11-01 (January 12th) Meeting Report

The January 2011 NBARC meeting was called to order about 1940ET. In attendance were (apologies to anyone I missed) VE3MAA, VE3YO, VA3DLJ, KD8LWV, VE3GMG, VE3YYB, VE3XKB, VE3NLH, VE3CTT, VA3CMX, VA3PC, VA3BDR, VE3KAN, VE3YUI, VA3WAC, VE3KAA, VA3SPT.
Correspondance. We received the annual letter from the city with rates to insert an add in the Parks & Rec Guide. Still too expensive.
Treasurer Report. $2960.00 in the bank and $239.50 in petty cash. Dues are $20.00.
NETS. 2mtr net runs 0700ET-0800ET on Mondays with Dave VE3GTM at the helm. Use VE3ERX as VE3NFM is still off the air. Give Dave a quick check-in.  80mrt net runs 0900ET til check-ins run out Sundays on  3.768MHz. Paul has about 6-8 check-ins during the winter but is always looking for more.
Repeaters. VE3NFM is still off the air. Paul has cleaned it up and is going to be re-installing it when he gets a chance. In an attempt to reduce some of the interference he is going to be installing a multi-coupler duplexer. Spectrum's new tower is going to be erected at the site sometime this year. We should then get some better coverage as the antenna should be higher. VE3ERX has been working well. The Real Time Clock has been installed but Paul is awaiting a software upgrade to make it even better. Echolink/IRLP are working well. 
WEBSITE. We were starting to get more requests to register that were initiated by spam bots. Paul manually authorizes all registration requests so these were caught early. In an effort to stop this Paul adjusted the spam filters. They worked so well NOBODY could register even those that really wanted to. He has since fixed the fix. If you have been trying to register and being rejected or know someone else trying try again. If that still doesn't work send Paul a note to va3pc@ciinet.org and he'll help.
ARES. Nothing new.
Hamfests. St. Catherines Feb 5th 2011. Brampton March 26th 2011. VE3YO and I believe VA3DLJ are going. Durham April 16th 2011. There are a number of us going. DAYTON HAMVENTION 2011 May 21st-22nd-23rd (May long weekend). Paul and his trailer are going again this year. Central Ontario June 5th 2011.
RAC. All the bulletins are on the website for reference. Paul updated us on the RAC Insurance. The costs are as follows... $150.00 for incorporated RAC affiliated clubs (we are both). $1.00 per club member who is also a RAC member. $12.00 per club member who is not a RAC member.  Equipment loss coverage of $10.00 per $1000.00 of equipment. We are purchasing an additional $5000.00 of equipment coverage. One change is that for personal liability coverage you must be both a RAC member and a member of a RAC affiliated club. For full details check the RAC website.
Events. Nothing imminent. Summer is going to be busy again. Mark on your calenders.... Lost in The Rocks July 16th 2011 and the Mattawa Canoe  Race July 23rd 2011. Nothing on Summer  in the Park yet but be ready.
New Business. Nil.
Old Business. Gerry presented a report on how the donated equipment should be disposed of. To summarize the equipment will be devided into 3 packages. Package #1 will be retained by NBARC. Package #2 is divided into two parts (VHF and HF) to be donated to new amateurs who received their ticket between July 1st 2010 and March 9th 2011 (our March meeting). Package #3 will be offered for sale. NBARC members will have first access at a discount until March 9th 2011 at which time it will be offered at market value. The full report will be posted on the website for your interest.
Howard VE3GMG moved adjournment.
Our next meeting is February 9th 2011 1930ET at the OP Comm Centre. Hope to see you there.
73/Drew VE3MAF