British Columbia Amateur Radio Coordination Council Minutes of AGM, 2005 April 3 At the Gerry Brewer Building, 14 th & Lonsdale, North Vancouver 1. Meeting opened 1000 hrs, Ed Frazer, VE7EF, in the chair. 2. Welcoming remarks The Chair introduced Barrie Skeldon, VE7HBS, President of the North Shore Amateur Radio Club, who welcomed the delegates on behalf of NSARC and the North Shore Emergency Management Office. 3. Introduction of Guests and Delegates -- The Chair introduced special guests Mike Krenz, representing Industry Canada, Pacific Region; and Earle Smith, VE6NM, President of Radio Amateurs of Canada The Chair then requested delegates to introduce themselves to the meeting. (A list of member organizations and their delegates is given in Appendix A) 4. Introduction of Directors, Officers and Coordinators -- The Chair introduced directors, officers and coordinators: Directors for the past year have been: Rob Dover, VE7EJE, of Kamloops Amateur Radio Club, for the South Interior Romy Malinab, VE7RMY, of Pinoy Amateur Radio Enthusiasts, for the Lower Mainland Mike Holley, VE7AVM, of Langley Amateur Radio Association, for the Fraser Valley Brad Abbott, VE7IA, of Victoria Amateur Radio Repeater Organization, for the South Island Mike Sankey, VE7CND, of Telephone Pioneers Amateur Radio Club, for the Lower Mainland Ed Frazer, VE7EF, of Point Grey Amateur Radio Club, for the Lower Mainland Les Corris, VA7LC, of Oceanside Radio Communications Association, for the North Island Terry Paton, VE7UP, of Nechako Radio Club, for Northern BC Officers have been: Al Muir, VE7BEU, Past President Ed Frazer, VE7EF, President Terry Paton, VE7UP, Secretary Bill Tracey, VE7QQ, Treasurer Coordinators have been: George Merchant, VE7CHU, Chief Coordinator Al Muir, VE7BEU, coordinator for 6 and 10 metres Rob Kuse, VE7BKU, coordinator for VHF/UHF in the Lower Mainland Tim Mitchell, VE7TES, coordinator for VHF/UHF on Vancouver Island Phil Baker, VE7PHB, coordinator for VHF/UHF in the Interior (not present) Joe Rieberger, VE7CRJ, coordinator for VHF/UHF in Southeastern BC (not present) Frank VanderZande, VE7AV, coordinator for VHF/UHF in Northern BC (not present)
Unfortunately Mike Holley, Brad Abbott, Les Corris, Terry Paton, Al Muir, Tim Mitchell, Phil Baker, Joe Rieberger and Frank VanderZande were unable to be present for the introductions. 5. Correspondence on behalf of the Secretary, Bill Tracey reported no significant external correspondence during the past year. Written reports have been received from some of the directors and coordinators, which will be dealt with later in the meeting. 6. Minutes of 2004 AGM -- Minutes of the 2004 AGM had been distributed to attendees. A delegate noted that Phil Baker s call sign is VE7BPH, not VE7PHB as printed in item 4 of the minutes. Moved by Bill Tracey that the minutes of the 2004 AGM be adopted with the noted amendment. Carried. Business Arising from the Minutes -- 7. From item 10, Bill Tracey advised that the financial statements had not been audited prior to this meeting but he will endeavour to have them reviewed within the next few weeks. The statements are not complex; the difficulty is finding a delegate who feels capable and can make time available for this task. 8. From item 13: The coordinators have considered the advisability of designating 147.585 MHz as reserved for PropNet, HamIM and similar nationwide operations. However, as reported by Chief Coordinator George Merchant (VE7CHU), an internet search and some monitoring of the channel has shown no evidence of such activity in the past four years, and it is inefficient use of spectrum to designate and set aside a channel for activities that seem to have so little support. 9. From item 14: Mike Krenz advised that he was not yet prepared to recommend specific changes to the MoU between IC and BCARCC as a result of the shift of licensing responsibilities from the Region to Ottawa. However, we will continue to monitor the functioning of the MoU, and if specific changes appear advisable we will deal with that when it arises. 10. From items 15 and 17: Ed Frazer has advised Fred Orsetti of the establishment of an interference committee including representatives of RAC, BCARCC and lower mainland Amateur Radio clubs. The committee is working with IC to establish guidelines/protocols/processes for dealing with interference. We appreciate the good cooperation now being received from IC through the participation of Mike Krenz. At least for the interim, all complaints of interference should be referred to BCARCC rather than to IC directly. BCARCC and the other committee members will coordinate the complaints and gather additional information if needed, then refer the file to IC for action. 11. From item 19: BCARCC has not yet been able to make Richard Fryer s (VA7AA) guidelines for preparing funding applications available on the web site. However, Richard said he would work on getting those to us sometime soon. 12. From item 22: The Board has not yet been able to rationalize the many variations of band plans in existence for 220 and 440 MHz (RAC, ARRL, WWARA among others,
