Murray State University Amateur Radio Club
Club Minutes 1 March 2005
The meeting began with introductions at 7:15PM.
Bill Husfield, K9MMW presented a “Ham Bits” addendum on the Incident Command System presentation from the February meeting. He said he would provide a certificate of completion for the ICS Introductory Module to anyone who filled out the necessary form.
Randall Winchester, WD4HVA presented an overview of “Contesting”
The business meeting was called to order @ 7:45 PM. In attendance were:
Bill Call, KJ4W Randall Winchester, WD4HVA
Dale Barrett, WB7D Valerie Barrett, KG4OCJ
Marv Kiehl, W9CFT John Hart, KO4ZE
Bill Slayman, KY4NU Rich Beam, K4ADW
Terry Ward, KD4WCE Matthew Freeman, WX4MET
Gary Enos Thornell, KF4ELM Patrick Perry, K9KSM
Mark Garland, K4SDI Whipple Walker, N4STW
Mary Husfield, KI4HYI Bill Husfield, K9MMW
Ray Bradley, KN4ZL
Minutes of the February meeting had been e-mailed to the member list. There being no objection they were approved. Motion by Mark Garland, 2nd by Bill Slayman. Passed
Treasurer – Bill Call, KJ4W – Reported expenditures of $24 for our post office box and 258.50 for the 160m Carolina Windom antenna which is $8.50 over the allocated amount. Bill explained that after reading more carefully the manufacturer recommended a specific run of coaxial cable for best performance and he included that in the order. Randall Winchester moved to approve the extra $8.50 expenditure on the antenna, 2nd by Bill Slayman. Passed. $130 has been received in dues payments. Bill noted that only members paid up at the next meeting will be able to vote in officer elections. Current balance is $2,010.64. Report accepted.
University Advisor – John Hart, KO4ZE, had nothing to report.
Systems – Bill Call, KJ4W
.94 Repeater – OK but our buzzy noise has appeared occasionally on a clear day indicating that it may not be related to rain as previously thought. The upgrade is moving ahead. Doyan received the new chip that had been ordered for the controller. Bill now has that at his house and is working to integrate the new hardware including the voting system.
.24 Repeater – Significant noise on receive occasionally. Bill will check the antenna.
440 Repeater – Working well but output power seems to be down based on reception reports. This may require a new repeater grade power amplifier to replace the current mobile amplifier. It was noted that the repeater use has increased significantly since the Echolink connection was added and this may be too much for the mobile amp.
Motion to accept report by Bill Slayman, 2nd by Whipple Walker. Passed.
VE – Bill Call, KJ4W. There have been no test sessions. Nobody expressed interest in a test session.
QSL – Valerie Barrett, KG4OCJ, P.O. Box problem meant no cards received. Problem fixed.
Nets - Matthew Freeman, WX4MET, 0 messages, 56 checkins, 115 minutes, 107.3 operator hours.
Webmaster - Matthew Freeman, WX4MET, No changes except routine maintenance.
ARES – No Report
ARES DEC District 1 – Bill Slayman, KY4NU, Nothing to report. All operators are encouraged to attend the weather spotting training sessions on 2 March and 9 March at 6:30pm in the I&T building.
Field Day –
Site Discussion – Mark Garland, K4SDI presented several sites as possible locations for this years Field Day operation. There was some discussion and new suggestions. If you have further suggestions or discussion, please send them to Mark.
ICS Structure Discussion – Brief discussion about whether the ICS should be one of the hams at the operation or a served agency official.
Cooperative Operation – Discussion to invite the Mayfield club to join with MSUARC and Marshall County ARC for field day. Matthew Freeman, WX4MET will contact them and extend the invitation. All the clubs or a committee with members from all three clubs need to meet together prior to Field Day to ensure a good operation.
New Business
Disaster Blaster-
Bill Call, KJ4W gave the date of the
next Disaster Blaster event as 26 March. After brief discussion, Bill Call,
KJ4W moved and Mark Garland, K4SDI 2nd that the club participate in
the Disaster Blaster operatin. Discussion followed about combining this
operation with a contest effort on the CQ WW WPX SSB contest which occurs on the
same weekend. The thought was to setup the day before and operate overnight.
Randall Winchester, WD4HVA moved and Whipple Walker, N4STW 2nd that
we amend the motion to direct the contest committee to investigate operating the
contest in this fashion. Motion to amend passed. Amended motion passed.
LBL Horse Race - Bill Call, KJ4W gave the date of the next LBL Horse Race
as 29 & 30 April. Bill noted that the race people indicated last year that they
wanted us to help again this year but we have not heard from them. Bill sent a
message to our contact from last year but has not heard back. Bill Call, KJ4W
moved and Randall Winchester, WD4HVA 2nd that we commit the club to
participating.
Ivan Wrablick Antenna System – Ivan’s son offered to donate the antenna tower and antennas at Ivan’s house to the club in exchange for taking them down. Brief discussion followed where it was noted that the tower was in very bad shape and may not be safe to climb. Dropping it would damage or destroy the antennas. Consensus was that we should do this as a favor and not worry about the condition. Bill Slayman, KY4NU moved and Ray Bradley, KN4ZL 2nd motion to commit the club to taking down the antennas and tower. Date TBD.
LBL Run Between the Rivers - John Hart, KO4ZE said he had met with the RBTR people and had surveyed the course.
Invitation by Paducah ARC - Bill Call, KJ4W said the Paducah club had asked if we would be interested in meeting with John Meyers, NB4K the ARRL Kentucky Section Manager in October. The meeting would take the place of our regular October meeting. Brief discussion followed in which it was noted that the October meeting is the last one before the Run Between the Rivers and that we would need to meet. It was decided that we could move our regular October meeting if needed and encourage members to attend the Paducah club meeting.
Severe Weather Week - Bill Call, KJ4W noted that next week is severe weather week and the weather warning system would be tested. Since this is during the work day we normally cannot participate much. Members are asked to participate from work if feasible.
New Membership Application – Mary Husfield, KI4HYI applied for associate membership. Motion to accept by Whipple Walker, N4STW, 2nd by Ray Bradley, KN4ZL. Motion passed.
Motion to adjourn by Bill Slayman, KY4NU, 2nd by Randall Winchester, WD4HVA. Voted with feet.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:55PM.
Respectfully submitted,
John Hart