Mt. Baker Amateur Radio Group Meeting Minutes  12-07-09

Members Present:

Bob Johnson - WA7ZWG

Jim Elston - KP2X

Dale Kloes - N7KWD

Ryan King - K7RGK

Stan Schmidt - N7OC

Brian Lawler - KN0N

Roy Cunningham - KC7IJH

Meeting called to order by Bob (WA7ZWG) at 1915 hours.

The secretary's report was read and approved by members present.

Treasurers Report:

Dale (N7KWD) reports that the final membership count for 2009 is 51 members. (50 paid and one

lifetime member.)

Five membership applications for 2010 have been received to date. Dale reports that there seems to be some confusion about membership application and donation amounts

New members (not included in last years roster) include: Don Boyer (W7AIN), Chuck Frump (KE7NEN) and Doug Stalkeld (KE7QPL).

Members are acknowledged by either a postcard or email thanking them for their contribution to the Repeater Group upon receipt.

Notable expenses paid during the period totaled $364.89 for travel expenses, Lookout Mountain Repeater Coordination fees, purchase of an MSR-2000 Repeater and identification plates for donated equipment.

Remaining checking account balance as of 12-07-09 is $2109.51

Old Business:

The 444.050 Orcas repeater is back up and operational.

Bob explained that the repeater groups insurance only covers the equipment if case of loss and does not cover technicians traveling to or from the repeater sites. A couple of options were discussed such as acquiring insurance through an independent carrier or look into submitting an application with ARRL as an affiliate to the Mt. Baker Amateur Radio Club.

Discussion on the Constitution and By-Law re-write for the club and new By-Laws for subsidiary Groups was tabled until the next meeting.

A Thank You letter to Paul Razore (KB7APJ) will be sent out immediately along with a life-time membership with the Repeater Group. Two engraved name plates have been installed at the donated repeaters.

Letters were sent out to new users on the repeaters asking for donations or memberships. A few replies have been received.

The GE repeaters have been transferred to 5 CEGG and exchanged for the Motorola MRS-2000 and spare parts, as well as a Motorola MRS-2000 from Day Wireless. One of these repeaters is currently ready to be changed out if needed. Bob (WA7ZWG) currently has custody of these items.

The website is up to date with repeater status indicated. That website is (www.mbarc.org).

New Business:

Members discussed trying the D-Star repeater on Lookout Mountain for better coverage. There would need to be a letter of agreement between the Repeater Group and D-Star Group. During the test period, the Lookout Repeater 146.740 would temporarily be offline. Also discussed was looking into Squalicum Mountain as a new site for the 146.740 repeater. A motion was made by Roy (KC7IJH) and a second by Jim (KP2X) to authorize the test.

Bob (WA7ZWG) stated that a new chairman needed to be elected. He said that he would continue the position of nobody else was interested. The members stated they would like Bob to remain chairman. Roy made a motion with a second by Jim to re-elect Bob as the Chairman. All were in favor. 

The IFR-1000S service monitor needs repaired. W7LMR will repair and calibrate the service monitor for $175.00 plus tax. A motion was made by Roy with a second by Brian (KN0N) to have the monitor repaired. All were in favor.

Bob (WA7ZWG) said that the Motorola Quantar repeater on King Mountain will be programmed for

P-25 digital and analog both.

Reports from other Groups:

Jim (KP2X) reports that he, Bob (WA7ZWG), Dale (N7KWD) and Ryan (K7RGK) made the trip to Sumas Mountain to install the MRS-5000 Sumas Repeater (145.230) in the new WSP repeater site building. Permission was granted to install a temporary mag-mount antenna on the antenna bridge leading to the new tower until the permanent antenna could be installed. The permanent antenna will be installed shortly once all of the ordered parts are received and the tower crew is available. The Sumas Repeater works exceptionally well with the temporary antenna.

There was no other business and the meeting was adjourned at about 2030 hours. The next meeting will be March 22, 2010.

