ARCARS
June 2010
Meeting Minutes
The meeting was called to order on June 6, 2010 with 18 members and guests present. This month’s meeting was held aboard the Huron Lightship. The Huron was utilized because a Ham Radio Museum Ships event ended immediately before the meeting started. Those that participated in that event logged 101 contacts. The main focus of the meeting was to cover the upcoming Field Day event held later this month from June 24th through the 27th. Consequently several topics that are normally covered were skipped in favor of concentrating on Field Day plans.
MOTION: to accept the May minutes by Angela (KD8HMS), seconded by Victor (WD8DWR), approved.
TREASURES REPORT: Suzanne reported that our balance stands at $605.00.
DISASTER REPORT: The disaster report was not addressed at this month’s meeting.
NET REPORT: The Net Report was not addressed at this month’s meeting.
SPECIAL EVENTS: The focus of the meeting was on the Field Day event.
CLUB STATION: The 146.800 (K8ARC) repeater is operational and working well. Remember to enable the pl tone of 100Hz on the input signal.
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. Mark (N8EGJ) encouraged everyone to visit the bulletins page to view new information and links that have been added.
CLUB PROJECT: Club projects were not addressed at this month’s meeting.
OLD BUSINESS: The Feast of the St Clair event held May 27th through the 29th was a success. ARCARS members were on site helping with security communicators at the event form 11pm until 6am each evening. Thank you to all that supported and participated in this event.
NEW BUSINESS: Last Month Andrew (KC8SPD) mentioned the need to purchase a trailer to house and move radio and antenna support structures to the field. He has found an appropriate unit from a dealer that is willing to sell it to us at cost. The 16’ by 18’ trailer is available to us for $4,000. Andrew approached the Board of Directors and they have offered to cover $1,000 of the cost. Andrew has pledged to personally match that, leaving $2,000 to be raised by the efforts of the club members. Andrew encouraged the members to work together as a group to discover a way to generate the money. The trailer needs to be purchased as soon as possible as we will need to store and move a large amount of equipment that is currently stored in an area that will no longer be available for this use.
Andrew reported that Dyke Security will install an alarm system in the truck and trailer to help protect the equipment.
A currently unnamed member of the local amateur radio community has provided some equipment to be used by ARCARS. One of the items is a Kenwood 2000 transceiver. Andrew is sending a thank you letter in behalf of ARCARS.
FIELD DAY: This annual event is scheduled for June 26th & 27th. We will be able to camp on Thursday the 24th and set up will be commenced on Friday per ARRL rules. The event once again will be held at the St Clair County Park in Goodells, MI. (Many thanks to the support of the Parks and recreation department) it has been decided that we will set up a CW station utilizing the club’s IC706, SSB station utilizing an FT450 and the necessary power supplies and antenna tuners. One tower will be erected to support antennas, and an additional tower will be on reserve in case we elect to enlarge the operation. We are planning to use a HF vertical, and wire antennas. The size of the event will be contingent on the amount of participants willing and able to set up and tear down the equipment. A potluck dinner is being planned for Saturday evening at 6pm. A request was, made for the secretary to compose an email to circulate for the head count and compile a list of dishes to pass that will be brought to the meal. The list will then be sent to Jeri (KC8YRQ) for coordination of the meal. Chicken is being planned to be purchased and the expected cost is about $3 per person. Paper plates and plastic ware coffee pots and associated time are likely to be provided by the Red Cross chapter.
Mark (N8KPV) is looking into refrigeration and power available to participants at the site.
Wednesday June 9th items are expected to be gathered for the event as well as members to visit the park to choose an appropriate site to hold the event.
It is strongly recommended that you bring any tools that you have typically used at field day. A list is being planned to document all the tools required during field day for future events. Please bring coolers with ice to preserve your food and beverages. Flashlights, lanterns, and insect repellent are also advised.
DX SPOTS/ SPECIAL EVENTS: The solar conditions continue to produce poor hf propagation. Tom (W8TRC) reported that the A index has been static at 25. There have been eleven days straight where no sun spots have been observed. The solar flux remains below 70.
MOTION TO ADJOURN: by Edgar (KC8VLV) and Suzanne (KB8GFY), approved.
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 6pm on 3.932 kHz (temporary time change from the customary 8pm slot)
The AC8W DX Cluster on 144.970 MHz is available. Check it for HF activity.
LOCAL EVENTS: Provided by KC8VLV –