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Next Meeting

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Dave and Kath Wilson are visiting the Club on Wednesday 1st Aug. Dave is the current President of the RSGB and Kath is the regional manager for the North West. One of the reasons for their visit is to inspect the new premises with a view to registering us as an exam centre. It will also be an opportunity to meet Dave and Kath and to get the inside track on what’s new and coming in the future, in terms of the RSGB. Dave will also make a couple of short presentations related to the RSGB and the new online examinations.

It would be great to see everyone there as this is a great opportunity to hear from and talk to the RSGB president.

Regular Club Meetings

John_Bracegirdle 1 Comment

The previous club meeting on 19 February took place at Moorclose Community Centre. We looked around the room and storage space available. Andrew Holland setup an inverted V aerial with a Yaesu FT-817ND outside. A unanimous decision of all present was made to adopt Moorclose Community Centre as the location of the club.

The next meeting will be at 7pm on Wednesday 7th March at the old 6th form college in Workington (Moorclose Community Centre).

We now have 11 paid up members. For the rest of this year the annual subs are £10 until the end Aug, the meeting subs of £3 remain the same. New and returning members can pay at the next meeting.

Meetings in the future will be on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month.

We look forward seeing everyone there on the 7th.

Meeting of 5th Feburary

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Workington Veterans’ Club, Christian Street
Monday 5th February 2018

11 in attendance

1. ) Cost of Annual Membership
The club was reported to be in a healthy financial position with cash in the bank and few financial commitments.

Three proposals for membership costs were voted on. Firstly the previous cost of £30 per member was proposed by Steve Topping and seconded by Andrew Holland, it received 4 votes. A second proposal of £30 per member was proposed by Reg Irving and seconded by Skip Meekins, it received 6 votes. A third proposal of £30 per member reduced to £20 for retired members was proposed by Stephen Palmer and seconded by Tony Steel. The second proposal of £20 per year was adopted.

The club’s financial year runs from 1 September to 31 August as stated in the constitution. As we are already part way through the year Steve Topping suggested the membership cost be halved to £10 for the remained of the year to 31 August. This suggestion was adopted unopposed.

A discussion of the cost of each meeting was agreed to be £3 per member, to cover the costs of the venue.

2.) Dates of Club Meetings

Two proposals for club meeting dates were proposed. Firstly that the club continues to meet every fortnight proposed by Tony Steel and seconded by John Bracegirdle, this received 1 vote. Secondly that the club meets on the first and third week of every month proposed by Skip Meekins and seconded by Steve Topping, this received 10 votes and was adopted.

A discussion about the day of the week meetings should be concluded Wednesdays was the prefered day.

3.) Club Location

The location of the club has not been finalised yet. The Harrington Scout hut, and the Workington Veterans’ Club have been visited so far. The Harrington Scout hut is available on Thursdays and Fridays and offered storage space, WiFi, and potential for installing wire aerials.

The Moorclose Community Centre was decided to be the location for our next meeting on Monday 19 February. The community centre is on the site of the Workington 6th Form site. It offers different rooms at a range of prices with WiFi, secure storage, is available any day of the week, and has the potential for installing wire aerials. The community centre is located on Needham Drive, CA14 3SE using the second entrance after the Moorclose Library.

4.) Club Membership

John Bracegirdle was tasked with creating a membership form so the membership list for 2018 can be created. Those who would like to be member of the club are asked to bring £10 to the next meeting at Moorclose Community Centre on Monday 19 February.

 

Outcome of EGM

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Minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Workington & District Amateur Radio & IT Group

Helena Thompson Museum, Park End Road, Workington

Monday 22nd January 2018 at 7:15PM

Attendees:-
Tony Steel, John Bracegirdle (JB), Derek Edge, Stephen Palmer, Peter Webster, Skip Meekins, Lee Stamper, Andrew Holland(AH), Steve Topping (ST)
Proxy vote, Kevin Mathews via Lee Stamper

Agenda Items

1. Welcome by temporary meeting Chair

ST welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked those in attendance if there was any objection to him acting as temporary Chair until item 2 and 3 had been covered. No objections raised so ST continued with opening comments regarding the history and successes of the Club.
Other in attendance also commented on the successes to date and a general consensus that all wanted to see the Club continue and proposer on the future.

