Chesapeake Amateur Television Society (CATS), W3BAB Meeting Minutes
On January 9, 2010, the Chesapeake Amateur Television Society (CATS) held its first meeting for 2010. The meeting was conducted in Grady’s (WB3JUV) shop in Laurel, Md. Presiding over the meeting was President McCue (K3UQQ).
Other attendees included Heru Walmsley (W3WVV), Grady Ball (WB3JUV), Tom Ferrell (W3RCJ), Bob Martin (KC3FI), Bob Curry (KC3VO), Jim Busick (WY3W) and John Watson (NY3K).
President McCue distributed an agenda for the meeting and the following
items were discussed:
Dues of $25 per person for 2010 are now payable by all CATS members.
The Executive Committee of the CATS was provided a draft budget for 2010 by John Watson on January 4, 2010. The budget needs to be approved by both the Executive Committee and the CATS membership.
A Nominating Committee for the CATS March elections needs to be established under our By-Laws. Bob Martin volunteered to serve on the Committee. (Subsequent to the meeting, Jim Busick and Stan Novack (K3DRP) volunteered to serve on the Committee.)
The membership of both the Repeater Committee and the Technical Committee needs to be established under our By-Laws. President McCue, John Watson, and Grady Ball volunteered to serve on the Repeater Committee. Grady Ball volunteered to serve on the Technical Committee.
Fred Merker (K3TAZ) has acquired some TV equipment from WJZ and donated it to the Club. Several monitors from the donation were at Grady Ball’s shop.
President McCue decided that the SP-7000 ATV preamp currently located at the Laurel Hospital ATV site should be relocated to the TABCO ATV site.
President McCue discussed his ideas for locating Club awards and plaques at the Laurel EOC if there was room. After further discussion, Grady Ball said the CATS could locate such materials at his shop.
President McCue then discussed the TABCO ATV site. Tasks that still need to be completed were the installation of the 1200 MHZ transmitter and antenna, repair of the camera on the TABCO roof, and the move of the preamp (see (6) above) to TABCO. A team of President McCue, Bill Rhone (WB3LOT) Grady Ball, and Allan Mead (KB3NAC) was assigned responsibility for this. There was also a discussion regarding the need to get the Pennsylvania ATVers back in the loop regarding TABCO and finalizing ATV communications from Pennsylvania down through DC.
No particular problems were noted regarding the operation of the Laurel and Westside ATV repeaters.
John Watson
March 13, 2010 President Ken McCue, K3UQQ, called the meeting to order at 9:17 A.M. The meeting was held in the offices of Ball and Ball Communications, 14213 Cherry Lane Court, Laurel, Maryland. 15 people attended the meeting. Ken McCue K3UQQ (President) John Watson NY3K (Treasurer) Al (Brownie) Brown KZ3AB (Recording Secretary) Bob Martin KC3FI Grady Ball WB3JUV Bill Boston N3DCI Bill Thompson N3DC Robert Curry KC3VO Heru Walmsley W3WVV Jim Busick, Sr WY3W Fred Merker K3TAZ Bill Rhone WB3LOT Tom Farrell W3RCJ Daniel Sullivan N3OPM Robert Lee KM3DR - Secretary's Report: "Brownie" Brown (KZ3AB) reported that there was no February meeting due to the severe snow storms. "Brownie" did not attend the January meeting but Treasurer John Watson (NY3K) sent an e-mail of "un-official" minutes for the January meeting. A motion was made, seconded and approved to accept the January "un-official" minutes with one correction; Bill Boston (N3DCI) was in attendance. - Treasurer's Report: Treasurer John Watson (NY3K) gave an oral summary of the e-mailed treasurer's report, as of March 13, 2010, to all members. John also announced that he is accepting dues for 2010 and any past dues owed. - Election of Officers: Nominating Committee Chairman Bob Martin (KC3FI) offered the slate of candidates up for election. After asking for additional candidates at the meeting and hearing none, the