The meeting was held in person at the Radio Amateurs of Canada headquarters and 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
Lawrence Dobranski VA3IQ Vice President FN25 Yes Yes
Mike Kennedy VA3TEC President FN25 Yes Yes
Luc Pernot VE3JGL Member FN25ek Yes Yes
Glenn MacDonell VE3XRA Member FN25dj Yes Yes
Norman Siemens VE3NPP Member FN25 Yes Yes
Wayne Getchell VE3CZO Director FN25dh Yes Yes
Ray Perrin VE3FN Treasurer FN25dk Yes Yes
Randy Nordlund VE3AX Member FN25jg Yes Yes
John McGowan VA3JYK Member FN25 Yes Yes
Greg Danylchenko VE3YTZ Visitor - No Yes
Charles Guerin VA3CGF Visitor - No Yes
Mike Kelly VE3FFK Visitor - No Yes
Craig Delmage VE3OP Visitor - No Yes

Opening

  • The meeting was opened by the President, Mike (VA3TEC), at 7:12 pm. There were four visitors attending the meeting.
  • The President thanked RAC, and in particular Craig Delmage (VE3OP), for greeting the Club members in their facility, and for organizing a tour of the VE3RHQ radio station.

Meeting Agenda

  • The meeting agenda, which these meeting minutes rigorously follow, was presented to the members. Bert (VE2ZAZ) moved that the agenda be adopted as is. Wayne (VE3CZO) seconded. A unanimous vote in favour of the motion took place, and the motion was carried.

Secretary’s Report

  • Bert (VE2ZAZ) posted a draft version of the November 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 Luc (VE3JGL). A unanimous vote in favour of the motion took place, and the motion was carried.

Treasurer’s Report

  • Monthly report: Due to the postal service strike, no monthly bank statement was received.
  • Yearly Financial Statement: With the information provided by the Treasurer, the document was prepared by the Auditor, Wayne (VE3CZO). He presented and explained the document to the members. Lawrence (VA3IQ) moved that the Yearly Financial Statement be adopted as is. Bert (VE2ZAZ) seconded the motion. A unanimous vote in favour of the motion took place, and the motion was carried. The report will be annexed to these meeting minutes, and posted on the Club website: WCARC Balance Sheet, 2024
  • Bert (VE2ZAZ) asked for an update on whether the Club donations to Ray Burrell had been completed. To this day, Ray (VE3FN) had not detected an account withdrawal of the amounts corresponding to the checks issued to Ray Burrell.
  • Bert (VE2ZAZ) also asked about whether the reimbursement to Larissa (VE3KGC) for the plastic bins had been made. Despite multiple attempts trying to reach Larissa, Ray had not been successful. Lawrence (VA3IQ) offered to contact her via the Department of National Defence internal email system.
  • Ray reported that the Club has 20 members and 3 life members.

Vice President’s Report

  • Lawrence presented his brief verbal report on year 2024.
    • It was a fun year, with multiple interesting presentations. A few examples are the Solar Eclipse presentation, the RT Systems radio remote control software, and tonight’s host Craig Delmage on the new RAC headquarters. Finding speakers remains a difficult task.
    • We participated in three microwave outings (MAD and ARRL 10GHz+ Contest combined). We intend to repeat these next year. In the next couple of months we shall come up with an activity schedule.
    • The members shared many personal home-brew projects with others.
  • Upcoming monthly meeting presentations:
    • Confirmed: None
    • Being Planned: One of our former Club president may talk about his ham experience in the USSR.
    • Lawrence (VA3IQ) asked those present to contact him if there are projects they would like to talk about.

President’s Report

Yearly report: The President provided a written report summarizing the Club activities and engagements throughout 2024. The report was shown and read out loud to the members. Mike moved that his report be adopted, with the inclusion of the following changes:

  • The addition of Luc (VE3JGL) and the correction of Lawrence (VA3IQ)’s call sign in the list of contributors to the microwave trip to Mont-Tremblant.
  • The addition of the Upper Frequencies SSB net hosted by Glenn (VE3XRA), a Club-sponsored weekly event.

Bert (VE2ZAZ) seconded the motion. A unanimous vote in favour of the motion took place, and the motion was carried. The report will be annexed to these meeting minutes, and posted on the Club website: Annual Report, 2024

Presentation(s):

  • None, as no presentation is given at the AGM.

Election of Directors

At this AGM, a Board election must be held to replace or renew two of its five Directors. The two elected Directors are expected to occupy the Vice President and Treasurer Officer positions. The incumbent Directors are Lawrence (VE3IQ) and Ray (VE3FN). The Club thanked the two outgoing Directors for their contribution to the Club operations.

  • Director for Vice President position: Lawrence (VA3IQ) offered to carry on with the Vice President position. No other candidate for Vice President stepped forward. As a result, Lawrence (VA3IQ) was voted in by acclamation as a continuing Director (Vice President).
  • Director for Treasurer position: Ray (VE3FN) offered to carry on with the Treasurer position only if no other candidate for Treasurer stepped forward. Glenn (VE3XRA) offered to replace Ray (VE3FN) as Treasurer. As a result, Ray (VE3FN) withdrew his candidacy. Glenn (VE3XRA) was voted in by acclamation as a new Director (Treasurer).

Old Business

  • December MAD day: Due to bad a weather forecast, it was decided to cancel our participation in the Saturday December 7th MAD day.

New Business

  • Monthly breakfast: Lawrence (VA3IQ) may organize a breakfast in January at Colonnade Pizza in Barrhaven. More information will be communicated via the groups.io mail reflector.
  • Discussion with universities regarding Cubesats or other radio projects: Mike may try to contact people to explore possibilities of a collaboration with the Club.
  • Glenn (VE3XRA), as the new Treasurer, proposed working on the following:
    • Fill out the bank electronic deposit form. This will allow direct deposits by members of the Club dues to our bank account. Glenn will communicate the details for the member dues payments via the groups.io mail reflector in the next few weeks.
    • Move our bank accounts to another Alterna bank branch closer to him.
  • Bert (VE2ZAZ) highlighted the need to update the Officer signatures on file at the Alterna bank, as we have had three new Officers in the last year.

Show and tell

None. This was part of the post-meeting Christmas party.

Ask the Club

None. This was part of the post-meeting Christmas party.

Adjournment

The President observed that there was no further business; the meeting was adjourned at 8:11 pm.