A lively and sumptuous Annual General Meeting capped off a great year for the club.
President Joe gave a report outlining the activities over the past year. The treasurer reports that the club’s finances are healthy.
The existing committee was re-elected with Peter, VK3TPM elected to the role of Vice President. Richard, VK3LRJ was elected as a new member of the team.
Chef Joe, once again worked his magic in the kitchen turning out a wide selection of dishes which were enthusiastically consumed by all in attendance.
There was general discussion about activities and projects for the year ahead including field trips, outdoor operation, a bus trip to something of interest.
Due to the buoyant state of our finances and a generous donation from a member we may be able to fund a bus trip for members.
There is talk of arranging for some sort of club clothing or perhaps a hat.
Members were surveyed about what they’d like and there was a call for ideas on how to improve the club activities in the year ahead.
All up it was a warm and friendly meeting with lots of enthusiasm for the role of the club in our lives.
Annual report 2024 -2025. (President’s report)
The Club has had another excellent year. First, I would like to thank our secretary Graeme for all the work that he has done to keep the club members up to date and informed. I would like to thank Barry our treasurer who has kept our accounts in order and of course our committee for their interest and guidance to the club. I would like to give a special thank you to Peter Marks our web master for maintaining and keeping our web site up to date showing all the various activities of the club members.
Year in Review.
September 21st, 2024. Brian Richardson VK3CCR gave a very informative presentation about radar covering both ground based and military plane mounted systems.
October 19th, 2024. Craig Norris, VK3CDN, from Icom gave us one of the first demonstrations of the new 24GHz features of the IC-905 (with transverter). Graeme, VK3CDO, showed a Vietnam era portable military radio set called an A510 which was in beautiful condition.
November 16th, 2024. At that’s month’s meeting at Woodend, we were honoured to have a presentation from popular ABC TV weather presenter, Paul Higgins, VK3EN. Paul took us on a journey through the history of weather prediction in Australia.
December 21st, 2024. This year we had a BBQ which was a great success. This year’s event was the best turnout in living memory quote unquote. Thanks to Ron and Barry. (Annual trivia event.)
January 18th, 2025. Absolutely perfect weather for the well-attended annual club family picnic day on Mount Macedon.
February 15th, 2025. Meeting at Woodend was an auction of equipment donated from a deceased estate. All items were sold, and the money was donated to the club. A thank you letter was sent to the family, from the club.
March 15th, 2025. At the March meeting of the club at Woodend we had an excellent presentation by Graeme, VK3CDO, who showed a substantial collection of tried and proven gear for field operations.
April 26th, 2025. David’s talk was about portable operation including competitions with Summits on the Air (SOTA), Parks on the Air (POTA) and Worldwide web sites of each of the competition sites. He showed his portable gear including home brew rechargeable battery systems.
May 3rd/ 4th. 2025. The club was represented at the annual WIA dinner and held a Stall at the Bendigo ham fest the next day. VK3TPM was a presenter on the Sunday topic Freedv.
May 17th, 2025. Meeting was well attended with show and tell of some electronic items and general discussion at the various tables. Interesting topics were covered.
June 21st, 2025. VK3EB, Dallas about his project in Shepparton. Peter VK3TPM about Free DV and AI.
July 19th, 2025. Jim then spoke about a recent emergency exercise in Woodend that simulated extreme storm weather which had taken out power and phones. People were injured and, apart from finding things in the dark, the other challenge was communication.
Presenters:
Thank you to all our guest presenters and club presenters. We are always looking for members to do a presentation on their interests. Please let Graeme Wilson VK3CDO or Peter VK3TPM our vice President know if you plan to do a presentation or know of a guest presenter. Check out the calendar page for what’s planned.
New joining Members:
Colin Eichenberger. VK3CHF.
Asher Kroon.
Peter Burne.
Warm Welcome to MRARC and enjoy the fellowship of the club.
Club meetings:
Monthly meetings are held on the third Saturday of the month at the Woodend RSL. We also have a gathering on the first Wednesday of the month at the Gisborne CFA, followed by lunch at the local eatery. The club nets continue to be well represented on the Wednesdays 2M at 8.00pm and 80M at 8.30pm. The club thanks the volunteers who run the nets. If there is anyone that would like to run a net let me know.
On behalf of the membership and the committee I again welcome you and hope you find your time with us a pleasant experience. Finally, we would like to thank all club members as it would not exist without you. Thanks again for a great year. Looking forward to the ensuing year. Wishing everyone good health and happiness.
Quote from Albert Einstein:
“The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education”
MRARC President.
Joseph Balassa. (President and retired educator)