Broadcast - 13 February 2022
We commence this week with a report on the NTARC Annual General Meeting held last Wednesday 9th February.
Concerns earlier in the year that Covid-19 might prevent sufficient members attending to satisfy the quorum requirement proved unfounded. The AGM saw an attendance of 25 voting members and 1 family member.
Extensive reports by the President, Treasurer, each of the club activity leaders and the all-important Auditor’s statement were tabled and each well received by the membership, leaving all with the sense that 2021 had been another great year for NTARC, all the more so considering the COVID situation.
The elections saw the return of Idris VK7ZIR as President, Peter VK7KPC as Vice President, André VK7ZAB as Treasurer, and Roslyn (no call sign) as committee member.
A slight change this year saw a new Secretary take on the task, with Stefan VK7ZSB accepting nomination. Roger VK7ARN was again re-appointed as our Internal Auditor and while relinquishing the Secretary’s role after 11 continuous years, Yvonne VK7FYMX was re-appointed as our Public Officer.
All the club activity co-ordinators were again appointed to their respective tasks; Tony VK7YBG as Northern Repeater Officer, David VK7JD continuing his role as Project Manager for Mt Arthur, with both being assisted by Paul VK7KPA and Andrew VK7DW as Assistant Repeater Officers.
Other club activity coordinators agreeing to continue in their roles for 2022 were Peter VK7PD as the Education Officer, Peter VK7KPC as our JOTA/JOTI Coordinator. For personal reasons, Norm VK7KTN has found it impracticable to continue as our Safety Communications Coordinator and did not seek re-appointment. Roger VK7ARN has stepped forward to take those reins and was warmly welcomed to the role by the meeting, which also expressed its appreciation to Norm for his many years of hard work with a hearty round of applause.
So there you are folks, you now have the NTARC Committee and Coordinators for 2022. This information is now being prepared for inclusion on the club website by Webmaster Roger VK7ARN.
The business of the meeting proceeded at a good pace, with the agenda completed by 2011hrs. President Idris therefore brought matters to a close and after a brief break proceeded to open the February General Meeting which was completed by 2050 hours. This was followed by what else but a very heavily laden supper table which included a birthday cake for stalwart Ros and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Once again our lady members excelled themselves.
2022 Membership renewals –a final reminder notice has been sent to those who haven’t as yet renewed their 2022 membership. Your membership for 2021 expired on 31 December and your name now appears on the membership register as an unfinancial member. It will remain as such on that register until renewed or until 30 June, when your name must be removed if your annual subscription remains unpaid at that date.
In the interim, a reminder that NTARC’s 2022 membership fees are $40.00 for a Full voting member and $5 additional for each Family member that the voting member wishes to add to his or her primary membership..
UPCOMING EVENTS
TestNet and TECHNET – Wednesday 16th February. TestNet/CW course on 3580 from 7pm till 7.30pm….and a TECHNET on 3567 from 7.30pm till about 8.30pm. Your host for the evening will again be Nic VK7WW.
Club Tech night – Wednesday 23rd February. Held at the NTARC Club rooms, 19:30 hours until whenever.
COFFEE MORNINGS – held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Catch up time is from 10.00 am to noon and we look forward to seeing you all there.
These coffee events represent a good opportunity to collect your QSL cards. We currently have cards awaiting collection, so why not pop in and check the QSL box and join us for a cuppa and chat.
Just a friendly reminder, please demonstrate your appreciation of all the effort that goes into operating the club, its facilities and the other services we provide, especially in these abnormal and very trying times, enjoying the company, coffee, biscuits and cake, by leaving a gold coin or two, or even a small bank note, in the jar to assist in our on-going operations.
Again a reminder that masks be worn at these sessions but you will be able to remove your mask whilst eating and drinking but it does need to be put back on when finished. A sign has been placed on the screen door reminding all of this requirement.
FINALLY – A reminder to all members that if you have any items of news you would like added to our weekly roundup, no matter how trivial, then please email them to the Secretary at the following address news@ntarc.net all items to be received no later than 17:00 on the Friday prior to the Broadcast.
Your continued cooperation in this regard will be greatly appreciated. We will bring you all such contributions next Sunday morning.
Now I need to sign off for the final time. As you will have noted from the report on the AGM, I had decided that after 11 years on the trot as club Secretary it was more than time for a rest and for an injection of fresh blood into the role. I am extremely grateful to Stefan VK7ZSB for accepting nomination to the Secretary’s position and extend to him my congratulations. I doubt I could have handed the baton to a more worthy candidate. I know I join with the other members of the Committee in welcoming Stefan to the team.
Along with relinquishing the Secretary’s role, it is also time to bring to a close my time as your Northern broadcast news reporter. I have been anchoring the NTARC news feed for as long as I have been Secretary, so again coming on for 11 years. In all that time NTARC has not missed having a weekly Broadcast inclusion, although it has meant filing from some strange locations around the country, including the use of some impromptu relay mechanisms to overcome local electricity supply issues, internet outages etc.
On only a couple of occasions we have been obliged to have another Committee member or another member pull up the previous week’s contribution and trim it to include only that material still applicable to the coming Sunday’s Broadcast. The last such occasion, by coincidence, was precisely 12 months ago this evening, when the OM and I were enroute to VK1 on the Monaro Highway in NSW, desperately taking advantage of a few hours warning of an impending border closure to exit VK3. We had been planning on preparing the NTARC segment around the normal 5.00 pm but suddenly we were confronting a substantial lock-down on the boat when we had been planning on a visit to family in Canberra the following week. So, after a frantic packing session, we were on the road but were soon dropping in and out of mobile phone coverage and unable to raise any other Committee members. Luckily we were able to briefly contact Justin VK7TW in Hobart and explain our predicament, including a very late ETA into Canberra when we would be able to prepare the segment. Justin suggested instead that he base an NTARC report on the previous week’s contribution and I thank him warmly for doing so, along with all the other timing indulgences he as VK7 Coordinator has extended to me over the years.
Before I close off I would just like to extend my thanks to the NTARC Committee past and present and to the NTARC members for putting up with me for so long.
73, Yvonne VK7FYMX, Past-Secretary NTARC Inc
