So, the 2m repeater burnt up last week, and the power supply problem is now repaired. It seems to be working. Today, Dennis KD9HIK brought the UPS batteries he was able to purchase for a better price than that for which I could have gotten them, and we went to the 2 meter repeater site to install them.
We put in the new batteries, tested the repeater on the UPS for a few minutes, and found it to work, even without AC power applied.
The batteries we removed have a 2014 date code, so there is a reasonable chance that the replacements we installed will operate for 5 years, also. Since we don’t want actual battery failure, we should expect to replace these in 4 years, November 2023.
Special thanks to Dennis for getting the batteries, and for his assistance in putting them in.
73 de N9MVO,
Rob
Please click here for more information about the SARC Repeaters.
Frequent users of any of our repeaters are encouraged to join the club to help defray operating costs.
On Thursday December 19th during our Monthly Club Meeting, Jim Hull (W9JGH) and Ron Delpiere-Smith (KD9IPO), both from the Chicago Suburban Radio Association, will give their Distracted Driving Laws and Amateur Radio presentation. Come find out how the distracted driving laws may or may not impact the operation of your Amateur Radio mobile operations. This presentation is a must see with ever changing content due to changes in the various laws and/or legislative actions underway.
Jim and Ron call the CSRA home but are members of several other clubs and have done this presentation for about a dozen other clubs in the Great Lakes area.
Here is a YouTube video of Pierre K9EYE explaining his homebrew magnetic loop antenna, during one of the recent Construction Project meetings held by our club.
Thank you to Dane KD9MBR who provided the video footage, and of course to Pierre K9EYE for showing us his antenna.
A motion to accept the Treasurer’s report was made by Frank N9QPD and seconded by Kent W9KAO.
The motion carried.
Secretary’s Report:
A motion to accept the Secretary’s report of 2 October 19 as submitted and published in the RHG was made by Frank N9QPD and seconded by Burt AB9CV. The motion carried.
Membership Report:
In the absence of Membership Chair Bob Benwitz N9JAX, his report was read by the Secretary.
“There were three contacts in the month of October. Carl Cichanski, (no call) expressed an interest in Ham Radio. He was referred to ARRL resource books, local library offerings, and was extended an invitation to attend our club meetings and activities. Carmen, WB9FUS had an equipment donation inquiry. He was called back by both myself and Cliff K9QD, and received no response to my knowledge.
Greg Gingerich KD9LPI, needs power supply information/advice for a new radio (invited him to attend our CP meetings and meet the members who would offer him advice)”.
RHG:
As published.
Repeater:
Our repeater is up and running thanks to the quick efforts by Rob N9MVO, Terry AE9TJ and Dennis KD9HIK who procured the batteries at a better price than anticipated. Due to their response and expertise, we now have a fully functional repeater.
Construction Project:
A suggestion has been made to make a 20 meter mag loop antenna for the CP basement activity. Leo N9NBH and Bill KD9AUP will be looking at this for testing purposes.
VE Testing:
Ed AC9SD reports that in November, 5 people tested.
Technician————–4
Extra———————1
Social:
John KD9KSH has set up our Christmas/Holiday party at Garibaldi’s located at 2346 W. Higgins (behind Buona Beef) in Hoffman Estates. The date is 16 January 20 and an email will be coming out soon with additional information. Normally the Club has its party at Buona Beef, but they are undergoing a large renovation to their facility and in most likelihood would not be ready for us in January.
Net:
No report.
Education:
Leo N9NBH will be contacting the Hoffman Estates Branch of the Schaumburg Library to reserve 12 weeks for a General Class to be held in the fall of 2020.
Fox Hunts:
Bill KD9AUP will be looking for a guest speaker to talk about fox hunts.
Publicity:
Dennis KD9HIK wasn’t in attendance, but his note to the BOD was read by Leo N9NBH. The SPD is looking to make a video of the SARC in action. They are looking for our suggestions as to location, and dates. They also would like to interview no more than three of the members to answer various questions. It has been suggested that we show them a SARC in the park showing operators in action, or possibly videotaping the CP. Also it would be a good thing to have someone narrating in the background while the operator was in action rather than just someone talking. Leo will be contacting Dennis about this activity.
Meeting Programs:
Leo N9NBH will be renewing our BOD meeting site by filling out the form and signing same. He will also be taking care of reserving our CRC meeting sites for the New Year.
