HO MOD SIG MONTHLY MTG. MINUTES, Mar 8, 2008, Black Bear Diner in Redmond
by Norm Curtis, Chairman

COMMENTS:
1. Meeting Date: The next meeting is April 12^th, ‘08, 8:30 a.m., Black Bear Diner in Redmond

PAST SHOWS:
2. None

NEXT SHOWS:
3. TTMT 4/26-7/2008, Puyallup, Mike S
This is the other official 4D train show. The organizers are trying hard to correct all the known deficiencies of the last two attempts. At present, TTMT will supplement the PSC show as the only current fundraiser for the 4D, so it deserves our utmost support. You can help by doing the usual modular layout stuff, AND volunteering to help out (about 2 hours). Contact: Susan Evans, TTMT Show Chair, ttmt@4dPNR.org
My Part: I am volunteering all my time to the train show as a member of the BOD. That will be unique for the SIG and me. Some adjustments will need to be made:
Trailer: I will bring the trailer to the next breakfast where Rob or Mike will take it south and have it available for the show.
Bridge: The bridge has some damage to the base on one end. You’ll have to fix it (after getting it off the trailer) or shim it. There are adjustment screws, but they are difficult to use.
Cab Bus: If the layout is large, this issue will likely reoccur. We hope to have most of this fixed by show time. I will have some wired plugs and instructions that will be provided to anyone with a permanent UTP panel at the next breakfast. If your modules are in the show, please install these before the show. These will power the bus from the 12-volt bus. In case the ProCabs still get scrambled readouts, plug in the wall-warts wherever you can in the nonoperable part of the layout.
Kiddy layout: This will be set up during the show. Hopefully someone will know how to do that. Instructions will be provided. During the show, please try to spell each other each hour as we did at the PSC show. Speaking of the PSC show, see next item.
TTMT vs. PSC: It’s helpful to think of the TTMT as PSC-like. They both have the same goals, i.e. to make money for the 4D. What we want are happy customers who will come back next year and the year after, etc. Basically we do this show so that we can do all our other activities. And it’s kind of nice to know that we are doing this for ourselves! So please do what it takes to make happy customers.
Show Details: Mike the coordinator will have details out as soon as he hears from the organizers and works out the details. They should be emailed and on our WEBSITE.
Volunteering: Did I mention volunteering for a couple of hours?

5. Rollin’ Rails, May 10, Norm Confirmed
Date: This has finally been set for May 10. Mark it on your calendars. This is our breakfast/ops day, so we’ll probably move them one week earlier to May 3^rd. More on this later. This is a one-day show that emphasizes kids. More on this after the TTMT gets organized.

NEW BUSINESS:
6. Archiving Tips of the Week: Norm
The group asked to archive the Tip of the Week topics on our WEBSITE. I had planned to rotate these to attract members to the WEBSITE, but I can archive them as well.
OLD BUSINESS:
6. Module handling system: Paul
Paul is redesigning the system and will get back to us I assume.
7. Ops at Cherry Valley, Norm C
There will be an ops session following breakfast for the foreseeable future.
8. Cab bus issues: We are working through this issue, hopefully in time for TTMT. The issue seems to be insufficient power to the cab bus due to the length and tiny size wires in the cab bus. Possibly noise as well. We have three fixes in the works. One is to get a "storage scope" so that we can see what is going on with the signal. Allan is preparing one using a PC and some software. Two, as mentioned, we are going to plug in most permanent UTP panels to the 12 volt bus. Finally, we’ll shorten the cab bus wires to minimize the lengths and power drop.
9. Guest policy: Norm
We have worked out most of the details. We discussed some final tweaking and I will work through those and send out the next draft soon.
10. Policies: Norm
Over the years we have developed a number of policies on different things and these probably get forgotten and new people are unaware. The group approved putting them on our WEBSITE: I’ll go back and see if I can find some others as well.