The meeting was held at the Sobey’s in Kanata (March Rd. location). The following people were present:

Name Call Sign Position MH Grid RAC WCARC
Clayton Smith VE3IRR President FN25ai Yes Yes
Doug Leach VE3XK Vice President FN25bf Yes Yes
Jeremy Jones VA3ZTF Director FN25ac Yes Yes
Randy Nordlund VE3AX Secretary FN25jg Yes Yes
Brian Jeffrey VE3UU Member FN15wi Yes Yes
Tyler Tidman VA3DGN Member FN25ai Yes Yes
Margaret Tidman VA3VXN Member FN25ai Yes Yes
Glenn MacDonell VE3XRA Member FN25dj Yes Yes
Graham Ide VE3BYT Member FN25ch Yes Yes
Chris Bisaillion VE3CBK Member FN25ai Yes Yes
Nick Shepherd VE3OWV Member FN15vk Yes Yes
Robert Boyd VE3BE Treasurer FN25dj Yes Yes
Bertrand Zauhar VE2ZAZ Member FN25bk Yes Yes
Thane Brown VA3TTM Visitor FN25bi    
Dean Denter VA3CDD Member FN15xl Yes Yes
Marius Draghia VE3ETK Member   Yes Yes
Georges-André Chaudron VE2VAB Visitor FN25dl Yes  
Larissa Reise VE3KGC Visitor FN14pj    

Opening

The meeting was opened by the President, Clayton Smith (VE3IRR), at 19:01 hours. 3 visitors were in attendance.

Secretary’s Report

Clayton (VE3IRR) introduced the minutes of the April meeting posted on the WCARC website. Clayton moved that the minutes be approved as posted. The motion was seconded by Randy (VE3AX). The motion was carried.

Treasurer’s Report

We have 28 paid up members and the bank balance is $3,909.

Vice President’s Report

Nil.

Director’s Report

Nil.

President’s Report

Nil.

Speaker

The speaker tonight is Brian Jeffrey (VE3UU) and the subject is “Adventures in the Coldest Part of the Cold War.”

Old Business

Jeremy (VA3ZTF) introduced a motion to modify the club expenditure bylaw as follows (changes in bold):

Expenditures: Expenditures should be approved in advance, and prior to the actual expenditure. Single expenditures up to $250 may be approved by two Signing Officers and disclosed at the next general meeting. Expenditures exceeding $250 but less than $500 shall require approval by a majority of the members at a general meeting. Expenditures exceeding $500 shall be presented at a general meeting and opened for discussion on the WCARC email list, following which a majority vote will be held at the next general meeting.

Robert (VE3BE) seconded the motion. Motion was carried.

Doug (VE3XK) showed the RF Explorer spectrum analyzer that was purchased by the club and mentioned that the VNA was still in transit.

Reports / Project Updates

Beacons

Doug reported that the 6m and 70cm beacons are presently down. They will be looked at once Wayne is available.

Clayton mentioned that an American ham (W1VLF) is experimenting with aircraft scatter and was not hearing the 6m beacon. He was notified of the beacon issues.

Bert updated the group on the project to stabilize the 2m WSPR beacon with a new 10 MHz referenced synthesizer.

D-STAR

Nil.

Broadband Hamnet

Bert mentioned that we will be getting access to the Camp Fortune transmitter site and there is a possibility of installing a node.

Jeremy (VA3ZTF) updated the group on the project to install a node at the Diefenbunker. The tower is presently overloaded.

New Business

Randy (VE3AX) mentioned that a roll of 7/8” heliax was picked up at the NEWS conference for the 6m contest station. The cost was $50.

Randy gave an update on the 2 club antennas which were ordered from Directive Systems and the 6m antenna which is being rebuilt.

Announcements / Show & Tell

  • Randy (VE3AX) showed the RS-918 portable HF transceiver.
  • Glenn (VE3XRA) mentioned that there will be an amateur radio booth setup at Canada-Wide Science Fair being held Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
  • Clayton (VE3IRR) described a new SDR project called osmo-fl2k which uses a VGA adapter as a transmitter.
  • Dean (VA3CDD) mentioned that the LimeSDR Mini is now shipping.

Preparations for the June Contest

Clayton gave a quick update for the final preparations and confirmed who would be available for setup and takedown.

Adjournment

The President observed that there being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 21:25.