Mt Baker Amateur Radio Club Repeater Group Meeting September 21, 2009

Member present:

Bob Johnson, Jim Elston, Dale Kloes, Ryan King, Stan Schmidt, Jim Kaufman, Allen Hart, Mike Haslip

Meeting called to order by Bob (WA7ZWG) at 1930 hours

Secretary's Report:

Report from June 06, 2009, was read and approved.

Treasurers Report:

Dale (N7KWD) provided the 2008 financial records to the Audit Committee on 06/18/09 as directed by the President of the club. The records were received back on 07/24/09, but there was no indication of their findings.

Dale worked with Key Bank providing updated information and new signature card for the checking account. Bob Johnson and dale Kloes are the current approved signors for the account. Both were issued debit cards which will allow after-hours automated teller access and a means to pay for miscellaneous expenses without writing additional checks.

As of 09/21/09, current checking account balance is $2394.10 with 51 active members (including one life member).

Expenses paid during the period of 06/03/09 thru 09/21/09 are:

$48.00             Postal Box rental

$356.00           Lookout Repeater site rent UHF/VHF

$44.70             Travel expenses to Orcas (Johnson/Elston)

Old Business:

Jim (KP2X) and Bob (WA7ZWG) went to Orcas to determine problem with the 440.050 repeater. The harmonic filter was determined to be bad and was brought back for repairs. Repairs were made and it will be re-installed on next trip

On June 04, 2009, the MTR2000 UHF repeater donated by Paul Razore was installed at Lookout. Paul went along to the site and was quiet impressed.

On Aug 7, 2009, the VHF Quantar repeater donated by Paul Razore (KB7APJ) was installed at King.

It was found that the repeater group's insurance only covers equipment and not personnel. Gary Crawford (W7GLC) will check to see if the club's insurance with cover personnel when traveling to and from repeater sites.

New Business:

Record Keeping: A new equipment inventory sheet was made and a copy was provided to board members.

Excess Equipment:

IFR 1000S service Monitor needs repairs. Bob (WA7ZWG) will check resources to determine if it is economically viable to repair the monitor.

RCA UHF receiver, unknown model (used as control RX at 74 Lookout) is no longer used. Looking at options for disposal.

Motorola UHF uni-chassis UHF repeater with 12 watt PS will go to Puyallup hamfest to be sold.

GE Master II UHF 40 watt repeater. No power supply. Was replaced by MTR2000 443.750 Mhz at Lookout.

GE Master II VHF 100 watt repeater complete. Replaced by Quantar 147.160 Mhz at King Mt.

The 5 County Emergency Communications Group would like to trade the repeater group a complete Motorola MSR-2000 repeater for the two above GE Master II repeaters. The MSR-2000 can be used as a backup repeater or spare parts for existing like repeaters. A motion was made by Mike Haslip (W7MDH) and a second by Stan Schmidt (N7OC) to make the trade. A vote indicated all in favor.

Another MSR 2000 VHF complete repeater has been made available to purchase for $300.00. Jim Elston (KP2X) made a motion to the group to make the purchase. A second was made by Ryan King (K7RGK). A vote indicated all in favor to make the purchase.

Bob Johnson will be looking into purchasing two brass name plates for the two repeaters donated by Paul Razore. Ryan King will draft a letter of thanks as well.

There was discussion about linking our repeaters to other systems. The group decided it was in everyones best interest not to do this. The group also discussed programming the 147.160 King Mt. Quantar repeater for both conventional and P-25 digital. It was decided to revisit this at a future date.

The group discussed on how to handle equipment in the event of the loss of the club or one of the group's members. Additional discussion is needed to determine the type of procedure needed.

Other Business:

The 74 Lookout coordination is due in December and the Sumas repeater is still in a holding pattern until the go ahead is given to install at the new repeater site.

Next meeting is scheduled for Dec 07, 2009.