Minutes of the MSUARC meeting of July 7, 2009

Respectfully submitted by John Hart, substituting for Debbie Barton.  

The meeting was called to order at 1910 by Vice-president Chuck Williams. 

Introductions were made with each person giving name, callsign and telling:

a.        Were you impacted by the storms last week?

b.      Are you a trained weather spotter?

Reports:

 Secretary:  The minutes were accepted as emailed.  Motion by Bill Call, second by George Knecht.

Treasurer:   Expenses were VE fees of $21 and $42.92 for field day.  Balance is $1,081.45.

Systems:  All systems are OK except for the satellite antenna array which was blown over onto the log periodic.  Bill Call, Randall Winchester and John Hart pulled down the damaged array and straightened 1 bent element on the log periodic.  The repeaters are performing well.  A link antenna for a remote .94 receiver at Hamlin will be installed on Friday.  At the same time an experimental 802.11 link will be installed to see if we can get Ethernet from the main campus to the repeater site.  George Knecht reported that the 443.5 repeater antenna in Marshall County had been moved higher on the tower and coverage had improved as a result.

Nets:  Submitted by Matt Freeman via Chuck Williams.  5 sessions, 0 traffic, 56 stations, 215 minutes, 200.6 operator hours

Advisor:  The Department of IET received a grant from Kentucky Space that will enhance our satellite station.  John Hart is the grant administrator.  Plans are to add 1.2Ghz and 2.4Ghz capability to the station.  We are still waiting on Facilities Management to install the new satellite array mount.  John is also administering another grant that will fund high altitude balloon flights.  The payloads will carry APRS, ATV and a crossband 2m/440 repeater.  Chase teams are needed and a signup sheet was passed around.  Current path projections show a flight starting at Murray State will end between Paris Landing and Dover in Tennessee .  There is a good chance that the balloon may come down in the lake.

Exams:  Available for those wanting them.

Old Business:

1.        Bill Call reported that Pat Compton had contacted him via cell phone on Field Day and asked if we could try to contact Boone Center .  Bill tried and was able to contact the Frankfort station with no problem.

2.       Randall Winchester is offering a ham radio license class at the Calloway County Public Library.  He had made some CDs with study material and these were made available to those who wanted them.  There is a $30 fee for the class which includes the exam fee.

New Business:

There was no new business.

Program:  A Review of the MSUARC 2009 Field Day operation.

There was general agreement that, in spite of the heat, the operation was successful and enjoyable.  Chuck Williams was praised for his work on getting media coverage of the operation.  Chuck showed a short video presentation with music of the operation.  Some suggestions for next year were offered.

1.        Dale Barrett suggested that we separate the operating positions from the common social area to make it easier for operators to hear.

2.       Dale also suggested, with general agreement, that we should test our equipment before Field Day to ensure a smooth setup.

3.       John Hart suggested that we ensure that we have ropes long enough to go over supports without having to tie two ropes together.  The knots were a major problem in hanging the 20m dipole this year.

4.       We need to get a banner to identify the club at public events.  Chuck suggested that we may be able to get this done by a club at Murray High School that makes banners as a fund raising activity.

5.       There was a discussion of trying to locate at Roy Stewart stadium next year.

6.       We need to have more antenna choices for the two stations to avoid QRM issues.