Sunday 29 March 2015

Minutes - YRARC General Meeting March 3, 2015

Meeting held at the Sharon Temperance Hall. The meeting was called to order at 19:31. Chaired by Chris VE3NRT with 31 members and 1 guest in attendance
  1. Adoption of the minutes
    • Motion 2015-03-03-01 by Eric VE3EB to adopt the minutes of the February 3rd and January 6th general meeting minutes, seconded by Kerry VA3KTS. Motion carried.
  2. Harvey Bell Award: Call for nominations – Chris VE3NRT
    • At the January, 1971 meeting of the York North Radio Club, the membership established an award in memory of the late Harvey Bell, VE3AFK, of Aurora. It was the wish of the members that this award be presented annually to a member in good standing with this club, in recognition of substantial achievement involving Amateur Radio, particularly in connection with the York North Radio Club.
    • Please send your nominations including why you think the member is deserving of the award to Chris VA3DXZ.
  3. Treasurer’s Report – John VA3JI
    • The treasurer's report is available to members upon request to the club secretary.
    • Motion 2015-03-03-02 by John VA3JI to accept the treasurer’s report seconded by Glen VA3AU. Motion carried.
  4. Club Insurance – John VA3JI
    • The club presently has a general liability policy and a liability policy on the communications trailer, which provides coverage while the trailer is being towed.
    • The club has not purchased a directors and officers liability policy, property insurance covering club owned equipment, or a liability policy on the tower trailer similar to the communications trailer.
    • Directors and Officers Liability Policy:
      • In the January 21st board of directors meeting, the board discussed the need for a directors and officers liability policy. It was highlighted that the responsibilities of individuals serving on a non-profit board of directors are similar to those of directors of for-profit companies. However, non-profit organizations have limited resources to indemnify directors and officers or respond to expensive litigation, settlements or damage awards. Where no indemnification or only partial indemnification is available, the personal assets of directors and officers are at risk, as well as those of the entity itself. Directors’ and officers’ liability coverage is a critical component of the overall insurance protection package that no non-profit organization should forego, particularly if it wants to attract and retain qualified and motivated directors and officers and the discussion ended in a motion to bring the quote for this insurance to the club for further discussion.
      • Motion 2015-01-21-02 was carried on January 21st, to allocate $601.00 for the purchase of directors’ and officers’ [liability] insurance, subject to approval by the club.
      • The directors’ and officers’ insurance would be in addition to the liability policy currently in place on the communications trailer, and the club's general liability policy.
      • John VA3JI reported that per the quotation received by the board, the annual cost of the policy would be $601.00 +8% Provincial Sales Tax for $1M in liability coverage for the period from April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016
      • Motion 2015-03-03-03 by John VE3POJ to allocate $650.00 for the purchase of the directors and officers liability policy, seconded by Charlie VE3SYK.
      • Chris VE3NRT advised that insurance is a growing expense for the club and that the club will need to look at how to increase revenues.
      • Motion carried.
    • Property Insurance
      • John VA3JI advised that the club owns approximately $50,000.00 in property that is not insured. The approximate cost to add insurance coverage for this property to our current general liability policy is $270.00 for the period from April 1st 2015 to the expiry of the general liability policy on Oct 15th 2015
      • Motion 2015-03-03-04 by John VA3JI that the club allocate $270.00 to purchase insurance coverage for club property for the period from April 1st 2015 to the expiry of the general liability policy on Oct 15th 2015, seconded by Rick VA3VO.
      • The question of whether or not this would provide replacement coverage was raised as was a question concerning the value of the deductible.
      • Motion 2015-03-03-05 by Barry VA3LLT to table Motion 2015-03-03-04 at the next general meeting, seconded by Charlie VE3SYK. Motion carried
  5. Repeaters – Steve VE3UT
    • VE3YRC-UHF
      • In the YRARC repeater design, VE3YRC-UHF is an important hub for linking VE3YRC-VHF and VE3YRA to provide region wide coverage.
      • Unfortunately VE3YRC-UHF repeater controller is out of service and presently at Steve’s home for repair. The repeater controller is an RC85 which is obsolete and malfunctioning
      • Steve has investigated the cost to send the RC85 unit for repair and determined that the club would be better served by the purchase of an S-COM 7330 (same controller in use at VE3YRA and VE3YRC-VHF). By doing so the club would be able to standardize hardware and software configurations across repeaters allowing greater flexibility for field repair or re-deployment in an emergency.
      • The cost of the repeater controller purchased new is $499.99 USD plus taxes and shipping.
      • Steve VE3UT has agreed to donate funds to cover any costs above $600.00 thereby capping the cost to the club at $600.00 Canadian. Steve VE3UT suggested that anyone willing to donate should approach David VA3DCY
      • Motion 2015-03-03-06 by Glen VA3AU to allocate up to $600.00 towards the purchase of the S-COM 7330, seconded by Charlie VE3SYK.
      • Eric VE3EB commented that the club was very fortunate to receive over $39,000.00 from Ontario’s Trillium program and felt that by purchasing the new controller, the club would gain more benefit out of these relatively new club assets, as well as benefit from the plug and play aspect of standardizing hardware across repeaters.
      • Motion carried.
    • 6m Repeater
      • Steve VE3UT reported that a 6m repeater has been donated to the club. Steve VE3UT is looking for help in transporting the cans to Bob VE3WY who has volunteered to tune them
      • Steve VE3UT will be calling for a work party when the weather is better to install the repeater.
    • VE3YRK – Chris VE3NRT
      • Chris VE3NRT reported on the status of the transition to Freestar. The following items have been completed:
      • The Icom standard software and all its add-ons have been shut down.
      • Users & radios have been re-registered on VE3LSR
      • New software, ircDDB and g2_link software have been installed and are working properly.
      • D-APRS reporting is working. The link from the status page to aprs.fi now works properly for the first time.
      • https://www.dstargateway.org/ security restored.
      • Still outstanding
        • The registrations on LSR are in some disarray. We are waiting for the US Trust administrators to fix the problem (and waiting and waiting). This may result in difficulty when trying to use “REF” type reflectors.
        • DV-Dongles cannot connect to VE3YRK. A workaround is available (Dvtool is a closed-source product by AA4RC)
  6. Public Service – Eric VE3EB provided a copy of the article appearing in the Newmarket snapd covering our Winter Field Day (Attachment #2)
  7. EMCOMM – Don VE3IXJ
    • The REOC drill at the York Region Headquarters building went well and the EMCOMM team was able to test the range of VE3PO (Don VE3IXJ’s portable low power repeater). VE3PO worked beyond expectation
  8. Summer Field Day – Steve VE3UT
    • The event is held on the 4th weekend in June.
    • Steve VE3UT has seen lots of interest expressed by club members.
    • To assist in the funding of the event and to help plan for food, Steve will be presenting a proposal to the board to sell food tickets at this summer’s event.
  9. Bob VE3WY presented an analysis of dipole antenna performance
  10. Meeting adjourned at 21:37

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