all are different) and the existing usage of the band particularly in southern BC and north-western Washington. However, some progress is being made, and a band plan will be suggested for use by BCARCC as soon as possible. Reports -- 13. President s Report Ed Frazer presented the President s report and welcome which was distribute in the delegates packages and is attached to these minutes as Appendix B. Moved by Ed Frazer that the President s report be received. Carried. 14. Secretary s Report There was no significant correspondence to report, and no other report from the secretary. 15. Treasurer s Report -- Bill Tracey presented the Treasurer s report with financial statements and a draft budget, attached to these minutes as Appendix C. Bill pointed out that we would have had a loss, except for the generosity of Jan Schneider (VE7LET) who has waived payment of nearly $270 owed to him for web site development nearly two years ago. In the end, we had a small surplus of about $83. Moved by Bill Tracey that the Treasurer s report be received. Carried. Moved by Bill Tracey that whereas expenses are rising steadily but membership is remaining relatively constant, the dues structure be amended to raise dues to $20 per year per delegate, as of January 1, 2006. Carried. (Action revise membership application form for 2006 to show new dues structure) 16. Membership Bill Tracey reported that last year (2004) BCARCC had a total of 61 delegates registered, and his recollection is that there were 52 organizations represented. (Note: In fact, there were 33 member clubs and 2 individual members, and 61 delegates in 2004) 17. Coordinators Report Chief Coordinator George Merchant, VE7CHU, spoke to his report of coordination activities for 2004, which had been distributed to delegates and is attached as Appendix D. He commented that: - coordination with WWARA has become more time-consuming as a result of the lack of access to an on-line database of WWARA coordinations; - he wonders about the value of coordinating internet linked simplex stations, many of which are low-power installations in a person s home it might be better not to try to coordinate them, but simply to register them; - use of 147.585 for meteor scatter was a hot topic last year, but he can find no record of such use since about 2001 it is not efficient to reserve a channel for a purpose with so little activity, so he proposes to lift the reserve and allow coordination of the channel for internet linking as originally planned. Moved by Jim Hatch (VE7CIJ), THAT BCARCC request TCA to publish a notice that BCARCC has been reserving the frequency 147.585 MHz for HamIM (meteor scatter communication), but that has observed no activity on that frequency since 2001; BCARCC now requests that any organization making significant use of that frequency for meteor scatter let us know within 90 days of publication of this notice; if no significant need is identified within that time the frequency will revert to internet linking. Carried. (Action
Secretary to send request to TCA for publication of the notice. Board to follow up on results.) - although at the 2004 AGM it was decided to coordinate internet linked stations between 147-148 MHz and emergency net stations between 146-147 MHz, and to ask other stations to operate below 146 MHz, there are still some BC stations not willing or not able to adapt to that plan. As well, some emergency nets in Washington State have been assigned frequencies above 147 MHz, and we can do nothing about that. As a consequence some conflicts are arising, and we request the internet-linked station operators involved to be sensitive to the need for cooperation and to avoid conflicts with emergency nets; - we still need better reporting about repeaters that go off the air for maintenance or are re-located our repeater lists provide protection only to the extent that they are accurate if a repeater is lost (off the