[K3PZN-List] April 2006 CCARC meeting minutes

[n3sb at qis.net]

Carroll County Amateur Radio Club
Meeting Minutes, 10-April 2006

President John Hart, K3KWO, called the meeting to order at 7:45 PM. Nineteen
members and four guests were present.

Our guest speakers were Maryland-DC Section Manager Jim Cross WI3N, and
Assistant Section Manager Al Brown KZ3AB.

Jim presented an outline of the section’s organization, including some 140
volunteer positions that comprise the section. He also discussed the section
convention, which will be held on July 29th in Hagerstown. The official
Maryland-DC Section web page is at http://www.arrl-mdc-net.

Announcements:

The next Board of Directors meeting will be held on Wednesday 19 April, 7:30 PM
at the Fire Training Center. All members are welcome to attend.

Members are encouraged to pick up some hamfest flyers and distribute them at
upcoming hamfests.

May’s presentation topic will be NIMS training. After the 1-hour session it
should be easy for anyone attending to pass the IS700 exam. IS100 training will
be held at the June meeting, and IS200 training will be held at the July
meeting.

>From the mailbag:

No mail was available.

Secretary’s Report:

Steve N3SB read the minutes from the March meeting. The minutes were approved by
the membership present.

Treasurer’s Report:

Bill W3STG read the secretary’s report. The report was approved by the
membership present.

Board Meeting notes:

The Board meeting minutes were briefly reviewed. John AK3Z inquired about the
Board’s discussion of Panasonic Toughbook laptops. Bill W3STG displayed the
unit he recently acquired.

Committee Reports:

Larry WX3F provided a report for the Repeater Committee. The 147.285 repeater is
installed in Sykesville. Coverage appears to have a null to the Northwest, due
to where the antenna is installed on the tower. The machine may still require a
little tweaking, but its otherwise ready for operation.

The 145.410 repeater still has a desense issue, due to broadband transmitter
noise. The committee is still investigating possible solutions.

The 449.875 repeater had been experiencing some spurious oscillation problems.
WX3F and K3KWO performed surgery on the high-power amplifier, rearranging its
internal wiring to kep it away from high RF areas. Since that time the repeater
has been behaving much better! There does appear to be some noise or desense
coming from another transmitter at the Gorsuch Road site.

The 53.090 repeater is working well. Its antenna looked like it had lost a
portion of its radiating element, but upon further inspection and review the
antenna is as it should be.

The 145.030 Packet BBS is also working well. Larry said it just “keeps on
ticking.”

Old Business:

None

New Business:

President Hart formed the following committees with the corresponding chairmen –


Field Day Committee – John Hoge W3JJH

Station Committee – John Chesley AK3Z

DCS Committee – Charles Cunningham N3TOT

Training & Education Committee – Bill Neeriemer W3STG

Membership Committee – Bill Neeriemer W3STG

Finance Committee – Bill Neeriemer W3STG

Digital Committee – Bill Neeriemer W3STG

PC Maintenance – Gene Kern KB3JHR

Publications Committee – Steve Beckman N3SB

CCARC Website Maintenance – Steve Beckman N3SB

Additionally, Charles Cunningham N3TOT will continue his duties as CCARC EMCOMM
Liaison.

Chairmen were requested for the following committees:

Tailgate-Fest – no chairman

Holiday Party Committee – no chairman 

Repeater Committee – no chairman

Technical Committee – no chairman

Closing notes:

John K3KWO asked the club if it would like to try a QRP Field Day. The topic was
briefly discussed, but no decision was made. Field Day Chairman John W3JJH asked
that the club decide by the May meeting.

Jim Owen K4CGY won an ARRL Handbook, donated by our guest speaker Jim Cross
WI3N. Tony Krauth KF3AK won the brown-bag prize, also an ARRL Handbook, donated
by President John Hart K3KWO.

President Hart adjourned the meeting at 9:39 PM.

Respectfully submitted;
Steve N3SB
CCARC Secretary