SCARC Minutes from November 8

I was asked to post these here prior to Bill's blog being created in the very near future:
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Minutes of the meeting November, 10, 2007

The meeting was called to order by the president, Bill Davidson, KW4J, at 7:00pm.

There was a roll call with the following members present:
KW4J Bill Davidson, President
W4YXU Jim McLester, VP
W4ATK Jim Rogers, Secretary
KC4PZA Jack Evans, Treasurer
N1YZ Rod Scott, MEC
KE4DZU Mike Burns
KI4WZO Greg Evans
KI4VVI Frank Hoult
W4AVD Alex Davies
WB4CCQ John Wilder EMA
KF4JLI Mac White
N4DKE Charles Spanos
KA4VCA Michael Spanos
K3FP John Outland
K4NVJ Joe Ford VEC
KB4FKN Stephen Moss

The Presidental Plaque was presented to Rod Scott, N1YZ by the president honoring Rod's service to our club in the past year.

Vice President's Report:
Rod Scott, N1YZ will present the program at our November program meeting.

Treasurer's Report:
Checking Account - $71.43
Savings Account - $1571.60.
The treasurer reported he is conducting an audit of equipment in order to get the inventory filed with our insurance company in order. Any member who has equipment belonging to the club is urged to contact Jack.

Secretary:
The minutes of the previous meeting were read, and with one correction, accepted.

MEC:
ARES Training has begun on the Tuesday evening VHF net.
John Wilder has been working on the installation at the EMA.
Stephen Moss reported on the turnout at the Vulcan Run and alerted the club of the upcoming Meadowbrook Run.
Rick Seeders has been contacted in reference to a state grant and the proposed installation at the Shelby Hospital.

President's Comments:
The president described the e-mail information list and invited any members interested in receiving the email notices put their name on the list.

Board of Directors Report was given by the president.
The SCARC budget for the upcoming fiscal year was presented and opened for discussion by the members. The budget was adopted with a projected short-fall for the year of approximately $400.
In view of the short-fall, a motion was made by Mack White, KF4JLI, to raise the dues across the board by $5.00. The motion was seconded by John Outland, K3FP. This motion was tabled after a discussion and is to be voted upon at our next meeting in order to give ample time for members not present to present their comments.

$68.00 was collected for the repeater fund.
A discussion was held on the future repeater system (Pinnacle Point).

VEC Joe Ford, K4NVJ reported on the November testing session and the possible switching of testing dates with BARC.

Repeater Committee- No report

Red Cross Liason – Nothing to report

EMA – Lee and crew have done a great job. Antennas have been moved. G5RV is installed and operational as are UHF and VHF antennas. To be resolved are the installation of the APRS and Winlink.

Webmaster's report: Aliases are installed. Work progresses on the calendar of events. The president's email will change in the near future to kw4j@charter.net.

The Field Day committee chair person has been resolved as Ed Boutwell, K4ZSB. the field day site has not yet been selected.

New Business:
Christmas Party. December 13th at 7:00pm, Shelby County EMA. Turkey and ham will be provided. Members attending are encouraged to bring a covered dish. The program will be the “Dirty Santa”.

There was a motion to cancel the December 27th meeting and was seconded by Mike Burns. The motion carried,.

The president discussed the proposed calendar of events.

The meeting was adjourned.

Other Photos From Shelby EMA

Jim and Lee at ground level.

The Radio Room viewed from the Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

The EOC.

Photos by Hub Harvey, KI4PYW

Photos from Shelby County EMA

John and Ed working at the EMA.

SCARC Meeting "Minutes" September 27, 2007

Well, these are not really minutes....but the agenda from our meeting at Shelby County EMA. Sorry about the formatting:


SCARC AGENDA August 8, 2007 Page One of One Expanded


Current Officers:

President Rod Scott, N1YZ

Vice-President Mike Burns, KE4DZU

Treasurer Jack Evans, KC4PZA

Secretary Bill Davidson, KW4J

Assistant MEC Jack, Evans, KC4PZA



ALL Committee Chairs:

VE Testing Team Joe Ford, K4NVJ

Repeater Bob Thomas, KC4AF

Red Cross Liason Jack Evans, KC4PZA

EMA Construction Lee Aured,KI4NMD

Repeater 1st half of the year Bert Put, KG4BEC


A. Call to order
B. Introduction of visitors & members
C. Report of officers
1. VP – Mike is out of town
2. Treasurer - report
Accounts Receivable =
SAVINGS BALANCE =
CHECKING BALANCE =
Accounts Payable =
Membership
3. Pres
A. Red Cross Drill Report
Thanks to KI4VVM, KE4CTX, KI4PYW, KC4AF, KE$DZU who remained on call wednesday for a shelter deployment.
Red Cross volunteers told me that the Red Cross was searching for another location.
B. JOTA @ Brierfield Ironworks Park
Contact Name: STEVE WARE Contact Phone number: 205-936-8569 cell
sware@bipcoinc.com
C. Oct 6th SET – In our area, there will be two analog nets and one digital net operating. 146.880, 146.980 and 145.410(digital).
Will take checkins as in previous years. Special focus on written traffic.
Digital traffic will be originated at the State Level on PSK-31, Winlink2000,
D-Star, etc. This traffic will be disseminated to the local nets ASAP.
D. Thanks to outgoing officers and committee chairs (see above)
E. New Officers
President Bill Davidson KW4J
Vice President Jim McLester W4YXU
Secretary Jim Rogers W4ATK
Treasurer Jack Evans KC4PZA
Director – 2 Year Lee Aured KI4NMD
Director – 1 Year John Outland K3FP
F. Summary of Year.

D. Reading of communications/minutes – Secretary – out of town
E. Application for and election of new members
F. Report of committees and directors
1. VE Committee – Joe
2. Shelby County EMA – Lee
3. Repeater Committee - Bob
G. Unfinished business
H. New business
L. Adjournment

D-CHAT Demonstration

Mike Burns, KE4DZU sent me this link and it is worth posting. It is a U-Tube film on D-Chat software. Some of you need no introduction, others have heard some of us talkng about it. In less than 3 minutes you get a great "flash" introduction to D-Chat.
Enjoy,
73,
Rod, N1YZ



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuPy34EPYf0

SCARC Meeting Minutes - September 13, 2007

SCARC Meeting Notes
September 13, 2007

Vice President Mike Burns KE4DZU called the meeting to order at 19:00 and had the attendees introduce themselves, and there were no visitors.

Treasurer Jack Evans KC4PZA requested that all members who had not paid their dues do so now, or they will not be eligible to vote later in the meeting. A petition for membership from Bill Bussey KJ4J was presented, and he was voted into regular membership. Later in the evening Adam Raburn KI4UEB and Marcus Thomas presented KF4YHP their applications for membership and were also voted into regular membership.

Secretary Bill Davidson announced that the Alabama Section Simulated Emergency Test will happen on Saturday October 6, 2007 starting at 10:30 EDT on 3965k Hz. Also the Jefferson County Citizen Corps CERT Challenge is scheduled for this Saturday September 15, 2007 at the Alabama Fair Park Arena.

Repeater Committee Chairman Bob Thomas KC4AF reported that the new main repeater antenna has been installed. There is a voltage dip problem associated when the air conditioner is energized but it is temporarily relieved with the power supply being replaced with a larger one. Alabama power will be requested to install a larger service feed for a more permanent solution. Also, more money is needed to buy duplexers for the Pinnacle Point site.

Steven Moss KB4FKN reports that volunteers are needed to support the communication effort for the Vulcan Run, starting at 08:00 November 13, 2007 and for the Talladega Yellowhammer Run during Oct 5 – 7, 2007.

VE Test Chairman reports that three applicants passed the Technician test Friday September 20, 2007. He also said that BARC will be switching to the ARRL testing procedures.

Jack Evans reports that the Club has switched to Regions Bank and has $64.74 and $1371.47 in the checking and savings accounts respectively.

The annual election of Club officers was then held and the following officers were elected by a vote of acclamation:
President Bill Davidson KW4J
Vice President Jim McLester W4YXU
Secretary Jim Rogers W4ATK
Treasurer Jack Evans KC4PZA
Director – 2 Year Lee Aured KI4NMD
Director – 1 Year John Outland K3FP

Rod Scott N1YZ was elected to the MEC position by a majority vote.

Marcus Thomas presented the Club with a bill for $225 to cover his expenses incurred for tower climbing and antenna installation associated with the new repeater, and the membership voted to pay the bill.

A motion was made, seconded, and passed to close the meeting.

