As you must notice, there are several important notices on this page: the note from our engineering staff of the new antenna system which should improve coverage for the SMARS club members, the announcement of time for dues collection and of great important to several of our members living in restricted quarters, the action by the Michigan House on PRB-1.

With regard to PRB-1 in Michigan make a point of connecting with your state house representative and express you interest in the passing of HB 5556.  The more people that contact the representatives the more likely they will take a favorable action.

With the wide spread concern about the H1N1 flu virus, a column is included concerning how to avoid catching the virus (or is it the virus catches you?). It had been passed on by a local retired RN who felt it to be very worthwhile study.

The presentation on fox hunting by the Branch County ARC followed by Dons exhibit of an antenna that could be easily made lead to schematics of  a couple examples of DF antennas. These could be used in a device like Don exhibited  or another as shown..

  Included this month is an article on engine preparation for storage that had been sent in to Feedback a month ago by one of our members, Larry W8VVG. Larry fixes a lot of small motors that have fuel problems and are hard to start as a  result. Larry took care of a problem in one of our generators that was a being caused by cruddy fuel. Thanks Larry!

The behavior by people when an opportunity to listen to Joshua Bell play his violin makes you wonder. Are we afraid to watch  something worthwhile? Are we so driven that we will not stop and smell the roses? I cannot believe that there were so few people that had the time to stop and listen even for a few minutes.

Finally, the minutes of the club meetings and our board meeting reflect the lack of interest in club members in SMARS. We have lost two board members to unavoidable conflicts, one office was filled by a volunteer, but not the other. And we have election of officers coming up with no apparent volunteers. Being a member of any club means you participate. Never sit back and brag about having already done your part! 

WA8MFL

On November 8, Dave-AB8HK spent much of a nice afternoon 250 feet up removing the club 2-meter repeater antenna.  It was replaced with a Jetstream JTB1 dual band antenna.  It is expected that 2-meter coverage will remain the same and the UHF repeater should have coverage about equal to the 2 meter repeater. The ground crew, Don-W8RVT and John, KC8WMM assisted in the effort.  By all means, dust off your UHF rig and use the repeater on 443.95  PL94.8.  Make it worth the efforts by the antenna crew on this project!

It's getting to the end of the year and time for the collection of dues. Just a measly $10 for a years worth of bellyaching and other enjoyable activities. Don, W8RVT, is our treasurer and will willingly send you a new membership card.  Look on the bottom of the second page and you will find the mailing address.  Sorry, we don't have PayPal yet to ease the financial transactions.

    House Bill # 5556, the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act, was recently forwarded to House Committee. If passed, this Bill will help codify the aspects of PRB-1 into Michigan zoning laws.

      The Bill also includes a height clause (i.e. if we stay below the specified height, local governments are not allowed to challenge us except in unusual circumstances, etc.).  For more information and a link to the Bill, please take a moment to review the attached MI PRB-1 Project Status Report.

      There is a snag, with a Senate version of the Bill. We may need your help getting this Bill sponsored in the Senate.

      Now is the time to contact your Representatives to ask them to Co-Sponsor the Bill. Their contact information and a sample Contact Letter template can be found at http://www.prb1michigan.org/index.htm.

      Len Todd, N8AGS
      MI PRB-1 Project Manager