The-----------------------------------------5&9 Report------------------------------------
President: Terry VK2TEZ, Secretary Pat VK2BPH, Treasurer Fred VK2FM
September 2011
Club News:
A quarterly general meeting was held on the 13th August and was attended by 13 members. The JOTA scout event was approved in October. The president Terry Wood VK2TEZ informed us that he had been approached by the Mid-North Coast Amateur Radio Group (M.N.C.A.R.G.) in regards to the possibility of joining them in the running of the 2012 Radio Expo at St. John's Hall Elizabeth St. Coffs Harbour. This is because their membership has declined to such a level that they can no longer run it by themselves. There were doubts raised about this joint-collaboration by people at the meeting, there is a lot of organising to be done etc. It was suggested that they be invited to join us at the Urunga Convention at Easter time. It must be said that the Mid-North Coast Group had run a very successful Expo (field day) over the last few years, with high-end amateur radio suppliers attending the day in January and drawing crowds of 80 or more. This had, of course, nullified our own field day operations at our club building in recent years. Further discussions with M.N.C.A.R.G will be left to the president.
Activities.
We were not invited to supply radio operators for the car rally this
year. The event is much larger and is run in several locations over
three days. We don't have the numbers required for such a large
event. At the previous car rallies in 2009 and 2010 there were other
communications groups present, who were doing the same job as
ourselves. We were unable to take part in the recent lighthouse event
in August at Smoky Cape because Terry had to attend to other matters
at home. The radio propagation was not all that good anyway. Bunnings
has given us Sunday 6th November
for our fund-raising sausage sizzle,
if the weather is good we should have a successful day.
Club Finances:
After examining our financial affairs with the Treasurer Fred VK2FM,
it seems we are in a good financial situation with around $5700 in
our accounts. We need around $2300 to run the club during the year.
This consists of $870 rent to the football ground, $650 building
Insurance, $280 Indemnity Insurance, about $260 in radio licence fees
and maybe $300 for other costs. We raise about $750 from membership
fees, $1000 from Thursday door takings and around $250 from catering
and parts sales at the Urunga Convention. This does not include any
other income from Bunnings etc. In recent years we have obtained
another tower, linear amplifiers and a new Yaesu radio, the club's
Tri-Band Beam antenna has been refurbished. The cost of repairing and
painting the clubhouse was completed last year which cost around
$4700 total, this was paid promptly. In spite of the enormous amount
of rain this year, the building still appears to be waterproof.
Ground Security:
The
Toormina Sports & Recreation has issued our club with three
special keys, each
one unlocks the front gate and the amenities block. Strangely enough
though, nobody has found the gate closed yet! The idea of the new
keys is that they can't be duplicated.
Jamboree of the Air:
This is to be held on the Saturday
15th October
between 1 and 6 pm. It is intended to use ECHOLINK
this year to ensure that overseas contacts are made. Propagation is
unreliable at the present time, so combining VHF and the Internet
will enable noise-free communications with other countries. Les
VK2CPC will enable the use of this mode.
Late News:
According to Arnold on the 2/9/11 weekly Friday night 2 metre net, Terry VK2TEZ, the President has resigned. Terry is moving to Eungai Rail near Kempsey, which is too far to travel to Coffs. Ken VK2DGT the Vice-President will take over until the next meeting in November. Arnold said there were around 11 stations on the net, which is a really good roll-up. (I thought everyone was watching the football on TV.)
Pat VK2BPH