EMCOMM:
John K9WIC reports that the emergency exercise went well. It was akin to an emergency call out scenario. It showed that ham radio can go anywhere with great mobility.
Identification:
Leo N9NBH has suggested that we label all of our file cabinets at the PD, Tennis Club and the Hospital.
Old Business:
Leo N9NBH: Batteries have been installed in the Park District television and a bill is forthcoming.
A question as to having a phone number and “go to person” on the Club web site has been brought up again. Leo will be contacting Geoff KA9QGH asking him to bring this up at the Club meeting.
New Business:
In the spring John K9WIC will be checking on the Status of the St. Alexius Hospital repeater and a decision will be made as to whether or not to pull the repeater. There is no control operator and we are not being given access. The new Hoffman Estates Manager wants a letter/memo from SARC officially sponsoring the activity and space for the EMCOMM meetings, under the auspices of the HEPD. John K9WIC will be looking in to this without making any commitment at this time. A motion to have John K9WIC communicate with the manager without making any decisions was made by Frank N9QPD and seconded by Burt AB9CV. The motion carried.
Ray Bocchhio (spelling) has passed away. Many of our members spent two weekends getting his tower in shape some time ago so he could get back on the air. His wife informed the Club of his passing recently. Leo N9NBH has purchased a sympathy card and had attending members at the last CP sign it.
Burt AB9CV has suggested a basic electronics course be made available to SARC members only, and that it could be taught at the Construction Project meetings.
Kent W9KAO has suggested putting a “donate to” button on the web site. He will be sending a note to the webmaster reference same. A motion to add the button to the web site was made by Kent W9KAO and seconded by Frank N9QPD. The motion carried.
Motion to Adjourn:
With no further business to discuss, a motion to adjourn was made by Ken KD9HIJ and seconded by Frank N9QPD. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 8:15.
Rebecca KA9EFE once again had two plates of her baked goodies for us.
Vice President Danny Kafka KD9HIL called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. The question for the evening was “have you ever experienced a lightning strike?”
Attendees:
Danny Kafka KD9HIL///Robert Kocourek W9RKK///Mel Luxenberg W9FRT
Rob Glowacki N9MVO///D.J. Traxler WA9UBR///Terry Jarnholm AE9TJ///John Douglas KD9KSH
William Crockett KD9AUP///Burt Schultz AB9CV///Bill McGovern W9WEM///
James Edgell KC9UAB///Don Smith K9UD///Jim Campbell KB9RGU///John Zietlow K9WIC
Doug May W9YFC///John Schofield AC9JS///Steve Karson AC9EM///Don Dewar KD9NJR
Ed Lishka AC9SD///Gireg Olmetti (no call)///Sid Puri (no call)///Abe Goodman KD9OFB
Frank Giampa N9QPD///Lou Childers N9LTW///Lucas Childers KB9UGJ///Dane Duval KD9MBR
Jack McClurkin W9YY///Mike Griffiths K9KMV///Cliff Sowka K9QD///Bob Benwitz N9JAX
Bob McIntyre W9DXR///Ken Krzywicki KD9HIJ///Rick Dickens KY0Q
Secretary’s Report:
A motion to accept the minutes of the 17 October 19 meeting was made by Rob N9MVO and seconded by Frank N9QPD.
Danny KD9HIL wanted the minutes to be amended to reflect the following changes: Under the VP report it should only read “The VP was in attendance”. And under New Business it should read “Danny KD9HIL has volunteered to be the Field Day Chair”. A motion to accept the minutes as amended was made by Rob N9MVO and seconded by Robert W9RKK. The motion carried.
Treasurer’s Report:
The Treasurer’s Report from the BOD meeting for the month of October was read by the Secretary. Beginning Balance:…………..$5962.09
Notes: Current number of fully paid members is 76.
A motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report was made by Rob N9MVO and seconded by Bill W9WEM. The motion carried.
Public Service:
Rob N9MVO reports that there will be several activities coming up in the future and information on those will be forthcoming.
Newsletter:
Mike K9KMV requests that any items the members may want included in the newsletter should be forwarded to him early in the month.
EMCOMM:
John K9WIC submitted the following.
Club members participated in the State-Wide Fractured Prairie Exercise on October 25th and 26th. This was a simulated emergency test (SET) to demonstrate the ability of amateur radio operators to provide backup communications across the entire State.
