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February 1999 |
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February 1999 |
The Feb 1st 1999 General Meeting Members arriving early had an opportunity to peruse a large variety of radio and electronic equipment brought in by members taking part in the 1999 KWARC Swap meeting. At 7:70pm Paul, VE3SY opened the event with a welcome to all and an invitation to dig into the refreshments and commence wheeling and dealing. Prior to the business meeting there were 60 members and guests present. Business and announcements A motion to accept the meeting minutes from last month was proposed by Eric, VE3BB, seconded by Drew, VE3AOR. A motion to accept the treasurer’s report was proposed by Drew, VE3AOR and seconded by Arwed VE3AYZ. John VE3AMZ, submitting his report on behalf of the Technical Committee, commented on the following: There is currently a malfunction with the KSR repeater. For some time the station has been transmitting a PL tone of 131.8Hz. John pointed out that this would not affect the operation of the station. John also reported that a problem with the KSR landline had been resolved. VA3BNY, chair of the subcommittee examining the viability of introducing a PL tone on KSR, took the floor to provide the members with an explanation of the situation. The topic generated a great deal of interest and several members expressed an opinion. In an attempt to gauge the overall feelings of the membership, Ben distributed questionnaires and entreated attendees to complete them. The findings of the committee are expected to be presented in March. As an aside Ben, reminded everyone of next month’s meeting which is to be a "Show and Tell" session. Members wanting to display something are asked to contact him if they wish register. Harold, VE3DWH Announced that between 10 and 15 QCWA sponsored scholarships are to be made available this year to licensed amateurs enrolled in a university degree course. Applications for the $1000 and $750 scholarships should be in by April 1st. Those wishing to apply should contact Harold as soon as possible. During a recent visit to the bedside of Fred Hammond, hams once again had the opportunity to demonstrate their musical skills. Fred, who continues to improve after his recent stroke, was serenaded by Rocco, VE3YJ on his guitar. Harold informed the members that Fred had enjoyed himself thoroughly and expressed the wish that he would be up to attending a QCWA meeting in the not so distant future. Ron, VE3DBD gave an update on the Ham course scheduled to start February 10th. So far nine people have registered to take part. The Packet meeting is scheduled for its usual Tuesday slot. Larry, VE3LGN reported that Gord’s (VE3EOS) 2m antenna project is well under way. The much coveted 50/50 draw was won by the aforementioned Gord VE3EOS who walked away with a grand prize totaling $21.75. This draw was unusual in that a second prize, consisting of a CD rack, was offered. The winning ticket for the second prize was Alan, VE3SWU. Paul closed the meeting at 8:45pm Feb
15th Executive In attendance were: President Paul Cassel VE3SY, Vice President Dave Schwartz VA3DGS, Treasurer Greg Hollinger VE3NXB, Past President Bill Riddell VE3WFR, Technical committee chair John Riddell VE3AMZ, QSL Manager Gord Gibson VE3NQK, Program Chairman Ben Sasiela VA3BNY, and Frank Parsons VE3OFH. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 PM by Paul Cassel. Dave Schwartz was asked to take the minutes in the absence of the Secretary. The first item discussed was to fix the age requirement for eligibility for the KWARC ‘senior’ class membership which has historically been ambiguous. The motion to fix the minimum age requirement at 65 was made by Bill Riddell and passed unanimously. Old business: Paul mentioned that ARES coordinator John Schreiter VE3DOS has been asked by RAC to assume the SW Ontario ARES coordination position and so will be passing his local duties to a replacement. An update on the status of the liaison with the Cuban CO9NLA club was that 8 boxes of donated equipment have been shipped. Don Fisher VE3ESE will be in Cuba for the next month and be able to relate more specific needs on his return. Don also took the club’s surplus HW12 transceiver to Cuba, as approved by an adhoc quorum of the executive who met at the St. Catherines Fleamarket this past weekend. Don’s Cuban logs will be searchable on the club web site. In financial matters, Greg Hollinger presented an investment option for the $1000 that the executive had voted to transfer from the main account but this was rejected because the principle was not guaranteed. Ben Sasiela asked why the executive does not instead use the funds to acquire emergency preparedness assets, but it was agreed that until the emergency coordination committee presents a plan there would be no reconsideration of the decision to restore at least some portion of the club’s interest-bearing assets. A decision was also taken to make Dave Schwartz a signing officer for banking purposes to replace Jim Butt VE3JAZ who has moved out of province. It was reported that the Central Ontario Amateur Radio Fleamarket (COARF) chairman, contrary to any rumours or misunderstandings, does not have any problems with KWARC’s involvement. Organization for this year’s event is to go ahead with Dave Schwartz coordinating KWARC’s participation this year. The perennial problem of securing nominations for next year’s slate of officers was discussed and it was stated that we still require nominees for President and Vice President. Current candidates include Dave Schwartz for Treasurer, John Holmans VE3VRA for Secretary, with Paul Cassel moving into the Past President role and John Riddell and Larry Gorman VE3LGN being the nominees from the Technical and Packet committees respectively. Ben Sasiela reported that a tour of the Waterloo Raytheon facility is still being pursued but it is difficult making contact between busy people. The Swap night held at the February meeting was a success and it was suggested that this event be held at the December meeting next year to combine the largely social aspects of both meetings. New business: Ben also formally reported the results of the survey he had been asked to take with regard to the motion to place a CTCSS tone access requirement on VE3KSR. It was noted that there were 38 responses: 7 yeas and 31 nays. The executive accepted the report with thanks to Ben and voted unanimously in rejecting the motion. Frank Parsons reported on the programming of the controller on the VE3RCK repeater to allow an audible notice of a meeting cancellation o be broadcast in the event of bad weather. Frank reports that the programming is ready but the access codes are required to implement it. The meeting adjourned at 8:50 PM. Dave Schwartz VA3DGS for
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