Florida Repeater Council Minutes of Board Of Directors Meeting December 4, 2004 Tampa, Florida ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The open forum was started at 2:05 PM on December 4, 2004 by President Ray Kassis, N4LEM. The following staff was in attendance: Directors in attendance were: District 1: Nilo Hernandez, W4HN District 2: Mark Filla, KS4VT District 3: Karen Power, KD4DJX District 4: Mike Fletcher, NI4M District 5: Ralph Betts, KC4SGG District 6: Dave Armbrust, AE4MR District 7: Ben Dickerson, K4EL District 8: Frank Butler, W4RH Staff Members in attendance were: President: Ray Kassis, N4LEM Vice President: Ira Bickham, K8HRR Secretary/Treasurer: Dana G. Rodakis, K4LK Database Manager: Dana G. Rodakis, K4LK President Kassis introduced himself and welcomed all present. 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. No roll call is conducted during the open forum but the districts are well represented. The next official business meeting will be held at the Orlando HamCation. An informal open forum will be held at the Miami Tropical Hamboree. District 3 Director Karen mentioned that someone placed a 146.775 repeater on the air in conflict with the TARC repeater which is under repair. She also listed some inactive (and available) pairs: 147.255 & 442.150 (AD4GO), 146.745 (K4YWC), and 146.625 (Don Sanders). Karen requested a check of these pairs for Archie. Karen mentioned that she notified the Database Manager of the repairs of her repeater. The database manager indicated that he doesn’t change the date of last update unless there is an actual change. The database manager requested clear direction on how to handle these cases. Considerable discussion followed. Keep the director in the loop in all future situations. Bud Hughes, President of TARC expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the FRC staff. District 1 Director Nilo mentioned a recent episode where the Coordinator was insulted and doesn’t deserve it. The Coordinator was acting as directed. District 4 Director Mike stated that the Directors should decide if a repeater is de-coordinated, not the Coordinator / Database Manager. Both the affected Director and neighboring District Director should be involved in de-coordination decision. The database manager indicated that he was directed to de-coordinate any repeater who’s expiration letter is returned undeliverable. The Directors requested that the Database Manager notify them when the Database Changed list on the web site is updated. George Jones W4AQR, indicated that communications between staff and owners needs to be both ways, and that the FRC needs to comply with its published band plan and consider other users, not just repeaters. Director Mike mentioned that the 2-meter slice at the bottom of 145 is reserved for linear translators and yet we have coordinated repeaters there. There have been complaints from digital users about frequencies being used for links and control. George mentioned that he had sent a registered letter (and showed proof) to the Coordinator in 2003 requesting resolution on 444.000 MHz what was not acted-upon to date. He was dropped from the database years ago. The pair was re-coordinated in Sarasota. Previous policy stated that a trustee is notified in writing by registered mail before they are de-coordinated. District Director Mike explained that George was coordinated a long time ago, was not required to update, was dropped and received no further documentation. The Board of Directors needs to define the procedure and be involved in all de-coordination decision. District Director Nilo volunteered to review George’s documentation and work to resolve the situation. District Director Nilo requested some verbage that all directors can use to acknowledge an application or update until it is processed. The Coordinator has requested a clear procedure to de-coordinate repeaters before the end of the meeting. District Director Mike mentioned the co-channel uncoordinated repeater on 147.105 in Port Charlotte is running IRLP and interfering with Tampa. President Kassis closed the open forum at 3:10 PM and thanked all who attended and expressed their opinions. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The business meeting was called to order at 3:20 PM on December 4, 2004 by President Ray Kassis, N4LEM. The Secretary called attendance and determined that a quorum of qualified Directors were present: Directors in attendance were: District 1: Nilo Hernandez, W4HN District 2: Mark Filla, KS4VT District 3: Karen Power, KD4DJX District 4: Mike Fletcher, NI4M District 5: Ralph Betts, KC4SGG District 6: Dave Armbrust, AE4MR District 7: Ben Dickerson, K4EL District 8: Frank Butler, W4RH Staff Members in attendance were: President: Ray Kassis, N4LEM Vice President: Ira Bickham, K8HRR Secretary/Treasurer: Dana G. Rodakis, K4LK Database Manager: Dana G. Rodakis, K4LK PRESIDENT'S REPORT: President Kassis thanked all present and indicated that the official business meeting will be held at the Orlando HamCation. District Director Nilo will secure a meeting room at the Miami Tropical Hamboree. SECRETARY'S REPORT: The minutes of both February meetings (2/7/04, 2/14/04) have been posted on the FRC web site. District Director Mike made a motion which was seconded by District Director Mark to waive reading the minutes and approve them as posted. Motion passed unanimously. TREASURER'S REPORT: The FRC Secretary/Treasurer reported the following accounting: Opening balance, 12/31/03: $8,745.17 Income: $2,393.95 Expenses: $2,978.97 Balance: 9/04/04: $8,160.15 District Director Mike made a motion which was seconded by District Director Mark to accept the Treasurer’s report. Motion passed unanimously. WEBMASTER'S/DATABASE MANAGER/COORDINATOR'S REPORT: The website has received 12,814 hits since January 1, 2004. Updates have been made to the on-line and paper applications requesting updates to repeater features. District Director Nilo made a motion which