UMARS General Meeting
April 20, 1994

Present: Paula Ehn, Michael Markmann, Dr. Kinsner, Harry Lobo, Arne Grimstrup, Bruce Haugh, Victor Lam, Manoj Mittal, Dean Riegel, Giselle Riegel, Wayne Schellekens, Gordon Snarr, Craig Thomasson, and Bret Wiebe.

Meeting called to order at 6:16pm in 207 University Centre.

1. President's Address given by Tom Tessier

None.

2. Radio Course Report given by Dr. Kinsner

i. 16 people have paid in full for the radio course, 7 of which wrote their exams on Monday, April 18, 1994 and all passing. The rest will right on May 16, 1994. A new record has been set by Manoj Mittal who received a 99% score on his exam. Congratulations to Manoj and all of the other new hams.
ii. 20 sets of course materials were purchased from Radio Amateurs of Canada. Of these only 16 were used for the course and the rest are extras. A motion was formally proposed by Dr. Kinsner that these extra materials be kept until the next radio course and the UMARS should incur the cost. All present agreed and motion was passed.
iii. Dr. Kinsner proposed that the next radio course will take place in the fall with the start date of September 12, 1994 in room 446 Engineering at 5:00pm. The cost of the course would be $52 which would include all course materials and a one year membership in UMARS. This fee should be collected by August 29, 1994 at the latest from any individual who would like to take the course. Any fees collected after this date will have to pay an extra $10 for late registration and my have to wait a little longer for the course materials. The fee would be non-refundable. All present agreed and motion was passed.
iv. Advertising for the radio course should start immediately and should indicate that all fee payments should be mailed to the clubs post office box 73 University Centre. Paula Ehn will make up a flier that can be posted around the University and on the door of the club. Tom Tessier previously mentioned that he would post the same notice to all appropriate news groups on the University's computer network. It was suggested that the flier should be included if at all possible in the mailing going out to second year electrical and computer engineering students as well as computer science and physics students. It will be looked into.

3. Vice-President's Report given by Patrick Wong

None.

4. Technical Manager's Report given by Michael Markmann

i. A Yeasu HF rig is now residing in the club room and is on loan for the next 6 months from the Engineering Tech. Shop. This loan is renewable for another 6 months. This second rig will allow for easier satellite communications from the club. In order to accommodate the new rig and the ICOM receiver, new antenna connections will have to be made as the one connection with the 6 position coax switch is now inadequate for this purpose.
ii. The repeater was taken temporally off the air while antenna work is in progress. It should be back on the air sometime Saturday, April 23, 1994. Derrick Belbas, VE4VV, has donated 140 feet of hard-line which is being installed on the tower and Michael Markmann has donated a 5/8 wave base antenna which will be installed at the top of the tower. Dean Riegel has donated a Electrician's Delight J-pole to be installed lower on the tower. These antennas will replace the repeater's existing 1/4 wave's and should increase the performance of the repeater.
iii. The autopatch which has been on loan from Brad Ruptash, VE4BAR, has been successfully installed in line with the repeater and the phone line and has been operating successfully for just under a month. Some problems that need to be fixed with the autopatch is the addition of circuits that will not allow an autopatch to go through if the phone line is already busy and to make the autopatch automatically dial 4 for an outside line. These should pose no foreseen problems. Paula Ehn formally proposed that the autopatch should be bought for $100 from Brad Ruptash. All present agreed and motion was passed. It was noted that Dr. Kinsner has an autopatch that can pressed into service in an emergency. Also it was suggested the phone line should be looked out of not only long distance calls but also directory assistance. It will be looked into.

5. Secretary/Treasurer's Report given by Paula Ehn

i. The fees collected from the radio course total $800. The course materials cost $783.31. This leaves a slim profit of $16.69. However, an additional profit of $200 can be made in the fall with the registration of the first 4 people in the radio course which will use up the left over course materials from this year.
ii. Income outstanding comes to a total of $225 with $125 to come from UMSU and $100 from the Arts Counsel.
iii. Expenses outstanding come to a total of $883.31 with $783.31 going towards course materials and $100 going towards the purchase of the autopatch.
iv. According to the ledger, since September, 1993, the total income recorded is $1540.10. General expenses total $400.31, hardware expenses total $449.02 and radio course expenses total $783.31 giving a total expense of 1632.64. This means that UMARS is running a deficit for this year of $92.54.
v. After all outstanding expenses and income have been looked after the club's bank balance will be $505.93. This means that there will be no spending over the summer unless a fund raiser can be held.

