XARC General Meeting Minutes 4/22/09
 
Meeting was called to order by Bob Karz at 5:30 PM
 
Attendees: Bob Karz K2OID, George Keiser W2GCK, Fred Donahue W3MUD, Brian Donovan K2AS, Pete Fournia W2SKY, Judy Stonehill N2KXS, Fred Miller WO2P, Wayne Rachow N9SBY, John Randall W2JMR, Jon Dickason N2JAC, Ned Asam W2NED, John Austin KC2ULC.
 
Started with an around the table.  The group congratulated John Austin on passing his General class test.
 
George Keiser discussed a possible greater role for the club in Emergency Preparedness.  The proposal is that XARC would be a backup to establishing communications to Xerox facilities around the country that might be affected by any type of emergency situation.  Only health and welfare type of information would be passed.  A discussion of the topic continued with the group.  A sub committee consisting of Ned Asam, Pete Fournia, Bob Karz, and Brian Donovan will meet to discuss next steps.
 
Fred Miller discussed the upcoming Foxhunt on May 9th and demo'ed some of the Fox equipment (http://w2xrx.org/node/620).
 
Pete Fournia discussed having a dedicated antenna for the 2 meter packet node.  Currently it is on the 2 meter yagi which is obviously moved when the HF beam is redirected.  John Randall suggested using the 2 meter Phelps-Dodge antenna he donated to the club several years ago.  John and Pete will be investigating mounting that antenna on the roof of 337.
 
Repeater antenna issues was discussed.  The repeater antenna is about 20 years old and suffered much abuse on top of the Xerox Tower.  Some issues were experienced last year, though things have held up so far, it has been recommended that it be replaced.  Some work has gone on to look into possible improvements, Bob Karz will contact John Wright to find out the status.
 
The possible remote operation of the club station and required internet connection and approval process was discussed.
 
A club 2 meter net was proposed by Bob Karz to supplement regular meetings.  This was endorsed by the group.  The first net is planned for Wednesday May 6th at 9 PM on the XARC repeater (145.29 MHz).
 
Bob Karz discussed plans for the upcoming Field Day event on June 27-28.  Brian Donovan offered his 50 foot portable military surplus tower for Field Day use.
 
It was decided that our next meeting will be on June 10th at 5:30PM in Bldg 337.
 
The meeting was adjourned around 6:30PM, but many members stayed for informal discussions until almost 7:30.
 
Respecfully submitted :
 
Brian Donovan K2AS
Club Secretary