slate was closed. Since all officers ran unopposed, the secretary cast a single unopposed vote and the slate of candidates was elected. They are: President Bob Curry KC3VO Vice-president Jim Busick, Sr WY3W Treasurer John Watson NY3K Secretary Al (Brownie) Brown KZ3AB The Board of Directors members are: Bob Curry KC3VO Jim Busick, Sr WY3W Ken McCue K3UQQ John Watson NY3K and Bob Martin KC3FI Their term will begin as of the next meeting on Saturday, April 10, 2010. - Bill Boston made a motion to thank Nominating Committee Chairman Bob Martin (KC3FI) and committee members Jim Busick, Sr (WY3W) and Stan Novack (K3DRP) for all their hard work. The motion was seconded and approved. - Old Business: * Laurel and 'West Side' Repeaters: No peculiar problems were noted regarding the operation of the Laurel and West Side ATV repeaters. * Move of the 434MHz pre-amp from Laurel Hospital to TABCO: Ken McCue (K3UQQ) will work with Grady Ball (WB3JUV) to move the pre-amp and conduct tests before the next CATS meeting (Saturday, April 10th). Fred Merker (K3TAZ) and Bob Curry (KC3VO) offered their hands-on help. Bob Martin (KC3FI) offered to watch on ATV and report changes in signal quality. * Move of the 145.430 MHz repeater: There has been an on-going discussion to move the 145.430 MHz repeater to the Laurel Hospital. Discussion was tabled. * Flea Market Equipment: As noted in the January minutes, Fred Merker (K3TAZ) donated some analog TV monitors to the Club. They are at Grady Ball's (WB3JUV) shop, 14213 Cherry Lane Court, Laurel, MD for anyone to pickup and use. Grady would like to clear these items from his shop as soon as possible. * VZOChat: VZOChat is starting to be used more often by CATS and BRATS during the nets. VZOChat provides better quality pictures than CamStreams over the Internet with very little video lag time. You may download the free software from: <http://www.vzochat.com>. - New Business: * There was discussion to purchase the 147.345 MHz repeater and relocate it to the Laurel Hospital. The 147.345 MHz repeater is now located at a school in Baltimore that is scheduled for renovations. It will go off the air in May, 2010. The owner is asking $1,000 for the hardware. The frequency can *not* be transferred. T-MARC, The Mid-Atlantic Repeater Council, coordinates Amateur VHF and UHF repeater operations to keep interference problems to a minimum. The new owner of the repeater hardware would be required to apply for a (possibly) different frequency with T-MARC and be put at the end of the waiting list. There are at least two other applicants waiting for a two-meter set of repeater frequency pairs and they have been waiting for years. There are *no* two-meter repeater frequency pairs available at this time. * Bob Storm (WB3EAF) needs help with some tower work and turning his 3.480 GHz dish toward Towson. Ken McCue (K3UQQ) and Fred Merker (K3TAZ) volunteered to help. If you'd like to help, contact Ken McCue (K3UQQ) at: <[email protected]>. - Announcements: * The Greater Baltimore Hamboree and Computerfest and ARRL Maryland State Convention will be held on Saturday and Sunday, March 27 & 28, 2010 at the Maryland State Fairgrounds, 2200 York Road, Timonium, Maryland. The meeting was adjourned at 11:01 A.M. The next CATS meeting is scheduled for Saturday,April 10, 2010 in the offices of Ball and BallCommunications, 14213 Cherry Lane Court, Laurel,Maryland at 9:00 a.m. Respectfully submitted, /s/ E. Allen (Brownie) Brown, KZ3AB, Secretary
April 10, 2010 Meeting
Meeting Attendees
NY3K, KA3TCC, W3RCJ, K3UQQ, WY3W, KC3FI, W3WVV, N3DC, WB3JUV, N3DCI, KC3VO, KA3ZTC, K3BRS, KB3KSB
The meeting was opened at 9:30 AM by President McCue (K3UQQ) and an Agenda for the meeting was distributed. NY3K made a motion to install the new CATS officers, which was seconded by WB3JUV, and carried. The new CATS officers were installed.
