Florida Repeater Council, Inc. Minutes of Annual Business Meeting February 9, 2002 Orlando, Florida The open forum was started at 1:35 PM on February 9, 2002 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: District 6: Dave Armbrust, AE4MR District 7: Ted Wirick, W4YJC District 8: Frank Butler, W4RH Staff Members in attendance were: President: Ray Kassis, N4LEM Vice President: Ira R. Bickham Jr., K8HRR Secretary/Treasurer: Dana G. Rodakis, K4LK Database Manager: Dana G. Rodakis, K4LK President Kassis 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 where no participation by the members would be allowed. An amateur asked if there is a way to have unused repeater pairs re-allocated. Coordinator Rodakis explained the procedure. Considerable discussion followed. The trustee of the Orlando 442.950 MHz repeater complained about coverage overlap caused by the Verna repeater. Considerable discussion followed. Trustee of Verna repeater will investigate feasibility of changing frequency to 442.550 MHz. The trustee of the Orlando 146.640 MHz repeater complained about coverage overlap caused by the Holiday N9EE repeater. Considerable discussion followed. Ron has lowered his output power to 5 watts with no relief. CTCSS was mentioned as a possible solution. A discussion concerning a state-wide clear repeater pair for emergency use. Considerable discussion about 146.94– followed. Director Armbrust offered to contact existing repeater owners about going silent during an emergency. It was decided to explore a pair in the sub 442 MHz band for state-wide use. The business meeting was called to order at 2:25 PM on February 9, 2002 by President Ray Kassis, N4LEM, who welcomed all in attendance and thanked those who work for the Council. The Secretary determined that a quorum of qualified Directors 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: District 6: Dave Armbrust, AE4MR District 7: Ted Wirick, W4YJC District 8: Frank Butler, W4RH Staff Members in attendance were: President: Ray Kassis, N4LEM Vice President: Ira R. Bickham Jr., K8HRR Secretary/Treasurer: Dana G. Rodakis, K4LK Database Manager: Dana G. Rodakis, K4LK PRESIDENT'S REPORT: President Kassis mentioned that all Directors for districts 1, 3, 5, and 7 are due for re-election along with the Council President and that the district 5 Director has resigned. The meeting was then turned over to Vice President Ira Bickham Jr. who entertained nominations for District Directors. Nilo Hernandez was nominated as District 1 Director. Karen Power was nominated as District 3 Director. A call was made for a volunteer to serve as District 5 Director. There were no takers. Ted Wirick was nominated as District 7 Director. Ray Kassis was nominated for President by Dave Armbrust. All nominations were seconded and passed. President Kassis re-appointed Vice President Bickham then entertained a motion to re-appoint Dana Rodakis, K4LK as Secretary, Treasurer, Coordinator, Database Manager, and Webmaster, Matt Bush, KA9RIX as 6-meter coordinator. SECRETARY'S REPORT: Secretary Rodakis announced that the minutes of the last meeting have been posted on the FRC web site. Director Arbrust made a motion which was seconded by Director Hernandez to approve the minutes of the September 2001 meeting as posted. Motion passed unanimously. TREASURER'S REPORT: The FRC Secretary/Treasurer reported the following accounting: Opening balance, 9/8/01 $7,883.05 Expenses: $973.73 Income: $790.00 Balance: 2/6/02: 7,699.32 WEBMASTER'S REPORT: Web site was updated with repeater listings. The Council web site receives 20 hits per day. DATABASE MANAGER/COORDINATOR'S REPORT: Filemaker Pro database rework in progress. Data is due to the ARRL for the next repeater directory by February 15, 2002. Sixty-two coordinations were issued last year along with various transfers. There are 1,120 repeaters in database. REPORTS OF DIRECTORS: District 1: All quiet District 2: All quiet. A couple repeaters are down due to technical problems. District 3: Karen requested that Fred Anderson's coordination be deleted. A couple repeaters were asking to raise their 440 MHz repeater output power. The coordinator mentioned that some repeater coordination applications indicated far in excess of the 50 watt maximum per FCC rules. Exceptions can be granted by the military frequency coordinator. Considerable discussion followed. The Okeechobee repeater on 145.21 has been inactive for 4 years. Discussion about paper repeaters followed. Can new PCARS 444.425 repeater be updated and included in the next directory. District 4: Not sure what can be done about the 146.64 Holiday/Orlando overlap problem. Considerable discussion followed with no resolution. The Wally Cashwell, 449.600 MHz W4EFK repeater is still operating upside-down. Nothing has been sent to Riley Hollingsworth. District 5: No report District 6: Dave reported on feasibility of moving the Verna repeater. District 7: It is getting more difficult to locate available pairs. Other than that, all quiet. District 8: We need to have a entry on the FRC Application that requires transmitter power for 440 MHz coordinations. OLD BUSINESS: The $200 allocated for printing and postage in opposition of tower building ordinances. Coordinator was directed to notify Riley Hollingsworth of the Council's position on the Wall Cashman situation. This was not completed. NEW BUSINESS: The article about the benefits of CTCSS use was distributed last meeting. A motion was made and seconded to approve the article as published for the FRC web site. A motion was made and seconded to require that transmitter power be required on the FRC Application and that applications for 440 MHz that specify more than 50 watts require a copy of a waiver from the Military Frequency Coordinator. Director Paul reported that 10 copies of Filemaker Pro would need to be ordered simultaneously to obtain a minimal discount. Mark, Dave, Nilo, Ted, Karen and Frank would need a copy. Dana and Paul already have one. A motion was made and seconded to allocate $1,800 for purchase of Filemaker Pro. Director Filla prepared a proposal for new coordination distances based upon antenna height for 144, 220 and 440 MHz. The proposed distances do not include the effects of ducting or output power. A motion was made and seconded to publish the proposal on the FRC web site and the next newsletter. It will be voted upon during the September 2002 Board of Director's meeting and appropriate modifications to the coordination policy will be decided. A motion was made and seconded to direct the Coordinator to allocate a pair in the sub-442 pair for state-wide emergency use and determine the least-used 2-meter repeater pair for emergency use. Director Paul indicate the need to form a procedure to deal with paper repeaters. He also expressed a need to find an alternative meeting location. We met in the corner of one of the exhibition halls. The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 PM by President Ray Kassis. Respectfully submitted Dana G. Rodakis, K4LK Secretary/Treasurer