On Tuesday, 17 May 2022 at 1900 hours local, Jack, W5JHC, called the Tulsa Amateur Radio Club meeting to order in Room-3140 of Keplinger Hall at the University of Tulsa.
There were twenty-eight attendees that included two new-joining members.
W5JHC asked for round-robin introductions.
W5JHC asked for any questions or comments about the minutes of last month’s meeting. Nothing heard. Bart, N5TWB, moved to accept the minutes as written; Steve, KI5UGG, seconded the motion.
W5JHC asked for any questions or comments about the financial report. Nothing heard. Paul, KE5EHM, moved to accept the financial report; Gregg, W5GGW, seconded the motion.
W5JHC said that there is still time to order club T-shirts. The order form is available on the club web-site via this link:
https://w5ias.com/member/t-shirt-order-form
W5JHC said that the ARRL Foundation Clubs Grant Program is in work and our club is still soliciting ideas via this link:
https://w5ias.com/2022/04/20/tarc-grant-project
W5JHC asked attending club officers for any other activity reports.
Gregg, W5GGW, said that some interference between the Edmond and Stillwater repeaters, propagation-induced doubling of the repeaters, was solved by changing the PL tone of the Stillwater repeater. Both of the geographically nearby repeaters had the same PL tone of 88.5, though far enough apart unusual propagation caused interference.
Bob, W5RAB, said that the Daisy repeater site is not now part of the Super Link System.
W5GGW asked whether anyone had heard unlicensed use of the repeater system. Some reports of very young voices heard that seemed to be new licensees being coached about using the repeaters.
W5JHC asked for any other information from club officers.
Bob, W5RAB, said that he and Ann, K5AEB, and another broadcast engineer visited the Channel-2 transmitter site at Sand Springs to perform maintenance and survey the state of the co-located ham radio equipment. W5RAB said that things are a mess with two VHF and one UHF antennas that are unserviceable. There are some equipment enclosures and the shack has part of the roof and a door missing. Also the site has long grass full of ticks and chiggers. W5RAB said that the plan is to install repeaters for 6 and 1.25 meters.
W5JHC moved on to the next agenda item, asking Bart, N5TWB, for a recap of the Tour de Tulsa (TdT) bicycling event.
N5TWB said that all went well. Only two cyclists needed a ride home. Most problems were with flat tires that were quickly repaired. There was a little difficulty being unable to contact the traveling bike mechanics, but that was solved by getting their mobile telephone numbers.
W5GGW asked about the performance of APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System). N5TWB deferred to Paul, WB5ANX.
WB5ANX said that we are still analyzing the traffic captured during the event. However, it is clear that the 144.39 frequency is too congested to be of much use. Also, unplanned gateways are causing a race condition through the system and Internet that produces ghost images. Main conclusion from the event is that we need a dedicated frequency for TARC trackers and digipeaters; the proposed frequency is 145.09.
WB5ANX added his comments to those of N5TWB about the TdT event, saying that he managed to attract the Fox 23 TV reporters who became very interested in what we were doing, which resulted in good publicity for TARC.
WB5ANX commended W5AWS and W5JHC for read-back of instructions received.
W5JHC asked WB5ANX to continue with the Cop Land Classic and ARES agenda items.
WB5ANX said that the Cop Land Classic is on Saturday, May 21, asking for any additional volunteer SAG (Safety And Gear) drivers. Anyone who wants to ride-along is welcome. Please contact wb5anx@arrl.net to volunteer. SAGs and ride-alongs meet at 0700 hours at the Fiesta Mart at the junction of Hwy-75 and 66th St. North. Official start of the event is at 0800 hours and expected to continue until 1500 or 1600 hours, rain or shine.
WB5ANX said that the Ironman event is scheduled for the day after the Cop Land Classic for which TARC has no involvement.
WB5ANX said that there are no events currently planned for ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service).
WB5ANX yielded the floor to W5JHC.
W5JHC said that Field Day is 24 hours June 25 through 26. Last club meeting in person before then is on June 21. Time is growing short to complete club preparations. We will use the weekly TARC Net to discuss and advertise our activities between now and Field Day.
Purpose of Field Day is to test operator preparedness and capabilities in field conditions, simulating emergency conditions while at the same time having fun doing so. It is about communicating with others around the world.
W5JHC asked for ideas about what to do during Field Day.
W5GGW said that as a club, we can gain recognition by submitting contact logs for various modes, using the N3FJP logging software. This software is free to download and gain experience using, see this link:
W5GGW said that the club has a multi-user license for N3FJP and that WiFi would be available for users within range during Field Day. Users need a laptop computer with working WiFi to connect to the TARC hotspot to download and install the software, for which there will be local tech. support.
W5JHC asked Steve, KF5VCQ, whether he is willing to provide food again this year.
KF5VCQ confirmed his willingness to provide food, and will find out what the increase in cost will be this year. We can decide how much money to allocate closer to the time when the cost is known more accurately.
W5JHC confirmed that Shelter #3 is reserved at Chandler Park.
Mark, KG5ZZV, said that we need to know soonest where we will be. He said that he needs a clear horizon to set up satellite operations. However, last year he made zero contacts due to his time being consumed by interacting with and answering questions of interested visitors. KG5ZZV said that the purpose of Field Day is for the hobby to be visible and accessible to anyone expressing interest therefore it is just as important to be present, ready and willing to talk to visitors to make the day a success, contacts or not.
Jerry, KE5PMK, said that he needs to know in whose name to pass the insurance certificate.
Someone said that Field Day power is now limited to 100W, which means operators cannot be swamped by high power stations.
The ARRL Field Day web-site can be found at this link:
https://www.arrl.org/field-day
Between now and Field Day there will be a coordination meeting via Zoom.
WB5ANX suggested that we could offer to help new hams program their handheld transceivers (HT), teaching the basics of operation. W5RAB cautioned against getting tangled in the mare’s nest of DMR (Digital Mobile Radio), WIRES-X (Wide-coverage Internet Repeater Enhancement System), or suchlike. This activity could be advertised on the weekly TARC Net to attract new hams listening.
W5AWS pointed out that on a recent net there appeared a new ham who had got her license as a result of helping to program an HT.
WB5ANX yielded the floor to W5JHC who asked for any other business.
N5TWB said that the Tulsa Tough cycling event happens soon. The event provides vehicles for SAGs to use therefore volunteers must submit to a background check of their driving license. Volunteers should sign-up on the club web-site via this link:
https://w5ias.com/events/st-francis-tulsa-tough/
KG5ZZV said that he has asked the 7290 Traffic Net to extend their times to be available for NTS traffic during Field Day.
There being no further business, W5AWS moved to close the meeting; W5JHC seconded. We adjourned at 2000 hours.
Minutes respectfully submitted by,
Andrew, W5AWS.