New CATS President, Bob Curry
(KC3VO), then took charge of the meeting.
President Curry advised that he was working on building a 200+ watt amplifier for the CATS ATV repeater at the Laurel Hospital. The lack of the audio subcarrier at the Laurel ATV repeater was discussed and it was decided that KC3VO, WB3JUV, and NY3K would go to the repeater site to fix the problem. (Subsequently, NY3K repaired the problem when making emergency repairs to the ATV receiver.)
There was a discussion of shielding and feed-through capacitors as they relate to repeater kerchunking prevention.
K3UQQ said that the 1.2 GHz ATV antenna had been erected at TABCO and that the 434 MHz preamplifier from the Laurel Hospital site was installed at TABCO.
There was a discussion of the 3480 MHz signal and how reflections might yield usable results rather than direct reception with the dish antenna.
K3UQQ strongly urged that the CATS acquire their own test equipment for placement at TABCO.
KC3VO discussed how the M Squared loops at TABCO used for 434 MHz receive had a lobe of less sensitive reception that might be remedied by rotating one of the loops 90 degrees. He also noted that he had repaired 5 linear amplifiers for 3480 MHz (the CATS had one and the rest were from our Pennsylvania friends).
There was a discussion as to why many of our ATV friends in PA were AWOL, especially Gary Blacksmith.
N3DC and KA3UQQ discussed digital ATV and concluded that the CATS should not consider it for their repeaters at this point.
There was a discussion regarding the possible dismantling of the 147.345 2-meter repeater due to loss of the repeater site. It was suggested that N3HIA or WB3LOT might be on the trail of a new alternative location for that repeater. It was also suggested that the CATS use the 145.33 MHz repeater for the April 14, 2010 CATS net as a test in case we have to stop using the 147.345 repeater.
WB3JUV discussed a device called the “Bird Dog” which allows you to find easily a myriad of satellite signals.
Apparently TABCO has lost the NASA TV signal and a discussion was held regarding alternative ways of acquiring the NASA signal. WB3JUV suggested that his “Bird Dog” device might be of use in this endeavor.
K3UQQ discussed using 1.2 GHz mobile to help test the WY3W temporary ATV location in Jessup.
N3DCI stated that K3TAZ had acquired some excess electronic equipment from Channel 13 TV that was available to the CATS for free. Some members were familiar with this, but others were not as they did not get the email from K3TAZ regarding the equipment.
K3UQQ suggested that the CATS fund a 3480 ATV station to be wet up in the TABCO apartment of KB3NAC.
WY3W suggested that the CATS erect a cylindrical tower on top of TABCO to boost our signal strength and get above the myriad of other antennas on the roof there. However, it was recognized that getting permission to do so, and then getting the tower up to the roof might be very problematic.
President Curry adjourned the meeting around 11:30 AM. Several members then assisted in a demonstration of 1.2 GHz transmit and receive using various pieces of equipment, including N3DC’s spectrum analyzer, and 1.2 transmit/receive equipment from KA3ZTC, K3UQQ, and NY3K.
