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 standard version.

President’s Update:

What is MARC? The Michigan Area repeater council is a volunteer organization of licensed amateur radio operators. The purpose is to coordinate repeaters in the state of Michigan and to work with adjacent states and Canada to have repeater signals that cross state lines coordinate with each other. Like ARES or RACES, MARC’s volunteers often spend huge amounts of time providing a service to the amateur radio community and indirectly to the citizens of Michigan.

The job is not always an easy one and at times can be demanding. It does have its rewards though; basically by the feeling that you get when you are serving the amateur radio community.

What is not MARC? The Michigan area repeater council is not a policing agency. The FCC has the enforcement responsibilities. MARC depends on the amateur radio community and its individual licensed amateurs to voluntarily comply with the standards of the MARC bylaws when coordination is granted.

Are there any problems with this arrangement? Yes, at times repeaters go off the air and are not returned to the frequency pool by the trustee for new coordinations to be granted. Also, there are cases where a repeater is operating without being coordinated.

Does MARC need the amateur radio community’s help? Yes, it is appreciated whenever information is supplied to MARC that can help us run more efficiently. Repeaters that have been off the air for over 90 days can be reported to MARC. In cases such as this, often the trustee of the repeater has failed to notify MARC of the unintentional or intentional discontinuation of the repeaters operation. Just reporting this can help, but as an amateur radio operator, you can help MARC and the amateur radio community by doing some investigation before reporting the situation. The repeater trustee may need help repairing the repeater or you may find that there was a relocation of the trustee or possibly even the death of a trustee or owner. Sometimes the tower site is lost and help is needed in finding a new one.

Sending a long list of things for the coordinators to investigate can be discouraging and is often met with resistance. MARC has received lists of “off the air repeaters” in the past in which many of the repeaters listed were on the air and working. This type of submission takes up much valuable volunteer time. If you happen to find a non-working repeater, first verify that it is off the air. Try to contact the trustee, owner or sponsor. There may be no need to alert MARC, depending on the issue. If you have no luck making contact, then please send MARC a note with the info you do have. Send just one notice please. Once that notice is resolved, then send another if you verify another problem.

Make sure the repeater is actually off the air. MARC often gets nasty emails back where the person responding is very angry because the repeater was off the air for a maintenance issue, or PL change, or is just plain on the air.

Finally, complaining to volunteers is counterproductive. If you have ideas to improve MARC, please come forward and volunteer your services. If you cannot volunteer, please submit your ideas in a positive and productive manner.

Please note that much of this article is my personal opinion.

73, Phil W8IC

Electronic Meeting Information:

The June 6, meeting is an Electronic Meeting at 1:00pm!

PHONE BRIDGE ONLY:

Dial In Number:    312-777-1449
Event ID:        2202098#
   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://www.connectmeeting.att.com/connectmeeting
   3. Enter Meeting Number 3127771449
   3. Enter Participant Code 2202098
   3. Enter your email address and Name
   4. Click on the "Submit" button
   5. Follow the on screen 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.

MARC Meeting Minutes

Date: March 1, 2014
This meeting took place electronically.

Officers:

President: Phil Manor, W8IC
Vice President: Dan Thompson, N8WKM
Secretary: Ann Manor, KT8F
Treasurer: Dave Johnson, WD8DJB
*Director: Fred Moses, W8FSM*
Director: Jim Kvochick, K8JK
Coordinator: Dan Thompson, N8WKM
Coordinator: Phil Manor, W8IC
*Coordinator: Jim Poehlman, K8ABZ
Database Manager: Dave Johnson, WD8DJB
Newsletter Editor: Dan Thompson, N8WKM

*Indicates Absent:
Visitors: Coorwin Moore, WB8UPM


Note: call signs of board members are not repeated in the minutes as they are listed above.

Meeting called to order by Phil at: 1:05 PM.

Old Business:

Phil asked if any there was any progress on adding color codes to mototrbo and other repeaters in the MARC database. Discussion. Progress is being made. Use the comments section on the TDS application for now. TDS form may be updated on the future.

Phil will keep on working on establishing basic requirements for waivers.

New Business:

Dan spoke about the new fusion repeaters. These repeaters will not fit in to splinter channels and must be placed on standard channels.
Discussion:
Dan stated the wording to limit Fusion repeaters to full channels is in resolution 11.

Phil brought up an email from the Wisconsin coordinator asking about PL tones in Michigan. Phil questioned if there was a Pl code site map for Michigan. Discussion on PL tones in Michigan and adjacent states. MARC has no requirements for specific pl tone frequencies, however tone access is required on all new repeaters.

Adjournment:

Motion to adjourn made by Dan, seconded by Dave at 1:45 PM, motion carried.
Meeting adjourned at 1:45 pm.


Respectfully submitted,
Ann Manor, KT8F, Recording Secretary

Database Manager's Corner:

We have a number of TDS forms that are long overdue, 37% of the repeaters in our database have not been updated in two or more year’s. So take a minute and check your entry in the MARC Repeater Directory to see if it is time to update your records.

We are attempting to respond to every TDS form we receive by return email so you know that your form has been received and you have a copy of what was submitted. If you submitted a TDS and did not receive an email response please contact us at mail@miarc.com.

Dave Johnson, WD8DJB

Treasurer's Report
For the Period: 1/31/2015 to 04/30/2015

MARC Funds balance on 1/31/2015 was $ 4,455.33
Income for February, March and April was $ 177.13 from dues and interest.
Expenses for February, March and April were $6.57 for Postage and PayPal fees.

MARC Funds balance on 04/30/2014 was $ 4,625.89

Respectfully Submitted,
Dave Johnson, WD8DJB
MARC Treasurer

Supporting Detail

MARC Funds as of 1/30/2015