KWARC Club Meeting of March 1, 1999 Paul, VE3SY opened the meeting at 7:30pm. There were 56 members in attendance. To allow for a very full agenda the meeting began with a short business meeting. Business meeting Announcements Volunteers were very much on Rich’s mind when he asked for any "Liberal hams" interested in providing communications coverage during the next Liberal nomination. Our new District Emergency Coordinator, John VE3DOS announced the appointment of a new Emergency Coordinator, Robert VE3ZLV. Recently John attended a CANWARN steering committee meeting in London, Ontario. One of the items discussed were possible dates for ARES training sessions. Three dates were proposed, two in March and one in April. These will be announced later. He also reported that attendees of these sessions who have previously undergone training will be eligible to receive an atlas, free of charge. On the subject of maps, John mentioned that the way participants in emergency nets report their location has been changed. Positions will now be reported in latitude and longitude rather than by Grid Location. "Show and
Tell" Dave VA3DGS gave a talk on Global Positioning Systems and, in particular, methods to increase their accuracy. Dave described how he had located information on the Web and had constructed, from scratch, a circuit to eliminate "jitter" from positional data transmitted by satellites. Bob VE3FVF brought a piece of Canadian history to show club members. When the government scrapped the Avro "Arrow", much of the equipment associated with the project found its way onto the surplus market. Bob’s conversation piece was a Tester, manufactured by Honeywell and used for diagnosing problems with the aircraft’s avionic system. Ted VE3TJD demonstrated a very versatile battery charger/conditioner capable of charging just about any type of battery on the market. John VE3DOS exhibited two homebrew antennas computer designed for 440Mhz. Made from easy to come by materials and simple to manufacture they nevertheless boasted a healthy 7-8dB gain. Gord VE3EOS proudly showed one of his fine "Boat Anchors" a Canadian Royal Air Force AM/CW transceiver. He explained to the audience how he had "Blacksmithed" or modified his equipment using a very simple, albeit unusual process. The method used to remove transmitter components from the radio was as follows: "Tune into the BBC and start snipping. When the music stops, solder it back on." There followed a break for coffee at 8:30pm. The meeting reconvened at 9:00pm. Charles, a regular visitor to club meetings, produced a very unusual device in the form of a portable curling iron. Charles demonstrated how he had modified the gas-powered device into a soldering iron. There were two video presentations. The first of these featured a candid, roving journalist style video put together by Greg, VE3NXB. This fascinating footage took us right into the homes and shacks of several Cuban hams. The film ably demonstrated the Cubans ability to innovate and did much to emphasize the pitiful lack of available equipment at their disposal. Roger, VE3RKS presented the second movie. This action-packed epic introduced the sport of Motor Rallying of which Roger is a keen proponent. The shots, many taken from the inside of these high performance machines, had the audience leaning into the corners and bracing for impact. As well a being a driver in these events, Roger uses ham radio to provide essential communication between checkpoints. The 50/50 draw prize of $28.75, picked from the hat by Greg VE3NXB, was won by "Golf Bob" VE3XOO. At 9:45pm Paul VE3SY proposed a motion to conclude the meeting. Marg, VE3BLJ seconded the motion.
KWARC Executive meeting, March 09, 1999 In attendance: Topics for discussion
Cost of the Bulletin to members Paul VE3SY proposed a motion that there should be a reduction in the club membership fee for those individuals who take their club bulletin from the website. The motion was seconded by Gord, VE3EOS. After some further discussion Gord proposed an amendment to the original motion in which the club fee would, in future, be itemized to allow a choice to the membership. The choice available would be to either receive the club bulletin or choose not to receive it. Members in possession of a standard individual membership would see their annual fee reduced from $25 to $20 if they elected not to receive the Kilowatter by mail. In order to accommodate those members who have already paid their subscription it was suggested they be reimbursed by having their membership renewal date advanced a month. In other words, receive one month’s free membership. It was suggested the plan be implemented as of July 1st, which corresponds to the start of the fiscal year. The amendment was seconded by Bill, VE3WFR and passed by a unanimous show of hands. Red Cross Action: Robert to inform Judy of the club’s plan to reimburse Red Cross $100 to cover the cost of their payment of the RCK repeater licensing fee. Robert also made contact with Mary Verbeek, Emergency Planning Co-ordinator for the region. Robert expressed his desire to file an ARES deployment plan with RAC and the Regional Government. Action: Robert to formulate a plan that will be submitted to the membership for review . Scheduled date for the presentation to be the May 3. meeting Also from ARES… VE3ZLV passed on a message from John VE3DOS who indicated that the Regional Emergency coordinator wishes to have antennas, recently removed from various regional facilities, be installed at the regional evacuation sites Action: Robert ZLV to locate these antennas and have someone from tech committee judge their suitability. First Time Members Binder Concern was expressed regarding the cost of producing the handbook and whether it would be of interest to existing members. It was suggested that the members be given the opportunity to express an interest. Objective: To determine if existing members would be interested in purchasing a Club Information Binder at an estimated cost of between $2 - $3 a copy. Action: Paul Cassel Announcements The May 3, talk which was to have been on the subject of home security systems may be changed, according to Ben. As an alternative Bob, VE3GLA has been approached about providing the members with a talk on his remote rig operation software that he is currently developing for MFJ. On June 7, Club members will have a unique opportunity to hear a talk given by Brian Biggings, VE3XA. Brian recently returned from the ZL9CI DXpedition to Campbell Island. Technical
Committee – VE3IC on the air
– Donations – A motion to adjourn was proposed by Bill, VE3WFR and seconded by Ben, VA3BNY. The meeting closed at 9:15pm
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