December - Highfields Amateur Radio Club

GW4LFOGW8NPWebsite: highfields-arc.co.ukg{x axãáÄxààxÜ Éy à{x [|z{y|xÄwá TÅtàxâÜ etw|É VÄâu? VtÜw|yyAPublished quarterlyDecember 201029 th AGM ReportThe AGM was fairly well attended, despitethe none too good weather conditions, with 52%of members being present. Discounting theJuniors (non-voting) there were 47% of thevoting membership present.View from the ChairWell I don’t think you need meto tell you that it is quite cold at themoment, even the shack cat,Maddie, stays indoors despite thethick covering of fur she has grownover the last month. In fact it is socold that even the masthead hasgrown icicles after I left it displayed on themonitor for a couple of hours last night. That’sthe trouble with LCD monitors, they don’t get aswarm as the good old CRT types!The weather didn’t keep everybodyindoors though and we had a reasonableshowing of members (16 plus 4 Juniors) for thecombined AGM and Christmas Buffet, thank youall for attending and I hope you all enjoyed thefood. I won’t go into detail about the AGM hereas it is reported elsewhere in this missive.Thank you all for supporting the Club overthe past year and may it continue in the future.73 and keep safe. Brian, MW0GKXThere were apologies from 4 members, oneof which was the Club President, Sid Hudson,GW0NQQ, who agreed with a proposal that hadbeen made but, obviously, left the final decisionto the assembled members later that evening,more on this proposal later.The minutes of the last AGM were agreed asan accurate account with one exception, a letterhad been omitted from Dave Mead’s call-sign.This will be amended for the copy that will beentered into the Club records.There were a few matters arising from thoseminutes and were noted thus:Statement of Club Accounts relating to 2009:As per the undertaking Steve completed abalance sheet for the 2009 year and this wasavailable to view either in paper form or on theClub website (Members Only area) from January2010.Meeting day change from Tuesday toMonday. This was question was tabled and avote taken. The Member’s will is to continuemeeting on a Tuesday.Digital Recorder for assisting with the minutetaking. This was purchased at a cost of £49.99and has proved to be an invaluable tool.TS-570 Modification to cover extended 40Mband. This modification was done free of chargeContinued Over......

...... 29th AGM Report Continuedby Brian, MW0GKX, who also attached a cardnoting the band edges and maximum powerlevels as the radio is now able to transmit out ofband.FT-847 Purchase, repair and voice chip fitting.This radio was purchased from Selwyn with theknown fault of a burned power switch. Suppliedwith the radio was a replacement switch thatSelwyn had purchased but not gotten around tofitting due to his ill health. Brian, MW0GKX,repaired the radio with a Yaesu suggestedmodification to (hopefully) stop the switch burningout again. He also gave the radio a general cleanup and opened it up to cover the extended 40Mband, again with a card attached to show bandedges etc. Despite Piexx stating that the voicechip release would be “soon” when the radio waspurchased it is still not available. As a stop-gapmeasure Brian also supplied a serial CAT leadwhich, when used in conjunction with a lap-topor similar running Ham Radio Deluxe software,will voice the frequency, mode etc. as the voicechip would. The repair, modifications and CATlead were all free of charge to the Club.Club Net. Brian, MW0GKX, did attempt thesuggested Club Net on GB3MG on a Thursdayat 7PM local. On January 14, after two weeks,he decided that it was pointless to continue asthere were no return calls on either night. Interestin reviving the Club Net was noted and furthercomments were made about different evenings,times etc. It was decided that the incomingCommittee discuss the subject further to set day,time, operator etc..Chairman’s Report, Brian, MW0GKX:(including Secretary’s Report)Brian noted that it had been a good yearfor the Club, starting off with winning the Regionalheat of the Club of the Year award, but thatpersonally it has been quite a hectic year for himas he had really taken too much on-board to beable to efficient and effective. In March Jamietook over the position of QSL Manager, lighteningthe load slightly, but there was still theNewsletters, Website, Intermediate training andassisting his partner, the Club