2. Decision on the Clubs Future

A vote was then undertaken regarding the main proposal
a. That the Club should continue to operate with the formation of a new Club committee. Votes in favour = 10
b. That the Club should be wound up as per section 11 of the constitution (amended 2003) Votes in favour = 0
It was therefore agreed unanimously that proposal a. would be carried and agenda item 3 should progress

3. Nomination and election of committee members

A discussion regarding the number and type of committee roles was undertaken and agreed that at this stage that the club would elect three members to form the committee namely a Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. The Secretary would act also as deputy Chair when necessary.

Position Nominated Nominated by Seconded For Against
Chairman Steve Topping Peter Webster Lee Stamper 8 0
Secretary John Bracegirdle Peter Webster Skip Meekins 8 0
Treasurer Andrew Holland Stephen Palmer Tony steel 8 0

ST, JB and AH were therefore duly charged to form the new committee on behalf of the club, all accepted their nominated positions.
As a result actions would be necessary by the outgoing Treasurer, SM, to make arrangements for transfer of authorised signatories to the clubs bank account.

It was resolved that a banking relationship will be maintained with National Westminster Bank Plc (the Bank) in accordance with this mandate and that:
• The individuals identified as authorised signatories may, in accordance with the signing rules, sign cheques and give instructions for Standing Orders, Direct Debits, Electronic Payments, Banker’s Drafts and other payments on the accounts even if it causes an account to be overdrawn or exceed any limit.
• Any authorised signatory may give other instructions or requests for information to the Bank in relation to the accounts; opening accounts with the same signing rules and authorised signatories; closing accounts; or other banking services or products.
• The Bank may accept instructions that do not have an original written authorised signature provided the Bank is satisfied that the instruction is genuine and subject to any other agreement the Bank may require for those instructions.
• The organisation will provide to the Bank a copy of its constitution and any amendment to the constitution, certified as correct by the Secretary.
• This mandate will continue until the organisation gives the Bank a replacement mandate.

ST also noted that he intended to call a further EGM in the future to propose an update to the constitution as elements had become outdated and it had last been reviewed in 2003

4. Meeting Close

ST closed the meeting and thanked everyone for their attendance noting that a further club meeting would now be arranged for Monday 5th Feb at the Vets Club in Workington to discuss details of the club future.

Steve Topping & John Bracegirdle
G0MTD & M0JPI

Future of the Club

John_Bracegirdle 1 Comment

For those of us that regularly visit the club you can help notice that there are fewer people attending nowadays. This could be for any number of reasons but what this means is that without members attendance there is less likelihood of events being put on. This leads to an inevitable spiral where fewer events are put on and then fewer people attend, you get the picture.

So, what does this mean?

For us to be financially stable then we need a minimum number of attendees. We also need a larger number of members to make the club sustainable. This includes people prepared to invest time in being members of the committee, provide support to and give presentations, show and tells etc. For some time now we have been operating well below our minimum requirements. On both fronts.

After some discussion with the museum we have taken the step of cancelling the booking for meetings up to the first September meeting where we will have an EGM to discuss the future of the club. None of us want to see the club fold but we clearly need to do something different for it to survive. Depending on the outcome of that meeting we have one of 2 options. Wind up the club or produce an action plan to recover the club and its membership. To date some of the suggestions are:

  1. Wind up the club (in accordance with the constitution)
  2. Wind up the club (in accordance with the constitution) and reform the club as a virtual club i.e. one without assets or a home. Only a web presence.
  3. Wind up the club (in accordance with the constitution) and reform with a broader view that includes code club / code dojo, Maker / tinkerer i.e. broader electronics background
  4. Keep things as they are
  5. Change the date / meeting venue
  6. Something else

We hope to see you on Saturday and/or Sunday (1 & 2 July) for the VHF National Field Day, and in September to discuss the future of our club.

