Annual General Meeting 2009

Secretary’s Report

The year 2008 to 2009 has been another busy and successful year for Brickfields Amateur Radio Society. Despite three resignations last year and the sad and sudden death of a longstanding and loyal club member Dennis Long G0PRJ, club membership last month  recovered again to reach full capacity. New members have included those already licensed as well as those new to the hobby, and taken together there is enough expertise and enthusiasm to maintain healthy support for club activities.

Last summer saw a busy programme of events, some well-established and some new to our calendar. Altogether eleven Special Event stations were organised of which five were full weekend events. Additionally we manned a one day stall promoting our hobby for Age Concern at Riverside, Newport and, as usual, members attended the Wimbourne Hamfest. The winter months also saw an improvement in organised events. As well as our annual Christmas Dinner at The Crab & Lobster in Bembridge organised by George G3JLN, members enjoyed a Quiz Night arranged by Brian G1YXG, talks on The Organisation of Rallies by Paul Berkeley M0CJX, CW by Ricky M0CGO and Oscilloscopes given by Doug M0DSF.  February also saw members providing a day’s entertainment for the Wootton Cub Scouts, and in April members attended the Kempton Park Rally, with special thanks to Paul Berkeley, and a Table Top Sale in Bembridge to support the IW Raynet Group. Needless to say, many of these planned events require time and effort, and thanks are due to a small number of members who do not need to be named individually, but who between them make the necessary arrangements, supply transport, set up, operate and dismantle all the equipment. Production of QSL cards has now been streamlined and the computer generated cards, which now include a colour photograph, are easily generated at minimal cost. This year’s summer calendar looks every bit as busy, and we urge all members to help out or at least try to support these events. In anticipation, a copy of our summer programme is herewith attached.

During the year, and thanks to the efforts of our tutors, no less than seven new licences have been gained amongst our members, six being foundation licences and one intermediate. This is a very creditable achievement for the club, and congratulations and thanks go to those concerned. 

Turning now to club facilities, with funds holding up well over the year the committee has been able to make improvements in the club shack by purchasing a good quality HF transceiver and, quite recently, a dedicated 2 metre multimode transceiver. The former, which now feeds a recently installed doublet antenna, gives convenient coverage of all nine amateur radio bands. The latter serves as a much-needed educational aid for trainee operators and offers improved facilities for 2-metre operations. To assist portable operations the committee also took the decision to purchase an automatic ATU which speeds up and simplifies band changing in the field. The considerable cost of these three items together with essential repairs to one of the laptop computers has been affordable through the regular income generated by good club attendance and sensible purchasing through known contacts.

All things considered, Brickfields Amateur Radio Society is currently in a healthy position. We have good members who afford useful external connections with the amateur radio fraternity but share the necessary skills and knowledge to make advances in the hobby. We have a steady influx of new members, a proven educational programme, a busy and varied programme of activities and improving club facilities, hampered only by the lack of available space at times within the club premises. However, our need for the production of regular newsletters remains a priority as does a QSL Manager.

 

David A’Bear G0VZV

Hon Sec B.A.R.S.