Indian Wells Valley TV Booster, Inc.
Minutes of May 5, 2003 board meeting

A. Opening
1. Call to order
The meeting was called to order by President Middlemiss at 5:00 PM.
2. Attendance
Board members present: Ash, Blazek, Greene, Manos, Middlemiss
Board members absent: Cole, Longo, Webster
Visitors: Terri Middlemiss
3. Approval of minutes
The minutes were unanimously approved per a motion by member Blazek, seconded by member Manos.
4. Treasurer's report
Treasurer Blazek provided copies of the previous month's income and expenditures. There was a net outflow for the month.

Attention was drawn to the cost of liability insurance per U.S.Navy requirements. The annual cost has gone from about $1000 per year to $1400 for this year. Given the situation under which the TVB operates, the need for liability insurance was questioned (other than Navy requirement).
5. Correspondence
A letter from Security Engineering requesting updated information regarding TVB was received. The enclosed form was completed with current telephone number and contacts and will be returned to Security Engineering soonest.

Correspondence was sent by President Middlemiss to the China Lake commanding officer requesting renewal of TVB's license to have installations on China Lake's territory. The letter raised the issue of the cost of liability insurance.

A query was made regarding member Longo's response to Dr. Rockwell. None of the board members has seen such yet.
B. Committee reports
1. Standing committees
b. Operations
Secretary Greene reported yet another instance of the new KMZT antennas' alignment shifting in high winds and an effort planned to secure their azimuthal setting. President Middlemiss suggested an enhancement to the planned methodology which will be considered.
c. Publicity
President Middlemiss queried the members regarding the advisability of having a home-made wine and beer tasting as a fund-raising activity. No particular objection was raised and some thought will be given to having such, possibly in the fall.
d. Telephone recorder messages
Visitor T. Middlemiss reported "the usual" telephone messages.
2. Ad hoc committees
a. Annotator
Secretary Greene reported that the technical problem that stalled getting the annotator ready for operation has been solved. He is awaiting word from Dr. Rogers regarding a time to test the annotator's operation.
C. Old business
D. New business
E. Discussion topics
1. KMZT situation
Secretary Greene queried the members regarding opinions about the issues involved with the effort to improve the KMZT translator's operation, specifically the reduction or elimination of the adjacent-channel interference. The subject was raised due to the less than satisfactory results of the current effort to date and the possibility that the effort may not ever succeed. Alternatives mentioned included: replacing the existing translator with one having better selectivity and interference reduction; using an active interference canceller per the technical paper mentioned at the previous meeting; and contacting the owner of KLOA to determine if some mutual effort can be made to reduce the interference at its source.

None of the members knew if improved translators are available nor what the cost would be. Secretary Greene stated that he had received information indicating that the cost and technical problems with an active interference canceller could be quite difficult to solve.

Secretary Greene mentioned the FCC plan to allow FM radio stations to transmit digital FM audio in the same channel with the existing analog FM audio signal and that this was noted as causing even more spreading of stations' signal into adjacent channels. The members were of the opinion that the digital FM signal might be a boon if the FCC were to allow receiving the digital signal and translate it to an analog FM signal.
F. Closure
1. Next meeting: 5:00 PM, June 2, 2003, Kern County Library, Ridgecrest
2. Adjournment: 6:05 PM

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