YRARC General Meeting - Minutes 2015-09-01

Meeting held in the Sharon Temple. Called to Order at 19:33 by Chris VE3NRT. Total members and guests attending: 41

1. Welcome & Introductions – Chris VE3NRT
   
2. Adoption of Minutes from the general meeting, 2015/06/02, moved Rick VA3VO, seconded Bill VA3QB carried. Motion 2015-09-01-01
   
3. Adoption of Minutes from the AGM, 2015/06/02, moved Rick VA3VO, seconded Anthony VE3HIS. Carried. Motion 2015-09-01-02
   
4. General Announcements – Chris VE3NRT
   
   • The 6m net continues on Monday between 8 and 9 pm.
     
   • Motion to approve the non-recurring expenses paid by the board since the last general meeting of $90 for trailer parking pads, $50 for trailer data cabling, $50 for name plates and awards, $100 for trailer maintenance, $20 for trailer retainers for cable containers and $40 for frames for recognition awards. Moved by Chris VA3DXZ, seconded by John VE3IPS. Carried. Motion 2015-09-01-03
     
5. Field Day Report – Steve VE3UT
   
   • This year the Melted Coffee Pot award for overcoming adversity at FD went to Roger VE3ROG. We had our best score in 3 years: 2015: 3752 total points (2014: 3598 points, 2013: 3496 points). Even though attendance was lower, in spite of the nasty weather total QSOs were 1200 higher (1177, 1240). 40m phone was up 271 (0, 103), 40m CW was up 522 (306, 255), but some other bands were down.
6. Treasurer’s Report – John VA3JI
   
   • 2015 Year-end Balance 2015-07-01 [available to members on request] including $205 in pre-paid memberships.
     
   • July expenditures: $874 communication trailer insurance, $100 trailer maintenance, $1.66 Paypal fees. Income $278.30 food refunds. Month-end balance [available to members on request]
     
   • August expenditures: $1.66 Paypal fees, $11.30 trailer maintenance. Income: $252 Hamfest prepayment. Closing balance [available to members on request]
     
7. Membership Report – Alf VA3BLE. We have 7 prepaid members and 28 have paid tonight. This included 3 family members.
   
8. Public Service Report – provided by Eric VE3EB
   
   • Upcoming events include the Sharon Temple Illumination on September 11 and CIBC Run for a Cure on October 4.
     
   • Thanks from Don VE3IXJ for help with the Newmarket jazz festival and mention of being able to warn of an approaching storm.
     
   • John VA3KOT (Dufferin County) asked for assistance at their Chase the Coyote race in Mono Cliffs on September 26 from 9 to 12.
     
9. EmComm Report – Chris VE3NRT
   
   • The next meeting will be on September 10 at the Newmarket Community Centre, which will include a discussion on Winlink.
     There will be a SET in November. The York Regional Headquarters in Newmarket has a new repeater installed (Chan 90) to overcome the problem of simplex not working within the building.
     
10. Repeater Committee Report – Steve VE3UT. The repeaters are in good shape and all are linked. The IRLP/Echo Link is down and Chris VE3NRT is investigating replacing the old computer with a Raspberry Pi. Battery backup for the sites is in progress and VE3YRA has the best backup.
    
11. Hamfest Report – Geoff VA3GS. The date of the Hamfest is Saturday October 31, with setup on Friday. Members are asked to sign up for this event. (At the end of the meeting 13 members had signed up.)
    
12. Splatter Update – Chris VE3NRT. The blog was established in 2013 to replace the printed Splatter. The contents include meeting minutes, club news, technical articles, and profiles of older members. The goal is to make 1 post per day, and viewership is increasing. The blog is viewable on all platforms. The blog needs relevant articles and comments to help improve our rating with search engines. We are encouraged to create links to the blog, read the blog and encourage others to read the blog, write articles and submit pictures, especially historical photos. At the moment we have 60 visits per day, and at 5000 per day, revenue from Adsense would fund all of the clubs activities. The blog could also replace our current web site http://www.yrarc.org/
    

Guest Speaker: Dave VE3OOI spoke on Amateur Radio and Model Rocketry. Meeting adjourned at 21:30