air for more than six months without notification, or re-located without notification) we must assume it no longer exists and we may coordinate another station on the frequency. In response, Richard Fryer (VA7AA) mentioned two repeaters in Nanaimo. One is the repeater that was on 147.180, and the operator is making efforts to get it back on the air. The repeater on 146.980 (Malaspina College) is said to have essentially no traffic on it. George Merchant responded that 147.180 has lost its coordination registration by being off the air for more than six months without advising BCARCC, and the frequency has now been registered as coordinated for a different repeater. If the Nanaimo (Mt. Benson) repeater now expects to come back on the air on that frequency, there are going to be real problems. Jim Hatch also mentioned the issue of the physical proximity of certain repeaters and the possibility of intermod with other Ham repeaters and with commercial repeaters. George advised that many 2m repeaters have very little usage, and there needs to be more sharing of frequencies, or sharing of repeaters (i.e., several user groups sharing the same repeater the NSARC club repeater on 147.260 is used by at least four different user groups at various times, with agreement). George also remarked on the difficulty we have had in coming up with bandplans for 220 and 440 MHz. For 440 MHz, in particular, there are so many conflicts between the WWARA, ARRL, and RAC plans, as well as existing users, that a satisfactory bandplan is extremely difficult to develop for this area. Mike Krenz (IC) advised that IC does not attempt to manage frequency assignments with Ham bands as they do within other bands they expect Hams to manage themselves in this regard. He pointed out, though, that BCARCC (and other Amateur coordination groups) do not have authority to allocate frequencies nor to enforce frequency allocations within Ham bands. 18. Report on Yukon Amateur Radio -- Ron McFadyen (VY1RM) gave a well-illustrated report on the very extensive repeater network operated by the Yukon Amateur Radio Association. The full report is available on the BCARCC web site. Ed Frazer spoke briefly about the similar network in northern BC, operated by the Prince George Amateur Radio Club, which has linked systems from Prince George to the Yukon border. The PGARC is converting all the repeaters to 100 Hz CTCSS.
19. Report from Industry Canada Michael Krenz wears two hats within Industry Canada. He is the Regional Emergency Telecommunications Officer for the Pacific Region, which brings him into contact with the Provincial Emergency Program. In October he took on other roles which relate to enforcement, compliance and interference activities. Mike s report was very informative and dealt with a very wide range of important issues. The full report is available on the BCARCC web site. At the end of his report, Mike highlighted two recent developments: - Mike and other IC officers met with a small group of representatives of RAC, BCARCC and some Lower Mainland clubs to discuss improved enforcement of regulations to do with deliberate interference, obscenity/foul language and similar issues. Together, they plan to develop a protocol or standard for reporting such incidents and initiating enforcement activity. - The BC government has recently shown some interest in coming on-board with the Compliance Act, which if implemented would allow IC officers to issue tickets under the Radio Communications Act and Regulations. Mike advised that IC generally affords protection automatically to communications of safety services (police, fire, ambulance). It will also afford protection to Amateur operations when they are assisting the province or a municipality when either has declared an official state of emergency. However, if no official emergency has been declared, IC generally does not recognize that an emergency exists, and will not afford any special protection. Re the Memorial Cup incident in Kelowna (non-amateurs operating on Amateur frequencies), Mike advised that because of the special circumstances the operation was approved in advance by IC, and such approval is within the powers of the Minister. The Chair advised that a detailed report on this incident is available on the Web. 20. RAC Report The Chair invited Earle Smith (VE6NM, President of RAC) to give some brief remarks to the meeting. Earle touched on a number of activities currently underway by RAC, and promised to give more details during his talk scheduled for the afternoon. Ron McFadyen raised the issue of some amateurs residing in BC lower mainland having been issued VY1 call signs (although they don t live in the Yukon), and said the Yukon club would like to see that changed. Mike Krenz replied that this is a hard thing to enforce, because if people apply for a call sign and have a mailing address in the Yukon, it is not usual for IC to do any kind of check on the legitimacy of the address. Ed Frazer offered to take up the issue at the upcoming RAC convention, if Ron will provide details. 