Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Loughborough and District Amateur Radio Club October 9th 2007
The Chairman opened the meeting at 2005
Present: BobBrown-swl, G7BMM, G0LCU, M0GDW, G3LHB, G1KSC, G1ZAR, G7SEG, G3KWY, G1ETZ, G0WTA, G4DZL, M1ACS, David Anderson, Alwyne Whitehead-swl, G4EUF, G8SNF, G8JMG,G4JCH, M3AUC, G8YGT.
Apologies: 2E1GXQ, G8OEF, G0PSI, M0GYB, G8BUB, 2E0MFT, G0PXK
The minutes of the AGM 2006 were circulated and read. Proposed by G1KSC and seconded by Bob Brown-swl that the minutes were a true record of the meeting and should be accepted as such. There was a unanimous vote to accept the minutes.
G3KWY thanked David Anderson, on behalf of the club, for hosting the club’s website on his server (Item 4 AOB 2006 AGM).
There were no other matters arising.
Chairman's report(G8SNF):
As I have again been away for so much of this year and missed so many of our excellent events on the programme, it is hard for me to make comments on them. Thank you for your attendance tonight and throughout the year. I, as usual, wish to thank all members of the club for their support , with a special thank you to the rest of the committee for all the work involved. Thank you to Chris yet again for the production of our brilliant newsletter, bringing us all up to date with everything. Thank you to all those who took the time to take part in the special event station for Mills on Air at Shepshed Water Mill. They deserve a mention as these events are very good for the club and amateur radio in general. Don't forget, tonight is your night, when you can air your views. Please take the opportunity to do so, whatever they are. We have a good club. Thank you again, all of you.
Treasurer's report(G1ZAR):
The 2004/2005 period shows a membership of 29, with 24 full members, 4 associate members and one honorary member, a fall from last year of six.
Three affiliation fees apply, one to Hind Leys Community College, whose facilities we used for the October 2006 to July 2007 period, the second to the Glenmore Centre whose facilities we now use, and one to the Radio Society of Great Britain. The RSGB, as a benefit for the affiliation, will provide public liability insurance and a copy of the Yearbook each year.
The amateur radio licences for the callsigns G3RAL and G7RAL are maintained for club use. These are now free of charge. The club equipment continues to be insured by Amateur Radio Insurance Services up to a value of £250 for each piece and the club's linear amplifier to it's current value of £400.
Annual room costs have fallen as we now only meet once per week, but this continues to be a major part of our outgoing costs. Room hire for the past 12 months was £604.60, with the nightly attendance fee (50p) accounting for just over 60% of this amount. We continue to claim 50% of room hire charges back via the Shire Community Grant which is applied for annually in April. Current reserves will cover another year at normal costs, so it would be acceptable to leave the membership and attendance fees the same for another year. Thanks to the members and the committee for their continued support.
Station Manager's report(G7SEG):
It has been a strange year, more a case of change rather than problems.
The main change has been the club’s location. This new location prevents the the erecting of permanent antennas. However, we are looking at methods and antennas that allow quick erection and removal. The antenna system was partly reinstalled before the move and the antennas were distributed to various people. On the whole, the antennas are in good operational condition although the VHF and UHF beams require major rework due to corrosion. Most of the station radio equipment is in good working order giving access to all HF bands and 2m/70cm. A few items are under repair or need a check out.
The club’s computer has been upgraded to enable the use of current radio software. If any member has any ideas for the antennas, enhancements or ways to improve the station, please either bring them up at this AGM or make contact with the new committee.
Election of Officers:
All current members of the committee have said that they are willing to be considered for re-election.
Position of Chairman
G8SNF was proposed by G0LCU and seconded by G7BMM.
There were no other proposals
G8SNF was unanimously elected.
Position of Secretary
G3KWY was proposed by G1KSC and seconded by G4DZL
There were no other proposals
G3KWY was unanimously elected
Position of Treasurer
G1ZAR was proposed by G8YGT and seconded by G4EUF
There were no other proposals
G1ZAR was unanimously elected
Position of Other member (Publicity)
G1ETZ was proposed by M0GDW and seconded by David Anderson
There were no other proposals
G1ETZ was unanimously elected
Position of Station Manager
G7SEG was proposed by G1KSC and seconded by G0LCU
There were no other proposals
G7SEG was unanimously elected
Position of Other Member
M0GDW was proposed by G7SEG and seconded by G3KWY
There were no other proposals
M0GDW was unanimously elected
Any other business:
1. G0LCU who is the licence holder for G3RAL asked if the meeting was happy for him to continue in that role. It was agreed that there was no reason to change the licence holder and G0LCU was happy to continue. It was requested that G0LCU confirm with OfCom that the licence is still valid.
2 ZL2CC, a past member, passed on his regards to the club.
3. M0GYB is leaving us for a new life in France. We wish him all the best and thank him for his friendship and his work on the committee. For those who wish to remain in contact with him, his e-mail address is mrp.gyb (at) hotmail.co.uk.
4. G8SNF thanked G1ETZ for providing assistance in compiling the weekly programme. He also requested feedback from the members on whether they were satisfied with the programme.
5. As we only meet once a week, there is a need to fit practical evenings into the programme. It was suggested that the Night on the Air/Committee meeting be amended to be a Practical/Committee meeting evening. It was noted that the room is hired from 1930 to 2130. David Anderson queried whether we pay for nights where we have outside activities. It was confirmed that we don’t pay for these evenings.
6. Visits. G8YGT suggested a visit to Beaumanor Hall. This was noted.
David Anderson suggested a visit to the BBC studios at Nottingham. He was told that we had fairly recently done this visit.
7. Due to a shortage of topics suitable for members to give full length talks, it was suggested that 15 minute mini-talks be considered. These could include mini-demonstrations of a practical nature. G8YGT suggested a talk on current Electrical Regulations. G8SNF thought that a suggestion box be made available for members to request specific subjects for talks.
8. G4EUF queried whether the club had an Overhead Projector. It was confirmed that we do have one.
9. Alwyne Whitehead requested more film nights on radio related subjects. G8SNF confirmed that this would be considered. G8SNF also stated the vintage nights seemed popular.
10. G0WTA asked what was the problem concerning the erection of antennas at the new club location.It was explained to him that the metal clad construction of the building made it very difficult to attach mounting brackets to the walla. The roof is pitched with no access. It is being considered that a triple mag mount with a suitable bracket could be utilised for VHF/UHF FM antennas.
11. G8YGT announced that the annual Narrow Band TV gathering was being held soon at Loughborough University.
There being no further business, the meeting was closed by the Chairman at 2105