08-11 November Meeting Report

    The NBARC November meeting was held Wednesday November 12th 2008 with 17 hams in attendance. They were Doug VA3DLJ, Gerry VE3YO, Evelyn VE3MAA, Dan VE3YUI, Keeling VE3XKB, Pual VA3PC, Nelson VA3NDJ, Martin VE3FAT, John VA3LGS, Lori VE3LOR, Howard VE3GMG, Derek VE3KAA, Candy VE3SCN, John VA3OZ, Bill VA3WAC, Bill (president for life) VA3SPT, and myself. Bruce VA3BDR was on a well deserved vacation. We hope he enjoyed it although we did miss him.

 

1) And now for the BIG news you have all been waiting for.....

The

NBARC CHRISTMAS PARTY

is going to be held on

Thursday December 4th at The KINGS BUFFET.

Meet and Greet about 1800ET. Dinner to follow.

As with previous years we will be taking donations to the North Bay Santa Fund for the less fortunate. We need at least 25 souls (lost or not) otherwise there is a room charge. Although reservations are not required please drop me a line nbarc@ontera.net and let me know if you are coming as it makes planning easier. If you find out at the last minute that you are able to attend PLEASE COME ANYWAY. There has ALWAYS been enough room for extras. I believe the room maxes out at between 50 and 60 people. Come out and enjoy yourself. Have a visit with all those people you have only talked to since last year.

 

2) Correspondance. Paul VA3PC read a RAC bulletin on BILL 118 the BILL to restrict the use of electronic devices in vehicles. While it is primarily aimed at those who use cell phones and computers RAC is doing its best to ensure AMATEURS are exempted. He also mentioned that the NEW ARES Training Manual is on the RAC ARES website. If you are interested in ARES you can start here http://www.rac.ca/fieldorg/racares.htm . Paul also has an ARES area http://www.ciinet.org/ares/index.html on his web site. If you are interested in ARES a good place to start is Pauls site. There is an area where you can register so we have an idea of the resources available in the area if needed even if it involves sitting at home collecting information from the surrounding area.

 

3) Repeaters. The repeaters are working well. There appears to have possibly been some intermittent problems with the IRLP/Echolink set-up. Paul will re-boot the computer to see if that helps solves the problem. The 2 net is still on Monday Mornings 0700ET to 0800ET. Dave VE3GTM does a great job and looks forward to your check-ins. The Sunday morning net 3.768MHz is on at 0900ET. Paul VA3PC is getting 10-12 check-ins. He can always use more so feel free to keep him busy. Paul has also aquired a Motorola MSR2000 UHF rig. His winter project is to get it tuned up for amateur use.

 

4) There was a brief discussion on being a HOST COMMUNITY in the event of an evacuation. In our area only Parry Sound and North Bay are considered large enough to handle an evacuation.  

 

5) Lost in the ROCKS and TREES sent us a donation. The T-shirts are still in the works. ETA unknown. The North Bay General Hospitals LETS RUN WITH IT was very successful. There were approximately 500 participants (VE3MAA and VE3LOR included) and about $64,000.00 was raised.

 

6) The HATS are still in the couriers hands. Doug VA3DLJ is hoping to have them by Saturday.

 

7) Bill VA3SPT is able to get VIKING Reflective vests. These are a good quality recommended for use at club events as you become much more visible. They are wise to carry in your vehicle in case you have a breakdown (especially at night) and need to get out. In this day and age every little bit counts. The cost is $20.00 and I'll be taking the orders. Gerry VE3YO showed us a "LABEL" he had made up to attach to the back. It read NBARC RADIO and was well done. Drop me a line nbarc@ontera.net if you want a vest and I'll pass it along to Bill.

 

8) There was a discussion on ARES/RAC and 'COMMUNITY BENEFIT'. As mentioned in #2 above a good place to start with ARES is Pauls site. Last fall Industry Canada auctioned off 4MHz of band width in the 800MHz range for cellular use. They got about $4.3 BILLION for it. Imagine what out AMATEUR frequencies are worth and we get them for free. RAC is constantly defending our frequencies as commercial interests would snap them up in an instant. Bill VA3SPT reports on every event we do. RAC then calculates the $$ value we put back into the community. We are allowed to keep our frequencies on WHAT WE ARE DOING CURRENTLY and THE BENEFIT WE PROVIDE TO THE COMMUNITY not what we have done in the past. To argue that THIS IS OUR HOBBY just won't work. Only about 12% of active hams are members of RAC. Not only does it cost $$ to run RAC but with such a low percentage of involvement the perception that 'WE REALLY DON'T CARE ABOUT OUR FREQUENCIES' jumps to the fore front. Show your support for RAC and become a member. It is really a small price to keep our hobbby.

 

9) Doug VA3DLJ gave a short talk on Winter Storms and being prepared. His powerpoint presentation is on the NBARC YAHOO site at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NBARC/files/ . Take a quick look at it. Paul VA3PC gave a quick visual tour of the EMO mobile command post. You might see it travelling through the area in the next week or so as it heads to Thunder Bay for an exercise.

 

That is it for now. Dont forget the CHRISTMAS PARTY. Drop me a line and let me know that you are coming. It is a great time.