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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 the columnized version of this newsletter click here for the columnized version. |
| Please notice the instructions for the June electronic meeting. |
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President’s Update:
Active MARC coordination applications are as follows:
Waiting list:
Please visit the MARC web site and check the activity
reports to see what new and renewal applications have been processed.
----------------------------------------------- Electronic Meeting Information: The June meeting is an Electronic Meeting! PHONE BRIDGE ONLY:
Dial In Number: 888-232-3870 WEBMEETING & Phone Bridge:
Your browser must be Microsoft™ Internet
Explorer Version 4.x, 5.x or Netscape™ Communicator Version 4.x.
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.
Database Manager's Corner The ARRL Repeater directory went to press on January 30, 2012. Any updates since will be included in next years publication.
We have a number of TDS forms that are overdue. Over 26% of the repeaters
in our database have not been updated in two or more years. So take a minute
and check your entry in the MARC Repeater Directory to see if it is time to
update your records.
Editors Note Topics for the June meeting will inlcude continued discussion about the impact of creating splinter channels for narrowband digital voice operation, as well as continued discussion about ways to change the outdated methods of calculating spacing between cochannel and adjacent channel repeaters.ED -----------------------------------------------
MARC Meeting Minutes
Date: March 3, 2012 Meeting called to order by Phil at: 1:00 PM.
Motion to approve minutes from the December meeting were made by Jim, seconded by Fred
vote taken, minutes approved. Old Business: Phil reported that the Marc board has been extremely busy and so far has not had the time to send out decoordination notices to repeater Trustees that are delinquent on their TDS updates. New Business:
Fred stated he went through several counties checking coordinated repeaters
to see what is actually on the air. He found seven that were not on the air
and one had extremely small coverage area, as low as 2 miles. One apparently
had no receiver. In some cases the TDS was correct but the coverage did not
meet the minimum requirements.( at least 10 miles ) Hopefully MARC can send
some letters out to these trustees and have them correct the issues or return
the coordination for someone else to use. Repeaters that cannot meet the minimum
coverage requirement may be offered a SNPR repeater (Shared non-protected repeater).
A repeater owner can be given up to 6 months to correct the problem. On overdue TDS
updates, a 30 day period is given after notice before the coordination is withdrawn.
Jim will help Fred with language on the notices to be sent out to the repeater trustees.
MARC will reimburse a Board member for gasoline used to take a long trip to investigate whether repeaters in that area are really on the air and possibly check that the location and antenna height are as reported on their current TDS. MARC may ask for help from Michigan OO’s to determine if repeaters are actually on the air around the state. Phil stated he would like to add a SNPR (Shared Non-protected Repeater) pair: (441.5 in 446.5 out) to the already in use (440.5 in 445.5 out). He would like to add it as a DOG resolution, instead of a bylaw change. Motion made by Dan seconded by Jim, vote taken, and motion passed. The resolution will be given the next higher number on the existing resolution list. If this frequency pair is already in use, please let Phil know. (w8ic@miarc.com). MARC has nothing coordinated on these frequencies. Discussion on adding an application for membership to MARC on the web page. Dave and Dan will work on it and possibly add PayPal to allow easy payment to MARC. Phil did some research on coordination separation standards. MARC in earlier years was setting up repeaters in different classifications based on their coverage area. These classifications were local, district, regional, and quadrant. The standards never incorporated a system to put repeaters closer than 120 miles. Over the years the Local classification was dropped, 100 miles is now used on 440 and waivers were permitted to allow closer spacing. Phil would like to see closer spacing on repeaters that are limited by the specified coverage area of their coordination. The district class repeater is limited to 25 miles coverage and it has a 15 mile free zone or protected zone that surrounds it (approximately 50% of the coverage area radius). Under MARC standards the next closest repeater would have to be 120 miles away on 2 meters. Based on the basic standard in the Bylaws it would make more sense to be 25+15+25 or 65 miles apart for two district class repeaters.
The next class, regional repeaters are a maximum coverage of 40 miles. That would
allow a district repeater 40 + 20 + 25 at 85 miles of separation, or a regional
class at 40 + 20+40 at 100 miles. Quadrant repeaters are normally repeaters built
using large towers, giving them a very large coverage area. They should limit their
coverage to 55 miles and have a safe zone of 30 miles. That means the closest a
district class could be located to a quadrant would be 55 + 30 + 25 or 110 miles.
All repeaters should be required to run PL tones (CTCSS) and the tones should be
coordinated to prevent keying up more than one repeater at a time. Also, existing
repeaters need to be sure that they are classified correctly based on their
coordinated coverage. Fred asked about simulcasting with more than one transmitter on one frequency. The issue was discussed but no conclusion was reached. Research is required. It appears this type system is something that may soon be requested. Phil asked for a discussion on DMR repeaters, specifically MOTOTRBO and asked if they can be placed on splinter pairs. MOTOTRBO and similar type Digital repeaters operate using 12.5 kHz bandwidth signals. These will fit in MARC’s band plan on 440, where the channel splits are 12.5 kHz, but not on 2 meters where the splinter channels have only 10 kHz spacing. Dan and Fred will work on rewording DOG #11 to clarify that digital repeaters of 12.5 kHz bandwidth or less can occupy 440 splinters. On 2 meters only the 6.25 kHz digital repeaters can be coordinated in the 10 kHz splinter channels. (Dstar and some P25 types) The board will then look it over and vote on it when it’s ready. an asked Corwin if he was aware of the waiver for his repeater that is currently neing initiated by Phil. Corwin was aware and stated he is happy with the waiver. Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn made by Jim, seconded by Fred |
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June Meeting Information:
June 2 2012 |
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Directions:
For the Conference Bridge:
For the Web Meeting: |
| MARC Officers | Appointed Positions |
| President: Phil Manor W8IC | Frequency Coordinator 902MHz: & up Dan Thompson N8WKM |
| Vice President: Dan Thompson N8WKM | Frequency Coordinator 440MHz: Phil Manor W8IC |
| Secretary: Ann Manor KT8F | Frequency Coordinator Links & Control: Phil Manor W8IC |
| Treasurer: Dave Johnson WD8DJB | Database Manager: Dave Johnson WD8DJB |
| Director: Fred Moses W8FSM | Newsletter Editor: Dan Thompson N8WKM |
| Director: James Kvochick WB8AZP |