Attachments:
SCARC Meeting Roster
Secretary’s raw notes
Email from Rod Scott, forwarding SET notification dated Sep 13, 07 01:51 Z
Jeffco FAX to Bill Davidson concerning the CERT Challenge

In October Please Vote for Greg Sarrat, W4OZK

To all ARRL members:

To view Greg's web page, brochure, etc. follow this link: http://www.w4ozk.com/

Thanks for considering Greg Sarrat, W4OZK, for ARRL Southeastern Director.

73,

Rod, N1YZ

VOTE for SCARC

Be sure and vote in the slate of officers for SCARC this coming Thursday September 13 at the club meeting.

Thanks for your participation !

Rod, N1YZ

N4PHP Reports on Amateur Radio Equipment @ NWS after Lightning Strike

Ron Arant, N4PHP sent out an email regarding the impact to the ham station equipment: to cut to the chase...the Icom ID800 D-Star radio receives and transmits only in SIMPLEX in both DV and FM voice. This will have to be repaired. Ron said he'd loan an ID-800 to the NWS while the other radio is being repaired.

The Astron 35 was damaged and not working when Ron examined it, but Ron was able to repair it. The power strip that powered some of the equipment showed arcing damage and will likely need replacement.

This is pretty good news considering.

Be sure and THANK RON, N4PHP when you see or speak to him.
Thanks Ron.

Rod, N1YZ

Lightning Strikes the National Weather Service Station - Did the Amateur Radio Station Survive ?

Public Information Statement
Sunday, September 2, 2007

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
920 AM CDT SUN SEP 2 2007

...LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE ANYWHERE...
AS WE CONTINUOUSLY EMPHASIZE LIGHTNING SAFETY...KEEP IN MIND THAT
LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE ANYWHERE. NO ONE PERSON OR EVEN BUILDING IS
IMMUNE TO A LIGHTNING STRIKE. ON FRIDAY EVENING...THE END OF AUGUST
WENT WITH A FLASH AND THEN A LOUD BANG AS A LIGHTNING BOLT HIT THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE LOCATED IN CALERA.
NUMEROUS COMPUTER SYSTEMS AND OTHER HARDWARE WERE AFFECTED BY THE
STRIKE. HOWEVER...MOST ROUTINE OPERATIONS WERE NEVER INTERRUPTED AND
PRODUCTS CONTINUE TO GO OUT AS NORMAL.
THERE ARE A FEW ITEMS AND PRODUCTS OF NOTE THAT WERE IMPACTED.
MOST OF THIS HAS TO DEAL WITH PRODUCTS NOT UPDATING ON THE WEB-PAGE.
THESE INCLUDE:
POINT AND CLICK FORECAST
GRAPHICAL FORECAST IN THE BMX CWA SCALE
HOURLY FORECAST
THE OBSERVATION TABLE ON THE FRONT PAGE
CURRENT OBSERVATIONS
THE GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK (THE TEXT
VERSION OF THE HWO IS STILL UPDATING PROPERLY)
THERE WAS ALSO A LOSS OF THE COMPUTER THAT RECEIVES THE UPPER DATA
FROM THE BALLOON LAUNCH. THIS WILL RESULT IN NO UPPER AIR DATA
UNTIL THE SYSTEM IS REPAIRED.
SEVERAL PRODUCTS WILL BE MISSING DATA. THESE INCLUDE THE DAILY RIVER
SUMMARY(RVA)...AS WELL AS THE HOURLY WEATHER ROUNDUP(HWR).
THE GREAT NEWS IS THAT NO ONE WAS INJURED...AND PARTS ARE ON ORDER
FOR ALL OF THE HARDWARE ISSUES.
$$
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The condition of the ham radio station at the NWS is still up in the air, preliminary reports indicate one damaged radio and some PC connectivity problems..... we hope to have a detailed report soon.

Rod, N1YZ

Minutes from August 23, 2007 - ELECTION SLATE ENCLOSED!

SCARC MEETING NOTES
August 23, 2007

President Rod Scott N1YZ called the meeting to order at 19:00 CDT by having the attendees introduce themselves and sign the meeting attendance sheet which is attached to this document. There were no visitors.

Nominating Committee Chairman Jack Evans KC4PZA presented the following slate for the upcoming election on September 13, 2007:

President – Bill Davidson KW4J
Vice President – Jim McLester W4YXU
Secretary – Jim Rogers W4ATK
Treasurer – Jack Evans KC4PZA
MEC – Rod Scott N1YZ
Director (2 Year Term) – Lee Aured KI4NMD
Director (1 year Term) – John Outland K3FP

A motion was made from the floor to add John Wilder WB4CCQ as an additional candidate for the MEC slot. The members were reminded that candidates can be entered as late as the actual voting event.

Secretary Bill Davidson KW4J announced that the CERT challenge is scheduled for Saturday, September 15 and that a review for it is scheduled for September 6 and 13.

Jack Evans reported that the following:
Ron Arant N4PHP replaces Dan James NU4A as a director on the Alabama Repeater Council.
The SCARC Tuesday night net will include a short technical Q&A session on various subjects. The first topic will be D-Star technology and uses.
We will meet at the Shelby County EMA on September 27 at 19:00

John Wilder has a new UHF repeater running in test mode at his QTH and the frequency is 443.350 MHz with a + 5M HZ offset and no tone at present.

Rod Scott will speak to the Chelsea COP (Citizens On Patrol) at the Senior Lodge, Chelsea on August 28. He will explain the benefits of amateur radio to them.

The meeting was adjourned and an informal discussion of D-Star technology and operation commenced with Mike Burns KE4DZU facilitating.

Attachments:
SCARC Attendance Roster
Secretary’s raw notes
Joan Ratchford’s email of August 22, 2007 concerning the CERT Challenge
===================================================================
Thanks again to Bill, KW4J !,

Rod, N1YZ

SET = Simulated Emergency Test - October 6th

This year the ARRL SET will be October 6th. Plans are in the works and will be announced in due time.

Last year Jefferson and Shelby County ARES operated together from the W4CUE station.

Lessons learned from 2006:

1. Be prepared for a radio failure (it happened)

2. Be prepared for a people shortage

3. Headphones help when operating multiple stations in the same room

4. Have test equipment on hand to handle #1 listed above :)

73,

Rod, N1YZ

SCARC Web Page Updates

Just a quick note: The new Club Constitution, the new By-Laws and a club roster have been placed in http://www.w4shl.com/ .



Enjoy!
Rod, N1YZ

The LAST Test Prior to Antenna Installation

KC4AF, KA4VCA, KI4NMD, WB4CCQ, KE4DZU conducting final testing prior to installation. The tests were successful !

Thanks to KI4VVM for the photos..

KI4VVM Antenna Wins "Contest"

John's antenna won the contest for the Most Homely Antenna (MHA) by virtue of being the only entry :)

A new contest will be held once this writer receives any other photo's of antennas that compete for the MHA award.

Just curious John, does that can at the bottom have any beans in it?

SCARC Meeting Minutes August 9, 2007

Notes provided by our "super Secretary" Bill Davidson, Kw4J. Maybe we should double his current salary, what do you think?
Rod, N1YZ

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SCARC MEETING NOTES
August 9, 2007

President Rod Scott N1YZ called the meeting to order at 19:00 CDT by having the attendees introduce themselves and sign the meeting attendance sheet which is attached to this document. There were no visitors.

Vice President Mike Burns KE4DZU said that a program on the new Kenwood VHF repeater may be the program this month. He reminded everyone that the election of new officers will be held on the first meeting of next month (September 13, 2007), and that will be the monthly program. Subsequent discussion centered on the election venue and it was decided to hold it at the Red Cross offices where the Club most often meets.

Treasurer Jack Evans KC4PZA reports that the Club savings and checking accounts have respective current balances of $169.74 and $1380.50. The Club’s present bank has changed its policy concerning free checking and he asked the membership to check with their banks about their policies. He also reported that the new repeater and antenna system total costs were $1974.96 and 1624.50 respectively.

Rod Scott reported on the following issues:
There is no change concerning the radio infrastructure at Shelby County Baptist Hospital, as the funding is still in limbo. Lee Aured KI4NMD will consult with the hospital management about this matter.
The Red Cross move has not begun and the local director is checking into the reason for the delay.
Everyone was reminded again about the September elections.
The Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) meets at Vincent on August 14, 2007 and Rod has been invited to attend as the amateur radio representative.
Rod will give an informative lecture on amateur radio to the Chelsea section of Citizens on Patrol (COPS) on August 28, 2007 and everyone is invited to attend.
David WB6BDR will talk to the Boy Scout Troop at Concord Baptist Church August 11, 2007 about amateur radio and will assist them in obtaining the Radio Merit Badge.
Barbara Brewer KB9TIV presented her suggested format changes to the Constitution. (Thanks again, Barbara!)
A copy of the D-Chat activity during the Calhoun County Disaster Exercise was passed around.

