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
Bertrand Zauhar VE2ZAZ Secretary FN25bk Yes Yes
Mike Kennedy VA3TEC President FN25 Yes Yes
Lawrence Dobranski VA3IQ Vice President FN25 Yes Yes
Charles MacDonald VA3CPY Member FN25ag Yes Yes
Karen Bryden VA3IGO Member FN25ag Yes Yes
Ray Perrin VE3FN Treasurer FN25dk Yes Yes
Norman Siemens VE3NPP Member FN25 Yes Yes
Peter Jago VA3PJ Member FN25ag Yes Yes
Clayton Smith VE3IRR Member EN82qb Yes Yes
Georges-André Chaudron VE2VAB Member FN25 Yes Yes
Karin Thompson KD4DXX Visitor   No No

Opening

The meeting was opened by the President, Mike Kennedy (VA3TEC), at 7:12 pm. There was one visitor attending the meeting.

Secretary’s Report

  • Bert (VE2ZAZ) posted a draft version of the March 2024 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 Lawrence (VA3IQ). The motion was carried.

Treasurer’s Report

  • Ray (VE3FN) reported: The major change in our finances this month is that our cheque to RAC for $305.63 was cashed. This cheque is to pay for our liability insurance. Please note that this represents more than half of our total income so far this year. In summary, we have $15.00 in our share account, $3,029.37 in our daily banking account, and $2,185.44 in our term deposit.
  • The Club currently has 20 regular (paid) members and 3 life members.

Vice President’s Report

  • The Club had an excellent MAD activity at the Diefenbunker on April 6th. In total, our operators made four 10 GHz QSOs, with Hamilton, ON being the farthest QSO achieved. A German ham radio magazine contacted Lawrence to inquire about our activity. Also, Paul (W1GHZ) asked for some pictures for a potential publication. The Diefenbunker appears to be a good location to reach the GTA area.
  • Lawrence is working on having a Club breakfast on the last Saturday of May.
  • Upcoming presentations:
    • Confirmed:
      • May: No presentation. We will hold our VHF Contest preparation meeting.
      • June: Summary of our VHF Contest participation.
    • In planning:
      • VE2DX: His product line of add-ons, mainly for Icom radios.
      • VA2FSQ: Win4Icom and Win4Yaesu radio control software.
  • Due to the third Monday of the month of May being a statutory holiday, the May meeting will be held on the 13th, the second Monday of the month.

Director’s Report

The director was absent.

President’s Report

The President had nothing to report.

Presentation(s):

Karin Thompson (KD4DXX) of RT Systems: Their Windows programming software, radios and cables.

Old Business

  • Microwave demo by the Club at the Smiths Falls hamfest on May 11th: Lawrence (VA3IQ) is still trying to contact the new Numogate site owner to obtain a permission to access the site. Mike will notify the hamfest staff of our intention to do a live demo. At the very least, we could display Bert’s (VE2ZAZ) system behind a table.
  • Constitution and bylaws discussion: The Club will revise the constitution and bylaws to reflect the current Club situation and comply with the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA).
    • Norman (VE3NPP), who has had previous experience in similar legal matters, has agreed to lead the sub-committee. We are looking for another member to assist him.
    • Alan Hotte (VE3IAH) contacted Norman regarding his OVMRC work on that matter. He provided him with some written material and valuable indications. According to Alan, there are three possible approaches for the revision:
      • Rework our existing Constitution and Bylaws.
      • Use some of the available samples and templates, then copy and paste in our clauses.
      • Run the bylaws builder tool on the ONCA website to produce a customized template, then paste in our clauses.
    • Norman thinks we should adopt the 2nd approach, based on other clubs’ constitution.
    • Some items that must be addressed:
      • Dissolution.
      • Number of directors.
      • The new Bylaws have to be in place by October 2024.
      • Votes on bylaw changes have to be in-person, 2/3rd approval.
      • No constitution is required, only bylaws from now on.
    • Lawrence (VA3IQ) moved that we contact the legal advisor at RAC to see whether this revision work really applies to us, without exemption. Bert (VE2ZAZ) seconded the motion. The motion was carried.
    • Some of the items previously discussed to be addressed in the new Bylaws were:
      • Add the webmaster as a Director. This would ensure that a higher number of Officers are active and available at any time.
      • The bylaws web page should be updated to reflect, either by referring to some external information, or explicitly, the current member dues.
      • The online (Zoom) nature of our meetings should be reflected into our bylaws.
      • According to Norm (VE3NPP), all 4 Officers (President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary) are directors, and we have a fifth director, which we call the Director. This complies with the Non-For-Profit corporation structure in Ontario.

New Business

  • 2024 June VHF Contest: Bert (VE2ZAZ) informed the members of a major change in the ARRL VHF Contest rules: Starting this year, our 5.8G phones and Laser communicators will no longer qualify for the minimum 5km link distance, so we will not be able to use them.

Show and tell

  • Mike (VA3TEC) showed a few pictures he took of the 2024 eclipse.
  • Bert (VE2ZAZ) and Georges-André (VE2VAB) reminded the members about the Ontario and Quebec QSO Parties, which will take place on April 20th and 21st.
  • Lawrence showed a Digilent FPGA Experimentation board he is working with.

Ask the Club

No questions were asked.

Adjournment

The President observed that there was no further business; the meeting was adjourned at 9:45pm.