Hello, fellow BARC members!
This is my third quarterly email to keep you updated on club activities.
What We’ve Been Up To
First, let’s talk about what we’ve accomplished over the past few months.
- A busy summer: It was a crazy summer, with cooler weather and several pending rainstorms. As a result, we spent less time at the park and more time at the church than in previous years. We also skipped our August business meeting.
- HAMs Across the Border: On August 29th, we held the 3rd Annual HAMs Across the Border at Peace Arch Park. We had approximately 45 amateur radio operators from both sides of the border attend. Jim and Deb from Bellingham, along with Mike and Janine from the Island and many other Rainbow Country Net NCOs, were in attendance.
- BARC Club History: We started a Club History page on the website after Graham, VE7ABC, emailed me with his memories of the club dating back to when he joined in 1975. Since then, I’ve had several other members contact me with additional information. We even discovered that a former Surrey club member still has his 1961 BARC membership card! You can check out the Club History page here:
BARC Club History - MeshCore: We completed our MeshCore order, with seven people submitting order forms. All of the items have since been delivered. Harondel gave a talk on September 18th, and Don, VE7FW, was on hand in case anyone needed help setting up their equipment.
- Don Menzies’ equipment donation: I also brought all of the test equipment we received through Don Menzies’ donation to the church so those present could look it over and determine what was worth keeping and what we should sell. Brian, VE7CTH, decided that we should keep everything. He has volunteered to store the equipment and create a list of all the items. I’ll be posting that list on the website, and the equipment will be available for club members to borrow.
Coming Up in the Next Few Months
- November 7th will be our Annual General Meeting and elections.
- November 14th is our Swap Meet, scheduled to be held at the Cariboo Hill Salvation Army gym, 7195 Cariboo Road. For more information, or if you’d like to reserve a table, visit:
BARC Swap Meet Information - We’re planning another trip to the Edmonds Community Centre to check the triband Yagi and run more tests on the coax before coming up with a game plan. Given its age, I’d like to see all of the coax replaced.
- We’re also looking at having a meeting, possibly in November, with Yoriko from the City of Burnaby and several pastors from the Salvation Army to discuss future plans and how we can work together. Topics will include:
- The radio station at Edmonds
- The IC-756 and Comet multiband vertical for Burnaby’s EOC
- The Yaesu FT-857 and Chameleon antenna for the Salvation Army’s CRU08
- Storage of the IC-7300 in the Nelson church basement for a grab-and-go/on-site station
- I haven’t booked it yet, but I expect our Christmas party to be either December 12th or 19th.
- Future merch. Possible items you might see for sale are BARC sealed coffee travel mugs and fleece jackets withe the club logo and your call sign.
That should bring everyone up to date on what’s been happening in your club. I’ll send another email in January.
73,
Dave Kennett, VE7BBV
President
Burnaby Amateur Radio Club