Secretary Bill Davidson KW4J presented the following:
The membership was reminded that all minutes are posted on the SCARC President’s BLOG.
John Outland K3FP forwarded an email from Joshua Knierim of the Red Cross that announced a Disaster Assessment course to be held at the Shelby County office on August 10, 2007 13:00-16:00 and everyone is invited.
An email forwarded vie ICOM’s D-Star reflector concerning the differences between RS-232 and USB ports was discussed. It points out the differences between the two and the reasons that some interfaces work erratically. This message can be found at http://www.icomarmerica.com/support/forums/fb.asp?m=6678

VE Committee Chairman Joe Ford reminded the membership that the next SCARC VE Testing will be September 7, 2007 at the Red Cross facility. He also stated that any change to the current BARC/SCARC test schedules will not take place until the first of 2008, if at all.

EMA Construction Chairman Lee Aured KI4NMD reports that the shelving above the desk at the new Shelby County EMA radio facility has been installed and all that remains is the painting. He will call for a work detail after Huntsville Hamfest (Aug 18-19) to install the radio equipment.

Repeater Chairman Bob Thomas KC4AF reports that work is still going on concerning the installation of the new antenna. Mostly it concerns VSWR and gain problems when it is fully assembled. More testing is underway. Also the temporary power supply for the new repeater is an automobile battery and a charger needs to be procured for it. Subsequent discussion presented several possibilities that will be pursued.

Nominating Committee Jack Evans stated that there was nothing to report at this time.

Marcus Thomas KF4YHP presented a bill of $125.00 for tower climbing services associated with the installation of the new repeater system and antenna and the club voted to pay the bill.

Rod Scott informed the club that the ARRL Booth at the Huntsville Hamfest on August 18-19, 2007 will issue a badge showing all emergency courses taken, so everyone is encouraged to take their certificates with them.

A motion was raised, seconded, and passed to close the meeting.

Attachments:
SCARC Attendance Roster
Secretary’s raw notes
N1YZ email of 7/15/07 - Lee Aured made the EMA Support Chairman
Joshua Knierim’s forwarded email (via K3FP) of August 3, 2007
ICOM Forum Reflector Note, 7/23/07 – RE: 91AD PC Cable

Ham's Invited To Red Cross Training Aug 10th

This email was passed on to the BARC email listing on Friday Aug 3:
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Good morning,

My name is Josh Knierim, and I am responsible for disaster training for the Birmingham Area Chapter of the American Red Cross. I wanted to make you aware of an opportunity that is coming up next week. We will be holding a Disaster Assessment course at the Shelby County office on August 10th from 1:00 to 4:00. This class is geared towards teaching people how to evaluate the effects of a disaster such as a fire, flood, or tornado. In the past HAM operators have been a big asset in relaying this information to the Red Cross.

I would like to invite anyone who is interested in coming to the class to participate. Anyone who is interested can call me at 458-8249 to sign up or email me at this address.

Thanks,
Joshua Knierim
Emergency Services Specialist
Birmingham Area Chapter American Red Cross Office
(205) 458-8249 Office
(205) 337-3982 Cell
When you help the Red Cross, you help your neighbors recover.

SCARC Minutes July 26, 2007 - BYLAWS

Thanks to all club members who worked on the By-Laws, and a special thanks to Bob Thomas, KC4AF who chaired the committee and Bill Davidson, KW4J, who typed these things up, corrected them, typed them up, corrected them, typed them......well you get the idea. :)
73,
Rod, N1YZ
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SCARC MEETING NOTES
July 26, 2007

President Rod Scott N1YZ called the meeting to order at 19:00 CDT by asking if there were any visitors and no one was identified as such. The attendees then introduced themselves and signed the meeting attendance sheet which is attached to this document.

Vic President Mike Burns KE4DZU solicited the members to ascertain if the group would be receptive for a program on the new Kenwood VHF repeater, and everyone was receptive. He also welcomed any ideas for future SCARC programs. Mike reported that the Club (and ham radio in general) received good publicity from the newspaper articles during the recent ARRL Field Day exercise.

Treasurer Jack Evans KC4PZA reports that the Club savings and checking accounts have respective current balances of $171.74 and $1291.05. He also reported that the new repeater and antenna system has been completely paid for. Donations for the project totaled $1440.00. Donations for the general repeater fund are still gladly accepted. Barbara Brewer KB9TIV requested information as to the expenses associated with the recent repeater system purchases and Jack presented and itemized sum of $1816.77 as the amount paid to date. He also emphasized that there is still money to be spent mainly for the new antenna installation.

Rod Scott reported on the following issues:
Lee Aured KI4NMD has been named Chairman of the EMA Support Committee, which has been working closely with the Shelby County EMA for the installation of the communication equipment at the new facilities. Lee reported that the facility is ready for the Club to do its part and called for a planning meeting Saturday July 29, 2007 at 8:00 AM to discuss the location of individual equipment.
There were no changes in the current repeater status other than a speed-up of the CW identifier.
The preamble for the SCARC Tuesday Night Net has been edited and is on the Club’s web site.
A nominating committee for the upcoming Club elections had been formed of the following members:
Jack Evans KC4PZA (Chairman)
Bob Thomas KC4AF
Ed Boutwell W4ZSB
Joe Ford K4NVJ

Secretary Bill Davidson KW4J presented the following:
The first annual Cullman Hamfest will be Saturday July 28, 2007 08:00-16:00 at the Cullman County Fairgrounds.
Kimberley A. Frazier WX4KIM has been selected this year’s Alabama Outstanding Youth Ham.
The ARRL Letter, Vol. 26, No. 28 contains an article on the upcoming Huntsville Hamfest August 18-19, 2007, which will be the ARRL National Convention.
An article from the ICOM D-Star reflector outlined a Calhoun Disaster Exercise conducted by the Calhoun County EMA in Jacksonville, Alabama. Rod Scott reported that the exercise completed very satisfactorily and showed the value of D-Star communications during emergency conditions.

A discussion and vote on the proposed changes to the Constitution and By-Laws commenced with several members making suggestions and wanting clarifications of the articles. It was agreed that the changes were acceptable by the members and both documents were unanimously accepted. (There were 24 members present and all voted in favor of both document revisions.) The Club members were encouraged to present any changes to either document at any regular club meeting, as the process to amend them is very simple.

The Boy Scout Troop at Concord Baptist Church, Calera requests a volunteer to make a presentation of amateur radio on Saturday August 11, 2007. Any member who can do this is requested to see Rod Scott for more information.

Rod Scott has volunteered to speak about amateur radio to Calera’s Citizens on Patrol (COPS) on August 28, 2007. Everyone is invited to attend.

Gregory Pack KE4CTX was voted into membership by unanimous decree.

Barbara Brewer requested to be allowed to reformat the new Constitution and By-laws, and a motion was raised and voted to allow her to do so as long as the results are presented before the election of new officers.

Marcus Thomas KF4YHP donated the dry ice that he bought for use during Field Day and the Club membership thanked him for it. Several members made comments about how well the dry ice kept items cold on the hot days at the site.

Ken Caruso KS4NX announced that BARC is starting a new Technician Class course on Tuesday July 31, 2007 at the Bluff Park Community Center starting at 19:00 CDT. Anyone who can volunteer to help is encouraged to attend.

A motion was raised, seconded, and passed to close the meeting.


Attachments:
SCARC Attendance Roster
Secretary’s raw notes
N1YZ email of 7/15/07 - Lee Aured made the EMA Support Chairman
ARRL AL Section Note, 7/17/07 -WX4KIM as AL Outstanding Youth
ARRL Letter, Vol. 26, No. 28 (July 13, 2007)
ARRL AL Section Note, 7/12/07 – Alabama Hamfests
ICOM Forum Reflector Note, 7/12/07 – Calhoun County Disaster Exercise
Copy of Revised SCARC Constitution
Copy of Revised SCARC By-Laws

EMA Work Party Saturday July 28

This is a suggested layout....we need input to insure that we set up the best set up for the EMA.
Thanks for your assistance,
Rod, N1YZ

ARRL STATE EMA Badges

FYI,
On today's Alabama Emergency Net Mike (AENM), on 3.965 MHz, (every Sunday at 4pm), it was announced by Jay Isbell, KA4KUN, that the new state ARES badges will be made at the Huntsville Hamfest. They will be set up to take the photo and record the courses that you have completed. You will need to bring proof of what courses you have completed, or have your local county EC gather it all up and present it.

Jay also mentioned that his equipment is easy to carry around and he could come by a SCARC Meeting and do the photo's there.