6. Campus Crimewatch Liaison Report given by Craig Thomasson

i. Certificates that have not been signed as of yet can be signed and received by going down to the Campus Police Office when both Don Peters, Chief of Campus Police and the U of M Justice of the Peace who works behind the ticket window are present. The certificate can be signed and dated then.
ii. The Campus Police wish to hold a seminar for those who will be participating in the Campus Crimewatch Project. Constable Terry Krentz will hold the seminar at our convenience. It was agreed that the seminar should be held on Tuesday May 3, 1994 at 7:30pm or on Saturday May 7, 1994 at 11:00am. Craig will perform the final arrangements and inform all participants ahead of time of the details.

7. Other Business

i. Dr. Kinsner proposed the motion that a J-pole building seminar should be held at the end of September, 1994. The cost would be $15 to build and take home your project. The J-pole would be built in groups of two people, one would be allowed to take the J-pole home and the other would be allowed to take home the needed parts to assemble later. Advertising for the seminar should start immediately by including the initial seminar details in the May and June WARC Newscaster with the final details to be included in the September WARC Newscaster. All present agreed and motion was passed.
ii. Dr. Kinsner announced that his annual submission to the Engineering Endowment Fund for club funding was granted this year for the amount of $1000 to be used towards the purchase of a new repeater. Much was discussed regarding this. It is noted that this funding will used to purchase individual parts that would make up the repeater. It was noted that the need for commercial quality duplexers was at the top of the repeater's needs and is closely followed by lightning protection. Secondary on the list should be radios and repeater controller. Dr. Kinsner will supply a copy of the proposal to UMARS for record purposes.
iii. Dr. Kinsner expressed his feeling that more experimentation and research should be promoted and conducted at the club towards micro-satellites to help encourage thesis on micro-satellite technology. Wayne Schellekens suggested that abstracts of previous thesis should be kept in the club's library to allow easier access to research information. Dr. Kinsner could provide a listing of thesis's but this would not include abstracts. Wayne Schellekens also suggested that CNC books should be included in the library. It was agreed that this could be a possible addition for next year.
iv. Wayne Schellekens suggested that interest in research and experimentation could be furthered in the club by the addition of an HC11 or HC16 evaluation board. Dr. Kinsner agreed and will consider it for inclusion in next years funding submission.
v. Dr. Kinsner also suggested that a voice mail system for the repeater could be used as a future thesis topic.
vi. Several fund-raising ideas were discussed such as a Car Rally or Bingo Bowl. It was finally decided that an End of Year Fox Hunting and Pizza Party should be held and all participant should be charged a $5 or $10 fee to pay for the pizza and pop. If enough money is left over, a prize(s) could be purchased presented to the fox hunt winner(s). All agreed. It was agreed that the event will take place on Sunday May 29, 1994 at 2:00pm on the University Campus. Paula Ehn will book a room.
vii. The first portable fox hunt of the season was agreed upon. To further promote UMARS, all advertisements for the fox hunt will include UMARS since most participants are UMARS members. The first portable hunt will take place in Assiniboine Park on Sunday April 24, 1994 at 2:00pm. All participants will meet at the parking lot located between the Conservatory and the pavilion. Paula Ehn will announce the fox hunt on the Thursday night 2m net and Wayne Schellekens will announce it on the Sunday's 2m net before the hunt begins.
viii. Field day was discussed at length. It was agreed that all members who wish to participate in Field Day should scrounge around and find all relevant equipment they can find and should let the execute know on or before the next general meeting. This will allow for any equipment that has not been included to be found by the execute in the last month before field day. A site on the campus should be sought and permissions be granted as soon as possible. Possible sites include the river point and the field by the stadium. Tom Tessier was given delegated this job. Cable was offered from Wayne Schellekens, It is believed that antenna(s) and antenna tuner can be borrowed from Vern Jackson and Gordon Snarr may be able to lend us a generator for the weekend.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:23pm.

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