Minutes of the East River Amateur Radio Club November 8, 2005 Ryan’s Steakhouse Bluefield, VA. http://www.erarc.com The November meeting of the ERARC was opened at 650pm by George Dietrich KF4YGL, ERARC President. There were 22 members and guests in attendance. George welcomed all. Hooger Fisher W4OF, Secretary, read the October minutes and did mention that he had confirmed the use of Ryan’s on December 5, 2005 at <6pm> for the ERARC Christmas dinner/meeting. Bob Frazier WB8NRK, ERARC treasurer gave his report. He said that he has received several membership renewals ‘WE NOW HAVE 106 MEMBERS NOW COMPARED TO 137 AT THE SAME TIME LAST YEAR’. He said that the 2006 Membership booklet is just about done and all he needs to do is make a few minor changes, punch holes and bind the booklet in time for the Christmas dinner. << PLEASE RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY DONE SO, IT’S ONLY $10 PER PERSON AND AN ADDITONAL $1 FOR EACH FAMILY MEMBER AT THE SAME ADDRESS >>. Jay Belt K8CTI said that he and John Riddle N8RIG had attempted repair on the 442.45 repeater several times and ended up sending the unit out for repair. It has a new PA transistor and driver, and a new PA board which has updated design and software. Jay said that the company, United Radio, charged $353.00 for the parts and repair. Bob will reimburse Jay for the expenditure. Jay also mentioned the need of a preamplifier for the 444.45 repeater (which is linked to the 50.37 6M repeater). He has found one for $65 to $70 and will provide a 17db gain and sensitivity from 0.3 to 0.1. Bill Sowers K8WBS made the motion seconded by George Dietrich to purchase the preamp. Vote taken. Motion passed. It was mentioned that the 444.45 and 6M repeaters have had a great increase in use since linking the two. George asked if the repeaters needed any work before winter and John Riddle mentioned the need to have new standoffs fabricated for the Wintenna antennas for the APRS and DAREN packet radios. He said that we’ve been using PVC pipe to protect them from icing and damage from falling ice and Jay Belt said that he’d take care of this. 2006 Officers: Bob Frazier, Treasurer, George Dietrich President, and Hooger Fisher, Secretary all said that they’d keep their present offices if there were no other nominations, etc. No complaints. Patty Dietrich KG4AYM made a motion, seconded by John Riddle to have Lonnie Underwood KI4EED nominated and voted in as Vice President. No other nominations noted. Vote taken. Motion passed. Don Anderson WD8OOR said that he and John Riddle were still trying to burn a new EPROM for the DAREN packet TNC. ***ARRL VE TEST SESSION THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 9AM, MERCER COUNTY 911 CENTER, GREEN VALLEY, BETWEEN BLUEFIELD AND PRINCETON ON US RT 460*** Hooger: report on tent. On October 15, John Riddle, Don Anderson, Ginny and Hooger Fisher went to Bob Frazier’s and constructed a 15x20 tent using the center tarp, connecting pieces and by cutting two 10’ poles for the 3 shorter pieces needed. Each piece of this tent is marked with duct tape and there is a list of needed poles, etc. in the box with the connector pieces. Hooger mentioned that we need to replace 4 of the 10’ 1” diameter conduit to complete the whole 70x20 tent. John Riddle made a motion, seconded by Jay Belt to purchase the conduit. Vote taken, motion passed. Bob will get the conduit. ************************************************************** Patty Dietrich mentioned the Christmas Dinner/Meeting on December 5, at << 6pm >> at Ryan’s. She asks that we mention the dinner at each ARES net and also asked that members please bring a door prize for the event if possible. ************************************************************** Gary Kadar said that he had attended the Mercer County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) meeting and is not sure of the status of the ERARC in this committee at this time. On an unrelated note, Bill Sowers K8WBS said that he’s noted a problem with the AVG antivirus. For some reason, the software is not allowing some people to receive email. He has been removing AVG from affected computers and then reinstalling the software with no further problems. Bob Frazier said the he had received a “POP3 SERVER ERROR” when this happened to him. ARES net control for November: 8th Jerry Connelly KC8TES, 16th Hooger Fisher, 23rd and 30th Lonnie Underwood KI4EED. Don Anderson WD8OOR won the 50/50 drawing for the flower fund. The meeting was adjourned at 725pm. Respectfully submitted, George “Hooger” Fisher 111, W4OF, Secretary. Jerry Connelly, Mercer Co. ARES Emergency Coordinator gave out signup forms for ARES and sample NTS message form information. *** AFTER THE MEETING: Greg Dominguez N3MPR loaned the Club a TNC for use on the APRS digipeater. John has been trying to update the current TNC with appropriate software and has run into difficulty. This 'new' controller has all of the new parameters and will greatly support the APRS network in the area. *** Check out a radio-active site at:, The East River Amateur Radio Club. We'll be glad that you did!