Minutes of the East River Amateur Radio Club meeting. February 4, 2008 Ryan’s Steakhouse Bluefield, VA. http://www.erarc.com The February meeting of the ERARC was opened at 703pm by George Dietrich, ERARC President. There were 26 members and guests in attendance. George asked Don Anderson WD8OOR for a report on ERARC Treasurer Bob Frazier WB8NRK and his recovery from a stroke. Don said that his condition is no better and he is still undergoing physical and speech therapy. He is holding on, has mobility around the house and that he speaks with 1-2 words at a time and has to concentrate hard to do that. George asked Don for a repeater report. The 146.070 is working very well with a much increased usage since going up at Windmill Gap. The footprint is really good with Shortt’s Gap in Richlands and Hansonville to the west, Blacksburg / Christiansburg to the east, Big Walked tunnel to the south and McDowell and Wyoming counties to the north, coverage-wise. He said that if you can hear the repeater, you can probably work it with 20-25 watts mobile in the fringes. If you hear the repeater and it’s a bit scratchy, that’s how you will probably sound in our area. There is now more activity on the 145.49 repeater (Echolink equipped) due to the ’06 being on the air for only 3 weeks or so. The 444.45 repeater is in the shop now, for the third time, and Jay Belt K8CTI is working on it. The 442.45 is working great and Echolink is working well on it also. Gary Kadar N8GK asked about the interference that we were causing some Southwest Virginia repeaters and interference getting into the ’06. Don said that he had been in touch with the repeater owners ‘down there’ and since the input to our ’06 is 146.46, which is a listed simplex frequency, those using that frequency ‘down there’ have for the most part, moved to other simplex frequencies. He tweaked the repeater at the site and quit getting into the 146.075 repeater. As for the occasional ‘simplexers’, Don adjusted the squelch to quell that problem. He said that to fix this for good, we could request a PL tone to be put on the machine but really doesn’t want to do that and just keep the repeater “open”. John Riddle N8RIG mentioned that when the machine was put on the air that there was a two week band opening due to the weather and that made the ’06 more susceptible to interference. George asked Lonnie Underwood KI4EED about how Echolink was doing on the repeaters. Report was good. He and others suggest that the Club put the 145.49 Echolink on the 147.06 repeater. Roger Nisselrodt KI4SZA suggested a “trader’s net” on the machine. Jay Belt said that the 442.45’s Echolink has about the same coverage as the 145.49, that the internet interface is at his business on Bland Street, and has a Yagi antenna he can use to send Echolink to the ’06. John Riddle has the interface for the 442.45 Echolink at his home. Discussion. When asked if the previously discussed linking into the Southern West Virginia KC8AHF system of the ’06, Don Anderson said that he now has reservations due to the wide footprint of the ’06 as well as the use of the machine, as well as considering putting Echolink on the machine. Discussion. We decided to wait until next meeting and revisit these suggestions for the repeaters. John Riddle said that we for sure don’t want an Echolink-equipped repeater within a linked repeater system. Unanimous agreement. Dave Cox N4DBC asked if the 444.45 (going to Windmill Gap with the ’06) was still going to be linked to the 53.37 N8RIG repeater, Jay Belt said ‘no’. Hooger Fisher W4OF, ERARC Secretary/interim Treasurer gave both of his reports for the Club. Two phone bills and a postage stamp purchase were paid. One membership and $11 from the 50/50 drawing were deposited. Jay Belt mentioned that the installation, etc. for the ’06 and 444.45 takes a lot of effort and work and money to do these things. He said that Don Anderson has put in a lot of work and his personal monies into the projects to have what we have now at Windmill Gap. Applause for Don. Bill Sowers suggested that we elect an interim Treasurer. Discussion. George asked Don Anderson about the generator. Don says that it will still cost around $400 to get the parts, that we could spend that much on a new, cheaper unit but we have the top-of-the line Coleman 6500W unit with a Honda motor that is fine. Discussion about upcoming expenses to the Club and options. We will again table this subject. John Riddle said that the 444.45 has a duplexer that has always been a “piece of junk” and that a new one costs around $600. Jay Belt has one at his shop that he is going to try. Roger Nisselrodt said that we have two-two-meter and two-440 repeaters and asked why we need to put money into a 440 repeater that doesn’t work right and why don’t we just take it off of the air. Discussion. We will table this until Jay and Don see if the repeater will work OK. Stephen Stefancic KD8EPJ, asked it the Saturday morning breakfast net could be changed to the ’06 machine. Discussion. Vote taken, the net will change frequencies. George Gary Kadar N8GK about the VE Team. He said that the next test session will be on February 9th at the Mercer Co. 911 Center at 9am and that he was awaiting testing materials from the ARRL via USPS. Don Anderson said that he’s been asked several times if the ARES net could be moved to the ’06 machine and he said that it was up to the membership, not him. Discussion. We will wait until all is well with the ’06 at least until the next meeting. Jordan White, guest of Steve O’Dell N8SNR won the 50/50 drawing for the flower fund. ARES net controls for February: George Dietrich 5th, Lonnie Underwood KI4EED 13th, Jerry Connelley KC8TES 19th and Stephen Stefancic KD8EPJ on the 29th. The meeting was over at 748pm. Submitted by Hooger Fisher W4OF, ERARC Secretary. TO DO LIST: 1) Equipment inventory with serial numbers for Bob for insurance reasons 2) Go over repeater instructions in Club handbook for being current and complete. (Add weather radio information, check 911 autodials, etc.) 3) Cathy Underwood KG4CTK would like us to look into possible funding via the Office of Homeland Security. 4) The Communications Bus/ RV that the Club began to work on.