So, if you have FEMA courses to take before this card is issued you still have time!

Now it will take a bit of time to take the ARRL courses but you can read more about them here: http://www.arrl.org/cce/courses.html#ec001 .

73,
Rod, N1YZ

W4PA Scott Robbins Presents Program on Ten Tec Omni VII

The Omni VII in living color.

Part of the large crowd that appeared for the Ten TEC Omni VII Program.

W4PA, W4ZSB, N4DKE, N4FP in a "radio huddle".

Scott Robbins, W4PA delivers the bad news to Ed, W4ZSB ......he can't take the radio home!

Photos courtesy of KI4VVM and N1YZ.

Minutes for July 12, 2007 SCARC Meeting

SCARC MEETING NOTES
July 12, 2007

President Rod Scott N1YZ called the meeting to order at 19:00 CDT by asking if there were any visitors and Greg Pack KE4CTX introduced himself. The attendees then introduced themselves and signed the meeting attendance sheet which is attached to this document.

Vic President Mike Burns KE4DZU reminded everyone that the next meeting on July 26, 2007 will be a discussion of/vote on the proposed changes to the SCARC Constitution and By-Laws. He also welcomed any ideas for future SCARC programs.

Treasurer Jack Evans KC4PZA reports that the Club savings and checking accounts have respective current balances of $171.74 and $1291.05. He also reported that the new repeater and antenna system has been completely paid for. Donations for the project totaled $1440.00. Donations for the general repeater fund are still gladly accepted.

Jack is also the interim Club EC due to the resignation of Howard Moss KC4QJA who has changed jobs and must work conflicting shifts. Jack brought copies of the Net Preamble and asked for volunteers to act as net control. (The net meets on 146.98 MHz every Tuesday night at 20:00.) He mentioned that the new repeater has already helped to increase the number of check-ins. Rod Scott informed the club that Les Rayburn N1LF will assume the duties of the Shelby County Emergency Coordinator.

Secretary Bill Davidson KW4J informed the Club of a D-Star Users Meeting to be held at Embassy Suites Hotel, Huntsville 18:00-20:00 August 18, 2007, which is during the Huntsville Hamfest. He also said that any nominations for the 2007 Alabama Section Outstanding Youth should be sent to Rebecca Dorff WG4Y as soon as possible. Frank Hoult KI4VVI passed his General Class test last Friday at the SCARC VE Session. (Congratulations Frank!)

The regular business was dispensed with for the purpose of a presentation on the new OMNI VII by Scott Robbins W4PA, Radio Product Manager for the TenTec Corporation.


Attachments:
SCARC Attendance Roster
Secretary’s raw notes
Email from Frank Hoult , July 7, 2007 , “General”
ICOM Subscription Notification July 6, 2007,”D-Star Users Meeting, Huntsville, Alabama”
ARRL Section Memo, July 7, 2007, “Alabama Outstanding Youth”

Lee, KI4NMD and Ron,N4PHP inspect the future radio rooom at the Shelby Co. EMA

Radio Move at the EMA. Howard, KC4QJA.

SCARC Meeting Minutes June 28, 2007

SCARC MEETING NOTES
June 28, 2007

President Rod Scott N1YZ called the meeting to order at 19:00 CDT by asking if there were any visitors and Greg Evans, a newly licensed ham, introduced himself. The attendees then introduced themselves and signed the meeting attendance sheet which is attached to this document.

Repeater Committee Chairman Bob Thomas KC4AF reported that the new 146.98 MHz repeater was installed and working as of this morning and has been placed in an air conditioned environment. The new antenna has been installed at the 40 foot level of the tower for testing, so presently the new repeater is connected to the old antenna. The new antenna will be placed at the 180 foot level upon completion of the work. Discussion ensued about the method, safety, and responsibility of the climbing crew for the new antenna installation and it was agreed to use professional climbers. The new repeater acquisition/installation budget has an allotment for this purpose, and the Repeater Committee will investigate its sufficiency before continuing.

Rod Scott reported that the Club proposal to the Shelby County Baptist Medical Center has been postponed, as there is a strong possibility of an Alabama Hospital Association grant to purchase the emergency communication equipment.

Rod Scott also indicated that the Shelby County EMA is ready for the Club to move the radio equipment to the new location, so a work party has been scheduled for July 7 to accomplish this move. All members are invited to participate.

BARC/SCARC Field Day Chairman Jeff Drew N4DJU gave a synopsis of the past Field Day event and said that approximately 1600 contacts were made by the combined SCARC/BARC Group. He thanked the operators and the support staff for their efforts.

Jeff reported that a local Boy Scout Troop requests that a amateur radio demonstration be conducted at Concord Baptist Church, Calera tentatively August 11, 2007, and SCARC agreed to the commitment. Details will be worked out later.

The July 12 program will be on the Ten Tec Omni VII HF Transceiver. This will be a special, first-time presentation.

A motion was raised, seconded and passed to dispense with further Club business and a program on the past Field Day was presented by Ed Boutwell W4ZSB.


Attachments:
SCARC Attendance Roster
Secretary’s raw notes
email from N1YZ , June 28, 2007 , “RADIO MOVE at the Shelby County EMA”
====================================================================
Thanks again Bill (KW4J) for excellent minutes........Rod, N1YZ

Field Day Photos - Just a few! Thanks to KI4VVM

98 Repeater News

We held the SCARC Tuesday night ARES net on the backup repeater, 145.290 MHZ. We had a report from Bob Thomas, KC4AF:

Bob, KC4AF, the Repeater Committee Chairman had been at the repeater site during the afternoon reseating cards, etc in an unsuccessful attempt to bring it back to life. Today (Wednesday) they will try to bring the new Kenwood repeater into play and see if that will bring us back to life. More as it develops.......

73,
Rod, N1yz

JUNE 14 SCARC Club Minutes

SCARC MEETING MINUTES
June 14, 2007

SCARC President Rod Scott N1YZ called the meeting to order at 19:00 and had the attendees introduce themselves. There were two visitors, Marcus Thomas KF4YHP and Robert Cook KG6IIQ.


VIC President Mike Burns KE4DZU reports that the June 28 meeting will have a program by a representative from Birmingham Two-Way Radio concerning orientation and familiarization of the Club’s new Kenwood repeater.


Treasurer Jack Evans KC4PZA
· Reported the following:
o Savings Balance $1491.05
o Checking Balance $115.97

· Listed the following paid bills for the purchase of the new repeater:
· Down Payment $1000.00
· Balance $910.99
· Freight $63.97


Jack gave a report for EC Howard Moss KC4QJA who was not available. The Oak Mountain Search and Rescue Drill of May 18 was a success. There were some APRS problems but otherwise things went fairly well. Several local hams were in attendance.

President Rod Scott N1YZ
· Thanked John Wilder WB4CCQ for hosting the fish fry on Saturday June 3. (Thanks John!)
· Reported that John Murphy KA4ZXL and his mother are in bad physical conditions and would appreciate a telephone call for encouragement. (Jack Evans provided most of the information.)
· Distributed a copy of the SCARC preamble to be used for the Tuesday night nets. Volunteers for net control were solicited. Contact Howard Moss if interested.
· Asked Jeff Drew N4JDU to address the Club concerning the upcoming Field Day event. He explained a lot of the particulars dealing with the site setup and operating rules. He also stressed the need for setup volunteers and operators, especially during the wee hours. Jefferson and Shelby county political leaders and other special entities, including the Boy Scouts, have been invited. Park entrance details, especially at night, were explained. Material needs and offers of assistance were also discussed.


Secretary Bill Davidson KW4J
· Scanned the minutes for the May 24, 2007 meeting, which are posted on the President’s Blog.
· Distributed a list of error codes for the ICOM IC-91AD which was compiled and published via ICOM’s D-Star reflector.


The application for SCARC membership of Robert Cook KG6IIQ was presented and voted favorably by the attending Club membership.


VE Testing Team Chairman Joe Ford K4VNJ announced that the next testing session would be held at the Red Cross offices located at the Hoover Safety Center 18:30 CDT July 6, 2007.


By-Laws Committee Bob Thomas KC4AF set the regular Club meeting of July 26, 2007 for the discussion and vote on the proposed changes to the By-Laws and Constitution. Club members not present at this meeting will be notified by mail. All members should attend. Copies of the original and proposed documents are posted on the W4SHL.com web site for study.


Lee Aured KI4NMD reported that the Club’s proposal to Shelby County Hospital has not been presented due to some possibilities of extra funding sources – more on that later.


A suggestion was made that the Club furnish each paid member with a membership card. Subsequent discussion revealed that this is actually Club policy and it was agreed to revive the effort.

Another suggestion for Club participation in the 2008 Alabama QSO party was brought forth and there was a lot of enthusiasm for doing so. Several suggestions, such as all-county coverage by dispersed teams were mentioned.

A motion was made, seconded, and passed to adjourn the meeting.

Attachments:
Secretary’s raw notes
SCARC Meeting Roster
Email from Frank Hoult KI4VVI concerning Club membership cards
ARRL web site posting concerning the 2007 Alabama QSO Party

Field Day Finals

We meet at the Field Day site this Saturday , June 16 at 9am to go over antenna placement, station placement, etc. Contact Jeff if you have materials, or station equipment that you'll be bringing for the Real Deal on June 22-23-24. Remember, Friday June 22 is preparation day.

jeffdu1@earthlink.net

Thanks and 73,

Rod, N1YZ

VE TESTING !!

The next VE Testing will take place at the Hoover Public Safety Center, in the Red Cross offices (where the Shelby County Amateur Radio Club meets) on Friday July 6th at 6:30 pm .

For more information contact:
Joe, K4NVJ, testing -at- w4shl.com

106 Indigo Lane, Calera, AL 35040

Phone: 205-668-6553

FIELD DAY !!!

Call Jeff Drew, N4JDU on the radio, or send him an email if you can bring equipment to field day.

jeffdu1@earthlink.net

We are getting down to the wire and he needs as much info in advance as possible. THANKS !

BARC - SCARC Announce Joint Field Day Operations

The Alabama ARRL Section web page for the Field Day Events around Alabama is: http://www.wc4m.net/fd2007.html

Governor Bob Riley's proclamation of Amateur Radio Week in Alabama can be found here: http://www.arrl-al.org/stateproc07.jpg

Jeff Drew's flyer for our combined operations :

Birmingham-Shelby Amateur Radio Clubs
Announce Joint Operations for Annual FIELD DAY EVENT
____________________________________
The Public is Invited !
___________________________________________

· When: June 23 thru June 24, 2007
· Where: OAK MOUNTAIN STATE PARK
Pelham, Alabama


Directions: Operations will be held at the National Guard site inside Oak Mt. Park.
From the Main Gate: Stay on the main road for 4.9 miles. Look for the FIELD DAY sign.
Entrance on your right.
From the Back gate at the Fishing Village: Stay on the main road for 2.2 miles. Look for the Field day sign. Entrance on your left.
________________________________________________
Talk in radio frequency 145.290
******************************************************
For more information call: Jeff Drew, Chairman
205-936-9915 Callsign: N4JDU

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SCARC Minutes May 24, 2007

SCARC MEETING MINUTES
May 24, 2007

SCARC Vice President Mike Burns KE4DZU called the meeting to order at 19:00 and had the attendees introduce themselves. There was one visitor, Jeff Drew N4JDU, who was later voted into membership. The regular order of business was abbreviated but the following items were discussed:

Lee Aured KI4NMD reports that the new 146.98 MHz repeater and antenna are in transit, but nothing new has been heard.

Lee also gave a synopsis of the state of our proposal to Shelby County Hospital concerning the equipment and associated material needed to establish an emergency communications operation center there. Discussion centered mostly on the type of HF and UHF/VHF transceivers to be requested.

There will be a fish fry at John Wilder‘s QTH (WB4CCQ) on Saturday June 2, 2007 starting at 13:00. Everyone who wants to go should contact as soon as possible. There will be more information posted on the Club web site, possibly a link to John’s web page.

Secretary Bill Davidson KW4J
· Scanned the minutes for the May 10, 2007 meeting, which are posted on the President’s Blog.
· Informed the members of the D-Star Gateway Certification Classes that are available via the Internet from ICOM. The week-long courses start each Monday and cost $150 for the general public.
· ARES E-Letter dated May 16, 2007 contained praises for the Pandemic exercise in Alabama during which ARES operators played key parts.
· A note from Frank Hoult KI4VVI informed us of his new license. (Congratulations Frank!!)
· An email from Ken Adkisson WB4FAY, BARC president, was forwarded from SCARC President Rod Scott N1YZ stating that BARC has refused SCARC’s formal request asking for the loan of BARC Kenwood repeater. Several reasons were given for the refusal.

Jeff Drew is the Chairman for the combined SCARC/BARC Field Day event to be held at Oak Mountain State Park National Guard Site on June 23, 2007. He explained a lot of the particulars dealing with the site setup and operating rules. He also stressed the need for setup volunteers and operators, especially during the wee hours. EVERY HAM CAN OPERATE ANY POSITON OR STATION. Also, there will be jobs that non-hams can fill, such as greeters and food servers. The plans are for the joint club to operate as class 4A, which means that a limit of four transmitters can simultaneously operate and that non-commercial electrical power will be utilized for the rigs. Jeff remarked that it takes a lot of material to run a 4A station, so bring whatever asset that you may feel required. The following is a non-inclusive list of needed items:
· Gasoline generators
· Fire extinguishers
· First Aid kits
· Rope for guying antennas
· Laptop computers
· Plastic bags
· Fuses

A motion was made, seconded, and passed to adjourn the meeting.

Attachments:
SCARC Meeting Roster
ICOM D-Star Certification Class Notice from the ICOM America web site
ARES E-Letter for May 16, 2007
Email from Frank Hoult KI4VVI
Email from Rod Scott N1YZ
Field Day Notice (from N4JDU)
Secretary’s raw notes

SCARC Fish FRY at WB4CCQ's Lake Property

On Saturday June 2, 2007 there will be a SCARC fish fry at John Wilder's place (home of the world famous WB4CCQ Radio Station) down on the Lake.

He needs a head count so send him an email

wilder@spitfire.net ,call him on the phone (hey John what is your phone number? , or give a loud call on the repeater.

Hope to see you there!

73,

Rod, N1YZ

Mike Burns's NVIS Program!

Mike, KE4DZU, did a great job of presenting a program on NVIS to the club.

"What is NVIS?
Near-Vertical Incident Skywave is a combination of radio hardware, skywave radio propagation, operating procedures, cooperation, and knowledge used by a group of radio operators who need reliable regional communications. It fills the gap between line-of-sight groundwave and long-distance "skip" skywave communications." http://www.athensarc.org/nvis.htm


For those who want to learn more about this form of using HF antennas check out some of these sites:

http://www.tactical-link.com/nvis_member_page.htm


http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/materials/NVIS.ppt#257,2,Introduction


Thanks Mike for a Great program!

73,
Rod N1YZ

May 10 Meeting Minutes

SCARC MEETING NOTES
May 10, 2007

President Rod Scott N1YZ called the meeting to order at 19:00 and had the attending members and guests introduce themselves. There were two visitors – Jim McLester W4YXU and James George KI4QWK.

The Club voted and passed the following for membership:
· N8QB Bob Palmer
· WB4VWI Barry McGowan
· KB4FRM Karen McGowan
· KI4PGS Jacob McGowan
· KI4PPQ Andrew McGowan
· KI4PGO James McGowan
· KD4AGT John Lowe
· W4YXU Jim McLester
· KI4QWK James George

Treasurer Jack Evans KC4PZA reported that the funds for the new repeater are as follows:
$950 Individual Received Donations
$ 60 Donations at the BirminghamFest
$100 Donations before the current meeting

He said that all donations will be accepted at any time.

Secretary Bill Davidson KW4J reported that a new CERT class will begin October 4, 2007 at Shades Valley High School. Contact Joan Ratchford (305-0291) or Donald Dunlap (956-6877) for more information. Their emails are ratchmom@bhm.rr.com or edunlap@bellsouth.net respectively.

A program on NIVS antennas was presented by Mike Burns KE4DZU and the meeting was closed afterwards.

Attachments:
SCARC Meeting Roster for May 11, 2007
Secretary’s raw notes
Irondale CERT Newsletter May 2007

Proposed By-Laws and Constitution are on the Club Web Page

At the top of the www.W4SHL.com web page is a selection list. Three items have been added to the selection list: 1) the proposed By-Laws, 2) the proposed Constitution, and 3) the new Club Brochure.

Be sure and give the following club members a "thank you" for the work they have put into the revision of the By-Laws and the Constitution: Bill Davidson KW4J , Bob Thomas KC4AF , Ed Pitchford KD4AY Jack Evans KC4PZA , Joe Ford K4NVJ , Michael Spanos KA4VCA , Mike Burns KE4DZU . Bob Thomas is the committee chairman.

The publishing of the proposed By-Laws and Constitution is the first oppportunity for the Club to read and evaluate the efforts of the committee. A more formal presentation of the By-Laws and Constitution will take place in the near future. These documents include changes in the structure and function of the club. Please read these documents and give the committee your feed back.

