Who am I and where are we?
Well, we had an interesting few years where we couldn’t meet face-to face due to COVID. Then Ottawa City Hall stopped renting the meeting rooms we used. We’ve had a bit of a challenge filling the OARC leadership roles. So I am very grateful to have others step up with me to ensure the future of this great club and the future of amateur radio in Ottawa. We can leave something great for the next generation. Let me introduce myself and welcome our new leadership team.
I am Roger Egan VA3EGY. I’ve been a ham since 2018 when I got my basic with honours and I upgraded to advanced in 2023. I’m not a contester (but I respect those who are) and I’m not on the HF bands much. I’m so darn busy organizing amateur radio related activities that I have also not been on the local nets much either. But with all of your encouragement, I promise to do better.
What have we done lately?
I think many of you know that I am obsessed with ensuring the future of amateur radio in Ottawa. I hope that I can convince some of you to join me in that quest. Some of you already have. I want to see the club be more community focused. Several of our members have been doing a lot of work with Scouts Canada over the past several years and we plan to continue and expand our involvement. Many of the same people brought the first Youth On The Air Camp (YOTA) to Canada (at Carleton University for one week in 2023) There were 30 young people, aged from 15 to 25, from 6 countries in attendance. Of particular significance is that we raised $60,000 to equip a radio shack at Carleton University with 4 radios and 5 antennas. This allowed us to deliver a world-class experience for the Camp and the donated equipment has allowed Carleton University to re-establish their amateur radio club. This was such a success that the ARRL published a front-cover article in the October 2024 edition of QST magazine. The article was written by several of the campers – not the adults. This is in keeping with the philosophy of YOTA. It has to be youth-led or the kids will not come. Some of you have met these so-called kids and many of them are world-class amateur radio operators. They contest, they make things, they operate satellites, they make, launch, and track pico balloons and they talk to the astronauts on the International Space Station. How many of us have had the opportunity to do these things in a lifetime? Many of these youth are under the age of 20! These are the folks we want to engage and support in their journey into our great hobby. We can do this and we will.
OARC leadership team
In order to conform with ONCA (see more below), we may need to change the composition and titles of the OARC leadership team. Joining me on the team as vice president is Harrie Jones VE3HYS. Harrie will continue to be our repeater and technical chair. He was my partner in crime to bring YOTA Camp to reality. We will continue this focus together. Our treasurer (pro tem) is Daniel Boulet VA3GLB, and our secretary (a relatively new ham, eager to help the club) is Ryan Klomp VA3WSO. I wish to thank Ed Strange VE2MPP who had to step down as president for health reasons in October 2024. Ed remains on our team as past president. Ed Sich VE3WGO remains as both a director-at-large and our Carp Hamfest chair. Rick Furniss VE3IHI, who has served in many roles for the club in the past, is back to take on the important role as our membership chair. Neil Herber VE3PUE, who refers to himself as the web janitor, has agreed to continue to play a pivotal role in providing the team and the OARC membership with the IT infrastructure and information content we need to run the club. Mike Kelly VE3FFK remains as our ISED delegated examiner and Bill Byrne VA3IEN remains as the Radio in the Park (RITP) chair.
Please join me in welcoming the new leadership team. I am honoured to be working with them all.
Membership matters
The club is in the process of altering its bylaws to conform to ONCA (again, see below). This may result in a change to the types of members. We are also in the final stages of implementing a new membership records system, As a result, we ask that you please wait to start or renew your membership until these issues are resolved. Any payments already made will be honoured regardless of upcoming changes, if any.
Once the new membership system is in place, you will receive an email inviting you to renew or join. If you have questions about membership, please send an email to membership@oarc.net and Rick VE3IHI will respond.
Monthly member’s meetings
In case you haven’t been out to see the new RAC headquarters and the world-class radio facilities that have been built there, we have decided to move our monthly members meeting to RAC headquarters to give you this opportunity. Thanks to Craig Delmage for making this offer.
At our Wednesday, November 13 2024, we will be joined by Norm Rashleigh, president of the OVMRC, who will be giving us a presentation on how to get the most out of HamClock. And as well, I’ll be updating members on our plans for the remainder of this year and next. I hope to see many of you there in person or via Zoom. The meeting start time has changed to 7:00pm because we need to be done by 9:00pm. Please plan to arrive no later than 6:45pm so we can start on time.
In December, we’ll be having our traditional Christmas social. There will be no presentation, so there won’t be Zoom session either. Please drop by in person. We want to see everyone, even if only for a short chat. There will be snacks and non-alcoholic drinks. We have signed up to be part of this year‘s Ottawa Food Bank Holiday Drive. We can’t be successful without you and many more families than ever need our support. I will provide more details about this before the December meeting.
RAC Winter Contest
Thanks to Dave Green and Mike Kelly doing some early planning, we will be back to participating in the RAC Winter Contest on December 28 2024. RAC has decided to host based on the unqualified success of their Canada Day contest this past summer. Lucky participants will be able to operate the new radios at RAC HQ. You can read the rules on the RAC website. If you’re interested in participating as an operator, or logging, or both, then send an email to our RAC Director North/East, Craig Delmage VE3OP/VE3KKU at craig.delmage@rogers.com . Craig will be arranging the schedule. New hams are encouraged to participate and will have an opportunity to both observe experienced contester and get on the air or help out with logging.
Bylaws and ONCA
We are in the process of amending our bylaws to be aligned with ONCA, the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act. It’s important to note that as of October 19, 2024, any existing bylaws (for any not-for-profit) must conform to the ONCA rules. If any clauses in our bylaws contradict the ONCA rules, then the ONCA default wording for that clause will prevail. Similarly, if our bylaws do not specifically mention some matters, then the default ONCA wording also prevails. All this to say: we need to make the necessary changes. The last time the OARC bylaws were updated was 1979!
In our transition to the new bylaws, we will have to rename and redefine certain positions on the OARC leadership team. More on the topic of elected and appointed members of our leadership team will be available soon.
Be radio active!
In closing, I want to reassure members that we have an exciting future ahead where we will continue to provide opportunities for everyone to be “radio active” through club activities as well as public service events. There will be more community focus, and we will do whatever it takes to ensure the future of amateur radio in Ottawa. We want to leave something good for the next generation.
All my best and 73,
Roger Egan VA3EGY
The Prez
Last Updated on 2024-11-10 by AdminOARC