MINUTES OF GENERAL MEMBERSHIP

MEETING OF SILVER SPRINGS

RADIO CLUB, INC.

March 15, 2004

The meeting was called to order by President Bill Britt, KQ4UJ, at 7:30 p.m. Present at the meeting were Officers, President Bill Britt, KQ4UJ, Vice President Tony Blalock, K4OCF, Secretary Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA, Treasurer Johnny Williams, K4ANJ, and Board Members Bill Miller. N6WGM, and Ernie O'Berry, K4OSM. There were 28 in attendance, including 24 members and four visitors. A quorum was present.

The invocation was given by Gene Layerd.

The membership recited the pledge of allegiance, led by the Board..

The membership introduced themselves.

Upon motion made, seconded and adopted, the Minutes of the February General Membership Meeting and March Board Meeting were approved as published in The Oracle.

Upon motion made, seconded and adopted, the Treasurer's report was approved as published in The Oracle.

MEMBERSHIP: Membership application of John Breimeier, N2HK, and Associate membership application by Sal Collura were submitted and unanimously approved.

MARS: Bill Britt, KQ4UJ, asked Johnny Williams to report on MARS, and Johnny reported that a few phone patches are being run.

MERT: A MERT General Meeting will be held the first Saturday in April

WALK-AMERICA: President Bill Britt, KQ4UJ, reported that he had not had a response from the March of Dimes on Walk-America.

NEW BUSINESS:

Discussion was submitted to the membership, upon notice given at the February General Membership Meeting and notice contained in the minutes published in the March Oracle. Upon motion made, seconded and unanimously adopted, dues for calendar year 2005 will increase by $8.00 per category, making the dues as follows:

There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA, Secretary

MINUTES OF MEETING OF

BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF

SILVER SPRINGS RADIO CLUB, INC.

April 4, 2004

The meeting was called to order by President, Bill Britt, KQ4UJ, at 7:30 p.m.

Present at the meeting were President Bill Britt, KQ4UJ, Vice President Tony Blalock, K4OCF, Secretary Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA, Treasurer, Johnny Williams K4ANJ, and Board Members Bill Miller, N6WGM. Board Members Richard Cardinali, KG4TLE, and Ernie O'Berry, K4OSM, were not present. Also present at the meeting were members Ken Frantz, KF4QID, Phillip Frantz, KF4QIC, and Donna Williams. A quorum was present.

The minutes of the March 2003 General Membership Meeting were approved as distributed to the Board.

The Treasurer's report was approved as distributed to the Board.

The Board discussed hosting a tailgate event the second weekend in December.

President Bill Britt, KQ4UJ, advised that he had not yet had a response from the March of Dimes Walk-Athon, and that he would contact the organizers the week of April 4, 2004.

There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA, Secretary

April 2004

Compiled by Bill Britton KB4VOL/AAM4AFL

April 24/25
Gainesville, Alachua County Fairgrounds
SR 222 ½ mile East of SE 24,
Talk-in on 146.820,
INFO: Pat, K4HFJ (352)378-0512

May 2
St. Petersburg, FREE!
at Lake Maggorie Park (SUNDAY ONLY)
39^th Avenue South and M. L. King Street,
Talk-in on 146.050,
INFO: Dee, N4GD, n4gd@arrl.net.

May 8
Largo, at Chester's Electronic Supply,
311 Missouri Avenue North;
INFO: Len, K4BDP, len@ij.net

May 22
St. Petersburg Wormfest 2004,
at Freedom Lake Park,
49^th Street & U.S. 19,
talk-in on 146.850;
INFO: Greg, N4XQU,n4xqu@ij.net

June 5
Ft. McCoy at Community Center,
talk-in on 147.360;
INFO: Tom, W4BTB (352)546-2448

June 5
Titusville, FREE!
at Fox Lake Park,
4400 Fox Lake Road,
talk-in on 145.490;
INFO:Bob, N6USP (321) 264-2622

For a complete listing of Hamfests in Florida, please visit the Florida Ham Website at its new location,
http:// bellsouthpwp.net/k/b/kb4vol

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

Andy Anderson, N4JAQ

(352) 629-5450

11 Element 2 meter Beam, $30.00

CDR Antenna Rotor & Control, $115.00

Complete Mobile Antenna and Radio, High

Sierra Screw Driver Antenna and T5430S

Kenwood Radio, $650.00.

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

Bill Clayton, N4QYQ

(352) 694-7869

Yaesu 150 HT, NEW in box, Charger, extra cord for car-powered, Cost $175.00, Sacrifice - $75.00.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts and we are never, ever the same."

Thank you, Dick Richardson, KF4YJI, for sending me this profound thought. The Editor.

