ARCARS

January 2011

Meeting Minutes

The meeting was called to order on January 9, 2010 with 16 members and guests present.

TREASURES REPORT: Suzanne reported that our balance is $171.50

DISASTER REPORT: Andrew (KC8SPD) described the efforts involving ARCARS at the Dunn Paper company fire that occurred on December 2^nd. The fire call came in at about 7am and ARCARS responded to provide food and shelter to the first responders at the scene. Members were present until after 9pm. The fire was blamed by faulty electrical that sparked onto large bails of rolled paper.

Terry (KD8JHU) donated a microwave oven and Emergency lights (mobile vision) to be used in the field during relief efforts.

NET REPORT: Edgar (KC8VLV) reported that the net is doing well. Edgar went on to report that there have been some changes to the National Weather stations that support this area of Michigan.

SPECIAL EVENTS: There was a discussion about upcoming events that are likely to be supported by ARCARS in 2011. Some of the events included; The Feast of St Clair, Museum Ship Weekend, 4H Fair, Field Day, & Boat Night. Some of these events generate donations for the American Red Cross.

CLUB STATION: Paul (KG8OU) donated a computer for the club’s K8ARC packet station on 144.010MHz and it should be operational soon. Chip (KC8SHP) donated an Echo Link card for the repeater. Andrew mentioned connecting it to a laptop computer for limited Echo Link access.

NEWSLETTER: 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: Paul (KG8OU), and Andrew (KC8SPD) performed a repair to the truck heater fan. The racks for the tower sections still need to be installed.

OLD BUSINESS: The ID card project is coming along. There are barcodes on the cards that include medical and insurance information.

First Aid and CPR training will be offered very soon. We will likely incorporate it into a daylong event that will yield the necessary certifications. There will be more information to come.

Orders for ARCARS apparel are being processed by Russ (KD8FRE).

NEW BUSINESS: The Poker House Fund Raiser event has been discussed with the Chapter House management. The paperwork has been submitted that will enable us to raise donations by hosting these events. These sessions can be held 4 times a year and last 4 days for each time. The Poker House is booked for the year but we have been added to their waiting list in case of cancellations. There will be a 30 day lead time if we will be hosting one or more of these events.

DX SPOTS/ SPECIAL EVENTS: Paul (KG8OU) reported that he worked a station in Korea on January 9^th on the 40 meter band.

MOTION TO ADJOURN: by Jeri (KC8YRQ), seconded by Edgar (KC8VLV), approved.

There was a demo of our Google Doc’s system located on docs@arcars.org and mail.arcars.org

ANNOUNCEMENTS and other info:

The ARCARS & International Traders Net is held every Tuesday evening at 8pm on the 146.800 K8ARC 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