Florida Repeater Council, Inc. Minutes of Open Forum and Board of Directors Meeting September 9, 2000 Melbourne, Florida The open forum was started at 3:00 PM on September 9, 2000 by President Ray Kassis, N4LEM. The following staff were in attendance: Directors in attendance were: District 1: Nilo A. Hernandez, W4HN District 2: Mark Filla, KS4VT District 3: Karen A. Power, KD4DJX District 4: Paul Knupke Jr., KR4YL District 5: Terry Brinson, W9TG District 6: District 7: Ted Wirick, W7YJC District 8: Frank Butler, W4RH Staff Members in attendance were: President: Ray Kassis, N4LEM Vice President: Ira R. Bickham Jr., K8HRR Secretary/Treasurer: none Database Manager: Dana G. Rodakis, K4LK Pres. welcomed all present and explained that the first part of the meeting would be an open format, where anyone could express any thoughts. This portion of meeting would lead into the formal portion of the meeting when completed. He asked for a volunteer to fill the vacant secretary/treasurer position. There were no takers. He discussed letters he had received concerning the interference complaint between N9EE (New Port Richie) and W8PCZ (Ruskin) repeaters caused by linking by N9EE on a VHF frequency, specifically the input frequency to the W8PCZ repeater. The letter from N9EE admitted that he was linked on that frequency, a clear violation of FCC Regs part 97.101(d). A discussion followed on this issue, we agreed collectively to have Pres. write a letter to N9EE stating our objection to his practice and to reinforce the concept that he is in violation of FCC Regs. This will be formalized in the latter portion of the meeting. Dist 1 informed us that there are two other similar interference problems that he is aware of in his district. They are being addressed locally. The Pres. of the University of Central Florida repeater group informed us that the same N9EE repeater is interfering with their 146.640 MHz repeater on campus to the extent that it is unusable a good portion of the time. This is a long-standing problem for them, they have a handful of correspondences with N9EE, all to no avail. They were asking us what could be done to resolve this problem. There is some question as to whether FRC gave N9EE permission to go to the 1100 feet antenna height he is presently at. The question was tabled pending the arrival of Database manager. A recommendation from the floor was made to change the coordination policy distance between repeaters to be based on other factors besides distance. A three stage proposal was introduced that would be defined for antennas from 1-500 ft, 500-1000 ft, 1000 ft and up. It was also stated that ERP should be entered into the equation. These issues will also be addressed at the formal portion of the meeting. Dist 4 discussed the 1.2 GHz offset issue that had been brought up at the previous meeting. he recommended that we take no new action at this time due to the small number of repeaters in this band and the numerous numbers of channels available. Open meeting closed at 1555 and formal portion of the meeting was opened.
The meeting was called to order at 5:00 PM on September 9, 2000 by President Ray Kassis, N4LEM, who determined that a quorum of qualified Directors were in attendance. Pres. called for a motion to accept the minutes from the last meeting as recorded. These minutes were unavailable due to lack of a secretary, but have been published on the web and in the newsletter for all to read. The motion was made by Dist 8 and seconded by Dist 3. Passed! Pres. called for a motion to appoint Dana K4LK as secretary/treasurer in addition to his other duties. Motion was made by Dist 7 and seconded by Dist 8. Passed! REPORTS OF DIRECTORS: District 1: One interference problem in the district, parties are working on it. No other issues to report. District 2: Director Mark has been appointed as Palm Beach County RACES Director. 147.285 recoordinated to new group and on the air. 146.940 West Palm Beach repeater trustee no longer a licensed amateur and per the FRC regs should be decoordinated. After discussion it was agreed to send him a letter and give him 15 days to get the repeater under the trusteeship of a licensed amateur or we will decoordinate the repeater. Dist 4 made a motion to accomplish the above stated letter and it was seconded by Dist 2. Passed! 147.12 Belle Glade repeater lost its site, moving to a county site. 444.500 repeater is in a 60 day testing period in Brevard County. District 3: Discussed a conditional coordination request between two entities that are within the 85 mile limit. Requested Database manager to permit the two trustees to work out the details of coexisting and that was agreed to. Involved directors will also get involved. Dist 4 report: Need to see what antenna height N9EE is coordinated for, may have been given permission prior to our administration, Database Manager will see what earlier copies of the database shows. This is in reference to the earlier stated interference problem from his linking on input to W8PCZ's repeater. W8PCZ sent a letter to Dist 4 concerning this interference problem and W8PCZ expressed his concerns that FRC wasn't being responsive to this problem. Pres. will draft a letter to N9EE as stated earlier and express the FRC's position . Motion was made by Dist 1 to draft the letter and seconded by Dist 2. Passed! District 5: No problems to report. District 6: Database Manager acting for dist 6 had no problems to report. District 7: No problems to report. Raised the question of explaining to the group the FRC policy on District PL tones as there was a complaint received to the plan. District 8: Had one interference problem which was resolved. DATABASE MANAGERS REPORT: Did not utilize funds allocated for new database software. There are 1095 repeaters coordinated in Florida database. There are 25 new coordinations since the Orlando Meeting. Distributed a paper on the 1.2 GHz repeater offset situation which also basically stated that no action is necessary at this time. List is on the web site of those repeaters which have not updated since 01/01/98. These repeaters need to submit updated reports ASAP. OTHER BUSINESS: Dist 8 reported that he went to the Alabama Repeater Council meeting and passed along a report from them that American Tower Company is buying up every tower they can. They are then removing every ham installation from them, sometimes without any warning. This problem will also befall some of our Florida repeater installations. Pres. suggested that we hold the UHF repeater pair that was reserved for the Esteves as an emergency pair for any other emergency situation that might come up. It was agreed. There was a discussion on how to list the repeaters in the ARRL directory, either alphabetically or by geographical region. There was no consensus. Motion to adjourn by Dist 8 and seconded by Dist 2. Passed! Meeting adjourned at 1658. Respectfully submitted Ted Wirick, W7YJC Acting Secretary