Illinois Repeater Association

ILLINOIS REPEATER ASSOCIATION

BOARD of DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES

Friday, April 15, 2016

Windsor Road Christian Church, Champaign IL

Meeting called to order by President Bill Kraus KA9FER at 7:53 pm. Present for the meeting: President Bill Kraus KA9FER, Vice-President Tim Childers KB9FBI, Secretary/Treasurer Will Sperling K9WSS, Director Steve Craig WD9CIR, Director Al Wolfe K9SI, Director Milt Forsberg K9QZI, Frequency Coordinator Aaron Collins N9OZB, Tech Committee Chairman, Greg Buchwald K9QI, JP Watters KC9KKO Deputy Frequency Coordinator, Chris Tarr W9JOL, Chairman, WAR, Dave Karr KA9FUR, WAR Frequency Coordinator
Bill KA9FER thanked Al K9SI & Milt K9QZI who were involved with getting our new meeting location, and hotel arrangements. It was previously agreed that a $100 donation would be made to the church. A check was prepared, given to Milt K9QZI who will assure that the check will make its way to the proper channels at the church.
A quorum (with every Board member present) was established.
Board members and participants introduced themselves; A total of 11 persons were present according to the sign-in sheet.
Motion to dispense of reading of past minutes; voted and carried.
Aaron N9OZB gave his frequency coordinator’s report (see attached).
Will K9WSS gave the Secretary / Treasurer’s report (see attached). A 1099-MISC tax document was generated by the ARRL to the IRS, and received by Will in the US Mail. This was for the 2014 payment of $644 for repeater data submission. Possibly an E-Form may be submitted to the IRS; To be discussed further among Board members.
Greg K9QI gave the Technical Committee report. He said that spectrum usage and access were discussed at a local forum last week, and gave details regarding attempts by other services trying to gain access to our Amateur Radio spectrum. UHF was still strong, which was lost in the northern states due to Canada’s use of the public safety spectrum. Other higher bands continue to be of concern, in the higher spectrum above the conventional and working UHF frequencies. Europe and Scandinavian countries are pushing to use the higher frequency spectrum vigorously.
Bill KA9FER mentioned that the NFCC as far as the ARRL no longer exists. No funding, lack of a working MOU, and total loss of certification(s) made the entity useless. Aaron mentioned that our local and surrounding state coordinating bodies work very well together currently.
Milt K9QZI mentioned that he believed that the ARRL will be getting away from the publication of the repeater frequency directory business. R-Finder is doing a pseudo-project on repeater systems in the US. The data is public record, and they are attempting to publish some sort of document(s) that will be purportedly “taking the place of” the ARRL repeater directory.
Discussion about remaining at the Windsor Road Church now, and in the future if all goes well with our annual meeting(s).
Bill KA9FER asked if Board members had anything to add. JP KC9KKO said that the post cards should continue to be sent to the repeater owners. JP uses a service online that does an effective job of getting the post cards sent out to respective persons.
Greg K9QI said that he would speak at any organization about the spectrum issue, and that the IRA is taking an active part in this important matter. IRA does many things behind the scenes (including but not limited to coordination), that a large number of amateur radio operators are totally unaware of.
Old business – Bill KA9FER didn’t have anything to offer. Dave KA9FUR mentioned VHF narrow banding; Aaron said that he hasn’t really gotten into it at this time. Greg K9QI said that he really doesn’t know how to get started on this project. There is no support from the older (wide band) systems that have been in existence for many years. They really don’t want to change, and go any further into narrow banding. Possibly consider for the future to only coordinate VHF systems in the narrow band protocol only. This would take at least a year before it couldn’t even be considered or brought into fruition. And, there are still issues with Michigan, and it’s problematic, and may not be enforceable with their systems.
New business – Dave KA9FUR states that he sees old stuff in Chicago lacks a lot of detail. Aaron has lots of requests for coordination, and many systems with aux links that are not coordinated remain problematic. In the last 13 years, we haven’t asked anyone to move, however, we should consider moving these legacy systems to comply with new band plans for the modern world. 145.390 repeater in Milwaukee had WCRA members accuse MLW of increasing power. WCRA is not operating according to their current coordination. Aaron said that uncooperating repeater systems will ultimately be de-coordinated.
At 9:50 pm, Bill KA9FER said that the meeting would go into a brief executive session. The guests were thanked for attending this meeting.
Board meeting closed at 10:05 pm hours by President Bill Kraus KA9FER.

ILLINOIS REPEATER ASSOCIATION

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Windsor Road Christian Church, Champaign IL

