Meeting Minutes – October 13, 2020
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by President Scott N8XP. There were 12 members and guests in attendance.
General Announcements:
KG8ID 440 repeater is off the air.
No hospital reports
The Livonia Amateur Radio Repeater Group is holding an outdoor swap November 8th the Ford Field located at Farmington and Lyndon Rd. in Livonia. For details see https://www.facebook.com/groups/2392995587672556
Presidents’ Report:
Scott N8XP introduced the LCARA 2020/2021 Association Officers and presented Gerret KD8YUK with a lighted call sign display for his service of President the past few years. This gift was procured from gifts4hams.com.
Vice President Report:
Gerret KD8YUK presented plans for the upcoming meeting season and some future enhancements for the LCARA. These include monthly presentations, licensing classes, VEC testing. The goal is to increase amateur radio awareness in Lapeer County. Stay tune for an exciting year. .
Secretary Report:
Lee N8LJ reported the minutes from the September meeting. It was unanimously approved by the membership present.
Treasure Report:
Paul AB8XL reported the financial transactions from the previous month, and the status of the accounts. It was unanimously approved by the membership present. A request was made to approve $205 for a new roof on the repeater shack and the expenditure was unanimously approved by the membership present.
Repeater Trustee Report:
Mike W8YRC reported on the repeater sight cleanup that occurred Sept 27. Five volunteers were in attendance. They cleaned up brush around the sight, re-established the path to the power pole, install the DC power strip for the repeaters, and repair the ground connection. A big Thank You goes to the volunteers. The repeater shack roof is scheduled to be replaced November 1st weather permitting.
EC Report:
Kevin KB8TAR reported the Michigan SET exercise went well. The next event will be a Red Cross exercise on November 14. The theme will be messaging using the Red Cross forms.
The MI6 link to Lapeer Hospital is awaiting the hospitals’ safety officer approval to climb the tower.
LCARA Tech Bytes:
A new meeting feature was introduced our meeting by our President. It is a short presentation of less than 8 minutes introducing new technology or a new product. This month Scott N8XP presented a new packet terminal “Nino TNC” (http://tarpn.net/d) which can send packet information over a 2 meter FM channel at 9600 baud within the voice channel bandwidth limits.
Old Business:
The 501c3 documentation was resubmitted with corrected information on Sept 9th, it was approved Sept 15th. 1020 EZ form was submitted to the IRS on Sept 17th and should be final in 2-4 weeks.
Our new meeting location “Lapeer Center Building” rent is paid up through December 2021.
Both the 2 meter and the 440 repeater now have receiver preamps installed. The tech team will plan a weak signal coverage foot print. Some members are suggesting that noises occasionally get into the 2 meter machine. Any information (time date usage or other pertinent information) should be reported to Mike W8YRC.
The Christmas Party planning is under way stay tuned for updates.
With the expanded capability of our repeater systems the IRA links and NET lists will be placed our website and included in the newsletter.
New Business:
All of the LCARA documentation will stored on Google Drive.
LCARA will use Google Calendar for tracking meetings & events
LCARA will use SLACK for membership messaging capability. Register on the W8LAP website.
The ARRL Audio News is broadcast on our 2 meter repeater at 8pm Wednesday.
The Amateur Radio Newsline is broadcast on our 2 meter repeater at 8pm Friday.
50/50 was won by Mike KN8Z. He donated the proceeds to the treasury.
Meeting adjourned at 8:42pm.
Respectfully submitted
Lee
N8LJ