"It Seems to Us..." BPL: What Now?

By David Sumner, K1ZZ
ARRL Chief Executive Officer
March 26, 2004

Editor's note: Typically, only ARRL members get to read the "It Seems to Us ..." editorials that run each month in QST. We're posting this editorial that appears in the May 2004 issue of QST in the hope that both ARRL members and nonmembers might appreciate it and find it informative.

Understanding the issue and the best way to approach the FCC with comments is key in favorably catching the Commission's ear.

An important date is looming on the horizon: May 3, the deadline for comments on the FCC's Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on Broadband over Power Line (BPL) systems, ET Docket No. 04-37.

The purpose of the NPRM is not to allow BPL to be deployed. BPL systems may now operate under the existing Part 15 rules. If the FCC did nothing, BPL systems could continue to be installed and operated. Licensed radio services, including the Amateur Radio Service, would continue to be

The NPRM, which follows a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) in which the FCC sought information about BPL technology and the interference environment, does not propose to change any of that. Indeed, the NPRM reaffirms that the "no interference" principle must remain inviolate.

The NPRM proposes new requirements for BPL systems. The intent is to make it easier to track down who is responsible for interference and to make sure that the BPL system operator can immediately take whatever steps are necessary to mitigate interference. These include requirements that BPL systems "shall incorporate adaptive interference mitigation techniques" as well as "a shut-down feature to deactivate units found to cause harmful interference."

These proposed requirements need quite a bit of fleshing out to afford any real protection. They offer no practical relief from interference for mobile stations. We would have preferred a decision simply to ban BPL as a technology that stands to do more harm than good. The record in the NOI proceeding certainly would support such a decision.

Still, the FCC's proposals go a couple of steps in a positive direction. Certainly they should offer no comfort to the BPL industry, which is on clear notice from both the FCC and from us that interference will not be tolerated. Someone who makes an investment in BPL will have no grounds for whining when they lose their shirts.

So, why the hue and cry against BPL? There are several reasons.

There are BPL proponents who from the very beginning have denied that interference is a problem. They have continued to deny it even in the face of clear and mounting evidence to the contrary. Their comments filed in response to the NOI were laughable, as we pointed out on this page last October.

We have the FCC Chairman acting as a self-described "cheerleader" for BPL. Chairman Michael Powell says he will "welcome the day when every electrical outlet will have the potential to offer high-speed broadband and a plethora of high-tech applications to all Americans." Especially galling was to hear him say on February 12 that BPL could be "the great broadband hope for a good part of rural America." Anyone who has taken a serious look at the economics knows that this is a false promise. BPL is not a low-cost option, especially in sparsely populated areas. Who needs wires anyway, when Broadband Wireless Access is just around the corner?

We have the power companies' spotty record of resolving power line interference caused by electrostatic discharge. How can we believe they will do any better fixing problems caused by a technology with which they have no experience? There is one sentence in the NPRM that is guaranteed to arouse the ire of any active amateur. In discussing why it believes the likelihood of BPL interference is low, the Commission says: "We...expect that, in practice, many amateurs already orient their antennas to minimize the reception of emissions from nearby electric power lines."

Finally, the NPRM does not deal at all with a problem that concerns many amateurs almost as much as interference from BPL: interference to BPL. Yes, Part 15 says that "interference must be accepted that may be caused by the operation of an authorized radio station." Try explaining that to your drunken neighbor when he can't download his dirty movie because you're on 20 meters.

Still and all, the best approach in responding to the NPRM is a positive approach. Yes, we would have preferred a ban on BPL, but the FCC hates to pick winners and losers. They prefer to "let the marketplace decide." The rules they have already proposed make it even less likely that the marketplace will decide in favor of BPL, but that is someone else's concern. Our concern is to support the FCC's proposals as far as they go (remember, they're better than the status quo), to document exactly how they fall short of providing the protection that over-the-air services--especially the Amateur Radio Service--need and deserve, and to provide specific proposals for improvement.

The improvements we have in mind include:

Performance standards for interference mitigation. Mitigation must be available 24/7, and must be immediate upon receipt of a complaint. The BPL data base must be readily accessible to the public and kept up to date.

Because mitigation is impractical in the case of mobile stations, a radiated emission limit sufficient to protect mobiles must be established and enforced.

BPL systems must be tested for rules compliance by an independent laboratory prior to initiation of service.

To ensure an informed marketplace, marketers of BPL services must give clear notice to consumers that licensed radio services have priority and that the delivery of BPL services therefore cannot be guaranteed. Receipt of this notice must be acknowledged in writing prior to the signing of any contract for service.

There must be severe penalties for non-compliance with these rules.

