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. |
Please notice the instructions for the June electronic meeting. |
This months board member editorial comes to us from Dan Thompson, N8WKM who has been with MARC as the newsletter editor and as a coordinator for several years. From the Editor/Coordinator, N8WKM Spring and summer find everyone especially busy with projects at home, work and just about anywhere we go. When traveling I always find my radios to be a source of companionship and entertainment. Since I don't operate HF out of my vehicles I depend heavily on repeaters to make contacts wherever I go. For those who are and have been directly involved in the setup and maintenance of a repeater you can appreciate the effort that goes into keeping a good repeater operating, so that the people who are using the repeater can have a carefree conversation. Well, the process of coordination is not only a part of that, but is very much the same. Your coordinators are always trying to look toward the future to see what problems may be arising so that we have at least some answers before things get too bad to handle. Oddly enough these days, our bands are becoming extremely crowded, or at least the MARC database is, but oddly enough I am finding it more and more difficult to find a conversation on the way to work. Granted, I don't travel to work at what most people would call a "normal" time, but I find more frequently than not there is nobody to chat with on my way to and from the office. So, my question is this, if there are so many repeaters, and the bands are so crowded, why am I having a difficult time finding someone to talk to? Fortunately with radio, nobody on the other end of a chat cares what my breath smells like or if I have combed my hair, all they care about is some sort of intelligent conversation. Of course this leads me to wonder if maybe we come to the point that all of the remaining people who are willing to chat on the repeaters already own their own repeater and are unwilling to change the channel to go to someone elses repeater. No, I don't believe it is gone that far, but I do believe that quite possibly the saturation of repeaters has had some affect on us by dividing and thinning the crowds. On the other hand things like IRLP, D-Star, AllStar and others have brought easy linking to repeaters and have certainly revived the art of Rag Chewing. It is a shame to have a frequency tied up as being coordinated while it sits day after day unused with barely a soul listening. Worse yet are those individuals who selfishly continue to send in TDS reports on repeaters that do not exist and make it so someone who actually wants to put up a useable repeater in a useable area up and on the air is unable or must operate uncoordinated. These and several other issues are things we will be addressing in some of our upcoming meetings. September will bring our Anual Business Meeting where we will vote on officers and have a physical meeting that will to the best of my knowledge take place in the Lansing area. Please look for the newsletter sometime in August where the information will be available. Hopefully the newsletter will be released much earlier than this one. Unfortunately I have a job and it has been keeping me very busy. Please visit the MARC web site. There is a lot of information available, and you will find everything you need to keep up your coordination or to request a new one. http://www.miarc.com/
Dan Thompson
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MARC Meeting Minutes
Date: March 6, 2010 Meeting called to order by Dennis at: 1:00 PM.
Motion to approve minutes from the December meeting were made by Jim, seconded by Dave,
vote per electronic poll, minutes approved. Old business:
Phil made a motion to re-number resolution #13 to #12, and resolution #14 to #13. Supported by Jim,
E-poll vote, motion passed. New Business: Corwin, WB8UPM brought up the issue of the Semara Repeater for discussion. Apparently, the Semara Repeater Association is no longer active. The repeater itself is operational and has been heard in the Warren-Mt. Clemens area. Dennis stated he would send a letter to the trustee of record of this repeater asking for the status of both the Semara Organization, and the repeater. Additionally, Dennis will contact Corwin by phone this afternoon to conduct a propagation test of the Semara repeater. Jim mentioned that he sent out a decoordination warning notice last month by registered letter as well as email to William D. Wherry. Jim received the letter receipt, but no response from Mr. Wherry. The 30-day grace period will expire in 2 days at which time a decoordination letter will be generated, and the frequency pairs will be become available.
Phil stated that he is caught up on all his 440 coordinations, with the exception of 5 that he is still
waiting to receive more information from the trustees. Phil and Dan will work on bringing in the new 440 coordinator in May of this year. Next meeting: To be held electronically at 1 PM on June 5, 2010 Adjornment:
Motion to adjourn made by Jim, seconded by Dave at 2:08 PM. Motion carried.
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Share Acct Money Market Checking Beginning Balance Income Interest March Interest April Interest May Dues ARRL Directory Total Income Expenses Laptop Repair Total Expenses Marc Funds as of 05/31/2010 Share Acct Money Market Checking Ending Balance |
$5.00 $4,391.56 $58.68 $4,455.24 $2.54 $2.43 $2.74 $70.00 $416.00 $493.71 $184.03 $184.03 $5.00 $4,665.24 $94.68 $4,764.92 |
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June Meeting Information:
Saturday June 5 2010 |
Directions:
For the Conference Bridge:
For the Web Meeting: |
MARC Officers | Appointed Positions |
President: Dennis Gaboury W8DFG | Frequency Coordinator 902MHz: & up Dan Thompson N8WKM |
Vice President: Phil Manor W8IC | Frequency Coordinator 440MHz: Currently Unassigned |
Secretary: Ann Manor KT8F | Frequency Coordinator Links & Control: Phil Manor W8IC |
Treasurer: Dave Johnson WD8DJB | Database Manager: Dave Johnson WD8DJB |
Director: Ron Gordon W8YUC | Newsletter Editor: Dan Thompson N8WKM |
Director: James Kvochick WB8AZP |