At this stage no idea is a bad one. It should be noted that a good idea is only an idea unless it comes with a commitment to see it through.

VHF National Field Day Sat 1st and Sun 2nd July 2017

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We will listen on the 2m FM calling channel 145.500MHz.

Key times

Sat 10am Local setup
Sat 15:00 Local Contest start (6m and 23cm until 23:00 local)
Sun 09:00 Local 4m start, finish contest 15:00 local
Sun 15:00 Local Start pack up, finish 17:00

Weather

The Met office shows a good day 15oC for Saturday and Sunday.

Location for the club contest site.

Club NFD Location

This is just on the roadside so there is no hiking up mountains or getting bogged down in the  mud. Corney Fell, this is not the top car park, descend towards Broughton in Furness and you will go over a little rise with a better take off to the South.
We have permission to use the site, the only rules from NT are:

  • No rubbish, use the bin provided.
  • No churning up the ground with cars

The planned setup time is 10am to allow for a few problems we hope not to have.
The main task that needs people is to setup the antennas. It can be done with two but 3 – 4 is a lot easier and we will not have to depend on no wind etc.
The rest of the setup should be easy. Power will be from a generator with a fall back to batteries.
There is adequate car parking and because if the weather has been dry for some time parking off the road should be OK.

Operating

Please come and have a go, just because you didn’t set up don’t feel guilty that you will just come to operate. The logging will be paper with a computer backup so it will be simple.
We can only transmit on one transmitter at a time and must not exceed 16 hours. With 23cm there won’t be any night time activity so we will close for the night. So there will have to be a shutdown in the night; not that there are any stations to work.
I use the site for the UKAC contests and it is generally noise free apart from the odd car. So unless it rains when we will get static noise it is an easy site to operate from. So don’t have any fear that you will be struggling to read the stations.

Turn up and have a go.

New Year New Contest Rules

John_Bracegirdle Leave a comment

In 2017 the RSGB VHF contest rules have changed. Andrew G4VFL explained the changes to the group. The main changes are:

  • 6m and 4m contests move to Thursday​
  • There will be a FM section running from 19:00 – 20:00 Local​ time
    • 4m​
    • 2m​
    • 70cm

Andrew’s presentation is embedded below:

Advanced Examination Date

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Workington Amateur Radio Club will be holding an Advanced Exam Session on Monday 5th December 2016, starting at 7pm.

Assessment is by a written examination paper of 62 multiple choice questions each with four possible responses.

The examination lasts two hours.

For the Advanced Radio Communications exam there is a fee of £37.50. You must have passed the Intermediate exam before taking the Advanced.

Candidates who intend to sit the exam on Monday 5th December 2016 should complete the RSGB Candidate Application Form for Advanced Examination and post it along with payment to the RSGB using the address on the form. The club’s exam secretary must also be informed using the contact us page of this website by the 29th of October 2016. Please include your phone number in the message and confirmation you have sent the application form off to the RSGB.

From Monday 7th November club meetings will include tuition on the advanced examination. Advanced exams are now available on demand with one calendar month’s notice. Candidates will be able to take the exam in 2017. Future exam dates will be discussed as the training progresses.

AGM – 24th October

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Its that time again. Your (formal) chance to have your say about how the club is run and setting the tone for the next year. The Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The club relies on volunteers thrashing around under the water but gliding gracefully like swans. There will be an opportunity to be either the treasurer, secretary and chairman as well as co-opted members of the committee. If that doesn’t improve your DX then why not offer to lead an activity, take part in a special event station or give a presentation.

As usual if there are particular topics you’d like to put on the agenda please let us know by using this form

[contact-form to=’mx0wrc@gmail.com’ subject=’AGM agenda item’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Question’ type=’text’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Give us a bit more detail’ type=’textarea’/][/contact-form]