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BARK |
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"News"
What's going on in BARK
Berryessa Amateur Radio Klub Members: Please send us
your email address, and if you have a website, please send your URL as well. We
can add these to your roster listing. The newsletters will be posted on this
website. Let us know if you would prefer receiving the newsletter as an emailed
PDF file instead of snail mail hardcopy, which would save us the costs of
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BARK Membership
If you would like to join the Berryessa Amateur Radio Klub, just print out the form on the following page:
and send it in, We would be happy to have you...
Good Hamming from BARK.
Minutes, BARK Directors Meeting, June 7, 2008
The BARK Directors met at the
Red Cross building in
Gary, N6GF, reported that we
currently have 58 members, although the dues of five have expired. Renewal notices have been sent, but only Zola
Bergstrom, KC7WCE, has responded, saying that she was moving out of the area
and would not be continuing her membership.
Directors expressed interest in having a breakfast gathering for her
before she leaves. They proposed and
approved that she be named a life member.
The modifications needed on
the new 2m repeater were discussed.
Damian and Ken agreed to work together on this. In addition to connector changes, there is a
need to build a timer circuit to turn on the fan in response to a COR signal
and to keep it on for a desired amount of time.
The 440 PAVE-PAWS issue was
discussed, in particular the issue of remotely controlling the 2m
repeater. While we no longer have a
command confirmation transmitted by the 440 repeater, we still have the 440
control receiver in place and working. A
command can be given on the 440 control frequency to shut down the 2m repeater
and this can be confirmed by observing that 2m is down. There was concern that it might not be
possible to turn the repeater on again, so it was suggested that this be tested
the next time the site is visited. The
command confirmation could be transmitted on the 2m repeater, but of course
this would not work if the command was to shut down the 2m repeater.
Instructions were sent by the
ARRL to determine the amount of signal strength reduction we could achieve on
the 440 transmitter for command confirmation if we were decrease power, use
highly directional antennas at both ends, and still have the system work. To make the necessary measurements, we would
need a 440 receiver with an S-meter and a step attenuator. The availability of these items and their
costs will be investigated.
Jack reported on the repeater
maintenance committee, saying that everything appears to be working well. The vault fan is off now, but should be
turned on the next time someone goes to the site. The solar panels are working well to charge
the batteries.
An Elmer class will be held
after this meeting. Concern was
expressed regarding the few people who were expected to participate. We decided that we would try this one more
time, possibly after the October annual meeting. The next session will be announced at a YARS
meeting to see if some of their members would be interested.
Val agreed to coordinate a
fund raising effort by developing a list of gear that could be sold at the
North Hills Radio Club ham swap next May in the
The meeting was adjourned at 10:10am.
BARK Newsletter
Vol. 36, No. 1, March 2008
2007 Annual Meeting
The BARK annual
meeting was held on Saturday, October 6, 2007 at the Red Cross building in
Secretary-Treasurer Gary (N6GF) reviewed the minutes from the 2006 annual meeting and presented a Treasurer's report. Our financial balance was about the same as that of the previous year. Routine annual expenditures are about $1000, roughly equal to membership dues income. He noted that our total membership has dropped to 47, down from the mid-50s level of the past several years.
Bill (KG6GNI) recommended that we establish a fund for future replacement of equipment. It was moved and approved to have the Treasurer establish a savings account for this purpose.
The status of the PAVE PAWS radar interference issue on 440 was discussed. We are not able to meet the mitigation requirements and still have adequate coverage of our 440 repeater, so we have shut it down. We discussed installing a repeater on an alternative band, such as 6m, 220, 902, or 1.2G. However, we concluded that it would be best to make our 2m system as reliable as possible, so it was moved and approved to purchase a backup repeater for this band. Hal (WB6KXV) will investigate duplexers and commercial antennas for the system, with the priority being the receive antenna. We will also consider the use of beam antennas and reduced power to use 440 to control the 2m repeater.
