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November Meeting Minutes |
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November Meeting Minutes |
Ben, VE3BNY, reminded everyone of the club’s open-house at the KSR repeater site on Baden Hill. The event, scheduled for Tuesday, November 3rd, had been organized to allow those interested to view the VE3KSR repeater, ULR hub, packet, and computer equipment. It was stated that it might be possible for members to view the CKCO transmitter site. Ben also reminded us of the December meeting at which Trylon will be giving a talk on towers and the "Treat-meet" at which members are invited to exchange goodies. After these announcements Ben, introduced the guest speaker, Gary, VE3JGK. The subject of Gary’s talk was The use of ultrasonics in medicine. Accompanied by a machine he affectionately calls a "glorified fish-finder", Gary led us through a series of interesting examples. Members submitted a variety of appendages for inspection. The highlight of the evening was an eyeball with Ben, VE3BNY’s eyeball. Following the talk, which was very well received, the club presented Gary with a certificate of appreciation. John, VE3DOS, announced that the new patch codes for both KSR and RCK would be in place by the following evening. Thanks were extended to the eight members who participated in the Oktoberfest bike rally and for the eighteen people who attended the ARES refresher course. Details regarding the proposed emergency exercise are to be announced at a later date. At 8:50pm the members broke for coffee. The meeting resumed at 9:05pm with the 50/50 draw. The winning ticket was selected by previous two-time winner, Norm Perault, VE3DEQ. Mary, VE3MWE collected $19.50 in winnings. Dave, VA3DGS reported that there was a packet meeting scheduled for the following day. Tedd Doda, VE3TJD, had been invited to speak on the new packet set-up. The QCWA Fall Dinner meeting held two weeks ago was a great success, said Harold, VE3DWH. About a hundred people were in attendance. Several 50 plus years, and one 75 year certificate were presented to members. Harold extended an invitation to everyone interested to attend the next meeting due to be held on May 1st of next year. Chapter 73, the largest in the organization will be hosting Associations International Conference in the year 2000. It was announced that the proposed fee hike by RAC is to be rescinded. The scheduled $10 increase would have raised the cost of membership from $39.95 to $49.95. Gord, VE3NQK moved that the minutes of last months meeting be accepted as printed. Motion seconded by Drew, VE3AOR. A motion was moved by Ron, VE3DBD, that the treasurer’s report be accepted as printed. Bob, VA3MCK, seconded the motion. Elmira district has a new repeater. Operating on 444.7Mhz with a +5Mhz offset, the repeater will run 10 Watts of power. The repeater, operating under the temporary callsign VE3EUC, is located 1300ft above sea level. Members are invited to try it out and pass on the information to other potential users. Gord, VE3NQK, proudly announced that the recent "No-Name" expedition to Cuba during the ARRL contest was very successful. With 966,000 points to their credit they "Won the Island" and were placed 10th overall in North America. The results of the contest can be found in the November QST. Gord used the moment to request donations of old equipment for Cuban amateurs. Just before the conclusion of the meeting Dave, VA3DGS informed the members that the Field Day results has still not been published. Dave speculated that they may appear in the December issue of QST. The motion to adjourn put forward by Roger, VE3RKS, was seconded by Mary, VE3MWE. The meeting closed at 9:15pm. John Holmans VE3VRA, Secretary.
Executive
Committee Meeting Paul VE3SY opened the meeting at 7:30pm. It was reported that all repeater patch access codes have been changed. Unfortunately there is still no information available with respect to updated ULR link codes. It was suggested that even though KWARC is entitled to free access, payment of the $15 membership fee might induce the link manager to supply the necessary documentation. It was thought that a personal approach during one of the upcoming flea-markets might produce the desired results. Paul explained that the portable generators supplied by Bell during last Field-day may not be available to us next year. Dave VA3DGS will be investigating alternative sources of energy. Ben VE3BNY announced that the KWARC Christmas lunch is to be held at the Transylvania club in Kitchener on December 18th at 12 noon. Tickets for the buffet-style meal are available at $12 a head directly from Ben, Tedd, VE3TJD and at the December meeting. Holders of tickets will automatically qualify for entry into a raffle. Ben is looking for donations for door prizes. The executive learned through John VE3AMZ, that Bell has extended the Baden toll-free area to include Stratford. There was talk that the extended area may also cover Listowel. This has to be confirmed. Subscribers to the patch will now be able to use KSR to phone Stratford. The open house at KSR was considered a big success with 22 people dropping into view the station. Although visitors were unable to look over the CKCO site, their disappointment was diminished by the ready supply of hot coffee and donuts supplied by Ben. Also from Ben: The VE3IXY 220Mhz repeater will be off-air for 2 to 3 weeks while its antenna is relocated to a different tower. The speaker for December’s meeting will be Trylon followed by a packet radio demonstration by Tedd VE3TJD and Ben in January. Paul, VE3SY expressed embarrassment at the quality of certificates being awarded to guest speakers at club meetings. He thought that much could be done to improve the general appearance of the certificates and suggested allocating a budget of $100 a year for this purpose. John, VE3DOS, announced that due to a lack of space, ARES presence during the emergency exercise will be limited to 5 people. The chosen are: John VE3DOS, Larry VE3LGN, Dave, VE3DUA, Norm VE3DEQ and Hugh VE3IYG. There then followed an informal discussion on an open letter written by Bruce VE3ANU addressed to the RAC TCA magazine. The final topic for discussion was code practice. It was suggested that the club provide a weekly or twice weekly code coaching session to assist those wanting to upgrade their licenses. Various ideas were put forward. It was decided to investigate the matter more fully. Paul closed the meeting at 8:40pm. John Holman VE3VRA secretary@kwarc.org
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