If you want to file comments -- and we hope you will -- read the NPRM first! Pay particular attention to paragraphs 39-43; the FCC asks for comments on several aspects of its proposals. The NPRM is available on the FCC Web site in Microsoft Word and as an Adobe PDF file.

How the FCC handles BPL is important, but the most important decisions about BPL deployment will not be made at the FCC. They will be made in corporate boardrooms; the smart money will choose to go elsewhere, not to BPL.

(The above article was reprinted from the ARRL Website. All amateur operators need to know more about this important issue. The voices of the amateur operators must be raised in order to be heard by the FCC authorities.)

EDITORIAL

While preparing this issue of The Oracle, your editor stumbled across FCC Enforcement Letters on the ARRL Website. The fact that there is evidence that such behavior might be occurring is absolutely appalling! There were 19 letters posted on the website. A large number of the letters involved changing of call signs. Now, there is nothing wrong with changing your call sign, as long as that process is not abused. One amateur operator had changed his (or her) call sign twelve (yes, a dozen) times in less than two years. Furthermore, the amateur had alternated back and forth among three or four call signs with very little time between changes. Twelve changes in two years is a change every two months (60 days). Incredible!

Other FCC Enforcement Letters involved the sale of uncertified equipment, or equipment capable of transmitting on the citizens band AND on amateur frequencies. Sale of such equipment is a violation of FCC Rules.

Many of the FCC Enforcement Letters involved transmission on the amateur frequencies by unlicensed individuals, there was one letter involving allowing an unlicensed relative to transmit on the amateur's station, and there were several vessel operators and over-the-road truck drivers (not licensed hams) operating on the amateur frequencies.

We, as licensed amateur radio operators, enjoy the privilege of operating on the amateur frequencies. Each amateur is required to operate in a responsible manner, failing which that amateur may very well lose the privilege. Unfortunately, if operating frequencies are lost because of the irresponsible actions of a minority, then all hams lose.

Your editor recognizes that we are all human and all of us make mistakes - the difference is that most of us try to avoid repeating those mistakes. The few who maliciously continue illegal operation are costing you and me. The cost must be assessed against those who continue irresponsible and illegal radio operations. Otherwise, the amateur bands will become another cesspool such as the citizens band frequency.

We cannot allow that to happen!

Your Editor.

Silver Springs Radio Club, Inc.

CLUB MEETINGS are the third Monday of each month 7:30 PM at Green Clover Hall in the Marion County Government Complex on Southeast 25th Avenue. Coffee & Doughnuts are available.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS meetings are the first Monday of each month, 7:30 PM at Marion County Facilities Management Office.

K4GSO, club station, Green Clover Hall, is available to all members. Phone number is 620-7210. Contact Ken, KF4QID at 489-0571.

MARS, club station located at 161 Oak Circle, Silver Springs Shores. Phone number is 680-1528. Contact Bill KQ4UJ, at 694-1605.

LICENSE TESTING, on the second Monday of each odd number month, except July, 7:30 PM at Green Clover Hall. Call Jack Scott at 622-4447.

RADIO NETS are conducted over the club repeater, K4GSO, on 146.610 MHz (-600).

LADIES AUXILIARY. Sunshine - Provides flowers and get-well cards for members or members' family. Also orders SSRC logo shirts and caps, Barbara Million, KE4ZTW, 694-5744.

NOTE: For change of address or corrections (with SSRC) contact the Membership Chairman.

SSRC NET, every Tuesday at 7:30 (local time). Contact Jeanette at (352) 489-0571.

MERT (Marion County Emergency Radio Communications Team) NET, every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. LOCAL time. Contact Charlie Lord, NR2F at (352) 489-9185.

Repeater Trustee,(146.610)Bill KQ4UJ, at 694-1605;

President Bill Britt, KQ4UJ 694-1605

V. President Tony Blalock, K4OCF 685-2028

Secretary Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA 489-0571

Treasurer John O. Williams, K4ANJ 685-2028

Trustee Bill Britt, KQ4UJ 694-1605

Board Members:

Richard Cardinali, KG4TLE 690-7500

William Miller, N6WGM 873-2017

Ernie O'Berry, K4OSM 732-0374

Oracle Editor: Jeanette Frantz, KG4DJA 489-0571

Oracleeditor@prodigy.net

Membership Ken Frantz, KF4QID 489-0571

Ladies'

Auxiliary Barbara Million, KE4ZTW 694-5744

Email: funyet2@earthlink.net

Silver Springs Radio Club Website:

Silver Springs WebSite

Ocala Radio Amateur's Candid Letter of Enlightenment

SILVER SPRINGS RADIO CLUB

P.O. BOX 787

SILVER SPRINGS, FL 34489

April 2004