Wednesday 31 May 2017

Minutes - YRARC General Meeting 2017-05-02

Meeting held in the Sharon Temperance Hall. Called to Order at 19:30 by Chris VE3NRT. Total members and guests attending: 43. Guests attending 3.
  1. Welcome & Introductions – Chris VE3NRT.
  2. Adoption of the Minutes from the 2017/03/07 and 2017/04/04 general meeting postponed until June.
  3. AGM – Chris VE3NRT. Our annual general meeting will be held next month (June 6). The BBQ will start at 18:00 followed by the regular monthly meeting and the AGM.
    At the AGM we will need to elect 5 new directors for terms of 2 years. Chris VE3NRT will be ending his 4 year run as president. The AGM needs to be chaired by a club member (not the president).
  4. Harvey Bell Award: Nominations for the Harvey Bell award should be forwarded to the board and/or the secretary for consideration.
  5. Treasurer’s Report – John VA3JI
    • Opening Balance 2017/05/01 [Available to members upon request to Club Secretary]
    • Income: Membership dues $50.00
    • Adjustment $0.08
      Total income $50.08
    • Expenditures: Field Day food $1050.00
    • Total expenditures $1050.00
    • Closing Balance 2017/05/02 [Available to members upon request to Club Secretary]
    • Moved the treasurer's report be adopted, by John VA3JI, seconded Brian VE3IBW. Carried
  6. Public Service – Eric VE3EB. The upcoming events include June 3, Mount Albert Run, Jun3 4 Aurora Street Sale and July 1 Canada Day at the Sharon Temple.
  7. EmComm – Robert VA3BXG. The upcoming events include the Emergency Preparedness Fair May12 and the SET May 27. For the EPF, we need a trailer puller and 3 to 4 other members to attend the fair. The SET (simulated emergency test) will test communications within the region and the Golden Horseshoe area, possibly including the Western New York and Barrie areas. Communications will use HF with NVIS antennae and 2m. Locations will be sites that could be used as emergency shelters such as community centres.
  8. Hammond Museum – John VE3IPS. The trip to the Hammond Museum is scheduled for June 17. It will include a museum tour and a tour of the Hammond plant celebrating the 100th anniversary of the plant.
  9. Trailer – Barry VA3LLT. We are in the process of having a new top section of the mast on the trailer fabricated, to replace the section that was damaged, probably by water freezing inside the tube. The cost will be approximately $250 and it should be ready in about a week or two.
  10. Trailer Brakes – Rob VE3RQB. The brakes on the trailer need to be adjusted, and a trailer inspection should also be done.
  11. Hamfest – Geoff VA3GS. The hamfest will be held on November 4 at the same location, the Markham Fair Grounds. Last year hall 4 was not full. This year, instead of using hall 3 and 4 for vendors, we have the opportunity to use the larger hall 1 for all vendors. Hall 2 will still be used as an entrance and gathering hall.
  12. Summer Field Day – Steve VE3UT. This year we will charge $15 per person for food for the weekend. This will help reduce the cost that the club needs to pay for food.
    To give Peter VE3PBT a good idea of how much food to purchase, those attending Field Day are encouraged to pay by the AGM (June 6). After the AGM the cost per person will be $20.
  13. Other Business. John VE3POJ noted that there is a CanWarn training session on Saturday May 6 with other sessions scheduled as well.

Break 20:15 – 20:30

Guest Speaker Steve VE3EZ – “Solar Heating and an 80m Loop Antenna” Steve talked about his new hot water solar heating project. His previous hot water heating was an open loop project where water was heated directly by the sun and stored in a tank above the collectors. His new project uses a closed loop. The sun heats a liquid in a copper tube which is contained inside a glass tube. As the liquid boils, it rises to a copper bulb which is surrounded by glycol, and heats the glycol. The glycol is pumped to a heat exchanger beside a 200 gal water heater tank, which heats the domestic hot water. In winter if enough hot water is not available, the temperature is boosted by a separate electric water heater. His second project was a 80 m loop antenna, supported by existing towers and additional posts. The antenna is corner fed with a 4:1 voltage balun, uses stranded insulated wire, and has insulators at the 4 corners. Each side of the antenna is 65' and it is suspended 40' above the ground. The antenna is multi banded and performs better than his full length G5RV antenna. It is omni-directional with low noise.

Meeting adjourned at 21:15.