Jack (K6JAC) reported on site maintenance. He has found that he is the only member available to go to the site on short notice. The batteries were checked recently and found to be in good condition. Ken (K6WLS), Bob (KI6BZR) did a thorough job of cleaning up the room, removing and storing the spare interconnect cables. The solar panel donated by Yolo ARES needs to be installed in a frame on the roof. A second panel is needed to supply power to the controller, so a motion was approved to purchase this second panel.
Bill (KG6GNI) discussed the agreement with property owner Jim Wirth regarding use of the road to the site and the need for liability insurance. Bill is investigating having the Wirth group named as an additional insured party on our current insurance policy. It was moved and approved that we provide a token amount of $200 per year to assist with road maintenance.
The next order of business was to elect two board members. The terms of Bill (KG6GNI) and Gary (N6GF) had expired. Both said they could serve again, so they were nominated and approved by acclamation. In an effort to get more members involved in the management of our activities, Bob (KI6BZR) was ppointed to a newly created position of Associate Director. Sam (N7DTW) volunteered to be added to the maintenance committee.
The new board then considered the officer positions. Gary (N6GF) agreed to continue to serve as the Secretary/Treasurer. Bill (KG6GNI) agreed to continue to serve as President. They were approved by acclamation.
Under new
business, there was an announcement that the Quarter Century Wireless
Association (QCWA) and Old Timers 20-25 meet for breakfast at CoCo’s in
Repeater Status
Ken (K6WLS) visited the repeater site on February 10. He found that the batteries were charged and the repeater was working very well. The solar panels are doing a good job of battery charging. Later, he picked up another panel, with Jack (K6JAC) building another frame.
BARK Directors Meeting, March 15, 2008
A BARK directors meeting was held
on Saturday, March 15, 2008 at the Red Cross building in
There was discussion regarding having Yolo ARES members join BARK. Additional discussion will continue in the future.
A decision was made to purchase another solar panel to power the packet system.
It was reported that Damian (AB6WB) has not had an opportunity to work on the new repeater. Changes in connectors are needed. When he is able to get this completed, the new repeater will be installed and the old repeater will be cleaned up and then stored for backup use.
Bill described a plan to use low power and high-gain directional antennas to use 440MHz to communicate with the repeater controller. This will be discussed with the ARRL regarding the PAVE PAWS problem.
Bill plans to investigate linking the repeater through the Internet using the IRLP protocol.
The 2008 general meeting will be held on October 4 and another directors meeting was scheduled June 7.
Donation from YARS
and DBC
We received a generous donation of $125 from the Yolo Amateur Radio Society and the Davis Bike Club for use of the repeater for the bicycling events Double Century and Foxy Fall Ride.
Membership News
Since the September 2007 newsletter, we lost two members while gaining three new or returning members. This reduces the total membership to 58.
New or returning members are:
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K6JCH |
John Hendrickson |
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K6LAV |
LaVonne LaMoureaux |
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KD6QHH |
Mark Ochoa |
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Several memberships have expired since the last newsletter. Please check the mailing label on this newsletter to find your membership expiration date. If your membership has expired, or will expire soon, the date will be highlighted.
Note that the annual dues are now $30 for both for an individual or a family membership. Please send renewal checks, made out to BARK, to Gary Ford, N6GF, at the return address on this newsletter. If I do not receive your dues by early June, I will send a reminder.
You are encouraged to invite other hams to join the club. Just have them send their dues to the return address on this newsletter and to provide their name, address, and call sign.
Treasurer’s Report, March 2008
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$1,684.78 |
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Income: |
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Dues |
$839.50 |
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Miscellaneous |
$195.00 |
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Expenses: |
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Operating |
$580.71 |
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New Equipment |
$895.70 |
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Correspondence |
$32.03 |
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Bank |
$57.05 |
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Current Balance |
$1,162.05 |
Miscellaneous income included the YARS/DBC contribution. Operating expenses included PG&E electricity and insurance. New equipment included the 2m repeater and solar panels.
September 2007 Newsletter, Vol. 35, No. 2