The meeting was held in the regular upstairs meeting room in Sobey's at the corner of Hazeldean and Terry Fox in Kanata.

The following people were present:

NameCall SignPositionMH GridRACWCARC
Tyler TidmanVA3DGNVisitorFN25aiYesYes
Peter JagoVA3PJMemberFN25agYesYes
Bertrand ZauharVE2ZAZMemberFN25bkYesYes
Dave GoodwinVE3AAQMemberFN25dhYesYes
Randy NordlundVE3AXMemberFN25YesYes
Wayne GetchellVE3CZOMemberFN25YesYes
Clayton SmithVE3IRRMemberFN25aiYesYes
Clare FowlerVE3NPCMemberFN25djYesYes
Doug LeachVE3XKVice PresidentFN25bfYesYes
Glenn MacDonellVE3XRASecretaryFN25djYesYes


Opening:
The meeting was opened by the President, Clayton Smith (VE3XK), at 19:30 hours. He welcomed Tyler Tidman (VA3DGN), the speaker for the meeting.



Secretary's Report:
The Secretary, Glenn MacDonell (VE3XRA), introduced the minutes of the December meeting.
Moved by the Secretary, that the minutes be approved and posted; seconded by Randy Norland (VE3AX).
Carried.


Treasurer's Report:
The Treasurer, Andy Hart (VE3NVK), noted that although he had been unable to attend the December meeting and so missed the Annual General Meeting where the Vice President and Treasurer were to be elected, he had sent an email accepting nomination for a further term as Treasurer. This was greated by loud applause from the membership and his election confirmed. He then reported that after the club's payment for affiliation to RAC and for the RAC affiliated club insurance for 2015, the bank balance was $446.80. He reported that the club had had 22 regular members and 3 life members in 2014 and invited members to renew for 2015.

President's Report:
The President presented the Annual Report for 2014 summarizing club activities and accomplishments.
He moved that the report be accepted and posted on the club website; seconded by Wayne Getchell (VE3CZO).
Approved.
The report will be posted in the Club History section of the club website.

Old Business:
Nil.

New Business:

June VHF Contest 2015
The President noted that the June VHF contest was only five months away and identified several ourtstanding questions: should the club participate again, if so where. He commented that it was not to early to make sure we were able to secure our desired location. Following discussion several motions were introduced.
Randy Nordlund moved that WCARC participate in the 2015, seconded by Doug Leach.
Carried.
Peter Jago (VA3PJ) moved that the club approve using the Corkery Community Cenrtre again this year at an expected cost of $150, seconded by Wayne Getchell.
Carried.
Finally, Doug Leach, who had been the organizer for 2014, advised that he did not want to do this again in 2015. The President asked for volunteers. When no one stepped forward he noted that the executive would make sure preparations began and attend to items such as reserving the community centre.



Reports / Project Updates

Broadband Hamnet
Clayton Smith reported that a Broadband Lamnet link had been successfully established between his QTH and the YMCA in central Ottawa. He showed the current configuration of linked stations including the YMCA, his QTH and those of Bert Zauhar (VE2ZAZ) and Tyler Tidman (VA3DGN).

Beacons
Doug Leach reported that the beacons had been running continuously since December 15 with no hickups at all, with the exception of the 6m beacon. The problem with 6m may be simple but it would be difficult to get at it in the depths of the winter.

Announcements

Tyler Tidman reported that the Canadian Ski Marathon would take place in about four weeks. He noted that there was always a demand for radio operators and encouraged people to consider volunteering.

Glenn MacDonell noted that the January VHF contest would take place soon - Jan 24-25.

Presentation
Tyler Tidman gave us a talk on CHIRP a free open source tool for programming amateur radios that supports many manufacturers and models and provides a way to interface with many data sources and formats.

Adjournment
The President, Clayton (VE3IRR) stated that there being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2120 hrs.