ARNSW Council
                                         News and Reports    
                                    

 Updated 2009-05-04

Note: The "reports" or "updates" presented on this page are NOT a copy of the "Minutes" of Council meetings, unless otherwise advised they are simply an transcription of tapes played during a particular VK2WI broadcast or and overall view of a particular meeting and the main events that occurred within that meeting. This information is compiled for members information only and is provided to allow some insight into the functioning of WIA (NSW Division) (trading as ARNSW) as an organization.
The information itself is sourced mainly from periodic reports and Broadcast text -- Webmaster
2009 AGM (2008 Trading Year) and Council Elections - President's Report (Beth VK2AO)

     The AGM and associated election has this year resulted in the election of last year’s council plus the addition of Mark Blackmore and Tim Mills. Both of these gentlemen have a wealth of experience as former members of the Council in past years. With such dynamics the council is in a position to act with purpose in dealing with the matters at hand and to introduce the changes that are needed to keep the organization current and viable.

     The AGM was an interesting meeting and well supported, thank you all that attended. Many items were brought up for discussion and in particular a number of members voiced their thoughts on how we might, as the WIA NSW division, choose to celebrate our centennial. As the newly elected president I have duly noted those thoughts. It is now up to the members to rally through active participation. I am inviting you all to consider what you can do to support the Institute. Now is the time to step up and participate by leading a sub-committee or participating as a member of one. No contribution will go unappreciated. It may be planning activities for our centenary, supporting development of a memorial competition or managing other activities which will promote the Division over the year. We need you, to make this a success.

     The AGM also brought to the elected council the need to provide better communications. A call was made for a newsletter that would keep members up to date on events and happenings. This has been noted and will be high on the agenda of our first meeting. Others have requested that we do more to acknowledge members and that is being considered. The team will be looking at a number of ideas for which some have already been in discussion including:
                * Introduction of membership cards, improved methods for communicating changes to member’s
                  details so we can provide current information.
               * A request was made to improve the contents and currency of the website including a members’
                 interface which they can access to ensure address, ‘phone, email and call signs are kept up to date.

        I acknowledge there is a lot to do and I am committed to doing whatever I can to expedite these ideas for the benefit of members.

        A great deal of interest was shown in the financials of the club, which led to discussions of how we, the Council, can keep members best informed. The Council will work on solutions to keep members up to date on expenditure on various activities, while maintaining a cost effective means to do so and will keep the members informed on the solutions as they come about.

       The new shed also drew healthy discussion and the news of the proceedings was uplifting to say the least. This has been a long journey with many challenges, however, with the efforts of the Council and in particular Michael Corbin and Tim Mills a great deal of progress has been made and although not quite there yet. The next stage of completion is the fit out, comprising of the installation of coaxial, electrical, inner walls and insulation and perhaps finally realizing the vision of having a first class facility available to support members and activities.

       Trash and Treasure, Homebrew and Training will certainly enjoy the new amenities while we will finally have an environment that will be spacious enough to support the activities of council and sub- committees. Once the shed is finished we will move to fit out a space that will support many of the radios held in storage so the club will have the facilities to participate in more HF radio other than just the weekly broadcast.

        The council is continuing to improve the grounds with stump grinding activities due to commence in the next few days. Some 30 odd stumps will be ground below ground level to finally complete some of the tree removal that commenced last year. This will greatly increase the amount of parking available. Members who attended the Trash and Treasure in March 2009 had the pleasure of assisting in putting the water storage tank in place beside the shed ready for future use as a fire-fighting aide. A new earth system has been installed to the main transmitter building at a cost of around $5000 to help reduce the effects of lightning in time for the next storm season. Work has commenced on the future replacement of repeater equipment as a lot of the gear is approaching the end of its life. Thanks to the efforts of the Dural team and the technical magic of Mark Blackmore, a lot of work has been completed. New beacons have been commissioned as a result of his efforts. This gear had to be purpose built, as nothing exists commercially. Updated HF equipment is slowly replacing old equipment that has reached the end of its life. There is more work planned with the refurbishment or removal of old antennas, towers and coaxial runs and Mathew Magee is developing a strategy to conduct this work.

        There is a lot of good work and it is beginning to demonstrate a new level of capability that should have members proud of their organisation, but we still have a lot more work to do and we could certainly use your help with the present and future projects.

Elizabeth Langley, VK2AO, President.