Submitted by John Watson, NY3K
May 08, 2010 President Bob Curry, KC3VO, called the meeting to order at 9:46 A.M. The meeting was held in the offices of Ball and Ball Communications, 14213 Cherry Lane Court, Laurel, Maryland. Nine people attended the meeting. Robert Curry KC3VO (President) John Watson NY3K (Treasurer) Al (Brownie) Brown KZ3AB (Secretary) Ken McCue K3UQQ Grady Ball WB3JUV Heru Walmsley W3WVV Betty Walmsley KA3RRK Bill Rhone WB3LOT John Hagland KA3ZTC - Secretary's Report: John, NY3K, kept the unofficial minutes for the April 10 meeting. A motion was made, seconded and passed that John's, NY3K, unofficial minutes be accepted as reported as the official CATS meeting minutes. - Treasurer's Report: Treasurer John Watson, NY3K, gave an oral summary of the e-mailed treasurer's report, as of May 8, 2010, to all members. There was one expenditure of $58.29 for a repeater receiver power supply that was needed to replace one that had failed. A motion was made, seconded and passed to approve the money spent. - Old Business: * At the last meeting, President Bob, KC3VO, stated he was building a 200+ watt linear amplifier to be installed at the CATS ATV repeater at the Laurel Regional Hospital. Work continues on this linear amplifier. * The cause of the audio *not* being repeated from the 434.000 MHz input into the CATS ATV repeater was discovered and repaired by John, NY3K. It was caused mainly by misadjustments in the receiver. It seems to be working fine now. Kudos to John. - New Business: * Ken, K3UQQ, said he would try to install the 1.2 GHz transmitter at TABCO before June 12, 2010. He is concerned about splitting the video between the 3480 MHz and 1.2 GHz transmitters since with two outputs, the video may not be as strong as it is with just one. However, we won't know how much of a problem this will be until we try it. If it is a problem, options to resolve it would include installing a video amplifier or not transmitting on 3480 all the time. - Announcements: * Ken, K3UQQ, announced that the 147.345 voice repeater may either be relocated to a site in Edgewater, Cockeysville or near the current site near southeast Baltimore. The meeting was adjourned at 11:39 A.M. The next CATS meeting is scheduled for Saturday, June 12, 2010 in the offices of Ball and Ball Communications, 14213 Cherry Lane Court, Laurel, Maryland at 9:00 a.m. Respectfully submitted, /s/ E. Allen (Brownie) Brown, KZ3AB Secretary
August 14, 2010 President Bob Curry, KC3VO, called the meeting to orderat 9:19 A.M. The meeting was held in the offices of Balland Ball Communications, 14213 Cherry Lane Court, Laurel, Maryland. 13 people attended the meeting. Robert Curry KC3VO (President) John Watson NY3K (Treasurer) Al (Brownie) Brown KZ3AB (Secretary) Jim Cross WI3N Ken McCue K3UQQ Grady Ball WB3JUV Heru Walmsley W3WVV Bill Rhone WB3LOT John Hagland KA3ZTC Bob Martin KC3FI Bill Boston N3DCI Bill Thompson N3DC Jim Busick WY3W The meeting was started by Jim Cross, WI3N, who presentedinformation about the 140-foot tower to be erected at thenew Laurel Police headquarters. Jim submitted a list of amateur radio and television antennas that, hopefully, will be purchased and mounted on the tower by the city. Heru Walmsley, W3WVV, opened a discussion on 3-Dtelevision. A motion was made and seconded to start using the 146.760 MHz repeater as the CATS net and chat frequency. The motion was passed. - Secretary's Report: John, NY3K, kept the unofficial minutes for the July meeting. A motion was made and seconded to accept the unofficial minutes as the official minutes. The motion was passed. - Treasurer's Report: Treasurer John Watson, NY3K, gave an oral summary of the e-mailed treasurer's report, as of August 14, 2010, to all members. - Old Business: No old business was discussed. - New Business: John Watson, NY3K, and Ken McCue, K3UQQ, volunteered toconduct a range survey of the Laurel ATV repeater. - Announcements: There will be a tailgate hamfest at the Carroll Countyfairgrounds in Westminster on Sunday, August 15th. The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 A.M. The next CATS meeting is scheduled for Saturday,September 17, 2010 in the offices of Ball and BallCommunications, 14213 Cherry Lane Court, Laurel, Maryland at 9:00 a.m. Respectfully submitted, /s/ E. Allen (Brownie) Brown, KZ3AB Secretary