Minutes of VAPO Meeting on September 30^th, 2000

• •Meeting was called to order by el PRESIDENTE, Jerome ve7ass, ve7poo, ve7spy, va7vv at 10:02am sharp...
• •There were approximately 15 VAPO members present and some coffee and donuts were consumed at the commencement. Obviously these few folks did not partake in breakfast at home...
• •Fred, ve7ee was conspicuous by his absence as apparently he fell down some stairs and did a major injury to one of his lower limbs. The meeting will undoubtedly run very smoothly...
• •Keith, ve7kwk was also absent as he is in the hospital... Get well Keith...
• •It was discussed about having only one major meeting per year and instigation of a bi-monthly PACKBARF at a restaurant in the Lower Mainland. It was suggested that the PACKBARF be moved around the Mainland to different locations.
• •It was noted that generally the Sysops run the system and they have noted that activity has diminished greatly over the past period of time.
• •It would appear that people are now doing other things which may account for the activity decrease. It was suggested that VAPO should possibly "Right Size", however there was not much discussion on that aspect and the result was that VAPO would remain as it is and just do away with the formal meetings except for once per year. If the PACKBARF doesn't work out, we may have to change the strategy. Larry, ve7cff and Mike, ve7avm agree with the plan and thinks it will work just fine.
• •The secretary will send out announcements and meeting times either by e-mail or packet to all members and replies must be acknowledged to see how many will attend the breakfasts.
• •Hopefully the breakfasts will stimulate some interesting discussions in the world of packet and if help is needed, it can be found around the table.
• •It was brought up that it would be useful to know where the packet stations were located in BC and other provinces so that when people are traveling they can find these stations. It was suggested by el PRESIDENTE that the radios should be used in scan and just listen to the radio's to find them. It was easy to find them in the past when there was considerable activity on the band.
• •Question was brought up about some training sessions in basic packet operation and it was noted that possibly the PACKBARF may solve this problem or possibly some small classes could be done at peoples houses.
• •Question about the acquisition of TNC's came up and it was mentioned that they are sometimes available at the various swap meets around the area. There should be some units as the interest has obviously dropped off in packet.
• •It was discussed about trying to get some enthusiasm back into packet by looking at new ways of doing things, for instance getting into Linux or using Converse Servers to talk to other users around the world.
• •James, ve7jms mentioned that his system (VE7SRY) was working just fine with his limited number of users... 3 or 4...
• •Jerome discussed his new system and his use of converse servers which he has connected up to the 'WORLD'.
• •Bill, ve7qc told us that VE7NSR is working just fine. Lane will be going up to the site today to install Linux to make the site more stable. He obviously did a great job as I see it is working properly...
• •Lane, ve7ihl gave a talk on the goings on up at VE7SFU with regards to the repair to the computer at the site. It was converted from DOS to LINUX in order to get some stability at the site. In the DOS mode the computer was locking up every 2 or 3 days and had to be hard reset to get it going again. Since LINUX was installed, all lockup problems have gone away. The old computer which was at VE7TPG was used at SFU and a new hard drive was installed as the previous one was to small. The previous computer at SFU had a small Fujitsu HD which ran for over 10 years and never had a problem, in fact it is still in good shape and runs very quietly. So, if you want to buy a good HD, get a Fujitsu.... A UPS also had to be installed at SFU because of the problems with LINUX if there is a power failure. Lane will be installing a smart controller for the UPS which will shut the computer down properly if the UPS batteries should become depleted during a long power failure.
• •Lane also gave a talk on the system configuration around the Lower Mainland as it applies to the use of Converse Servers. He said we have a system in place already for emergency communications if it is required. There are many channels (65,000) on the converse servers which can be used to separate activities if required.
• •Jerome mentioned we should have a hard look at relocating VE7LAN to a different location to try and get an earthquake hardened location. This will be investigated. It was mentioned by James, ve7jms that the existing location is going through some changes to increase the physical reliability of the site in case of disaster.
• •That was about the extent of the meeting with the exception that we had a very good demonstration of the use of the Converse Servers in the meeting room. We had the VAPO portable station, Lane had his own portable station, James, ve7jms had his Palm Pilot connected up to a TNC and Jim Hurrell, ve7hur was at his QTH and we were all keyboarding to one another in very easy fashion. It demonstrated that the system was already in place and the operation was very simple and reliable to use.
• •The remaining coffee and donuts were consumed and the meeting was adjourned at approximately 12:00 noon.
• •Hopefully the above is an accurate account of the fantastic activities at the meeting....
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• •73... Tom  ve7did