MARCO Grand Rounds for May 1, 2011

From Warren, KD4GUA:

NET CHANGE....This Sunday we will discuss "Knee Replacement Surgery" and finish the discussion on "Hip Replacement Surgery" of last week.
The Fly-Boys have flown the coop...they are now on 14.290 SO we will go back to 14.307 (the old frequency) at 11 am Eastern. I say again, 14.307 at 11 am Eastern Time. Should be fun--and don't be afraid to SPEAK UP. Lately, you are forcing me to gargle with 3 in 1 oil and it doesn't taste good!

MARCO Grand Rounds for April 24, 2011

From Warren KD4GUA:

Sunday will be a challenge due to the holidays but last Sunday we had 32 check-ins, a surprise, since we changed time and address. The new time is 11 am Eastern & address is 14.310. Topic for Sunday will be "HIP REPLACEMENT." The following week we will discuss "KNEE REPLACEMENT."

Good news! We were informed on the air that the Fly Boys Net is moving to 14.290 leaving 14.307 open at 11 am. Until they change schedules we will continue to meet at 14.310 at 11 am Eastern time.

Tune in, should be fun.

MARCO Grand Rounds to Try New Frequency, Time

The April 17, 2011 MARCO Grand Rounds net will convene one hour later than usual, at
11:00AM EDT, on 14.310 MHz.

The attempt is to take advantage of generally improved propagation at that time.

We will see how it goes and adjust accordingly.

MARCO Grand Rounds for April 10, 2011

From Warren, KD4GUA:

This Sunday we will discuss "Medical Management of Stable Coronary Artery Disease." This is defined as "an established pattern of angina chest pain, a history of a heart attack or the presence of plaque documented by catheterization." This condition affects around 20 million Americans and many who have not been diagnosed, i.e., "silent angina."

ALSO: The Board meeting in El Paso last week decided to attempt to move the Grand Rounds of the Air from 10 am to 11 am--SO, we will meet normally this Sunday at 10 am eastern and at 10:40 am the following stations will leave the net and scout higher empty frequencies in the 14.319 range--Linda, Bernie, Paul Lukas, Arnold, Ellen and Harry. They will report vacant spots and the net will then move UP to the new frequency at about 10:50 am Eastern time.

REASON FOR POSSIBLE CHANGE? 1. Better propagation at a later hour. 2. West Coast hams will not have to get up at 6:30 am to get on board. 3. People will have returned from church (?). Any comment?????

2011 MARCO Annual Meeting Notes

The 2011 MARCO Annual Membership Meeting took place in El Paso, Texas from March 31 to April 2.

Danny W4DAN and Caroline, Arnold WB6OJB and Joan, and Jeff K6JW and Rowie arrived by automobile. Mary AE4BX came in her RV after wandering the country for about two months. The rest of us (Warren KD4GUA, Lou WA1HGE, Ellen KC9ARN and Paul N6DMV and Elsa) flew to El Paso. Linda KE5BQK and Bernie KD5QHV served as our capable and gracious hosts.

Unfortunately, KD4GUA and WA1HGE were delayed by bad weather. The rest of us gathered at the El Paso Marriott on Thursday evening, March 31 for a drink, and then adjourned across the street to the Cattle Baron for dinner.

On Friday morning, April 1, we traveled in a motorcade out to the airfield at Santa Teresa, New Mexico, where the plane KD5QHV flies usually resides. We had hoped to see “Big Bird” but it was away for maintenance. The Business Meeting was conducted at the hangar and was accompanied by a delicious breakfast featuring breakfast burritos and assorted other goodies.

Following the conclusion of the Business Meeting we all headed back to town, taking the alternate route across Franklin Mountain. This afforded us great views of the desert, the western portion of El Paso and Fort Bliss.

Later in the day we took a tour of the Kay Bailey Hutchinson desalination plant, the largest such inland facility in the world. Xavier Orozco, our guide, clearly and succinctly explained the workings of the plant and fielded questions from the group.

In the evening we descended en masse on Julio's for a tasty Tex-Mex dinner.

Saturday was hot and dry but luckily not windy. The group members spent their free time in various ways. Some visited the El Paso Art Museum while others toured the U.S. Border Patrol Museum. A small group returned to Santa Teresa to take a look at “Big Bird,” which had returned to its perch.

The annual MARCO Banquet took place at the Cattleman's Ranch in Fabens, Texas. All agreed with KD5QHV's assessment that “The worst food I ever ate here was delicious.” Happy hour saw the world premiere performance of the MARCO Blues Band, with Linda “Evita” Krasowski on blues harp and Jeff “Howlin'” Wolf and “Buffalo Bruce” Small on guitar. El Paso's own Pat “Guitar Slim” Chase was featured guest artist and graciously lowered his standards to allow the rest of us to participate. Thanks, Slim!!

We also had a visit from Andrew Jackson of the Border Patrol. He was kind enough to answer questions from the audience. Bernie Krasowski raffled a bottle of Shiraz uniquely labeled in CW, raising $140 for MediShare.

All too soon the weekend came to a close, and good friends were forced to part company.

We gather again in 2012 in Dayton, Ohio, and in 2013 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

See you there!