Thanks again to Mickey Hicks, KI4QXB for his great work on the brochure.

See you at Club this Thursday night which is a PROGRAM night!
73,
Rod, N1YZ

MINUTES From the Special Called Meeting

Thanks again Bill for great minutes! 73, Rod, N1YZ
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SCARC MEETING NOTES
May 3, 2007
Special Called Meeting

At 20:30 SCARC President Rod Scott N1YZ called the meeting to order at the Bluff Park Community Center and had the attendees introduce themselves. Treasurer Jack Evans checked the roll of current members to ensure that a Club membership quorum was present. The purpose of the called meeting was to discuss and pass proposals for improvements to the Club’s main two meter FM repeater on 146.98 MHz.

Mike Spanos KA4VCA reported that the current condition is that the twenty-eight-year-old repeater system is working but not reliable. He cited several recent repairs including a burned trace on one of the boards and a broken wire. Repeater Committee Chairman Bob Thomas continued with a list of recent repairs made on the system over the past few weeks. A detailed explanation of the repairs was presented to the club members as a report which is attached to the minutes. The consensus of the Repeater Committee is that the main repeater must be replaced with a new machine and that the associated antenna be replaced with one that is expected to give additional gain. The Committee suggested that the repeater replacement be a Kenwood TKR-750 and that the antenna be an Andrew Exposed Dipole Quasi-Omni (Model DB228E). Copies of the specifications were passed out to the membership along with an estimate of the entire project replacement cost, which is $4035.24. A detailed copy of the estimate is attached to this document along with the technical data.

The floor was then opened to the membership for discussion, and the following questions were presented:
· Will there be a repeater coordination problem?
Jack Evans, a member of the Alabama Repeater Coordination Council, stated that this is merely an equipment upgrade and should not cause a problem.
· Will there be an issue with the remote receiver or voter installations?
Lee Aured KI4NMD, a member of the Repeater Committee stated that he discussed this issue with Kenwood and they believe the equipment to be adaptable.
· Is the current DC power supply adequate for the new equipment?
It was reported and affirmed by several members that the new equipment can be served by the existing power supply.
· Is the unit complete as listed (e.g. no hidden costs)?
It has to be programmed but the vendor will do that once our information is provided.
· Is the existing tower safe to climb for antenna replacement?
The consensus of several of the recent workers on the repeater system indicates that it is safe. It was also pointed out that a bonded, professional climber will be doing this part of the installation.
· Can the existing antenna be reused instead of a new one?
Discussion from the floor indicates that the old antenna needs to be replaced. The cost of the new antenna and the associated tower climb/installation is a small percentage of the total outlay, and the new antenna will give 3 db more of gain.
· If replaced, can the old repeater be repaired and used as a spare?
Several of the repeater workers agree that it cannot be used as a backup due to the lack of spare parts.

A financial discussion ensued during which Treasurer Jack Evans reported that the club has approximately $3500 in savings and $125 in checking. He also indicated that there have been individual current donations and commitments of $1000 towards this project by the membership that are not included in his estimate. The club should have at least $1000 in savings if the proposed purchase is approved. It was pointed out that there may also be some FEMA and other EMCOM money made available shortly due to some planned projects.

It was pointed out that the Club is entering into some commitments to provide emergency communication assistance to several local agencies, and that a reliable, efficient repeater system could be the backbone of our assets. Also, it was noted that a club’s reputation can hang upon how well it maintains and uses its repeater. Finally, but not least, the southern part of Shelby County has been suffering from lack of repeater coverage which will be improved by the new system.

A motion was made, voted, and passed that the Club purchase and install the new repeater and antenna as recommended and presented by the Repeater Committee. The motion was carried by 17 affirmatives, 0 nays, and 2 abstentions.


Attachments:
· SCARC Meeting Roll
· Secretary’s raw notes
· Kenwood TKR-750/850 series and Andrew DB228E technical notes
· SCARC Repeater Committee Update Dated May 3, 2007
· SCARC Repeater Committee Estimated Repeater System Upgrade Costs

Club votes to buy new Equipment

Last night, May 3, 2007, the Shelby County Amateur Radio Club (SCARC) had a special called meeting to discuss the SCARC’s repeater and hear a report by the repeater committee. The repeater committee consists of Lee Aured, KI4NMD, Mike Burns, KE4DZU, Michael Spanos, KA4VCA and is chaired by Bob Thomas, KC4AF.

The report detailed recent problems and fixes for the SCARC’s 25 year old repeater. The committee suggested that SCARC replace the existing Micor repeater with a Kenwood TKR-750. They also suggested that the antenna be replaced with a DB-228. The 3db loss in output power would be balanced by the 3db gain of the new antenna which prevents any coordination issues. The 3db gain will “hear” better than the older antenna which had been exhibiting some problems.

The club is actively committed to a two repeater solution to the club and to our served agencies. The old repeater may be able to fulfill that solution by being a “hot standby” repeater located at a different site (perhaps Pinnacle Point). The old antenna, a DB-224 might find use at Pinnacle Point, or some other use, or may be sold.

A motion was made, seconded and carried to make the recommended purchases. For those of you who want to find out more about the new repeater and antenna try the links below.

Special thanks go to Michael Spanos, KA4VCA for resuscitating the old repeater and to the entire Repeater Committee for their work to bring us up to this point and taking us forward.

As has been mentioned in previous posts, thanks also go to everyone who participated in the numerous “repeater parties” to improve our repeater system in the past. We always stand on the shoulders of everyone who came before us.

73,
Rod, N1YZ




http://www.morriswireless.com/downloads/kenwood/TKR-750-850.PDF

http://www.andrew.com/search/BN_095010-000.aspx

http://www.andrew.com/products/antennas/bsa/_pdf/cat29-pg323.pdf

Special Called Meeting of SCARC on May 3rd after BARC meeting

A special called meeting of SCARC will take place on May 3rd immediately after the BARC meeting to discuss the Club's 146.980 repeater problems. Various short and long term solutions will be the agenda for that night's meeting. The SCARC By-Laws allow the president to call a special meeting after making a good faith effort to alert the membership 3 days ahead of the meeting. An email going to 23 individual members of the club was sent out in the last hour.

See you there!

73,

Rod, N1YZ

SCARC Meets at the Shelby County EMA

Tonight the Shelby County Amateur Radio Club (SCARC) meet at the Shelby County EMA in Columbiana. This is always a good meeting because we can get familiar with the building layout, the radios, and any procedures that we'd need to follow. Since a number of the hams in the club are CERT members, FEMA training has already been taken by some.

Don Greene, the EMA Supervisor for Shelby County was there and discussed a program he was willing to put on for the club. This training would be a "crash course" in the FEMA IS-100 and IS-700 courses. Those taking the course could then take the test for certification.

We stood in line for ID photo's so that we could be issued Shelby County EMA badges.

Bill, KW4J described an interesting intellectual challenge that would assist us in handling the net control duties in a disaster. This program will be put on at a future club meeting.

And last, but certainly not the least, we discussed the club's repeater and some of the options facing the club.

All in all it was a fun night!

73,

Rod, N1YZ

SCARC Meeting Minutes April 12, 2007

More good minutes thanks to Bill, KW4J !
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SCARC MEETING MINUTES
April 12, 2007

SCARC president Rod Scott N1YZ called the meeting to order at 19:00 and asked for visitors to introduce themselves. Carl Green KI4QAC was the only visitor. Then the membership was introduced and the sign-in sheet is attached to this document.

VP Mike Burns KE4DZU reports that he will not be available for the planned program in two weeks and requests that the program dealing with message handling during emergency response is given in its place. EC Howard Moss KC4QJA and Bill Davidson KW4J will try to get a presentation together using ARRL material. The May 10 program will be a presentation on how to solicit funds for emergency communication equipment, and the June 14 program will deal with the upcoming Field Day (June 23, 24).

Treasurer Jack Evans KC4PZA reports a current savings balance of $3586.05 and a checking account balance of $179.68 after paying Cahaba Internet $25.00 for domain registration for the W4SHL web site. Some membership dues collections have not been deposited yet.

EC Howard Moss is almost complete with the SCARES contact tree list and expects to be done within a week. There was nothing to report on the EMA planned station move. EMA Director Don Green will be present at our next meeting, which will be held at the Shelby County EMA site in Columbiana on April 26, 2007. There will be a Search and Rescue Drill at Oak Mountain State Park Friday May 18, 2007 starting at 18:00.

