RARC Meeting Minutes - February 2004

The February meeting of the Rochester Amateur Radio Club was called to order at 7:00pm, Tuesday 2/10/04, by President Fred Regennitter (K4IU), with 32 members and guests present.

Reports

  • It was requested that the January minutes include the 2003 starting balance in the annual financial summary. With this revision, minutes from the January meeting were approved as posted on the web site.
  • Treasurer's Report by Bob (KCØGND):
    Checking: $ 1400.84
    Savings: $ 5759.57
    Cash: $ 25.00
    Total: $ 7185.41
    Major transactions this period:
    • Mayo Foundation Grant: +$2858.00, thanks to John (NØHZN)!
    • 2004 dues + $645.00
    • UHF repeater repair - $94.44

Committee Reports

  • Technical Committee - Stew (WØSHL):
    • Eliminating noise in the .82 and .625 repeaters: the problem appears to be a Mayo pager frequency combining with something. A filter seems to be working on the .625, and a similar filter will be tried on the .82 sometime in February.
    • The 440 repeater is up and running again. Working parts were combined from the two radios, and now there are two half radios,one with a working receiver and one with a working transmitter.
    • The recent problem with packet signals on the .82 was an EOC problem, with their radio coming up on the wrong frequency after a reset.
    • Tone control on the .82 may be impacting travelers coming through the area. A message will be added to the repeater, and the tone control will be removed if possible.
  • Public Service - John (NØHZN):
    • The Frozen Goose Relay needs 4-8 operators, Saturday Feb. 14, 8am to noon. The Polar Plunge is 2:30-4:30, also Saturday Feb. 14, and needs shadows. The Med City Marathon is our next event after that, May 30. To the usual events, we have added the 4H Shootout in September, and the Wild Onion Relay at Chester Woods. See the web site for dates.
  • ARES - Steve (WØSTV):
    • On March 24, there will be a Skywarn class, at 2:00 and again at 7:00.
  • Membership - John (KØKTY):
    • 8 students have signed up for the class,including 3 teens. The final number may be higher.
    • There are 121 current members, 90 paid. Nag emails will go out mid March.
    • If you have changed your email, let John know.
  • NTS - Peter (KCØPBY):
    • The SE Minnesota traffic net is Wednesday nights at 9pm. There are also Section nets on 80m.

Announcement:

  • BPL is coming to Rochester, bringing the potential for significant RF interference problems for amateur radio. A representative from RPU, Dave Sturm, will be speaking at the March meeting. To avoid arguments and shouting, questions for him must be submitted in writing before the meeting -- see the web site. Educate yourself before the meeting. The web site has a good selection of information on what BPL is, how it may cause problems for amateur radio, and what we can do to prevent problems.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:50.

Program

Following the meeting, Dave Peterson (K7CJO) presented a program on Red Cross Disaster Communications.

Submitted by Peter N8MHD.

| Return to Meetings Page | Return to Main Page |