Minutes of the Mid-MO Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Jefferson City, MO Meeting of: April 8, 2004 Called to order by: Vice-president Kent Trimble (K9ZTV) In attendance: K9ZTV, NOSS, N6CSS, NNOB, KCOQWB, KCOCZI, NOMV, KIOY Previous Meeting's Minutes: Approved as presented Bank balance a/o 04/05/04: $5,651.06 (as per e-mail from Rich Glassner, NOEAX) Tom, NOSS, announced that he also had an additional $35 to be presented to the Club as part of the proceeds from the KCOACQ estate. MMARC has written a $28.54 check to the Warrensburg ARC, is payment of our part of the postage for sending out the WOO QSLs from our Halloween operation at Frankenstein MO. Old business 2-meter net report Kent, K9ZTV, reminded members that we need to be a little more diligent about not missing our scheduled NCS dates for the 2M net. It appears that we've missed several this past month. Net Report March 17 Not called 24 Not called 31 13, called by NNOB April 7 7, called by KAOOUV Repeater report Tim Raymer, KAOOUV, reported the that repeater is working well now, although the 35A power supply had failed during the month and has now been repaired. Cost of replacement parts (to be reimbursed by MMARC to KAOOUV) is $16.00 ($9.04 for (4) 2N3771 transistors, and $6.96 shipping from Mouser). Tim reminded Club members that if you have an Astron (or other brand) DC power supply, check it periodically to ensure that the pass transistors (usually attached to the rear panel of the case) are firmly attached and that the mounting screws have not become loose, thus preventing the pass transistors from doing a good job of passing their heat to the power supply's heatsink. This can result in damage to the transistors due to overheating. Digipeater report Kevin Brown, KCOCZI reported that the digipeater is up and working well. The digipeater was actually used all morning on March 13th during the National Guard communications exercise. MCW Net Report Steve Harvey, NNOB, reported that the MCW Net, held on the 146.865 MHz (KCOCZI) repeater, had 13 (4-4-3-2) check-ins for the month. Emergency Coordinators report NNOB reported that Operation Hidden Shadow, held this past month, revealed a problem getting the DPS van's packet station to operate. The cause was the wrong serial cable (cross-connected) was provided instead of the required DB9F-to-DB9F straight-thru) cable. KCOHOS, however, had his personal packet station available and it was brought into use with no further problems. The operations brought to light the need to train operators in the operation of packet, not only specific packet stations, but also packet operation in general. NNOB and KCOPET attended the ICS training session, held at the JCPD a week or two following Operation Hidden Shadow. Steve gave a report on the CUSEC (Central US Earthquake Consortium) drill which drew several less than glowing comments from those present who had participated in the drill. KCOCZI stated that he has a certificate from the Fire Rescue Training Academy for Jim Kovar (KCOHOS) for his participation in the ISC training. Kevin will arrange to get the certificate to Jim. NNOB and KCOPET met with the JCPD (specifically Doug Keeney, KAOYRT) regarding our participation in the PD's emergency preparedness efforts. The PD would like to have some of our monthly Wednesday night nets called from the PD by Club members, and would like to have a list of eight (8) operators (6 main ops, plus 2 alternates) certified (background check, etc.) to operate from the PD. The PD will develop certification forms and will advise when they are ready to proceed with this effort. The PD has provided a TK730 commercial 100W high-band VHF radio, programmed with a number of local Amateur Radio frequencies, ready for us to use for this purpose. ONLY certified operators will be allowed into the PD to operate that station. NNOB and KCOPET attended part of the CARE04 Mass Casualty table-top exercise held at SEMA. There will be a similar outdoor exercise held some time in the future. No more is known at present regarding possible Amateur Radio participation. KCOCZI will try to find more information regarding this operation, which is presently scheduled to be held May 19- 22. Kevin Brown, KCOCZI, reported that Cole County Emergency Response Team (CERT) has been allocated $4,500 for immediate (basic) equipment purchases. The 2nd fund allocation cycle will come in May-June and should add another $23,000-$24,000. There may be some funds available for communications equipment. MMARC 501c3 (IRS Tax-Exempt status) report Dave Taylor, NOMV, reported that efforts are ongoing with regard to our preparation of the 501c3 forms. We're just about ready to submit the forms to the IRS. We must include a $150 check in order to have the forms processed. We now have received out IRS-issued Employer ID number, 20-0975012. We should be submitting the 501c3 forms to the IRS no later than April 20th. New business Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Act Steve Harvey, NNOB, reported that he'd been in contact with US Senator James Talent regarding this bill. Sen Talent stated that although he was not thoroughly familiar with the bill, he was generally supportive of it, and that he would look into it further in the near future. K9ZTV also sent an e-mail to Sen Talent, urging him to support the passage of the bill. Used PCs possibly available to us NNOB reported that he had been in contact with the CDW (Computer Discount Warehouse) representative who services the United Way computer account. United Way is down-sizing and divesting themselves of a number of their 1- to 2-year old Compaq and Sony Pentium III PCs. He is currently attempting to contact the United Way to see if they might make them available for outright sale in the range of $150-$250 each. Amateur Radio Week Kevin, KCOCZI, noted that if someone (anyone!) will keep their eyes and ears open for the National Amateur Radio Week is to be held this year, he will attempt to get the City of Jefferson to also issue a proclamation of same for the City. Flowers to NOEAX It was moved and seconded to send flowers to Rich Glassner, NOEAX, who had surgery this morning. (An arrangement was sent from River City Florists on April 9th). Field Day Preparations (always the 4th FULL weekend in June) Dave, NOMV, is experiencing some difficulties in contacting the proper person at Porite, to secure access to the Porite Field for our Field Day operation. He will pursue those efforts to completion. Kent, K9ZTV, will pursue contacting Dept of Public Safety, SEMA, Hwy Patrol, Dept of Corrections, Dept of Health & Human Svcs., Dept of Transp, JC Fire Dept, with regard to our obtaining access to their communications vans during Field Day. Kent asked for volunteers to help contact several of these agencies. Tim, KAOOUV, will contact DHSS regarding their van. Kent also asked that someone go out to the field the night before FD and stake out the parking points for each communications vehicle. Meeting closed at 2030 CDT. VE exams - None administered this month Dues received at (or since) meeting: 04/25/2004, Henry Guhleman, NOYSE, $25. Membership will be extended 12 months from current expiration date. Respectfully submitted (05/06/2004): Tom Hammond (NOSS), Secretary-Treasurer pro-tem Visit the MMARC web page at: http://www.mmccs.com/mmarc