10-04 (April 14) Meeting Report

The NBARC April meeting was held Wednesday April 14th at the fire hall on base. I attendance were VA3PC, VE3XB, VE3YO, VE3GMG, VA3DLJ, VE3MAA, VE3YUI, VA3BDR, VE3YYB, VE3LOR, VE3KAA, VA3MPR, VA3SPT, VA3WAC, VE3KAN, VA3JGH, Mike Andrews, John Barry. My apologies to anyone I missed.
NOTE: The MAY MEETING has been postponed one week from May 12th to May 19th. See the CANWARN item at the end of the report.
CORRESPONDENCE: There was a note about Volunteer Appreciation Week. Emergency Preparedness Week is the week of May 2nd - May 8th. May 7th & 8th we are going to have a display set up in Northgate Square. We require a few volunteers to help. Go to the Events List on the web page and sign up if you can help.
ARES: In the next TCA there will be an article on the national training Amateur Radio Database. There is a CEMPC meeting Thursday April 15th. We will be in attendance. the ARES Reflector has changed. the trailer is still at my place. It will be used for Summer in the Park and probably Field Day. Bill VA3SPT would like to get the tower painted this year.
TREASURER: We have a bank balance of $2595.72 and $251.75 in cash.
NETS: 2 mt net is still running well. If you are about the radio between 0700 and 0800 Monday Mornings give Dave VE3GTM a call. He does have some high noise levels in his area so if he doesn't respond right away give him a second chance. 80 mt net is still running Sundays 0900 til 0920 to 0930 approx. 3.768MHz. There are about 10-12 check-ins depending on the day and band conditions. Give Paul VA3PC a shout.
REPEATERS: VE3ERX is working well. Paul was up and checked it out. The time is now correct. He loosened the squelch a little too much. He will tighten it just slightly when he gets a minute. The ECHOLINK/IRLP are still working well. VE3NFM is still running. We are going to get up and finish the work on the building, and the site needs a GOOD cleaning. It also requires a new back-up battery.
WEBSITE: Paul keeps updating it. It is a great place to get information on amateur happenings especially in the area. You an use it to sign up for events. This makes it much easier for the organizers to know what resources they have available. Check it out.
HAMFESTS: he Durham hamfest is Saturday April 17th. There are an number of local hams going. (THE AFTER the hamfest report). VE3MAF, VA3BDR, VE3GMG, VA3AUL, VA3MPR, VA3DLJ VE3YO all attended. The hamfest itself was disappointing in that there were very few private vendors. The big stores were there. I understand that there were a few organizational issues. Hopefully it will be back to normal next year. In spite of the problems, supplies were purchased and a great time was had by all.
RAC: For any of the RAC bulletins see the website. Paul posts them as he gets them.
INCORPORATION: Paul updated the status of our Incorporation. He found that as a NON-PROFIT Organization, for a small fee we can have our previous Incorporation re-activated. We then have to update our directors. The total cost should be about $175.00.
EVENTS: WE NEED VOLUNTEERS. If you can volunteer at an event please go to the website and mark that you will be attending. To sign up go to the website, log in and click on the EVENTS tab. Find the particular event you wish to sign up for and click on the link. Then click the 'attend this event' link at the bottom of the event information. You will notice the text change to 'cancel attendance' to allow you to cancel if you must cancel. 
  MS Walkathon: This is a 1/2 day event is to be held May 30th. Starts about 0900ET
PATRICK 4 LIFE: This 1/2 day event is to be held June 13th. Starts about 0730ET
FIELD DAY: We are going to operate during Field Day this year. Field day runs the last full weekend in June from 1400ET (1800Z) Saturday June 26th 2101 until 1400ET (1800Z) Sunday June 27th. Set-up starts about noon local time on Saturday. We are going to need volunteers. While we may not operate the full 24 hours straight it is a lot of fun.
TRIATHLON: June 27th starting about 0730ET. This runs til mid to late afternoon.
LOTR: Lost in the Rocks and Trees will be held July 17th in Mattawa. This is an all day event and they usually feed us lunch and have a BBQ after. It is a great event.
MATTAWA CANOE RACE: Another great event to be held July 24th this year. Hopefully Mother Nature will be  in a better mood and keep the thunderstorms away during the race.
  SITP: Summer in the Park is being held Friday, Saturday July 30th, 31st and Sunday August 1th this year. Nothing on the holiday Monday. The times are 1100ET to 2300ET daily. It has a GREATLY reduced footprint this year as it is going to be held on Lee Park. There are no trains or concerts to worry about. Paul VA3PC will be running it as Keeling VE3XKB is going to be away. We need 4-5 volunteers per day.
I will have more on the number of volunteers required as time passes.
TRAINING: We have 7-10 students working towards their Amateur Ticket. There is online help through the website. Look under FORUMS and you will find an ELMER Forum where questions can be posted and answers given. We are also going to have face to face meetings and there is always Saturday Coffee. The informal Monday to Friday coffee at the North Bay Mall 1000ET-1100ET can also be used as a resource.
CANWARN TRAINING/NBARC MAY MEETING: The MAY MEETING has been postponed one week from May 12th to May 19th to coincide with the CANWARN TRAINING. The training will start at 1900ET at the OPP Comm Centre on Goremanville Rd. I will post further instruction before the training. Paul needs numbers so he can let the instructors know as well as make sure there is enough coffee and nibblies. If you don't sign up you may not get any goodies!!
We have, again, a busy summer season ahead of us. please sign up and volunteer for any events you can. the organizers really appreciate the help. RAC Radio Amateurs of Canada is our only voice with the governing bodies. As an added incentive to sign up if you do it before June 1st there is no HST applied.
That is it for now. I'll be sending around periodic updates as I get them.
Take Care and i hope to see you at coffee sometime
73/Drew VE3MAF