Minutes of Meeting – May 05, 2009

The meeting was called to order by the President, Mike, KC9AOM, at 7:00PM. Since many of the members come in about 6:30, there is a nice opportunity to socialize prior to the start of the meeting and we take advantage of it! Mike reminded everyone to sign the Attendance Sheet .

All indicated that they had received the Newsletter and a motion was made by W9EEL and seconded by KA9SYP that the Minutes be approved as printed. All were in favor.

It was announced that Dick, WA9STB, had surgery last week and seemed to get thru it OK. He’ll get additional info on the results later this week. We are all praying for his quick recovery at home.

Our Treasurer, Tim, KB9VE, was not present, so no report was available.

.82 Repeater Report – Steve, WA9CWE, reported that after indications of poor sensitivity Lectro Communications went up and looked at the RF Package. It seemed about normal. The Technical Committee then went up and cleaned connectors, etc. looking for improvement. There still seems to be a loss of sensitivity. It was on the lower antenna for a couple of weeks, and was switched back up to the upper one on Sunday evening. That was an improvement, but still not normal. We have received a quotation for $2,491.80 to replace the antenna and feedline completely. That would take all of our Treasury, so we’re going to look for help from the EMA Communications budget. After further discussion about the antenna relay as a possible cause it was moved by Charlie, K9TZJ, and seconded by Gene, KB9WI, that we spend $480 for the installation portion and hope to get the remainder from the EMA budget. All were in favor. Steve will try to get up there and look it over again.

.09 Repeater Report – The IRLP was down for a day or so due, we think, to the IP address changing at the EOC. It should be up and going again.

UHF Repeater – Nothing further.

Web Site – Paul, KC9BKZ, reported that it was up-to-date and he needs additional articles. The listing of membership is current.

EMA Report – Tom, KA9SYP, reported on the high level of activity over the last two weeks due to the Flu Pandemic Activity. The Health Dept. has a very good plan that was Table-topped and Full Scale exercised last year. They only had to update it a bit for this nationwide situation. The Madison County Plan was so good that the State got a copy to upgrade theirs. There have been meetings at the County Level almost daily, the NIMS forms are prepared, and our County is ready. There was a meeting last night and every police chief and fire department chief showed up along with all the other appropriate organizations. The elected officials are on board and are making decisions. The additional stockpile of drugs has been received and the PPE’s get delivered on Thursday.

Other – Gene, KB9WI, talked about using IRLP while he was in FL two years ago, but not having it available this year to talk back to our Anderson node. Also he reported on an Albany, GA club that promoted and assisted the sales of Weather Alert Radios by programming them for the buyers at various stores. He wondered if our Club would have interest in getting with a TV station to promote it, and to provide that assistance.

Upcoming Activities – Dayton Hamvention on May 15,16,17, the White River Run on that same Saturday (we’re not planning to participate), Run-The-Mounds in November, and the MCARC Hamfest, the first Saturday in August (?).

Weather Update – Tom, W9EEL, mentioned that at last months’ meeting he talked about what would happen if the jet stream “snapped” from south to north quickly. That is what actually happened and as a result we missed a lot of bad weather opportunity.

Correspondence – The ARRL has a program that rebates some renewal and new member fees to the Club. We concluded that the League needs the money more than we do…It’ll do more for our hobby. We encourage everyone to join the ARRL.

Field Day is June 27 & 28. The MCARC will participate as usual.

Old Business – None

New Business – None

Doug, N9DR, is back in the area having found a new job in Fishers. He’s moved back from ElPaso, TX.

Cautt, N9ZAF, has a new VX8 that he just received. He hasn’t even had it long enough to program it yet. The base radio is about $389.

Charlie, K9TZJ, has a friend who has a Hornet Tri-band beam that he wants to sell.

Technical Presentation – Tom, W9EEL, gave a detailed presentation on “Shannon’s Law”. This law predicts the maximum data transfer rate based upon a number of factors. Using this information Tom explained how it applies to the narrowed channel spacing and why the deviation must be reduced, etc. He also discussed how this applies to the newly transmitted “Digital TV” signals. This presentation was appreciated by those in attendance.

Gene, KB9WI, won the door prize.

The meeting was adjourned at 2050. There were 15 present.

Respectfully Submitted,
Steve Riley, WA9CWE, Secretary, ARC