BCARS Meeting Minutes - April 4th, 2024
A meeting of the Bedford County Amateur Radio Society was called to order at 1930 hours at Bedford American Legion by President Zachary Pepple and a quorum was declared.
In attendance were (12):
John KB3DFZ, Lance H, Gary KC3HKZ, Kenny WB3JEK, Bernie W3DRW, Kip N2XRE, Ellis KC3WMI, Zach KC3KHK, Chris Berge, Ed KC3NAF, Judy KC3VBS, Aden KC3VLQ, Bill N3EYF
Meeting Minutes were presented by John KB3DFZ. Motion to approve was made by KC3HKZ and seconded by WB3JEK.
Treasurer’s Report was presented by Steve KC3DNB. Steve discussed various checks received, checks issued and cash deposits. The ending balances are:
| Account | Ending Balance |
|---|---|
| Petty Cash | $0.00 |
| Checking Account | $3,523.61 |
| Savings Account | $3,823.68 |
| Total | $7,347.29 |
A motion to approve was made by W3DRW, seconded by WB3JEK. Motion carried. The full treasurer’s report is on file.
Old Business
Club Picnic Zach, KC3KHK, reported reserving the Merrit’s Pond Campground for the BCARS picnic on August 17th with a plan to eat around noon.
Legion Appreciation was discussed - Zach volunteered to investigate with local vendor for producing a suitable display piece out of a classic amateur radio microphone.
WPA SET Exercise was discussed. There is a local net checkin component and a winlink element. KB3DFZ expects to receive more detailed information Friday. BCARS will run a check-in net from 9:30AM to 12PM Noon on Saturday April 6th.
Bloody Run Float Festival will be held May 18th in Everett. Members are encouraged to come and help out with this event. BCARS usually supports this by spotting float participants and relaying their status from various points along the route towards the finish line.
Workshop and VE Session is May 11th. BCARS will host their VE Session at the Legion on May 11th at 9:30 and the workshop to follow after around 11AM. For this workshop, the club will be learning about the systems in the BCARS Communications Van as well as giving it some much needed care.
New Business
Repeater Updates KB3DFZ discussed the 146.790 repeater. One of the antennas has gone bad over the winter. Operation has been switched over to the auxillary antenna, restoring the repeaters coverage. The primary antenna will need to be repaired or replaced in the near future. However, a larger problem started occuring around the 27th of March with interference keying up the repeater randomly through the day. A signal with the propper tones is activating this repeater. In response, KB3DFZ has bumped the squelch from 600 to 800. This makes it harder for weaker signals to active the repeater, but still allows Southern operators (W3DRW, KK3F, and KC4RCR) to access it.
Possible sources of the interference were discussed and we will continue to investigate. We may also try adjusting changing PL tone to see if the interference is tone specific.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2027 hours.
Respectfully Submitted,
John Hogenmiller, KB3DFZ
BCARS Secretary