5&9 Report
President: Ian VK2NOT
Secretary Pat VK2BPH
Treasurer Fred VK2FM
June 2012
Club News:
Financial Report:
The treasurer Fred VK2FM reports that the club is in a satisfactory financial position. Some concern about the building insurance came up at the recent quarterly meeting on the 17th May. The current cost is thought to be excessive and has risen by more than we think reasonable, so a new insurer is to be sought. A fund-raising sausage sizzle date has been granted to the club by Bunnings for August 18th next. The club has at the present time a total of 28 members.
Examinations:
Eric VK2CO, our assessments officer, reports that 2 new local calls have been added to the ranks of amateur radio. The first is David VK2FDGC a foundation licensee and the second is Leslie VK2VSI a standard call. Any person who wishes to obtain an amateur licence can contact a club officer holder by telephone or P.O. Box 655 Coffs Harbour 2450. Stringent technical knowledge is no longer required by the ACMA, getting a foundation licence which has power level and band limitations is considered to be very easy. Morse code (CW) proficiency is no longer an examination requirement. Remarkably, according to the WIA, the use of Morse Code has increased since it was dropped from the examinations.
Urunga:
The recent Urunga Convention on the 7th and 8th April went well with over 50 people attending the two-day event. The weather was fine but a little hot for the time of the year. The number of fox-hunters was way down for a number of reasons, but generally there were about 5 taking part in the the hunts. The CB emergency unit was there to show the flag as well as a local supplier of electronics equipment. Surprisingly, there were quite a lot of disposals gear on the tables. CHADARC sold a large box of old valves for $10, the buyer, who was very pleased thought they were “worth hundreds of dollars”, he went home happy.
Recent Decisions.
At the recent club meeting on the 17th May which was attended by 13 members, the following matters were decided:
1. To look for cheaper building insurance,
2. The acquisition of a communications caravan was postponed for the time being.
3. The club to apply to the government authorities for a grant.
4. To keep the Thursday morning door fee at $2, this provides tea, coffee and biscuits.
5. A vote of thanks to Terry VK2TEZ for the donation of a small bar fridge.
VK2BA.
David MacNaughton a well-known amateur who lives North of Dorrigo is reported to be unwell. David and his wife Jenny, who runs an art shop in Dorrigo, are well known to the radio club members. David has an interest in valve equipment and has rebuilt many an ex-military unit over the years, he has a really interesting display for visitors. Several years ago, the radio club had a visit to David's place at Megan with around 20 of us attending. It was a beautiful sunny day in very enjoyable surroundings. David runs a regular AM net on 40 metres.
Recollections.
I remember back in the early 1950's, I got a temporary job at the GPO in Sydney for 2 weeks at Xmas, they had to put on extra staff to handle the Xmas workload. Well, I was sort of a telegram boy, I was about 17 years old But what about this job? It was on the 3rd floor of the GPO building in Martin Place Sydney. There were heaps of telegraphists there sending and receiving telegrams, typists, supervisors and the like. My job was to operate these devices which were powered by compressed air. There were several underground tubes going to Post Offices around the city area. I would get a telegram for Railway square, George Street or several other locations around Sydney and place it in a small container in the tube going to that particular post office, pull a lever and whoosh!, away it would go to it's destination. Compared with today's technology of mobile phones and text messaging it was fascinating stuff, but it worked! It was a very ingenious method for 60 years ago. There were still about 3 years to go before TV started and transistors had not yet arrived on the scene. I don't remember any electric soldering irons being available, there were gas stove heated things with copper heads, flux etc. and heaps of old military gear in the disposal shops. The grand old AM radio console was the main home entertainment medium, along with records. Tape players hadn't arrived on the scene and noise-free FM radio didn't start in the Sydney area until the 1970's. We went to picture theatres on Saturday nights. On Sundays everything was closed, though you could listen to a radio play at night time or some religious zealot exhorting drunks to change their ways and sign the pledge! When TV started in 1956 there was a lot of opposition from established radio personalities; “It is a fad”, “It'll never take on”, “It's a waste of money”, “It'll ruin people's eyes, you'll go blind! Etc.”
Actually, with modern day LCD TV's, the light output, especially on peak white is remarkably strong, especially on advertisements, it's like looking directly at a neon lamp, this may lead to action by the authorities in the future!
73's VK2BPH