Minutes of the Regular Meeting on June 19th, 2023
The meeting was held over the internet via a Zoom video conference. The following people were present:
| Name | Call Sign | Position | MH Grid | WCARC | RAC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles MacDonald | VA3CPY | President | FN25ag | Yes | Yes |
| Karen Bryden | VA3IGO | Member | FN25ag | Yes | Yes |
| Bertrand Zauhar | VE2ZAZ | Secretary | FN25bk | Yes | Yes |
| Lawrence Dobranski | VA3IQ | Vice President | FN25 | Yes | Yes |
| Peter Jago | VA3PJ | Member | FN25ag | Yes | Yes |
| Glenn MacDonell | VE3XRA | Member | FN25dj | Yes | Yes |
| Rémi De Cristofaro | VA3DRI | Member | FN25 | Yes | Yes |
| Luc Pernot | VE3LUP | Member | FN25 | Yes | Yes |
| Clayton Smith | VE3IRR | Member | EN82qb | Yes | Yes |
| John McGowan | VA3JYK | Member | FN25 | Yes | Yes |
| Fred Crowe | VE3LAF | Member | FN25 | Yes | Yes |
| Mike Kennedy | VA3TEC | Member | FN25 | Yes | Yes |
| Larissa Reise | VE3KGC | Visitor | FN14 | No | - |
| Paul | K1YBE | Visitor | - | No | - |
| Nancy Austin | KC1NEK | Visitor | - | No | - |
Opening
The meeting was opened by the President, Charles (VA3CPY) at 7:10 pm. There were three visitors attending the meeting.
Secretary’s Report
Bert (VE2ZAZ) posted a draft version of the May 2023 meeting minutes on the Club website prior to this meeting. Moved by him that the minutes be adopted as posted on the website. Seconded by Glenn (VE3XRA). The motion was carried.
Treasurer’s Report
- Ray (VE3FN) provided the following report: As of May 31st, we had $2733.83 in our chequing account. The changes from last month are a deposit of $10 (payment for a name badge), interest earned of $0.12, and a cheque for $101.70 to pay for our rental of the Kinburn Community Centre for the ARRL June VHF contest. We also had $2107.60 in our term deposits.
- At the next meeting:
- Ray will try to understand why the payment to the Kinburn Community Centre was $101.70, and not $110.
- He will provide the current number of members.
Vice President’s Report
Lawrence (VA3IQ) informed the members of the following upcoming meeting presentations.
- Meeting presentations already scheduled:
- July 2023: Dennis (WA4LPR): INTRFIL - Round rod inter-digital filtering construction software.
- Meeting presentations in planning:
- Mike (VA3TEC): State of the art in FPGAs.
- Paul (W1GHZ): Subject to be determined.
- Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation. The presentation will be given by a Ph.D. student.
- The Codec 2 HF Voice codec. One of the creators will make a presentation.
- There was an article published on the West Carleton Online website covering our participation in the June VHF contest. Following that article, a member of the local emergency preparedness committee contacted Clayton (VE3IRR) to inquire about the Club’s interest in providing advice on emergency communications. The Officers will discuss this matter further and report back to the members at a future meeting.
Director’s Report
No report, as the Director was absent.
President’s Report
The Club had a successful VHF contest again this year. This is quite an achievement, considering the size of our Club, and the complexity in setting up, operating and tearing down our temporary station. The Club would like to thank Bert (VE2ZAZ) for his contribution in organizing the VHF contest.
Presentation(s)
- Paul (K1YBE): ARTEN Project - New England Mesh Networking.
- Clayton (VE3IRR) - Report on our participation in the June VHF Contest. The Club did better than last year in the number of QSOs on most bands. In total, we had 400 QSOs and 173 multipliers. The submitted score is 111,066. More details are provided in the PDF file which can be downloaded from the Presentations page of the Club’s website.
Old Business
- 902/1296 MHz Beacons: The beacons are still non-operational. Bert (VE2ZAZ) contacted Phil Lytle (VE3HOA) to get an update on their attempt to organize a visit to the YMCA roof to re-activate the beacons. Phil reported that no progress had been made. Bert recommended that we consider pulling out the beacons from the Y and move them to the Diefenbunker.
- WCARC badges: Ray (VE3FN) distributed the badges at the Kinburn Community Centre during the VHF Contest. Ray took back the badges that were not picked up. He will mail them to the owners. The next order of badges will be processed in 2024.
- 432 Yagi antenna procurement: The donated antenna was recovered from Ken (VA3KA) by Rémi (VA3DRI) before the VHF contest. The Club would like to sincerely thank Ken for the donation. The antenna was successfully used during the Contest. Bert (VE2ZAZ) took the antenna home after the Contest. He will try to improve its VSWR.
- 2023 June VHF Contest:
- The West Carleton Online wrote an article on the our participation in the VHF Contest, with some emphasis on the rover activities.
- Tower sections: Following the contest, Ray (VE3BVV) went with Clayton (VE3IRR) to Ken (VA3KA)’s place to pick up the remaining tower sections that the Club owns. In total, eight sections were recovered: four aluminum sections, one straight painted-green section and three very rusted sections. These sections were transported to Ray’s storage barn. The rusted sections will be scrapped by Ray.
- Bert (VE2ZAZ) moved that a donation of $100 be made to Ray Burrell (VE3BVV) to cover the cost of storing the Club’s contest gear and transporting it to the venue. Lawrence (VA3IQ) seconded the motion. All attendees agreed to the donation. The motion was carried. The Treasurer will contact Ray to transfer the donation.
- The Club thanked Tyler Tidman (VA3DGN) and Margaret Tidman (VA3VXN) for their help in loading up the Club gear onto the truck on the day before the trip to the VHF contest venue.
New Business
None.
Show and tell
Lawrence (VA3IQ): 222 MHz and Up Distance Contest on August 5th-6th, 2023. Hams in the Greater-Toronto and the Rochester, NY areas will participate in that contest.
Ask the Club
No questions were asked.
Adjournment
The President observed that there was no further business; the meeting was adjourned at 9:26pm.