ILLINOIS REPEATER ASSOCIATION

 

BOARD of DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES

 

Friday, March 16, 2018

Wingate by Windham Hotel

Champaign, IL

 

  • Meeting called to order by President Greg K9QI at 8:56 pm. Present were President Greg K9QI, V/P Tim K9CQ, Sec’y/Treasurer Will W9WSS, Directors Al K9SI, Steve WD9CIR, Milt K9QZI, Deputy Freq. Coordinator  JP KC9KKO, Mike AA9VI (guest), Bill KA9FER (past President) Not present Freq. Coordinator Aaron N9OZB, and Paul W9DWP Co-Chairman Technical Committee due to illness.
  • Will read the minutes from last year’s Board meeting.
  • Greg invited Mike AA9VI to the Board meeting. Greg would like the Board to recognize Mike as an additional member of the Technical Committee. Also, due to the possibility of more interference in the future, Mike would assist with duties as another working member along with Paul W9DWP on the Technical Committee. Mike was therefore appointed as a new Co-Chairman, permanent member of the Technical Committee. The Board concurred.
  • Will read the Treasurer’s report (part of the record). Motion to accept the treasurer’s report was seconded and passed.
  • JP KC9KKO spoke about the mailings and what was involved. The printed and US Mailed notices meet the IRA by-laws and constitution. JP proposed that changes to what he does over to Will W9WSS regarding meeting notices and mailings. JP agreed to coach Will how to do this task. Al K9SI suggested an informational letter be included with the notifications some form of update in lieu of a newsletter which is very expensive to send through the U.S. Mail.
  • Greg suggested that the Board meet possibly at the Peoria Hamfest later in the year.
  • Should there be a web portal for registered / coordinated repeater owners? Mike AA9VI might be able to set something up on an experimental basis, yet to be in place. This would be totally separate from IRA dues.
  • Coordinator’s report by JP Watters KC9KKO in absence of N9OZB. Copy will be in the record. Motion to accept, and seconded Deputy Coordinator’s report. Motion passed.
  • Greg will speak about protecting the Amateur spectrum – 3300 to 3500 MHz is in jeopardy at the membership meeting on Saturday March 16, 2018.
  • Greg mentioned old business was already discussed.
  • Tim K9CQ said that having our annual meetings in Champaign is a really good thing. He also mentioned that the Red Cross facility in Springfield is also a possibility. There would be no charge to utilize this space if it were to be considered; Greg suggested we have an open discussion with the membership what they would like to have and where; Should we change locations? We will see what the membership’s opinions reveal.
  • Greg also asked about having future Annual Meetings again in March? Or would it be better going back to April. Greg suggests looking at the last two weekends of March for the 2019 Annual Meeting.
  • Elections for two Board positions which will expire this year will be held at the membership meeting. Milt K9QZI and Steve WD9CIR agreed to run again.
  • Greg called the meeting to close at 1103 pm.

 

ILLINOIS REPEATER ASSOCIATION

 

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES

 

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Windsor Road Christian Church

Champaign IL

 

  • Meeting called to order by President Greg K9QI at 1000 am. Present were President Greg K9QI, V/P Tim K9CQ, Sec’y/Treasurer Will W9WSS, Directors Al K9SI, Steve WD9CIR, Milt K9QZI, Deputy Freq. Coordinator  JP KC9KKO, Jerry N9RBQ, Mike AA9VI (guest), Bill KA9FER (past President) Not present Freq. Coordinator Aaron N9OZB, and Paul W9DWP Chairman Technical Committee due to illness.
  • Reading of last year’s minutes was dispensed, which was moved, seconded, and passed.
  • JP Watters KC9KKO, Deputy Frequency Coordinator read the Coordinator’s Report; in Aaron N9OZB’s absence. Motion made to accept the report, seconded, and passed. The report has been entered in the record.
  • Will W9WSS read the Treasurer’s report. Also entered in the record.
  • Greg said that Mike AA9VI was brought on and appointed as Co-Chairman of the Technical Committee. This was conducted at the IRA Board meeting last evening. Mike approached the podium, and spoke to the participants about his background, and what he would like to do in his new position. A few questions were brought up by some of the members, and answered by Mike.
  • Greg spoke about hams needing to utilize the present Amateur Radio spectrum, before they are re-allocated and used by the commercial services. This is vital before it occurs to any of our present frequencies.
  • Greg explained why the IRA meeting was moved up a month. It was due to several reasons. Greg also said that next year we are looking to have our annual 2019 IRA meeting one of the last two weekends in March. No one objected to the scheduling of next year’s meeting to the end of March 2019.
  • Tim K9CQ said that the Red Cross offered to have future meetings of the IRA at their facility in Springfield. Tim said we sincerely appreciated having our meetings at Windsor Road Christian Church in Champaign. A discussion about changing the meeting location was brought up. A participant mentioned that Wisconsin (WAR) changes locations frequently, but they have more than one meeting every year. Travel times and convenience was discussed about coming to our present location which many people liked.
  • A participant mentioned that IRA might consider new io.groups since Yahoogroups are coming to a close. Greg said that Mike AA9VI is in the process of making some changes similarly to what the Motorola Amateur Radio Club has done, and the transition went very well to io.groups.
  • Greg said that we would remain open to an alternate meeting location, and a decision would be made by the Board in the next several months.
  • Greg asked if there was any other new business? No one responded.
  • Two Board members are up for re-election. Steve WD9CIR and Milt K9QZI. Both had agreed to run again for the position. Both individuals briefly spoke about themselves, areas of interest, and qualifications. Greg asked if there are any other nominations, no one responded. Therefore, the two members were re-elected by acclimation to their positions once again on the IRA Board.
  • A discussion about the Midwest Coordination Council was brought up. Bill KA9FER said that it really never took off and more or less failed mostly because of lack of finances. Tim K9CQ also mentioned that MAC was around about 25 years ago, and it also failed way back then.
  • Greg said that there might be a positive way that the IRA frequency data might be feasibly uploaded to RFinder. Aaron had mentioned previously that there could be a possibility it could be done. It would be further researched to find out which agency is successfully uploading the data, and see if we might be able to ultimately submit our Illinois information in the future.
  • Mike gave a description about Tri-State DMR digital system upon request of a participant. He explained how it’s setup, and how confusing it can get. He further explained about multiple systems that are part of Tri-State DMR, and how the various systems are linked up. There are systems locally, region wide, and internationally. Further discussion about interfacing of different modes made an interesting topic, and how they can work together. Included are DMR, Wires-X, D-Star and Fusion.
  • Greg made a motion to close the meeting at 1120; Motion seconded and passed. Meeting was ended.

 

ILLINOIS REPEATER ASSOCIATION

 

BOARD of DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES

(after General Meeting)

 

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Windsor Road Christian Church

Champaign IL

 

  • Meeting called to order at 1134 am.
  • Board and Committee members remained after the general membership meeting in attendance.
  • Position of Directors Steve WD9CIR and Milt K9QZI re-elected for another two years. Moved and accepted.
  • Co-Chair for the Technical Committee is Mike Swiatkowski AA9VI, and other Co-Chair remains Paul Dumdie W9DWP.
  • Aaron N9OZB and JP KC9KKO as Coordinator and Deputy Coordinator for another year. Motion made, seconded, and passed.
  • Within the next 90 days, a decision should be made for the 2019 IRA meeting location by the IRA Board.
  • There was no opposition for the 2019 meeting to be held the 3rd or 4th week of March 2019.
  • Meeting closed 1137 am.