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Minutes of the Medical Amateur Radio Council Annual Membership Meeting

April 1, 2011

Santa Teresa, New Mexico

• The meeting was called to order at 9:45 AM MDT by President Linda Krasowski KE5BQK.

• Members in attendance were President Linda Krasowski KE5BQK, President-Elect Mary Favaro AE4BX, Secretary Danny Centers W4DAN, Treasurer Lou Wiederhold WA1HGE, Newsletter Editor Warren Brown KD4GUA, MediShare Chairperson Arnold Kalan WB6OJB, Bernie Krasowski KD5QHV, Paul Lukas N6DMV, Ellen Przekop KC9ARN, Jeff Wolf K6JW, Teresa Small and Bruce Small KM2L. Harry Przekop WB9EDP participated by telephone.

• The minutes of the 2010 meeting were read and approved.

• The Secretary reported that MARCO has 235 members, including 40 who are not current with their dues payments. Total membership is up by about 20, largely due to the Secretary's practice of sending a copy of the newsletter to new check-ins to the net. Some are also recruited at the Dayton Hamvention.

N3IM, N5RTF and W4DAN will be present at Dayton this year. The Ramada now demands a deposit for meeting rooms, the banquet, and also individual rooms set aside as a block for MARCO. The latter is problematic. W4DAN will speak with the hotel about this matter when he is in Dayton.

We now have a MARCO credit card. Treasurer WA1HGE must approve any expenditures using this card.

• The Treasurer reported that while MARCO's annual inflows are steady, our expenses vary, primarily due to the cost of the annual meeting. Expenditure for the newsletter averages $2100 annually. At the close of 2010 total deposits were $10781.14 in the bank account and $6345.03 in a CD.

• KM2L reported that despite improved security practices, the MARCO Website was hacked again. After some research, we believe that the attacked exploited a flaw in Filezilla, the ftp client that the Internet Committee was using to upload content. KM2L no longer uses this program for uploads, and we have been problem-free for the past few months.

MARCO Sunday morning Grand Rounds as heard at KM2L's station are now available via Skype. W1BEW and N4TSC are regular listeners. W0RPH and N5RTF often stop by.

• KD4GUA delivered the Newsletter Editor's report. He welcomes contributions from members, especially technical articles. It was the consensus of those in attendance that the quality of the Aether is consistently outstanding, and that Warren is to be commended. WB6OJB commented that his wife had copied the recent article on medication expiration dates and distributed it to several of her friends.

• WB6OJB and WA1HGE presented the MediShare report. The current MediShare balance is $6024, up from $3109 last year. We do not currently have a project, but this level of funding would allow us to proceed with one. There was considerable discussion about how to find a suitable project. Among the suggestions were contacting Mike Marks of Bush Hospital Foundation, the Medical Amateur Radio Society of Japan, MARCO members in Japan, and Direct Relief International. Additionally, WB6OJB has a contact in Zambia, and he will see if there might be a project available there. WA1HGE recalled that we had a communications project with an African hospital and its affiliated clinics a few years ago, and suggested that we contact them to see if they require any additional help. KD4GUA will contact Smitty, W6CS and KM2L will check back issues of the newsletter for contact information.

New Business:

• Duane Wyatt once again requested that MARCO consider funding his Kids' Club project. The consensus of the meeting was that we have previously dealt with this issue. Regardless of the project's worthiness, it is not consistent with MARCO's mission, and we consider the question closed.

• WA1HGE commented on last year's appointment of KM2L as Assistant Treasurer. He indicated that the Secretary, W4DAN is the Assistant Treasurer, and that this action was redundant. W4DAN clarified the thinking behind this action. When Robin Staebler served as Secretary/and de facto Treasurer, no one else was familiar with his procedures, and no one else had access to the membership database. When he became ill, it was a difficult chore to recover the data. MARCO should take steps to avoid a similar scenario in the future, should an officer become incapacitated. W4DAN further recommended that the current membership database be converted from Filemaker to Microsoft Access or an equivalent and possibly be made available to additional officers. KM2L will explore online possibilities (“the cloud”). K6JW suggested the creation of a procedure manual by each officer, to be entrusted to the President for safekeeping.

• KE5BQK and KD5QHV commissioned the creation of a new MARCO banner, displayed for the first time at this meeting. It will go with W4DAN to Dayton.

Open Forum:

• KD4GUA took possession of a 1500 watt amplifier as arranged by Stuart Oserman WA9ZPL. The amplifier requires a 220V line, and Warren does not presently have one in his shack. This is an “XYL” problem.

• KD4GUA suggested that we start Grand Rounds one hour later, as propagation is better at that time. This will necessitate a change in frequency, as 14.307 MHz is occupied by the Air Force Flyers net after the end of our net. It was decided that near the end of Grand Rounds, KD5QHV/KE5BQK, N6DMV, WB6OJB and KC9ARN/WB9EDP will search for an unoccupied frequency, and interested participants will QSY to that frequency to continue discussion. Once we find a reliable frequency, we will move the net there permanently.

• The meeting was adjourned at 11:40 AM MDT.

View video highlights of the meeting: