Welcome to the MARC Newsletter a publication of the Michigan Area Repeater Council. This news letter is published quarterly in conjunction with the quarterly business meetings. If you prefer a non-columnized version of this newsletter click here for the wide version.

The upcoming June meeting will be the third meeting to take place via "electronic methods". The annual business meeting in September however, is scheduled to take place as a physical meeting at the Delta Township Fire Station in Grand Ledge, on the outskirts of Lansing.

At the September meeting annual elections will take place as well as discussion about meetings for the next year. If you are considering running for one of the positions to be vacated this year, now would be a good time to start preparing. Nominations will begin starting with the June meeting and will be accepted up until the elections begin.

Remember, prior to running for office, nominating a candidate or voting, your annual dues must be up to date. Dues may be mailed to the MARC Treasurer at:

MARC Treasurer
2266 E Vermontville Hwy
Charlotte, MI 48813-8705

Presidents Update..

Our electronic meetings are working well for us. If you want to participate in the phone bridge, please call in via of a landline. If you must use a cell phone, please make sure you battery is charged up. Please check elsewhere in this newsletter for details for the phone bridge number and website address for the white board.

MARC’s Annual Meeting will physically be held on September 12th at the Delta Twp Fire Department. The election of Vice-President, Treasurer, and (1) Director will be held. If anyone is interested in running, please contact a Board member.

Remember, TDS’s are due yearly, but can go up to two years. Please help keep your information current in our Database. Trustee’s, if your in the red on our website, please submit a current TDS. Mailing in a paper TDS’s will no longer be accepted. It must be sent in electronically. Please go to the MARC Activity page to see what’s going on concerning updates and coordination’s

Our next meeting will be held electronically on June 6th, promptly starting at 1:00PM.

If anyone has any questions, you can reach the Board via of the website, or my phone number is 586-465-7126.

73,
Dennis, W8DFG
President

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Database Managers Corner:

We have a number of TDS forms that are overdue. In fact, over 26% of the repeaters in our database are two or more year’s delinquent. So take a minute and check your entry in the MARC Repeater Directory to see if it is time to update your records. If you don’t find your repeater listed that means that your repeater was removed because we have not received an update in 3 or more years. The only exception is if you specifically requested that your data not be published to the ARRL. If you don’t fall in that category, MARC’s next step will be a notification of pending de-coordination.

Dave Johnson, WD8DJB

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Electronic Meeting Information:

PHONE BRIDGE:

Dial In Number:    805-240-9853
Access Code:        603585
   1. Dial into bridge using Dial In Number
   2. Enter Access Code
   3. If the meeting organizer is already present,
        you'll be connected. If not, you'll be
        placed on hold until the organizer appears.

WEBMEETING:

AT&T Web Meeting Service is an interactive presentation and collaborative tool which combines audio conferencing and data-sharing through the power of the internet. Now when you need to present documents, diagrams, and illustrations to your employees, vendors, and customers, you can do so easily and effectively. AT&T Web Meeting Service is designed to facilitate the presentation of documents from remote locations in combination with AT&T Audio Teleconference Services. Your browser must be Microsoft™ Internet Explorer Version 4.x, 5.x or Netscape™ Communicator Version 4.x.

   1. Activate your Web Browser
   2. Go To www.webmeeting.att.com
   3. Enter meeting number 8052409853
   4. Enter access code 603585
   5. Enter your email address
   6. Enter your name
   7. Click on "submit"

You will see participants in the upper right corner of the screen, contents in the center of the screen, and a chat box in the lower right corner.

The meeting host can give control of the content screen to anyone in the conference.

Participation in the webmeeting is only needed for things like slideshow presentations, or use of a whiteboard where someone may need to do an illistration. It also allows us the opportunity to display the actual text of a motion for everyone to read. If you are unable to participate in the webmeeting you may still join in on the phone bridge from wherever you are.

The abilities for MARC to use the Phone Bridge and Webmeeting facilities has been brought to us by Jim WB8AZP and his employer.

We hope that moving to this format will increase participation by the membership of MARC so that we are better able to serve the amateur community. Things went well in December and we are looking forward to our second electronic meeting scheduled in March.

MARC Meeting Minutes

Date: March 7, 2009
This meeting took place via electronic media


Officers:

President: Dennis Gaboury, W8DFG
Vice President: Jim Maike, KB8IFE
Secretary: Ann Manor, KT8F
Treasurer: Dave Johnson, WD8DJB
Director: Ron Gordon, W8YUC
Director: Jim Kvochick, WB8AZP
Coordinator: Dan Thompson, N8WKM
Coordinator: Jim Maike, KB8IFE
Coordinator: Phil Manor, W8IC
Database Manager: Dave Johnson, WD8DJB

Absent: Jim, KB8IFE
Visitors: Jay Nugent, WB8TKL; Corwin Moore WB8UPM; Steve Gladden N8LBV.

Note: call signs of board members are not repeated in the minutes as they are listed above Except for Jim WB8AZP, and Jim KB8IFE.

Meeting called to order by the President at: 1:05 PM. A phone bridge and a web meeting were utilized to conduct the meeting.

Minutes from the December meeting were read by the secretary. Motion to accept the minutes as printed in the newsletter made by Dan and 2nd by Jim, WB8AZP. Roll call vote, motion carried.
Treasurer’s report provided by Dave. Motion to accept the report made by Phil, supported by Dan, roll call vote, motion carried.

Old business:

Jim, WB8AZP made a motion that resolution #9 should be voted on for inclusion into the bylaws, as approved at the December meeting. Motion supported by Dave, roll call vote, motion passed. The resolution is as follows:
Resolution #9 – 3 June 2006:
MARC shall require not less than100 miles separation between co-channel repeaters that cross state lines. This does not include Canada or Upper Michigan. This distance has been used between Michigan and adjoining states successfully for many years per a “Gentleman’s agreement” which was associated with MAC, the Midwest Affiliated Coordination Council.

Jim, WB8AZP made a motion that resolution #10 should be voted on for inclusion into the bylaws, as approved at the December meeting. Motion supported by Dave, roll call vote, motion carried. The resolution is as follows:
Resolution #10 – 3 June 2006:
Allow one-way links to be coordinated north and east of the “A” line in the 430.525 to 430.975 frequency range. The links will be limited to the area east of 84 degrees longitude.

Dennis stated that the 2 meter backlog has been cleared up and is now current.

New Business:

No new business was submmitted at this meeting.

Comments:

Phil questioned the board – does the date of the initial proposal of a DOG resolution start the 3 year trial period of the resolution, or do amendments start a new 3 year trial period? Discussion. General consensus was that amendments to a resolution create the start of a new 3-year trial period.

Roll call for further comments. Phil stated that Dennis is now doing 2 meter digital voice coordination.

Discussion took place regarding Abe, W8HVG’s presentation and proposals at a previous meeting. Dennis will contact Abe to see what he would be interested in doing to follow up on his proposals. Dennis will send in the $20.00 filing fee to the State of Michigan and will contact the Delta Twp Fire Department to reserve our room for the September meeting.

Motion to adjourn made by Phil, seconded by Ron at 1:38 PM. Roll call vote, motion carried.

June Meeting Information:

Saturday June 6 2009
1:00 pm EST
Electronic Meeting
Callin Number: 805-240-9853
Access Code:    603585   (For Bridge & Webmeeting)
Webmeeting URL: www.webmeeting.att.com
Meeting Number: 8052409853

Directions:

Dial the callin number listed above.
Wait for the call to be answered by the automated receptionist.
When prompted enter the Access Code listed above.