Meeting called to order by President Bill Kraus KA9FER at 10:00 hours. He thanked the organizers who made this location and hotel accommodations possible, Al K9SI, and Milt K9QZI.
Tim K9CQ V/P mentioned his new callsign, from KB9FBI.
Introduction of IRA Board, members, and guests went around the room. Total number of attendees was 44.
Minutes from last year’s meeting moved to be accepted as published on the web site. Seconded, and passed.
Bill KA9FER announced that he resigned as IRA President. He is moving out of state, suffering from ill health, and relinquished his position. He also turned in his frequency pairs, and had his antennas taken down from the tower at his QTH. Chair turned over to Greg K9QI, Board member and Technical Chairman..
Will K9WSS read the Secretary / Treasurer’s report (attached). Motion made, seconded, and accepted.
Aaron N9OZB read the Frequency Coordinator’s report (attached). Motion made, seconded, and accepted.
Greg K9QI reported the Technical Committee had a few issues. Overall outlook statewide was good. He mentioned what the IRA is doing to protect the spectrum. It has to use the spectrum efficiently, or we could lose it. Unused and underused spectrum will be examined by means of a grid system, especially in areas where a lot of usage is prevalent. Jamming is always a concern, and gets investigated when time and manpower permits. Higher frequencies were encouraged to be investigated and ultimately used. They are currently used by naval-based radar and associated government systems. Greg gave a brief history of the past and currently used and utilized frequency spectrum, in simpler terms. Use the current spectrum, and use it continuously, very wisely. In other words,” Use it, or lose it!”
Greg thanked various committee members, and the work they accomplished over the past year. Included were moving to our new meeting venue (Al Wolfe K9SI), and changing from a printed newsletter to post cards (John Watters KC9KKO), and updates on the website. Also to Milt K9QZI for setting up the hotel rooms / reservations.
Tim K9CQ began preparations for the upcoming election. Due to Bill KA9FER resigning as President, Greg K9QI accepted nomination for President of the IRA. He gave a brief bio of himself and his technical accomplishments for work, and for Amateur Radio as a working committee chair for the IRA..
Steve WD9CIR spoke about his accomplishments and qualifications as a Board member. He is willing to run again as an IRA Board member for the next two years.
Milt K9QZI also spoke about his past history with the IRA, and how he assists ham radio and the IRA in general.
Greg K9QI was nominated for President, and nominations were closed.
Milt K9QZI was nominated for President, and declined.
Motion to elect Greg for President by acclimation. Seconded, and passed.
Directors Steve WD9CIR and Milt K9QZI were nominated for Directors. No other nominations were received. Move to elect the above Directors by acclimation. Seconded and closed.
Greg mentioned old business. PL plan that was voted in last year. It appears to be working well with Illinois (Aaron) and WI (Dave). Two meter plan was discussed, and will be an ongoing discussion over the next few years. It’s a difficult problem, and will be worked on diligently in the years to come.
New Business – in the past years, the IRA gave the ARRL $500 for the Spectrum Defense Fund. We have not received payment in the last year for repeater data submission. It has been difficult to submit the information, and has not been done so a motion was requested, that if we receive the funds for repeater data submission, that we send the funds back to the ARRL for the Spectrum Defense Fund. Conditional motion was made, seconded, and passed.
Dave Karr KA9FUR spoke about the Wisconsin (WAR) Repeater Association. Chris Tarr W9JOL was unable to be present at the membership meeting, but did attend the Board meeting last evening. Dave spoke briefly that both WI and IL work together on a regular basis. Technical discussion regarding Yaesu System Fusion (C4FM) took place, and how it effects the spectrum and frequencies that those systems cover.
Bob Burns W9BU from Indiana Repeater Association was present, but had nothing to offer. His group works well with the rest of the surrounding states, including IL & WI.
Greg said that everyone should think about respective coordination(s), especially with Club callsigns. There should be contingencies in the unlikely event that something occurs within the organizations, and keep the IRA informed.
Will K9WSS made a presentation of a commemorative plaque to Fred Seibold W9FWS for his work in the past with the Annual IRA Newsletter who could not be present to accept the award. Will then made a speech and presented a plaque to recently retired IRA President Bill Kraus KA9FER. Bill spoke briefly about what he has accomplished for the IRA and Ham Radio in general. Bill is moving to Arkansas within the year.
Greg K9QI spoke again about how Bill worked with all Board members of the IRA, and the difficult times that we had keeping the organization together, functioning, and giving back to all repeater owners and their respective members.
Mark WB9QZB mentioned how much work the IRA does with coordination of repeater systems. He also asked about the existence of “paper” repeaters, and Aaron gave some data in answer to the Mark’s inquiry. There will be some enforcement action coming up this year, and as a result, there will be de-coordination of unused or inactive repeater systems. Aaron updates the website frequently and confirms its accuracy. Mark mentioned that R Finder has some data available. Greg said that there are many inconsistencies, and that the data may not necessarily be current. Greg asks for everyone to please wait until the ARRL comes to some decision about the repeater database and its final product. Paul W9DWP mentioned that Dick W9GIG and Kermit W9XA are working on a final solution. New business was voted, and closed.
Greg thanked Al K9SI, and Milt K9QZI for what they did getting the meeting location and set up for this meeting, and for accommodations for those who stayed at a local hotel.
A participant asked about the Technical Committee. Greg said that he is looking for volunteers who would like to be involved helping him.
Motion to adjourn, seconded, and meeting closed at 11:33 am.

ILLINOIS REPEATER ASSOCIATION

BOARD of DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES

(after General Meeting)

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Windsor Road Christian Church, Champaign IL

Meeting called to order at 11:55 am.
Board and Committee members remained after the general membership meeting in attendance.
Position of Frequency Coordinator remains Aaron N9OZB, and Assistant Coordinator remains JP Watters KC9KKO. Moved and accepted.
Chair for Technical Committee is President Greg K9QI. Paul Dumdie W9DWP also appointed to the Committee. Greg said that there will be others recruited to the Technical Committee Moved and accepted.
Since the topic of donating $300 to Dave Karr KA9FUR was inadvertently omitted from the membership meeting, it was voted and passed that we would continue to make the same donation this year also. A check for $300 was given to Dave.
Meeting closed at 12:08 pm.