21. Area Directors Reports Mike Sankey, VE7CND, made a few comments about the interference issue in the Lower Mainland, both as a Director of BCARCC and as coordinator for the Sun Run. His report is attached as Appendix E. A significant item deals with the formation of an informal organization, the Greater Vancouver Amateur Radio Council (GVARC) sponsored by BCARCC, RAC and several Lower Mainland clubs, to coordinate and prioritize interference complaints and act as an interface
group for dealing with Industry Canada. So far, the results are very promising, and cooperation from IC (through Mike Krenz) has been very good. Rob Dover, VE7EJE, reported briefly on events in the Central BC area. His report is attached as Appendix F. He also mentioned a problem which had occurred as a result of two Amateur repeaters co-located the site at Mount Lolo, and creating interference for a Nav Canada installation. It was cleared up by having one of the Amateur repeaters move off the site. Romy Malinab,VE7RMY, reported briefly on events in the Lower Mainland, focusing particularly on activities of the Filipino community. Two groups in that community operate UHF repeaters, and also are very active in using Echolink to talk to other hams throughout North America and even in the Philippines. It recommends it as a good alternative when the HF bands are suffering from low sunspot activities as at present. New Business 22. BCARCC web site -- George Merchant, VE7CHU, reported on operation of the BCARCC web site. Although the current free web host has been economical it is not always convenient or easy to make changes to the pages, and recently some security issues have come up. George now recommends that we change to a local commercial web host. The board has already approved this change, but wished to get the reaction of the delegates before proceeding. Ron McFadyen (VY1RM) stated that this has been a problem for the Yukon ARC as well, as suggested they might want to share our site with a page or two on their activities. The Chair agreed that would be considered. Other delegates offered to provide links to the new BCARCC web site. (The URL will remain the same -- www.bcarcc.org) Election of Directors -- The following representatives were duly nominated as directors for 2005-2007 (two-year term), to take office at the end of this AGM: For the Lower Mainland: VE7RMY, Romy Malinab For the Lower Mainland: VE7HUT, Errol Cramer For Southern Vancouver Island: VA7AA, Richard Fryer For Northern Vancouver Island: VE7DAY, John Adams For the Northern Island: (no nomination) There being no other nominations, VE7CIJ, James Hatch, moved nominations close. Carried. The two nominees for Lower Mainland withdrew from the room. Upon a show of hands, Romy Malinab, VE7RMY, was elected. The Chair thanked the retiring directors Brad Abbott, VE7IA, Mike Holley, VE7AVM, Les Corris, VA7LC, and Terry Paton, VE7UP, for their service to the Council.
The Chair thanked George Merchant, VE7CHU, for having had the vision and provided the drive to establish BCARCC ten years ago. The delegates responded with a standing ovation for George. 23. Adjournment There being no further business, the Chair declared the meeting adjourned. Note: Unless stated otherwise, all motions shown as carried were carried unanimously. Subsequent events: At the directors meeting immediately following the General Meeting, Ed Frazer VE7EF was re-elected President, Mike Sankey VE7CND was elected Vice-president, Richard Fryer VA7AA was elected Secretary, and Bill Tracey VE7QQ was appointed Treasurer. Al Muir VE7BEU remains immediate Past President and will continue to work with the executive. Mike Sankey was appointed chair of the Interference Committee, with power to add. George Merchant VE7CHU was re-appointed Chief Coordinator, and all other coordinators were re-appointed until the next AGM. Directors agreed to review the proposed budget and advise the President of their concurrence or otherwise, by email.