Vice-Chairman Jon “Wiz” Wiswell called the meeting to order at 0936.  George Bisso was out of town.  Introductions were made around the tables.  DRAFT Minutes of the Jan 14, 2003, meeting were reviewed and approved.   Members and guests in attendance today: 13.  Please be sure to sign in, as your Sec/Treas looks at that info each time when preparing the minutes, to get or update to, the most current member and guest information.

Financial Report

Old Business

800 MHz IX   Discussion continues regarding the 800 MHz proposals, brought about by the Nov 2000 Nextel ‘white paper’, and member experiences.  Jerry Noe reiterated that the Nextel site in Bellingham, at the YMCA, is not interfering as much as the one at the St Josephs hospital.  No clear picture of why the difference, but the feeling is there might be some different equipment, or method used there.  Steve Leonard was missed again, as he is such an excellent source of wisdom concerning the Nextel sites.  Wiz described some comments filed about the proposals to FCC, which are posted on the web site for review.  Go to www.region43.org to see it.  The next 800 MHz local planning meeting is April 30^th.  There are items for 800 MHz and also 700, and links to other relevant info.  Harlan, Wiz, and Jerry lead a discussion about the types of Intermod IX, and described 2 different things; sideband influence noise, and receiver-generated Intermod, due to not enough rejection.  The first can often be cleaned up using filters, but the second can’t.  Wiz will be calling Steve Leonard soon on other matters; so will ask about the Bellingham issue too.  Members are seeing more mixes between Nextel and other cellular companies, and auto-tune cavities help at some sites. The collection of articles maintained by Loren, about the 800 MHz issues, is available for perusal at each meeting.  ((The collection is substantial, and everyone is encouraged to review each month.  Please come early, or stay after.))   (OPEN)

700 MHz Planning Meetings   The web sites are www.region43.org for Washington State, and www.region35.org, for Oregon, respectively.  Contact Jon “Wiz” Wiswell, Pat Buller or Kevin Kearns for more info.  Meeting schedules and past meeting minutes are on the web sites.  There is another later draft of a 700 MHz plan on the web page, and the next meeting expects to have the call-in telephone line available again.  The last meeting, Jan 29^th, used it, but the type of phone was a problem.  More ‘practice’ next time, on Mar 26^th, and the call-in number is (253) 512-7310, in order to listen to the meeting in-progress, or ask questions and participate.  That method should really help in getting the information out clearly.  Be sure to check those web sites for the latest information in this important planning step for both 700 and 800 MHz use in the future.  (OPEN)

WWCIC web site   Wiz would like to see more of the organization’s history on the site, and volunteered to help review some of the old materials in Loren’s possession.  Pat Buller, Gary Soulsby, Duncan Stewart, and Marty Moon were mentioned as knowledge sources about WWCIC.  To pursue this issue, we will need more information “from those who know”. (ALWAYS OPEN)

Technical Seminars at meetings   Discussion centered on the idea for 45-50 min sessions, possibly every other month, after the business meeting.  A break for refreshments and the presenter able to set up, then proceed.  Keep the focus on IX issues, as that is our mission.  A possibility for the March meeting was a presentation on BDA’s, as Kim Torp-Pedersen has a contact w/ TXR or Antenna Specialties.  Unfortunately, the presenters have a conflict in March, due to the IWCE conference.  Perhaps a swap to May can be arranged, and bring in George’s contact, someone from Larson Antennas, for the March date.  Loren will contact George for discussion.  The members want any proposed seminars placed on the Agenda, so to be readily available to plan for attending, and get the personal calendars filled in early.  A committee was formed, consisting of Pat Buller, Harlan Ohlson, and George Bisso, along w/ “member-at-large” Kim Torp-Pedersen, to work on the programs for future technical presentations.  Jerry Noe may have something from PAR radio for later on.  Loren again mentioned sending all our minutes along to IECIC, and if they are interested in attending any of our tech sessions, they are so informed.  (OPEN)

XM Radio    Nothing new, as George was gone.  He is always such a wealth of info.  (OPEN)

Planning for WWCIC/WCTC Joint meeting 2003     George contacted Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, about space, costs and food.  He hadn’t gotten anything further from them, but did send e-mail, and expected to hear from Valerie soon.  The price should be about $20.  Loren contacted Keith Bandy about the date in the second week of June.  Keith responded that Canada was happy with Wednesday, June 11^th.  It was voted on and approved, and Loren will get the info sent off back to Keith, so everyone can get the date saved.  Semiahmoo had already been selected as the location for 2003, at our January meeting.  Kris McGowan and Jayson Clairmont had previously agreed to help w/ arrangements.  We should also begin to develop our ideas for discussion content.  Forward questions or concerns to the Officers, or bring them to the meetings.  Check your calendars for any potential conflicts, and mark them for June 11, Wednesday.  (OPEN)

APCO report or news   Pat Buller was absent today, as he is attending the Western Regional APCO Conference, Feb 10-14, 2003, in Las Vegas.  We will anticipate his full report next meeting.  The 2004 Regional conference will be in Spokane, WA.  Contact Pat for more APCO-related details.  APCO has a lot if information on their web site, at www.apcointl.org/.  The web site for the Western Regional conference is www.NVAPCO.org.  (OPEN)

