Since 11/11/07

MANCORAD

March 12, 2008 Meeting Minutes

PDF VERSION

The March 12th, 2008 meeting was called to order at 1932 (7:32pm) by club President

Carl KA9WYK. Introductions were made by those in attendance at the club shack with

three additional attendees via the computer UstreamTV.

Reports

Please note there is a correction to be made to the February 13th Meeting Minutes. A

discussion regarding disposition of the 440MHZ repeater originally intended to be sent

to Sri Lanka was held and Steve K9ZW had made a motion that a committee be formed.

Once the correction to the minutes were noted, Bob KC9HBA made a motion to accept

the February minutes as posted on the web site and sent to members. The motion was

seconded by Roger W9NPX. The motion carried.

Dan N9NCU gave the Treasurer's report noting amounts in savings, checking, and petty

cash. Bob KC9HBA made a motion to accept the report. The motion was seconded by

Roger W9NPX. The motion carried.

Old Business

• There was continued discussion of the rotor cable for the harness for Field Day

but the bugs seem to be work out.

• The Landlord meeting will be rescheduled, probably when the weather is nicer.

• There is interest in having a Club Auction in July. A list of club items will be

posted between now and then. Club members are encouraged to see if there is

anything they would like to contribute to the auction with the understanding that

the proceeds will go to the club treasury.

• ARES/RACES - Dan N9NCU wanted to remind everyone that the 1st Quarter

meeting will be Thursday, March 20th at Lake Shore Technical College in

Cleveland in the Public Safety Building, room 114 at 1900 (7:00pm). Directions

to the building are - enter the LTC campus using the 2nd entrance east of

Interstate Highway 43 Cleveland exit. The building is at the northeast corner of

the parking lot with a 100 + ft. tower at the corner of the building. The meeting

will discuss ARES updates and future events, and then a walkdown of the

agreement Manitowoc Co. ARES has with LTC for activation of radio station

W9LTC, including a complete walkdown of antenna switching and radio

hookups. This is not an intuitively obvious process, so it is highly encouraged to

attend.

• Also, Dan N9NCU received a notice from Nancy Crowley about the up coming

National Weather Sky Warn Training scheduled for March 27th at 1830

(6:30pm) at the Manitowoc County Office Complex at 4319 Expo Drive in

Manitowoc. For those interested in this program, registration is not require but is

recommended. You may contact Nancy Crowley at the Manitowoc Emergency

Management Office with any questions and to pre-register for the training. With

severe weather approaching, this is a good chance to learn what to watch for to

avoid injury. This is also a good way to brush up and test your severe weather

knowledge.

• The Club roster will be available to members only on our web site. Carl

KA9WYK will be sending a notice to members giving them a chance to "Opt in/

Opt out" of having their email addresses and/or phone numbers included with

the roster information. This information is for use by members only and may not

be shared with any other source.

New Business

• An invitation has been extended to us to participate in the Emergency

Preparedness Fair being hosted by the Manitowoc Latter Day Saints. This will

be on Saturday, May 3rd from 1000-1500 (10:00am - 3:00pm). The Fire

Department and the Red Cross will also be there. This will be a great

opportunity to educate, to provide information and to demonstrate to the public

how Amateur radio is used to provide emergency communication for Manitowoc

County. This will be a good chance for public relations in our community. A

motion to attend the Emergency Preparedness Fair was made by Marty

KC9JGE and seconded by Travis KB9YRC. The motion carried.

• The USS Cobia Museum Ships Afloat event will be June 7th and 8th this year.

More details will be forth coming.

Committees

• Brat Fry dates are Sunday May 11th at Copps in Manitowoc and Saturday May

17th at Pic N Save in Two Rivers. One more date is yet to established and will

be posted when it is scheduled. Just a reminder that the Manitowoc County

Health Department requires someone with a food certificate to be present during

these Brat Fries. Please notify Marty KC9JGE or Carl KA9WYK if you have this

certification or if you are interested in getting certified. The training for a food

safety certification is free.

• The ManCoRad web site may look the same and act the same, but there are

several new features now available. Including the option for Members to have

their own email address. Additional items and options will become available as

time goes on. Marty KC9JGE will keep us posted updates. In the meantime,

check it out and see what you think. A members only site is available at

http://members.w9dk.com , It is still in development stages but you are welcome

to register and check it out

• Field Day - The Field Day shake down will be 9:00am April 26th. The equipment

that will be used for Field Day will get the once (or twice) over and the bugs will

get worked out. This will give us enough time to make any necessary repairs to

equipment and/or make additions to the plans for the event. Direct any

questions you may have to Rich KC9LOA.

• Repeater update - Dan N9NCU, Ron WS9X, and Fred W6BSF did an internal

and external inspection of the 61 repeater and report that it is in great shape.

Some light housekeeping: wiping the cabinets, sweeping the floors and

vacuuming behind the items, was about all that was needed. There was no

operational problems to report. Now, if they hadn't gotten locked inside the fence

while they were there, it would have been perfectly uneventful trip. Nice to have

you all back on this side of the fence just the same Guys.

• Ham Cram - May or June is being considered for our next Ham Cram event.

LTC is willing to help spread the word to increase the number of participates.

For example, it sounds like the Dean of Public Safety will notify the Emergency

Management class when it will take place. We may be able to draw a few more

folks from the Sheboygan and surrounding area. Plus, there is still the possibility

of a General class being offered if there is enough interest.

• Other Stuff- Fred W6BSF has donated a stack of QST magazines free for the

taking. Anyone who may be interested in them can find the stack on the front

table at the club shack. We had a wonderful surprise after the meeting when

John NZ9Z demonstrated the vintage HAMMARLUND HQ180. Wow! That's the

sound I think of when I think of what real Ham Radio operating sounds like.

Nothing against the new technology, that it's really cool to have some a piece of

history among us. But, for those who wanted to learn about the cutting stuff (and

yes, I was one of those people too), Marty KC9JGE demonstrated some of the

new features on our web site, while Travis KB9YRC showed us pictures from his

recent trip to the National Weather Station in Oklahoma.

• 50/50 Raffle - Dan N9NCU won the 50/50 raffle worth $13.00 which he donated

back to the club. And we also raffled off a hat. This time Roger W9NPX was the

lucky winner. One more to add to your collection Roger!

Travis KB9YRC made a motion a adjourn the meeting and Jerry KC9JNK seconded it.

The motion carried. In between all the after meeting activities, members could enjoy a

light lunch of sandwiches and bars provided by Carl KA9WYK and Lois KC9LFT. Thank

you for the wonderful food. It looks like we will have to show the Field Day video at

another meeting. It gives us something to look forward too.

Meeting Attendees:

KB9YRC - Travis, KC9JNL - Jerry, KC9JNK - Dawn (good to see you

again Dawn!),

KA9WYK - Carl, N9GJV - John, KB9KEM - Dick,

NZ9Z - John, KB9EME - Vern, KC9KQU - Roxanne

W9NPX - Roger, N9NCU - Dan, KC9JGE - Marty,

KC9HQV - Mike, KC9HBA - Bob KC9KVT - Jody and guest

N4WGK - Denise

USTREAM TV:

WB9MCJ,

WB9DQD,

KB9GOY

Respectfully Submitted by:

Roxanne KC9KQU - Secretary