Secretary, whowas still recovering from her neurosurgery (seethe March 2009 Newsletter for details) plus hisown health issues and the radio works mentionedabove!More recently Denise formally resigned asthe Secretary because she felt that she was stillunable to handle the task effectively and Briantook on the full secretarial duties, it was not agreat deal more work for him as he had beendoing the greater share anyway.He further noted that he had mentioned tosome Club Members during the year that hewould not stand for the position of Chair for 2011but, after various discussions, decided that hestill had a lot to offer the Club and allowed hisname to be put forward again this year.He moved on to the Secretary’s Report: Hebelieves that all the Member’s details are up todate and he noted that it is important to therunning of the Club that the Secretary has thecorrect details for all members which is whyMembers are asked to fill out a form every year.People move, change their phone number, emailaddresses and even call-signs and should informthe Secretary of any such changes as soon asis possible to keep the records up to date. AlsoMembers should ensure that the QSL Managerhas any “old” call-signs so that QSL cards canbe claimed and directed accordingly.He also noted from the records that werehanded over at the beginning of the year, thatthere were a couple of Members that had notgiven their address. He stressed that Membersshould supply their current home address, asrequired in the Constitution section 3b. Failureto meet this requirement may result in beingrefused membership to the Club.On a personal note he formally thanked theClub members for the support and appreciationthat was shown by reimbursing the cost of thereplacement computer he purchased in April, dueto the demise of the PC that he had been usingfor editing the Website, writing the Newslettersand and keeping records relating to Clubbusiness. It is very much appreciated.He ended by giving thanks to the Committeefor their time and efforts during the year, someof it in very difficult circumstances.Continued On Next Page......CongratulationsDr Daniel White has passed his AdvancedExam. He is now on the bands as MW0UZO.Well done Dan.

...... 29th AGM Report ContinuedTreasurer’s Report, Steve, GW6CUR:Steve started his report with pointing out thatthe couple of major purchases during the yearhad produced a deficit on the year's figures,although the sale of the FT-100 (replaced by theFT-847) had offset the deficit slightly. Despite thedeficit there would be no reason to increase theMembership fees this year, although there will bean increase in the RSGB affiliation fee next yearthe amount is not a great one so all should beOK on that front.He noted that it had taken a while to get thebank actually dealing with him, with statementsstill being delivered to the ex-treasurer's widow.This has now been resolved.He also commented that the equipmentinsurance fee had remained unchanged afterremoving the sold FT-100 and replacing it withthe FT-847.Allan Williams, GW0LAY, enquired about thefridge magnets. These had been produced byJamie, MW3ZKP (now 2W0CDY) to be givenaway at rallies etc., thus publicising the Club.Allan also pointed out that the FT-847 was a Clubasset and a portion of the cost should alsoappear in the assets column as the radio is in ourpossession, as should the Boules equipment,because they are not a total loss. The effect ofthis would have further offset the deficit figure.Also noted was the fact that copies of the balancesheet should be available for any Member whoso wishes at least a week prior to the AGM.Steve mentioned that this is the first year ofhim being the Treasurer (he has never held thisposition in any Club or society previously) and,obviously, is still learning all that the post entails.Exam Secretary's Report, Dave, MW0MWL:Dave noted that we had had severalFoundation passes, 4 Intermediate passes andwe were still awaiting the result of our firstAdvanced exam (see elsewhere in this newsletterfor the result).He was sad to say that the Morse training hasdropped off at the moment, he would like to seea bit more interest in the Morse and stated thatno previous knowledge was required. This wasmet with comments from the floor that peoplewere interested but they had been busily workingaway for their Intermediate exam, now they hadpassed they would like to