President Rod Scott reminded the membership that it is time for renewal. He also stated that he sent a letter to Don Green reporting the monetary summary of SCARC’s contribution to the Shelby County EMA. A copy of this letter is attached to this document. Rod presented some sample SCARC logos done by Mickey Hicks KI4QXB as upgrades for the current logo on the web site. It was pointed out that the logo could have a varied number of uses as well as the web site and these will be investigated. (Mickey’s efforts are greatly appreciated by the Club.) The BirminghamFest is May 5-6, 2007 and BARC is giving the Club a table and there was discussion of how best to use it. It was generally agreed that items such as membership applications and club brochures should be placed upon it for consumption by the hamfest attendees. Rod will check with Ken Caruso KS4NX to see if any of the old brochures are available. If one is not available, he will design and a new one using Mickey Hicks’ expertise. The time constraint may not allow club approval, but if possible the proposed brochure will be submitted. Club representatives have met with Shelby County Hospital management for the purpose of establishing an emergency communication liaison and several Club proposals will be forthcoming. Items such as common identification badges were discussed. It was also pointed out to the Club membership that advanced training in emergency communication methodologies and protocols will be necessary due to FEMA requirements. Rod stated that the Club needs a Field Day chairman, and this led to a general discussion of Field Day June 23-24, 2007. BARC has offered to merge efforts and have one common site, which will be the Oak Mountain Boy Scout Facility. The call will be W4CUE. A proposal to accept BARC’s offer was made, seconded and passed by majority vote.

Secretary Bill Davidson KW4J gave a synopsis of the March 22 Minutes and there were no comments. A schedule of April Alabama hamfests was presented to the membership. ARLB011 concerning the misuse of the 60 meter channels was summarized and discussed. ARRL Letter Col. 26, No. 12 (March 23, 2007) discusses the proposed “regulation by bandwidth” plan by the FCC. Kelly Fowler’s KE4ADV email concerning his reasons for withdrawing his offer to sell to the Club a repeater was presented along with a related set of memorandums between Club officers. This led to discussion concerning the direction of the Club’s repeater effort but nothing was proposed or decided. Also Bert Put KG4BEC informed the Club that repeater link testing was still in progress. He also needs to turn over documentation to the new Repeater Chairman, once one is chosen. There were several member offers to assist Bert with the testing. A side discussion of the repeater antenna status then ensued. Later Bob Thomas KC4AF reports the availability of repeater equipment in Tennessee.

Carl Green, KI4QAC, and Frank Holt were elected as member and associate member respectively.

VE Committee Chairman Joe Ford K4NVJ was not present, but in his email to Bill Davidson states that the May 4, 2007 VE test session will not convene unless Joe is informed that an applicant cannot be available for the BirminghamFest testing times.

By-Laws Committee Chairman Bob Thomas has scheduled a committee meeting for 14:00 April 15, 2007 at The Piccadilly for the purpose of finalizing the committee’s efforts with updating the Constitution and By-laws. The committee will then make a presentation to the membership on a regular program night very soon before offering it for adoption. The proposed documents will be made available to the membership as part of the W4SHL web site posting. Per the current By-Laws and Constitution articles, the membership will be informed of the adoption vote by regular postal mail.

Mike Burns suggested that the club bill the Red Cross for the coax currently installed. The Red Cross is aware of this and has previously agreed to pay for it. Rod Scott will submit the bill.



Attachments:
Secretary’s raw notes
SCARC sign-in sheet
Rod’s Scott’s letter to Don Green concerning Club contributions to SC EMA
Rod Scott’s email about items for the business meeting
ARRL (Alabama Section) listing of April 2007 Alabama Hamfests
ARLB011 (60 Meter problems)
ARRL Letter Vol. 26, No. 12 (March 23, 2007)
Repeater emails between Club officers concerning the repeater
KE4ADV’s email concerning the cancelled repeater trial/sale

Tonights D-Star Net a New Record

We had a total of 10 checkins by digital voice and 4 of those checked in by D-Star Chat text as well.

Screen shot is attached.

Come join the fun, tuesday night at 8:30pm on the K4DSO repeater, 145.410, port C minus offset.

73,

Rod, N1YZ

Thanks Mickey

Mickey Hicks, KI4QXB re-created our logo for SCARES, the branch of the club that provides emergency communications at the County EMA, and the County Red Cross.

The "slicks" of the logo were presented to the club at the April 12th meeting to unanimous approval.

Thanks again Mickey.

Rod, N1YZ

SCARC Supports Shelby Red Cross Drill

The Shelby County Red Cross had a shelter drill on the morning of March 27, 2007.

Here is a copy of my email to Mary Kinard at the Red Cross describing our activity:

Mary,

The amateur radio station was set up at 9:40am to take local checkins. The station was a minimal station, a hand held radio with a high gain antenna. The station was located in the lobby of the Hoover Public Safety Center. During the 1 hour and 20 minutes of operating 9 unique checkins were logged, 7 of whom were in Shelby County. The checkins were gathered in from various locations such as Inverness, Maylene, Alabaster, Westover, Columbiana, etc. We experienced no difficulties in operating and with your permission we shut down at 11:00am. Thanks for giving the Shelby County Amateur Radio Club an opportunity to operate in support of the American Red Cross office supporting Shelby County.
Best regards,
Rod Scott, N1YZ
President: Shelby County Amateur Radio Club

Thanks to all of the hams who checked in to this net!

SCARC Meeting Minutes March 22, 2007

SCARC MEETING MINUTES
March 22, 2007

President Rod Scott N1YZ called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.

There were two “pre-ham” visitors: John Miller and Frank Holt. Both later joined the Club as associate members.

The attendees introduce themselves and the sign-in role is attached to this document.

President Rod Scott reports:
An email from Mary Kinard asked for at least two volunteers to participate in a Shelter Drill to be conducted Tuesday March 27, 2007, starting at 0930. It is expected run for until after 1400, including a lesson-learned briefing. Lunch will be provided.
The old tower of a silent key has been offered to the Club by his XYL, but not all of the details have been confirmed. See Rod for more information.

A motion was made, seconded, and passed that the meeting be adjourned so that a program on Amateur radio operations during Hurricane Katrina, by Les Rayburn N1LF could be presented.

Attachments:
Membership attendance list
Secretary’s raw notes

By Bill Davidson, KW4J

Katrina, Postal Inspectors, and Emergency Communications

Les Rayburn, N1LF, gave a riveting report of his 6 weeks on the Gulf coast during recovery from Hurricane's Katrina and Rita during 2005. Les and his wife Abby and their film company, High Noon Films, was tasked with following around a force of U.S. Postal Inspectors as they rescued the US Mail following the devastation caused by the two hurricanes.

Les is active in Navy MARS and SHARES and was able to relate many personal stories about the tasks they performed, and the people they met. The film, Postmark:KATRINA is the product of their time on the gulf coast, but their active participation in actual rescues ( passing Google Earth converted street addresses to Latitude and Longitude and passing that data to the Coast Guard) and eyewitness stories from below sea level in New Orleans are not to be missed.

Also not to be missed were the lessons learned: being flexible and creative in solving communications problems is just as important as having that dual band HT on your belt. Les pointed out that the best tools he had in his communications tool kit were his cell phones. This is not to say that Amateur Radio did not shine during this event. There were times when Amateur HF was the only communications in town, especially in Cameron, LA.

Another point Les made is that if we are going to be able to survive as Amateur Radio Emergency Service Communicators then we MUST get trained and credentialed in the required courses (ICS-100, NIMS-700, and NIMS-800). To be able to interact with emergency services and play a communications role with the future, we'll need to do some more work.

Great program ! Thanks again Les!

Rod, N1YZ

March 8, 2007 Meeting Minutes

Thanks again to Bill, KW4J for doing an outstanding job with our club meeting minutes!

Rod, N1YZ

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SCARC MEETING MINUTES
March 8, 2007

President Rod Scott N1YZ called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM and recognized the Repeater Committee Chairman Bert Put who announced his resignation. The attending members gave Bert their sincere thanks for all of the time and effort that he expended upon the clubs behalf.

John Miller was introduced as a visitor to the Club. He is a SWL listener fro Pelham and has decided to take the first steps to become an amateur radio operator.
The attendees introduce themselves and the sign-in role is attached to this document.

Vice President Mike Burns KE4DZU asked for suggestions for future programs and several topics were discussed. He also reported on the successful completion of the pandemic exercise which was conducted by the State Health Department. It involved the efficient transporting of vaccine across the state, and amateur radio operators were involved to assist in emergency communications.

Treasurer Jack Evans KC4PZA reports that the savings account currently has a balance of $3784.87 and that the checking account contains $76.89. There is an outstanding of $250.03 to Ken Caruso KS4NX for repeater work. Jack also reported that the Club has 44 members, of which 26 are currently paid up.