Sunday 7 May 2017

Notice of the 2017 Annual General Meeting

Take notice that the Annual General Meeting of the members of the York Region Amateur Radio Club, Inc., will be held at the usual meeting place, the Sharon Temperance Hall, 18974 Leslie Street, Sharon, at the usual hour of 7:30pm on Tuesday June 6th, 2017 for the purposes of approving the financial statements for fiscal year 2016 and the election of directors to hold office for 2 years commencing July 1st, 2017.

Regular, family and life members are advised that they have the right to attend and vote in person at this meeting, in accordance with the usual rules of order, and further, in the event of a member’s absence, the member has the right to appoint a proxy to vote on his or her behalf. An appropriate form is included at the end of this publication. Members who are unable to attend the Annual General Meeting may complete, date and sign a proxy form, which must be delivered to the Secretary prior to the call to order of the Annual General Meeting, to be eligible for voting.

For those wishing to mail a proxy, please send it to the club secretary, David Craig, VA3DCY.

Dated this day May 7th, 2017 at Aurora, Ontario.
Chris Sullivan, VE3NRT, President.

PROXY

The undersigned being a current member of the York Region Amateur Radio Club, Inc. hereby appoints


(Name of Secretary or other person) _____________________________________________ as proxy to attend the Annual General Meeting of the York Region Amateur Radio Club, Inc., on June 6th, 2017 and vote on my behalf on each and any question brought before the assembly, or at any adjournment thereof, and I do hereby revoke and make void any former instrument appoint a proxy on my behalf.


Dated at _______________ this ___________ day of _____________, 2017.


Name and call of member (print) __________________________________


Signature of member __________________________________

2017 YRARC Board of Directors Election

At the AGM on June 6, 2017 an election for new Board Members will take place. There are 10 positions on the Board, and each year we elect 5 new Board Members for 2 year terms. The terms of the following Board Members expire on June 30th. Board Members are permitted to stand for reelection.


  • Barry VA3LLT
  • Doug VE3ATP
  • Chris VE3NRT
  • Steve VE3UT
  • John VA3JI
Nominations may be sent to the club secretary in advance of the AGM as well as at the meeting itself. Directors elected for 2 year terms in 2016 who will continue through to June 30th, 2018 are:
  • John VE3IPS
  • Eric VE3EB
  • David VA3DCY
  • Rick VA3VO
  • Geoff VA3GS
73,
Chris VE3NRT

Final Call for Nominations - 2017 Harvey Bell Award



NOTICE TO ALL YRARC MEMBERS

Each year about this time, the members of our radio club have the opportunity to nominate a member by contacting the club secretary no later than May 15th, 2016. Nominations may be presented by individuals, or may be co-signed by several members, to be honoured with this award.
Your nominations should be made in writing or by email to the club secretary David Craig VA3DCY, and should include your description, explanation or citation related to the nominee, and be presented to the

At the January, 1971 meeting of the York North Radio Club, the membership established an award in memory of the late Harvey Bell, VE3AFK, of Aurora.

It was the wish of the members that this award be presented annually to a member in good standing with this club, in recognition of substantial achievement involving Amateur Radio, particularly in connection with the York North Radio Club.

The winner would hold the trophy for one year, and would also receive a certificate, or other citation outlining the achievement.

Any club member would be eligible to nominate any other club member for the award. Nominations will be considered by the 2017 Board of Directors.

Harvey Bell died unexpectedly in December of 1970. At that time he was in the process of making his third attempt at keeping the club together and active. He had been a club member for almost ten years, enjoyed the fellowship and the sharing of technical information regarding Amateur Radio. He was especially interested in the Morse Code, and CW operation, but was also very involved with the fairly new SSB technology that was growing with leaps and bounds. During the late 1960’s activity in the club seemed to wane, and Harvey Bell, along with a couple of other area hams kept up a steady contact with other hams in Newmarket and surroundings. Invitations were sent out on at least three occasions in a an attempt to keep the club active and growing. He had just succeeded, in the fall of 1970, to get the membership back together again, and had turned the leadership over to Frank Rusholme.

His influence and his leadership in club affairs will long be remembered by the Amateurs in this area who knew him personally. In addition to being an active 80 metre DX chaser, Harvey was also involved in RTTY (radio teletype), VHF, and had one of the outstanding stamp collections in the region.

The award, which honours his name, is consider the highest acclaim that the club can give to one of its members.