Minutes of the East River Amateur Radio Club meeting. October 1, 2007 Ryan’s Steakhouse Bluefield, VA. http://www.erarc.com The October meeting of the ERARC was opened at 700pm by George Dietrich KF4YGL, ERARC President. There were 23 members and guests in attendance. George asked Lonnie Underwood KI4EED about Echolink and how it was working. He said that it was doing well and thanked those that kept it running so well. Bill Sowers K8WBS said that there were around 320,000 registered users and that Dave Garrett KA4TXY checks into Bluefield via Echolink frequently. George asked Jay Belt K89CTI for a repeater report. He said that the coordination was all but done on the 147.06 repeater that is scheduled to be placed at Windmill Gap. He also said that we will try to coordinate the 444.45 repeater at the same location. Gary Kadar N8GK said that there would be an ARRL VE test session at the Mercer Co. 911 Center on Saturday, November 10, 2007 at 9am. Bob Frazier WB8NRK, ERARC treasurer, gave his report. He also mentioned that we now have 95 members that have renewed so far and that he has to buy stamps for the Club. He also said that it used to cost $0.83 to mail the Club handbook and will now cost $1.14 due to the size and a new template the PO uses to measure mail. If the item is bigger than the template, a higher postage is assessed. He asked for suggestions for this problem. Discussion. Hooger Fisher read the September minutes. There were no corrections noted. He also noted that Lonnie Underwood has volunteered to head up Jamboree On The Air with local scouts on October, 20, 2007 at the Bluefield, Virginia Rescue Squad Building from 9am to around 12pm. Lonnie invited anyone to come and help or even just observe. George asked about the turnout last year and Lonnie reported that there were around 5 Scouts last year and none were very impressed with HF or other radios until he demonstrated the auto-patch. *****PLEASE NOTE: Jerry Connelly KC8TES, Mercer County ARES E.C. report: This Saturday, October 6, 2007, from 1pm to 3pm, the West Virginia ARES Simulated Emergency Test (SET) will take place. The scenario this year is a Urban-to-Rural migration from the Charleston/”Chemical Alley” areas of the state which will involve WV ARES, Red Cross, State entities, etc. This could be of natural or terrorist origin. Lonnie Underwood has volunteered to head up the event and has the paperwork for any volunteers who may be able to help. Gary Kadar N8GK suggested that we do use the 911 Center’s radio equipment for the SET. Jerry can only be an observer this year. Lonnie asked for any volunteers but there were no takers. Jerry said that one could get the paperwork and really go home on Saturday and operate from home or mobile position. ***** Doug Ritchey WG8D mentioned that Losey Bennett N8VRW was the person that was beaten at Pinnacle Rock last week and subsequently died. Losey was a friend of Doug’s family. George asked for suggestions for the December 3, 2007 Christmas Dinner. Discussion. The dinner will be at Ryan’s at <6pm> that night. Patty Dietrich KG4AYM asked for help in setting up for the dinner/meeting. Gary Kadar said that Don Anderson WD8OOR mentioned the Club’s broken generator at breakfast on Saturday morning. Discussion. We’re still searching for avenues for repair, purchasing a new or used generator, etc. Jerry Connelly has a friend that has one that he’s used only twice, had been serviced on a regular basis, has been run under load monthly, etc. and it’s for sale. Don Anderson: Discussion on the 147.225 repeater in Princeton. It’s had very little use and the 147.06 and 145.49 repeaters cover the area also. He made a motion to sell most all the repeater to any interested party and possibly keep some of the parts on hand to use in repair of the machines that we have on the air now. Discussion. Patty Dietrich seconded the motion. Vote taken. Motion passed. Don will table any sale until the next meeting after he’s researched the ‘going price’ for what we have for sale. Bob said that the duplexers (owned by ERARC since 1971), the power supply, controller and Micor radio probably would be for sale. Bob donated the 147.225 and 147.06 to the Club several months ago. Chris Hatcher KC8AFH said that he’s seen Micor controller and PL boards for sale on eBay for more than one could purchase the whole Micor radio for. Don Anderson said that that was probably due to repeater owners trying to replace lightening-damaged parts. John Riddle N8RIG asked Don if he should still go ahead with changing the 147.225 ownership from Bob Frazier to the Club and Don said “No.” Jerry Connelly mentioned that the ARRL VHF contest is January 20-22, 2007. George Dietrich said that he had two mobile radios and antennas stolen from his vehicle last week; a Yaesu 7400 440 and a Kenwood 241a 2M. Roger Stefancic KC8LGR won the 50/50 drawing. ARES net controls for October: Lonnie Underwood KI4EED 2ND 16TH AND 23RD, Steven Stefancic KD8EPJ 9TH, Jerry Connelly KC8TES 30TH. The meeting was over at 737pm. 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, Echolink instructions etc.) 2) Cathy Underwood KG4CTK would like us to look into possible funding via the Office of Homeland Security. (Jamboree On The Air for the local Scouts on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at the Bluefield Virginia Rescue Squad from 9am to around 12pm. http://www.arrl.org/scouts/jota for information.)