was seconded by District Director Karen to endorse the improvements made to the applications. Motion passed unanimously. Since January 1, 2004, there have been 108 new coodinations or transfers, 3 approved frequency changes, 79 de-coordinations, 5 approved relocations. The ARRL has requested database submittal by January 15, 2005 for next repeater directory. REPORTS OF DIRECTORS: District 1: Director Nilo mentioned the repeater that increased height from 50 to 500 feet. He directed the Coordinator to de-coordinate the repeater, whose trustee now lives in Colorado. He cannot possibly control the repeater properly. A policy needs to be implemented. Nilo also mentioned that not some update submittals may getting lost and not received by the staff. He has notified Riley Hollingsworth of the FCC about our new policy and has requested rules clarification. There are now two repeaters on the same pair in Miami. There have been many repeater changing hands with the understanding that the pairs get transferred. Maybe there needs to be a policy that allows a trustee only so many coordinations in a period of time. District 2: All quiet. District 3: Director Karen indicated that the 146.775 TARC/Archie problem and her coordination’s problems are resolved. Please issue 146.625 to Archie KE4NUZ and Son. District 4: Director Mike mentioned the problem with W4AQR. Hopefully it can be resolved quickly. The upside-down repeater (449.6 out / 444.6 in) is still in Tampa. Righting it is still in-work. Somebody has placed an uncoordinated repeater in Sarasota on the 444.600 pair. District Director Karen inquired what happens to a new coordination where the trustee is supposed to report that his repeater has been placed in-service but doesn’t. The Coordinator answered that the coordination expires 6 months after last update. It would be a great help if the Directors could follow-up on new coordinations to see if they’ve become active. Any status on a repeater should cause the date of last update to be reset. The expiration letters are working to initiate updates as desired. They may need to continue for the foreseeable future. District 5: Director Ralph indicated that the 145.210 from Steve Wilkins has moved a mile and a half. The Coordinator explained that if the new location doesn’t cause a conflict then no mention is made of the unauthorized relocation. Dan Babilla was introduced as the District 5 Vice-Director. Ralph requested that Dan be included in District 5 email traffic. District 6: Director Dave mentioned the co-channel interference problem on 444.000 that is causing a heterodyne. The problem needs to be resolved quickly due to increased user traffic on both systems. District 7: Director Ben mentioned that the Coordinator has satisfied a couple of requests for searches. Chuck Esposito, K4EHM is a silent key. Ben requested that Vice-Director Scott be included in District 7 email traffic. District 8: All quiet. OLD BUSINESS: Short-form updates new include requests for link frequencies and repeater features. District Directors Mike and Mark requested that a simple link be placed in the menu bar to access the Short-Form update. The SERA 900 MHz band plan has been adopted and is now in effect. The statewide allocation for the 1.2 GHz NESTARC voice repeater system is now in effect. NEW BUSINESS: District Directors Nilo and Mike requested that the Coordinator provide some verbage that all directors can use to acknowledge an application or update by email until it is processed. District Director Mike expressed concern about submitting short-form updates in a repeater trustees behalf that is not certified by that trustee. Director Nilo indicated he submits updates that are specifically requested by the repeater trustee. Several Directors suggested we have a Spanish version of the applications. District Director Ralph made a motion that when a pair is coordinated in an adjacent district, the Director of the district where the pair used to reside should be notified. No second or vote taken. District Director Mark made a motion that requires the Coordinator to submit a list of all pending de-coordinations (for whatever reason) to all directors for review and approval prior to mailing any notification letters or posting notices on the web site. The Board of Directors will have a fixed period of time to respond. Considerable discussion followed. District Director Mike seconded. Motion passed unanimously. District Director Nilo made a motion that no one that lives out-of-state or so far away as to not being capable of monitoring or controlling his repeater can be a Sponsor and/or Owner of a coordinator. Considerable discussion followed. District Director Frank suggested we query other coordination agencies for direction and re-consider this issue at the next meeting. The Board needs to consider defining who we should accept updates to coordinations from. We need to investigate those amateurs who seem to be selling repeaters with the assumption that the coordination is sold also. Tabled for Orlando. District Director Nilo has appointed Miguel Rodriguez, W4NR as District 1 Vice-Director. The Coordinator then submitted the following questions of the Board of Directors: Coordinator submits list of pending de-coordinations to Board of Directors. For those that are approved for de-coordination, a letter is first-class mailed and a notice posted on the web site. What if the expiration letter is returned undeliverable? If de-coordinated, should the record be marked or purged? If someone wants to commandeer an inactive pair then refer them to the Director for action? It was decided that the Coordinator should compile a list of questions to be answered at the next meeting. District Director Mike made a motion to extend the written expiration letter mailings for one more year until end of February 2006. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 4:50 PM by President Ray Kassis. Respectfully submitted Dana G. Rodakis, K4LK Secretary