Minutes of the Meeting on Meeting of September 10, 2008
Note: This meeting would normally have been held 8 days earlier but the date was changed to accomodate the speaker (Al VO1NO).
The meeting was held in the Kanata room at Sobey's in Kanata.
The following members were present:
| Name | Call Sign | Position | MH Grid | RAC | WCARC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al Penney | VO1NO/VE3 | President | FN24cw | Yes | Yes |
| Doug Leach | VE3XK | Vice President | FN15wg | Yes | Yes |
| Ken Asmus | VA3KA | Treasurer | FN15wg | Yes | Yes |
| Barney Baker | VA3BGB | Secretary | FN25ai | Yes | Yes |
| Graham Ide | VE3BYT | FN25ch | Yes | Yes | |
| Brian Jeffrey | VE3UU | Yes | Yes | ||
| Dale Hennigar | VE3XZT | FN15 | Yes | Yes | |
| Valentin Doroga | VA3WO | FN25ci | Yes | Yes | |
| Brian Martin | VE3IX | FN25 | Yes | ||
| Dean Denter | VA3CDD | FN15wl | Yes | Yes | |
| Bill Reed | VE3DW | FN15 | Yes | Yes | |
| Stan Madore | In study | Yes | Yes | ||
| Bernie Madore | In study | Yes | Yes | ||
| Bill Brown | W4TAA/VE3 | FN15ve | |||
| Bertrand Zauhar | VE2ZAZ | Guest | FN25 | ? |
Al, VO1NO/VE3 called the meeting to order at 19:20 hrs and requested guest, Bertrand Zauhar, VE2ZAZ, to introduce himself and then all members to introduce themselves.
Reports
Doug, VE3XK, Vice President had no report.
Ken, VA3KA, Treasurer, reported that the club gained dollars as a result of sales at the Carp show and reported that the club has 26 paid members.
Barney, VA3BGB, Secretary, motioned that the minutes of the 5 Aug meeting be accepted as published. Ken VA3KA seconded the motion and the motion was passed.
Old Business
Beacon Report
Doug, VE3XK was appointed the lead of the equipment committee. Doug reported on the beacon project status and informed the membership that the frequencies used are; 50.009MHz, 144.297MHz, 222.068MHz, 432.358MHz and 903.365MHz. He mentioned that all the hardware has been prepared for installation and is awaiting only the 2M beacon transmitter. Upon receipt of the radio it would take very few hours to erect and begin full operation.
Graham, VE3BYT questioned the orientation of the 903 beacon antenna and was directed to contact Rick, VE3CVG for the accurate response.
Grid Expedition
Al, VO1NO/VE3 consented to be lead of the grid expedition committee.
Balloon Project
Graham, VE3BYT consented to be lead of the balloon projects committee. Graham reported that the team had been assembled and that hardware consisting of both visual and aural sensors had been acquired. Dale VE3XZT mentioned that an ATV transmitter using 439.25MHz is available and would be tested for power consumption. Launch is planned for mid November.
D-STAR
Ken, VA3KA reported that a preamp has been added to the D-STAR 23cm voice side of the system. Dale VE3XZT reported that a ham has developed a dongle to transmit onto D-STAR via the internet.
Repeater committee
Dale, VE3XZT has consented to be lead for the repeater committee and reported that there is a problem getting access to the repeater site to enable the change of call sign to the club call sign of VE3WCC.
Webmaster
Members present reported that the website is again active.
Events
Al VO1NO/VE3 informed the meeting of several contests in the recent past and imminent future. Several hamfests were also discussed.
Constitution
Al VO1NO/VE3 informed the membership that no further requests for amendments had been received and therefore the constitution was considered to be completed and would therefore be signed by the present members of the executive and would be considered to be in force as of that moment.
New Business
June Expedition 14 to 16th June
Al VO1NO/VE3 informed the membership that the trip had achieved 86000 points during the DXpedition at FN04xa near Grafton. He further described the receipt of a letter of appreciation from Bill Burgess, VE3CRU/R who was very complementary regarding the WCARC efforts during this expedition. Al read the letter into the record;
June 23, 2008
Greetings Al
As promised, here is the "incentive package" for the VE3WCC VHF team, and club. The caps are for the team, and the maps are for the teams needs first, and club members also, as you see fit.
It is my hope that the West Carleton ARC will continue to set a positive example to so many clubs in Canada who need a role model to look up to, and one who will at all times maintain contesting integrity and ethics. As you know, we have some in VE3 who will violate ethics for the greed of higher scores.
I see your score rose to 86,151. Congratulations to all on the team for an excellent venture. Hope you took some photos, as I forgot to, OOPS!. Next year will be even better, and Ryan will cut the hay in the area in advance.
It gives me great pleasure to offer all of you my support.
73,
Bill Burgess
VE3CRU/R
He included a number of incentives to encourage the continuing efforts of the WCARC in further grid expeditions. A photo was taken of available members of that expedition to send along with the clubs thanks to Bill.
Presentation
Al, VO1NO/VE3 provided an in depth presentation of a variety of low band antenna systems. He passed around several examples of cables and circuits used to switch and control various functions of an antenna farm. Thank you Al for an informative and educational presentation.
Adjournment
Graham, VE3BYT motioned that the meeting be adjourned, motioned passed at 22:20hrs.
Barney Baker - VA3BGB
Secretary.