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.

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
MARC Newsletter Editor

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Electronic Meeting Information:

The June meeting is an Electronic Meeting!

PHONE BRIDGE ONLY:

Dial In Number:    877-344-4249
Event ID:        8380841#
   1. Dial into bridge using Dial In Number
   2. Enter Event ID
   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 & Phone Bridge:

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 https://att.interwise.com/att/meet/?ExEventID=8380841
   3. Enter your name and email address
   4. Click on the "join event" button
   5. Once connected click on the telephone
       icon for dialing instructions.

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 6, 2010
This meeting took place using electronic communications.


Officers:

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

Absent: Ron Gordon, W8YUC
Visitors: Corwin Moore, WB8UPM | Jay Nugent, WB8TKL – joined meeting at 1:15 pm.

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 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.
Treasurer’s report provided by Dave. Motion to accept the report made by Jim, supported by Phil, E-poll vote, motion carried.

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.
Dennis brought up the question of how the MARC board should handle the issue of the death of a sponsor, as noted in the December 2009 meeting minutes. The issue was tabled until Dan’s arrival. Dan arrived at the meeting at 1:24 PM and addressed this issue. There was a lengthy discussion on this topic. Dan is working on a rough draft of a proposed resolution to deal with this issue and will share it with the board for their input when ready.

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.
Dennis stated that he still has a backlog of repeater coordination applications, approximately 5 on 2 meters, and 7 on 440 MHz digital. Dave brought up some concerns regarding Dan’s web-based coordination tools and database. Dan commented on these issues when he joined the group. Dan will work with Dave to resolve the details such as the ARRL repeater directory file and provide access to the database for editing. Corwin asked how to best send proposals to the MARC board. He was told to send email to mail@miarc.com. Corwin then brought up the issue of coordinating repeaters based on actual propagation studies. This was discussed at length. At this time, MARC does not have a provision to incorporate this system. Adjoining states and Canada base their coordinations on mileage separation only, as does MARC. Corwin may propose a system of coordination that involves propagation studies at a later date.

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.

Respectfully submitted,
Ann Manor, KT8F

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June Meeting Information:

Saturday June 5 2010
1:00 pm EST
Electronic Meeting
Callin Numbers:
    Toll-Free 877-344-4249
    Toll         978-964-1720
    Blackberry 978-964-1720 x8380841#
    United Kingdom 0207-198-66-17
Access Code:    838041  (For Bridge & Webmeeting)
Webmeeting URL: https://att.interwise.com/att/meet/?ExEventID=8380841
Meeting Number: 838041

Directions:

For the Conference Bridge:
Dial the callin number listed above.
Wait for the call to be answered by the automated receptionist.
When prompted enter the meeting number listed above followed by the #.

For the Web Meeting:
Click on the link provided above.
Enter your name and email address, then select the "join now" button.