train at Morse and alsotoward their Full licence as well.Trainer's Report, Rob, GW6ZHM:Rob stated that there were now fewer peoplecoming forward wishing to take that first step, hedoes receive quite a few enquiries but the peopledon't follow up after their initial contact. He hassome interested parties that will be coming alongin the new year.He congratulated the people who passed thisyear, both at Foundation and Intermediate levelsand said that we should see about getting somemore Intermediate and Advanced courses goingfor those wishing to progress within the hobby.Appreciation was noted for all those involvedwith the training and exams; Rob, GW6ZHM, andBrian, MW0GKX, for tutoring, Dave MW0MWLfor the Morse assessments, on-air demonstrationand assessment, booking, invigilating andmarking the exams and Denise, 2W0BDX, forinvigilating and marking.Webmaster's Report, Brian, MW0GKX:Brian started out with a few figures relating tothe site; last year it was reported that there wereover 1,700 pages on the site and that there were,on average, 4,770 visits a month.This year nearly 300 more pages have beenadded. The amount of visits to the site for themonth of October this year was over 12,000 andfor November numbered nearly 17,000 so thesite is certainly getting the club noticed aroundthe world!He continued that, unfortunately, his “bucketof knowledge” has been virtually emptied and hehasn't had the time to re-fill it, so he asked thatany Member that may have an article, project,review etc. please get in touch. He noted thatJamie would confirm that you don't need to writereams, the review that Jamie sent in about theDVAP was a couple of paragraphs. After Brianhad seen Jamie demonstrate the DVAP at a Clubmeeting and answered a few questions about itBrian did a bit more research on the device to fillout the more technical and legal details and, onContinued Over......

...... 29th AGM Report Continuedshowing the review to Jamie before publication,the returning comment was “I don't rememberwriting half of that!”.“Give me the Bones,” Brian said, “And I willflesh it out”.As was noted at the beginning of this report,Club President Sid Hudson,GW0NQQ, sent his apologies as hewas unable to attend. Whilst on thephone with the Chairman he did replythat he would be honoured to beinstalled as Life President of the Clubshould the Members will it. ( T h eproposal was originally mentioned by RayRooker, MW3NKG, after last year’s AGM but itwas too late to be tabled at that time.)The motion was put to the Members and, forthe benefit of newer Members, it was noted thatSid had been the manager of the DisabledCentre (though not yet licensed) in which theClub was first conceived and formed. He hadbeen a great asset to the Club whilst he was inthat managerial position and it was due to histireless efforts that the Council allowed the Clubmany benefits including, but in no way limited to,free use of the Centre for meetings.The vote was taken and unanimous, Mr SidHudson, GW0NQQ, is now the Life President ofthe Highfields Amateur Radio Club.The Committee for the next year was votedin as:Officers:Chair: Brian Perrett, MW0GKX.Sid HudsonOther Committee Members:(The posts not noted, webmaster, QSL manageretc. will be allocated at the first meeting)Dave Mead, MW0MWL.Denise Carey, 2W0BDX.Jamie Lewis, 2W0CDY.Nicholas Berrall, 2W0MSL.Ray Rooker, MW3NKG.These people are very approachable and arethere to serve the Club as a whole. Feel free toput forward ideas, thoughts, requests etc. tothem. If you don’t we won’t know what you arethinking!The meeting ended with Mr Allan Williams,GW0LAY, proposing a big “thank you” for theChairman for all the work he had put into the Clubduring the year. This sparked a large round ofapplause.Club Meetings& Diary DatesMeeting dates are bold text and, unlessotherwise noted, are at the usual meeting venue:Rhiwbina Recreation Club, Lon-Y-dail,Rhiwbina, CARDIFF. CF14 6EA.Any alterations will be notifiedat Club meetings and on the websiteDec 14 Last meeting of the year Natter NightCommittee meeting & HandoverJan 4First meeting of the year Natter NightJan 11 Committee Meeting Natter NightJan 18Natter NightVice Chair: Andrew Jinks, 2W0MGB.Jan 25Feb 1Natter NightNatter NightSecretary: Paul Gough, 2W0CDZ.Treasurer: Steven Williams, GW6CUR.Feb 8 Committee Meeting Natter NightFeb 15Natter NightFeb 22Natter NightMar 1 New Newsletter Natter Night