Date for the Nov 2003 WWCIC meeting   After due consideration, a vote approved holding the month’s meeting on WEDNESDAY, Nov 12, 2003.  Mark calendars, since this ISN’T a Tuesday.  (CLOSED)

Elections  Brief discussion ensued about the vote last month, and Steve Mayes will be carried on the roster, at least until October 2003.  In January, a unanimous vote selected the present Officers to continue serving until the next election.  Elections are usually held in Sept or October, with terms running October to October of each year.  Only the Chairman has a 2-year term, with all others on one-year terms, as described in the Constitution and By-laws.  Hopefully, the group will move onward effectively.  The Officers and their terms are as follows:  Chairman- George Bisso has a 2-year term, elected in Dec 2001, with term expiring in Oct 2003.  Vice Chair- Jon “Wiz” Wiswell, Sec/Treas- Loren Postma, Member-at-Large #1- Steve Mayes, Member-at-Large #2- Harlan Ohlson, FCC Representative- Dennis Anderson.  All of the Officer’s terms will expire in Oct 2003.  A nominating committee was suggested.  Please think about the future of your WWCIC.  (CLOSED)

Unlicensed Spread-Spectrum systems, and Noise Floor Measurements  Curt Kyle started a discussion in Jan about noise floor measurements, a topic touched upon often at the meetings, and continued at this meeting.  How can sites be monitored effectively, and what specifications should be used to keep measurements consistent?  What sites are of highest interest?  Since RF emissions are a regulated item by FCC, perhaps noise floor measurements should coincide with RF measurements.  Are there 10-12 key locations in Western WA that should be tracked?  Suggestions to set up a noise floor database were mentioned, but it really comes back to each site’s personal Company records, or individual technician’s responsibility.  There is no single right way, only something that can be repeated, and use the same equipment each time, to achieve a relative reading, and see if the site is worse or better than the last time.  Wiz talked about an industry standard, and a paper done sometime in the past by WWCIC, concerning this issue.  Another ‘plus’ for more history.   www.rbitem.com was mentioned as a potential source of info per Jay Schmierer.  Harlan asked about “uni 2”.  Wiz will do some research to bring next time.  What is “acceptable” IX or noise floor condition?  It certainly is an issue worthy of concern, and further discussion may reveal other ideas.  (OPEN)

New Business

 Nothing was brought forth.

Items of Information

FCC   Dennis Anderson spoke for FCC today.  There are continuing telecom and tower issues.    CB’ers operating illegally were stopped in Tacoma, Lynnwood, Bothell and Everett.  Tower lighting and painting continue to be emphasized by FCC.  Talk to any of the FCC staff to understand what a “voluntary contribution” refers to.  The active antennas for RV use by Winegard are continuing to be dealt with.  Dennis couldn’t find a specific link on the FCC site for direct info about the problem.  Radio Shack is getting into the supply business for active antennas for TV and FM, which might result in issues of interference for the Marine VHF & GPS receivers.  More info to come.  All our local FCC staff are busy with projects, and continue to be:  Dennis Anderson, Jayson Clairmont, Steve Hauser, Kris McGowan, Mike Rothe, and Gary Soulsby.  Most FCC documents can be found on FCC’s website www.fcc.gov.  If you would like help with documents, please contact Dennis Anderson.

Jay S asked about the future direction the Public Safety bands are headed.  What direction is FCC steering the systems toward?  Where are we going?  Preliminary conclusions are: there likely will always be a need for single channel /single user systems, but things are looking toward an ”interference temperature” as an indicator for levels of concern.  Is there a good description of what “interference temperature” means?  Those systems that stay wide-band at 25 KHz, eventually will suffer IX from the narrow-band systems licensed adjacent to them, as older equipment won’t be able to discriminate out the lap-over signals.  Data systems must have wide bandwidths to carry the larger amounts of information, and that takes wider bandwidth channels, assigned or not.  Last month, there was discussion about the ultra wide band (UWB), and spread-spectrum technology, primarily unlicensed.  Without doubt, discussion will continue.  Chuck Z and others discussed the future capabilities of other carriers using PTT technology, like Nextel has, in the cellular bands.  Several cell companies are ready to roll out new offerings, as early as this year.  Jerry Noe mentioned a trend showing some users returning to more traditional SMR radio systems, as costs for the PTT technology from common carriers, like Nextel and others become apparent.   Per minute charges and monthly fees do mount up quickly.  There are advantages to local representation for radio systems, just as there are for national tech-rep deals.  There are also pre-paid calling cards, as an alternative to cell phones, whether they use pre-paid minutes, or monthly billings.  No one can ignore the significant market taken by wireless phones in the last few years, nor can the added spectrum clutter (noise) be considered nil.  (OPEN) 

Meeting adjourned at 1108.  Next meeting is on Mar 11, 2003, again at the WSP District Office in Bellevue.  See the WWCIC web page for detailed directions to the location.  Thanks to everyone for your interest and support for WWCIC.

Respectfully submitted,

Your most humble Secretary/Treasurer,

Loren H. Postma