Presidents Update..

First of all, I am pleased to announce that the 2M backlog no longer exist. I went back through the archives, and to the best of my knowledge, all TDS's requesting coordination for 2M have been addressed. If you sent in a request and I did not contact you, you will need to send in a new TDS requesting coordination.

We held our first electronic meeting on Dec 6, 2008, and it was s success. Just a couple of minor bugs, but they were addressed and worked out. Board members were the only participates, hopefully during the March meeting we will have some other MARC members call in. Information on how to log in else where in the newsletter.

As stated in the minutes from the last meeting, we will be voting on Resolutions #9 & #10 to incorporate into our By-Laws. They are about to expire under the D.O.G.

Just a reminder, dues for 2009 are past due. Please send them in to our Treasurer at:

  MARC Treasurer
  2266 E Vermontville Hwy
  Charlotte, MI 48813-8705

Repeater information was sent in to the ARRL for the 2009 edition of the Repeater Directory. Trustees should take note that if your TDS was three years or more over due, your repeater information was dropped from the Repeater Directory.

Remember, TDS's are due yearly, but can go up to two years. Please help keep your information current in our Database. Trustee's, if your in the red on our website, please submit a current TDS.
Please go to the database managers activity page to see what's going on concerning updates and coordination's.

Our next meeting will be held electronically on March 7th, promptly starting at 1:00PM.

If anyone has any questions, you can reach the Board via of the website, or my phone number is 586-465-7126.
73,
Dennis, W8DFG
President

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Database Managers Corner:

We have a number of TDS forms that are overdue. In fact, over 20% of the repeaters in our database are two or more year's delinquent. So take a minute and check your entry in the MARC Repeater Directory to see if it is time to update your records. If you don't find your repeater listed that means that your repeater was removed because we have not received an update in 3 or more years. The only exception is if you specifically requested that your data not be published to the ARRL. If you don't fall in that category, MARC's next step will be a notification of pending de-coordination.

The ARRL 2009 Repeater directory has gone to press as of January 29th.

Dave Johnson, WD8DJB

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Electronic Meeting Information:

PHONE BRIDGE:

Dial In Number:    805-240-9853
Access Code:        603585
   1. Dial into bridge using Dial In Number
   2. Enter Access Code
   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:

AT&T Web Meeting Service is an interactive presentation and collaborative tool which combines audio conferencing and data-sharing through the power of the internet. Now when you need to present documents, diagrams, and illustrations to your employees, vendors, and customers, you can do so easily and effectively. AT&T Web Meeting Service is designed to facilitate the presentation of documents from remote locations in combination with AT&T Audio Teleconference Services. 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 www.webmeeting.att.com
   3. Enter meeting number 8052409853
   4. Enter access code 603585
   5. Enter your email address
   6. Enter your name
   7. Click on "submit"

You will see participants in the upper right corner of the screen, contents in the center of the screen, and a chat box in the lower right corner.

The meeting host can give control of the content screen to anyone in the conference.

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: December 6, 2008
This meeting took place via electronic media
as publicly announced in the December newsletter.

Officers:

President: Dennis Gaboury, W8DFG
Vice President: Jim Maike, KB8IFE
Secretary: Ann Manor, KT8F
Treasurer: Dave Johnson, WD8DJB
Director: Ron Gordon, W8YUC
Director: Jim Kvochick, WB8AZP
Coordinator: Dan Thompson, N8WKM
Coordinator: Jim Maike, KB8IFE
Coordinator: Phil Manor, W8IC
Database Manager: Dave Johnson, WD8DJB

All officers were present
Absent: None
Visitors: No visitors joined

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 the President at: 1:05 PM. A phone bridge and a web meeting were utilized to conduct the meeting.

Minutes from previous meeting were reviewed by the board members electronically. Motion to accept the minutes as printed in the newsletter made by Jim, KB8IFE and 2nd by Dan. Discussion concerning suggested changes/additions to the minutes regarding Abe, W8HVG's presentation in September, 2008. Vote taken to include the additions, motion carried. Dan will make the necessary changes on the website.
Treasurer's report provided by Dave. Motion to accept the report made by Dan and 2nd by Jim, KB8IFE, motion carried.

Old business:

Audit of the books – Ron and Jim, WB8AZP audited the books for the 6 months and they were found to be in order.

Resolution #8: Motion made by Phil to accept #8 into the bylaws, seconded by Dan, discussion, vote, motion passed.

Resolution #8 – 4 December 2005:
Phil Manor, W8IC, Link / Control Coordinator made a motion under the DOG to make changes to the MARC Standards to add additional coordination guidelines for Auxiliary Stations (Links and Control Stations) as follows: MARC Standards I. Coordination Standards.
 A.
9.  Auxiliary stations that are used to link two or more individual repeater systems shall comply with the following:
Transmitter power may exceed 10 watts to accomplish the link but shall not exceed 50 watts. Links using transmitter power levels in excess of 10 watts shall use directional antennas with a minimum of 9 dBi forward gain and the antennas must be aimed so that the major lobe is centered on the receive site. Higher gain antennas and using the minimum power necessary to complete a link is recommended as it allows the coordinator to more effectively assign the available spectrum. These links are not intended to extend the coverage of any individual repeater beyond its coordinated area.

New Business:

Dave made a motion that we bring to the floor in March, 2009 Resolution #9 to be read and voted on for inclusion into the bylaws, seconded by Jim, WB8AZP, vote taken by roll call, motion passed.

Resolution #9 – 3 June 2006:
MARC shall require not less 100 miles separation between co-channel repeaters that cross state lines. This does not include Canada or Upper Michigan. This distance has been used between Michigan and adjoining states successfully for many years per a “Gentleman's agreement” which was associated with MAC, the Midwest Affiliated Coordination Council.

Dave made a motion to bring to the floor in March 2009 Resolution #10 to be read and voted on for inclusion into the bylaws. Supported by Jim, WB8AZP, vote taken by roll call, motion passed.

Resolution #10 – 3 June 2006:
Allow One Way Links to be coordinated North and East of the “A” line in the 430.525 to 430.975 frequency range. The links will be limited to the area East of 84 degrees longitude.

Coordination status and also pending requests were reported on by the coordinators. Dennis reported that the backlog of 2 meter coordinations is being cleared up rapidly. Currently, UHF D-star requests are backlogged.

Dennis reminded the board that 2009 membership dues are now due.

Dan moved that we do not submit any information to the 2009 repeater directory on repeaters that are 3 years overdue with their TDS's (from their anniversary date). Seconded by Ron, discussion, vote taken per roll call, motion carried

The board discussed N8DI's (sk) repeaters. The frequencies will be returned to the pool.
Comments per board members: all stated satisfaction with the phone bridge and web meeting.

Motion to adjourn made by Dan, seconded by Dave at 2:02 PM. Vote, motion carried.

Respectfully submitted,
Ann Manor, KT8F

December Meeting Information:

Saturday March 7 2009
1:00 pm EST
Electronic Meeting
Callin Number: 805-240-9853
Access Code:    603585   (For Bridge & Webmeeting)
Webmeeting URL: www.webmeeting.att.com
Meeting Number: 8052409853

Directions:

Dial the callin number listed above.
Wait for the call to be answered by the automated receptionist.
When prompted enter the Access Code listed above.