On Friday, the focus was on agency communications, since employees were being paid and could participate in the exercise as part of their normal duties. Locally, we had three hams at the Hoffman Estates EOC. The focus was on HF communications; primarily the Illinois Emergency Net on 3.905 MHz. Propagation was extremely bad that day as witnessed on the North Central Phone Net, 3.912 MHz, from 0700 to 0730 local time. Normally solid contacts between Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Iowa stations were non-existent.
The EOC does not have HF capability. Local VHF and Starcom 21 channels were monitored. No communications took place. We attempted to locate a means of erecting a temporary HF antenna but were unsuccessful. We secured the EOC around noon.
On Saturday, we began by calling a resource net on the SARC repeater at 0815. Over the course of the morning we had seven check-ins. We monitored the local VHF frequencies and Starcom 21 channel Region 4A. We had planned on staging at the PD and testing some of the tactical links. With only three of us present, we did not go to the field. We secured the EOC at 1130 local time.
This exercise demonstrated the need to train and exercise outside official exercises. Beginning in January, we anticipate training on deployment, message handling, and both voice and digital communications. Means and methods for this training are TBD.
It is also noted, since the EMCOMM Round Table is not a SARC function, The EMCOMM Chair had no authority to cancel The November and December sessions. Accordingly, Bob Langsfeld, WB9TZC, will determine the location of the December meeting. Watch for information on SARC-ALL and the Thursday evening net.
Repeaters:
Terry AE9TJ, Rob N9MVO and Dennis KD9HIK installed new batteries, rigged up the power supply and the repeater is up and running. The repeater call sign is still set for 10 minute intervals. There is no information at this time about the possibility of a new call sign.
Construction Project:
A dummy load project was suggested for a CP activity with about 25/27 attendees indicating they would be interested.
Cliff K9QD advised us that Roy Merkel has passed away. His widow has indicated that she will provide a list to SARC ALL with an offer to purchase the equipment.
VE Testing:
John AC9JS reports the results of the VE Testing for 2 November 2019 are as follows:
Adalbert KD9OFA Technician
Abe KD9OFB Technician
Jeffery KD9OFC Technician
Michael KD9OFD Technician
Wayne KE0GTF Extra
Class: Technician 4 General 0 Extra 1
VEs: Bill Davies K9WKD///Steve Karson AC9EM///Ed Lishka AC9SD///James Migalla KC9UFB
John Schofield AC9JS and Dirk Smith W0RI
The next examination date is 7 December 2019.
Social:
John KD9KSH has lined up Garibaldi’s Restaurant for the SARC Christmas/Holiday Party. More information will be forthcoming. Normally the Club has its party at Buona Beef. However, due to construction/remodeling at Buona Beef, they couldn’t guarantee the area would be ready in time for our activity. Garibaldi’s is located in the same general area as Buona Beef.
Education:
The Technician Class is over and a General Class will be scheduled for 12 weeks in the fall. Leo N9NBH will be in contact with the Library officials to reserve the dates.
Publicity:
Dennis KD9HIK is still looking for volunteers to participate in a recorded/filmed segment for the Schaumburg Park Districts airing on their web site of what Ham Radio is all about. Those interested please contact Dennis KD9HIK.
Programs:
Bill KD9AUP has set up a presentation for the December meeting which has to do with distracted driving.
Old Business:
The donated Rohn tower has been picked up at the water tower site.
The Club is still looking for a membership chair as Bob N9JAX is stepping down. Many thanks to Bob for his service in that capacity.
Bob N9JAX will be in contact with Bob W9GEW to get the badges project going.
New Business:
Leo N9NBH has secured a new meeting date for the BOD meeting from 1/1/20 to 1/8/20 at theCRC meeting room.
John AC9JS has also adjusted the VE testing date due to the 4th of July holiday. The dates for 2020 have been sent in to SARC already.
Motion to Adjourn:
With no further business to conduct, a motion to adjourn was made by Cliff K9QD and seconded by Robert. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted KD9HIJ
Secretary
Election:
The ballots were passed out to the membership and subsequently counted by Frank N9QPD and Danny KD9HIL. Frank then remarked “everyone elected”.
Congratulations to President Geoff Stevens, Vice President Danny Kafka, Secretary Ken Krzywicki, Treasurer Chris Brewer, BOD Kent Ochs, BOD John Douglas.
The special recognition awards will be announced at the Christmas/Holiday Party.
