Minutes of the East River Amateur Radio Club meeting. 
 January 4, 2010 Ryan’s Steakhouse Bluefield, VA.
 http://www.erarc.com 
 The January ERARC meeting was opened at 7pm by Lonnie Underwood KI4EED, ERARC President. There were 9 members and guests in attendance on this 17 degree night.
   Hooger Fisher gave the Treasurer’s report for Roger Stefancic KC8LGR as he could not attend the meeting tonight due to work. An $18.55 phone bill was paid as well as a $16.45 charge for mailing the Club handbooks. There was an $85.00 deposit made. Hooger  received $15.00 for a renewal tonight as well as two $5.00 donations to the Club. Hooger also read the minutes of the November and December meetings. In the absence of Ronnie Childress KD8HBO, Hooger reported on the November 18, 2009 Mercer Co. ARES meeting held in Bluefield, Va. There were about 8 or so ARES members in attendance. Ronnie explained what ARES was and how it ideally functions. He explained his appointment as EC of Mercer County and as to what he hopes that the Amateurs in the County can do to provide emergency communications if needed. Avoiding the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, he hopes to have another training meeting within the January/February time period.
 Gary Kadar N8GK asked that the Secretary amend the “to do” list that comes along with the printed minutes. Each item was reviewed, discussed and kept or deleted.
 Don Anderson reported that all of the Club’s / ARES radio equipment has been moved from Communication Technologies, Inc. on Bland Street to a storage facility on Stadium Drive and that he, Jay Belt K8CTI and Gary Kadar have keys to if needed. It was noted that the 911 fees for the County have gone to upgrading the radios systems and consoles and that these new items are now being stored at the new Administrative building across from the 911 Center awaiting installation. We will hopefully be able to store all of the Club / ARES equipment at this site in the near future. Concerning the 147.06 machine, the power had gone off during the recent snow storms and the machine was running at ½ power on the UPS until its battery died. It’s been back on the air at full power for several days now.
 Gary mentioned that he’s heard some unidentified traffic again on 144.89 SIMPLEX. It was supposedly bear hunters in Bland County the last time this was heard. He asks that we monitor the reverse frequency of 145.49 (144.89) and gather signal reports locally. Theoretically, if these transmissions are coming from Bland County, Lonnie should hear them much louder in Bland than we can in Mercer or Tazewell Counties. It may give future information on triangulating the signals if necessary.
 
 The meeting was over at 740pm. 
 Submitted by Hooger Fisher W4OF, ERARC Secretary.
 TO DO LIST:
Antenna for the Bluefield, Va. Rescue Squad (ongoing per Lonnie)
2) Communications class for the Mercer Co. Civil Air Patrol     (ongoing per Lonnie)
3) Replacement for the broken1850KW generator.