EC Howard Moss KC4QJA reports the two past emergency nets had a total of 10 check-ins passing storm information. Several other operators were monitoring in case they were needed. He reminded the Club of the Anniston Army/EMA exercise scheduled to be held March 14, 2007 starting at 08:00 hours.

President Rod Scott reports:
It is time for membership renewal. Discussion concerning a new membership roster ensued. Jack Evans will investigate.
There was a preliminary meeting with Shelby Baptist Hospital concerning a radio liaison and the hospital management wants to take a proactive role in establishing this link.
The Board discussed borrowing a repeater from Kelly Fowler and discussion of the details followed, including the borrowing of an antenna, duplex cans, and channel elements. A motion was made by Steven Moss KB4FKN that $200 be set aside for antenna mount manufacture and associated hardware. Further discussion prompted a motion by K3FP to allow the Board to decide on the expense of the antenna mount installation.

Secretary Bill Davidson KW4J:
Read the minutes of Feb 8, 2007.
ARL Letter Vo.6 No. 07 cautions that the various cellular telephone bill pose potential problems for amateur radio operators and should be watched closely.
Received an email from John Miller asking for assistance in getting started in ham radio. He later sent another thanking us for pointing him into the correct direction.
The Club received a letter on the results of the Alabama QSO Party, which was determined to be the best one yet. However, it should have been even better, so everyone is encouraged to be part of it next year.
An email from Bob Thomas KC4AF forwarded a document by Lee Aured KI4NMD expressing his reasons to support a second club repeater.

VE Testing Team Chairman Joe Ford K4NVJ was not present, but a report was made on the March VE event. There were approximately 12 total of tested and paper upgrades, including one who passed all three exams at one sitting.

Bert Put KG4BEC said that there is not much left to do on the main repeater back into service other than some audio balancing tests.

Bob Thomas KC4AF reports that the By-Laws Committee is close to completing the suggested revision to the Constitution and By-Laws and the documents should be ready for general membership comments shortly.

Ken Caruso KS4NX announced that two General Class Theory classes are scheduled to start shortly. One will be a three-week study starting March 24 and classes will be held between 0900 and 1300. The second class will start March 27 and will go for four weeks. Its hours will be 1800-2100. Both classes will study the same material.

Attachments:
SCARC Meeting Roster
Secretary’s raw notes
ARRL Letter Vol. 26, No. 07
John Miller’s emails
KC4AF memo dated March 8, 2007 forward Lee Aured’s case for a second club repeater.
Jim Johnson KC4HW report on the Alabama QSO Party

February 18, 2007 Meeting Minutes

SCARC MEETING NOTES
Feb 22, 2007

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM and the attending members introduced themselves.

Les Rayburn was elected a regular member of SCARC by unanimous vote.

Treasurer Jack Evans KC4PZA reports that the club currently has $3884.89 in savings and $221.92 in checking.

By-Laws Chairman Bob Thomas announced a meeting March 4 at the Piccadilly Cafeteria at 2:00 PM.

John Wilder WB4CCQ suggested that the club look into purchasing QSL cards.


A motion was made and passed that the business portion of the program be dispensed with in order to have the evening’s program.

Attachments:
Raw notes
Attendance roster

Tuesday Night D-Star Net

The Tuesday night D-Star Net took place tonight at 8:30pm.

Meeting on the K4DSO repeater on 145.410 - Port C.

We had the following checkins:

KF4JLI - Mac, from Shelby County

W4MD - David, from Tuscaloosa County

N4FOP- Phillip, from St. Clair County

KI4QQM- Rick, from Montgomery County

N1YZ - Rod, from Shelby County

Thanks to all who checked in tonight. We hope to see more next week!

February Meeting Minutes

Thank you Bill for the gentle reminder about posting these minutes. I told you that due to my "sometimers disease" you'd have to hold my feet to the fire :)

SCARC MEETING NOTES
February 8, 2007

President Rod Scott N1YZ called the meeting to order at 7:00PM and asked for visitors to introduce themselves, and Adam Radson, who just passed his Tech license was present for his second consecutive meeting. Then the members introduced themselves.

Vic-President Mike Burns KE4DZU said that the March program will be a presentation by Les Rayburn NILF concerning amateur radio operation during some of the most recent disasters. He asked for ideas for the upcoming Feb 22 meeting, and later in the meeting it was suggested that this time be set aside for Kelly Fowler KE4ADV to make a presentation on the status and cost of the repeater that he wishes to sell to the Club.

Treasurer Jack Evans KC4PZA reports that the Club has
· Checking Balance $ 131.92
· Savings Balance $3453.97

EC Howard Moss KC4QJA informed the Club that a Storm Spotter Class is scheduled for 18:00 – 20:00 on Feb 12 at Columbiana EOC. Call Mindy at 699-3999 for more information.

Rod Scott reported the following:
· Dues are due now
· Fleagate will be at Joe Tucker Park Feb 17 07:00-12:00
· Time spent on the following projects
Red Cross 21 MH
Fire Tower Re-roof 31 MH
Antenna Install/ground 14 MH
· Red Cross background checks for workers including radio volunteers have major opposition. Secretary Bill Davidson KW4J read and excerpt from ARES E-Letter of Dec 20, 2006 which indicates that Florida hams may be contesting the issue on jurisdictional issues. The general consensus is that no one knows what the Alabama Red Cross will do.
· Rod will try to get a link from W4SHL.com to the President’s Blog
· Mickey KI4QXB, a new member, volunteers free graphic art services to the club. (Later discussion centered around using his services to re-publish the Alabama repeater map as a money-making device.)
· The Board recommended the sale of the GE Master repeater to Ron Arant N4PHP for an amount between $430 and $450. The Club voted unanimously to approve the sale. The Board presented Kelly’s offer to sell to the Club his repeater, which is reported to be in good operating condition.

Secretary Bill Davidson KW4J
· Read excerpts from the January 11, 2007 Minutes during which Barbara Brewer KB9TIV said the Shelby County Boy Scout Merit badge event of Jan 27 produced 27 successful scouts with 2 more almost complete and another event is scheduled in April and volunteers are needed.
· Summarized ARLB007, which states that no code-free upgrades will be available until Feb 23.
· Gave a weather report on possible icy conditions for the next few days.

Committee Reports:
· Lee Aured KI4NMD reports that the Pinnacle Point Upgrade Project is almost complete.
· Repeater Chairman Bert Put KG4BEC says that the only major portion of the repeater work is the installation of new transistors, which are now in his possession.
· Bob Thomas KC4AF, Chairman of the By-Laws Committee, says that the revisions of the By-laws and Constitution are over half-way completed. There will be a meeting of the Committee at the Piccadilly Cafeteria at Riverchase on Sunday Feb 11 at 14:00. All members are invited to attend and present ideas.

Unfinished Business:
· Rod Scott will take the Club’s HF filters to Ken Atkinson WB4FAY for tuning.

New Business:
· With D-Star and other new technology becoming available for amateur radio, especially UHF/VHF, Lee Aured suggested that the Club consider setting aside a special fund for purchase of radio equipment for such needs. (No motion or decision made)

A motion was made, seconded and successfully passed to adjourn this Club meeting.

Attachments:
Secretary’s raw notes
SCARC attendance sheet
ARES E-Letter dated December 20, 2006 (partial)
N1YZ e-mail to SCARC Officers dated Feb 6, 2007 08:11 EST
N1YZ e-mail to SCARC Officers dated Feb 6, 2007 08:11 EST
ARLB007 “No Code-Free Upgrades Available Until February 23”
ABC 33/40 E-WARN (Forwarded by N1YZ)

March 1st Tornado Outbreak - Shelby County got hit with an EF1

Last night at the business meeting of the Shelby County Amateur Radio Club the March 1st storm related nets were discussed. Part of the discussion centered around the destruction along Shelby Co Hwy 17. Well, it is confirmed, that damage was caused by an EF1 tornado. To see links to all of the tornados in the BHM WFO warning area check out this link. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/bmx/significant_events/2007/03_01/index.php

Roberts Rules on Proxy Voting

Recently the question was raised by several club members about the possibility of "Proxy Voting", that is, some one voting for someone else who is not physically at a meeting.

In chapter 13, Section 45 , page 408-409 lines 35-40; 1-2 we read in the Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised 10th Edition

" ABSENTEE VOTING. It is a fundamental principal of parliamentary law that the right to vote is limited to the members of an organization who are actually present at the time the vote is taken in a legal meeting, although it should be noted that a member need not be present when the question is put. Exceptions to this rule must be expressly stated in the by-laws."

We have no such exception in our by-laws so Proxy Voting as defined above is invalid.