well. Give a try at http://www.bandopening.com/arcars/mobile.wml . Our newsletter and web page is available at www.qsl.net/arcars and www.bandopening.com/arcars . We have a wealth of information available on the website including the RSS feed.

CLUB PROJECT: Nothing discussed.

OLD BUSINESS: The Christmas Party will be held Sunday, December 2^nd. Shannon passed a list for members to sign that showed the number attending and a dish to pass. If you were not at the meeting and would like to attend, please email Shannon and let her know your intentions. Email ksdobel@bignet.net at your nearest convenience. Also listen to the nets for updated information.

NEW BUSINESS: Edgar has decided to do the weekly ARCARS net from the club station beginning this January. He stated that this will allow visitors to observe the process as well as to make it more convenient to retain the records of the contacts during the nets.

Edgar reported that the VE3SAR 440MHz repeater is to be moved to a better location in Sarnia. They apparently have plans to install a 2 meter link to it in Corunna Ont.

Andrew (KC8SPD) announced plans to obtain a 24’ cargo trailer that would be converted to hold emergency stations to be used during ARCARS deployment. It would also be utilized for local events as well as field day. He plans to meet with the local Red Cross board to roll out this plan.

Andrew mentioned that he planned to meet with the State Police in reference to obtaining a kit that would allow us to help with operation CARE this coming year. This would require participation from local hams during the summer holidays.

DX SPOTS/ SPECIAL EVENTS: Conditions on HF have been miserable. Some dx stations can be heard on various bands periodically on days when conditions allow.

MOTION TO ADJOURN: by Edgar (KC8VLV) seconded by Kip (KB8WWH)

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 144.970 MHz is available. Check it for HF activity.

Swap List provided by Frank, VE3FBH

Using Internet Radio Liking Project (IRLP) on the WD8DUV (146.72)
repeater



What is IRLP?  It's a way to connect two ham radios together via
the Internet.  It can be two repeaters, two home stations, or a
mixture.

When you transmit to an IRLP station, it digitizes your voice and
sends it over the Internet to another IRLP station (node) and
converts it back to audio.  There is a delay in the process, so
it's a good idea to press the PTT and wait a second before
talking so that your first words won't get lost.

To use IRLP on the WD8DUV repeater, just transmit with the 110.9
Hz PL that the repeater uses, identify with your call sign, press
your keypad with the four digit node number that you want to
connect, and release your PTT.  You should hear the greeting
recorded for that node.  When you transmit next, your audio will
be heard at the remote node.

Good etiquette is to listen for at least 15 seconds first in case
there is a conversation going on at that node.  If not, transmit
your call sign and city / state / country.  Allow a five second
pause before beginning each of your transmissions.

When you are done, you can disconnect from the remote node by
identifying, then using your keypad to transmit 7 3.  You will
hear the node sign off message.

To find a node number, you can go to < http://www.irlp.net/ > and
click on the Node Info tab.  There's lots more IRLP information
there too.  There are nodes all over the world.

There are also special nodes called "reflectors".  These are
computers that allow more than two nodes to talk with each other
at the same time.  An example is the Western reflector, 9250.

Don't rag chew on the local repeater while connected to the IRLP;
will dominate their repeater with the constant conversation.

Go easy on the IRLP; if you are using it a couple of hours a day,
you may be wearing out your welcome and you may have future
connections blocked by the remote nodes.

You may notice that the audio on the repeater does not have bass
frequencies.  An IRLP requirement is to NOT transmit any PL
tones, courtesy beeps, hang time, or CW/voice ids.  We pick up
the receiver audio and use a filter that cuts off frequencies
below 250 Hz.  We add a new PL tone back in at the repeater
transmitter.

Many thanks to Glenn, WD8DUV, for adding this linking. - AA8K