It was great to see everyone on Thursday, October 9th, our first meeting back after the summer break. We were so glad that so many people could still make it, after we had to move the meeting from our usual Wednesday to Thursday this month only. Future OARC Monthly Meetings will continue to be on Wednesday evenings.
We had an enthusiastic crowd of 28 people in the room and 14 people online. At every meeting, there are half a dozen people who don’t register in advance. This means we can’t set up the room with the right number of chairs and ensure we have sufficient coffee and snacks. This is a gentle reminder to register in advance using the “OARC Monthly Meeting” calendar entry in our online calendar, visible on every page of our website. Click on the calendar entry and then, once inside, click the link to get a free ticket. The ticket link is normally active two weeks before the meeting.
Our move from Zoom to MS Teams for online participants seems to have gone very well. We made active use of the chat throughout the meeting, receiving questions and comments. We appreciated everyone’s patience while we ironed out some audio-visual wrinkles – this will continue to improve at future meetings.
Monthly Meeting volunteers needed
The Club needs a couple of volunteers to help every month with the audio-visual and online aspects of the Monthly Meeting. The audio-visual role includes: setting up and taking down of the projector, screen, mics, and speakers, as well as managing video and audio during the meeting. The online role includes: using MS Teams, admitting people from the online “lobby”, muting and unmuting microphones, and responding to comments and questions in the chat.
Whether you have the know-how or would like to learn, please email Roger by clicking Contact the Prez. He’ll set up a time to talk with you about volunteering for one of these roles. No obligation. Just talk.
The October Monthly Meeting featured three presentations: (1.) A bit about batteries: Lead Acid, Lithium Ion, & Nickel Iron by Wayne, VE3CZO, (2.) Preview of Fall 2025 Soldering Skills and Kit Building workshops by Wayne, VE3CZO, and (3.) Report on the record-breaking OARC Carp Hamfest 2025 by Ed VE3WGO. All three presentations appear below, along with a photo gallery.
Presentation 1: A bit about batteries: Lead Acid, Lithium Ion, & Nickel Iron by Wayne, VE3CZO
This month’s meeting featured a 40-minute deep-dive on battery technologies by Wayne, VE3CZO, followed by a Q&A. We are especially grateful to Wayne for his patience. He was originally slated to present at our May 2025 meeting …but we ran out of time. Thank you Wayne! Wayne’s presentation “A bit about batteries: Lead Acid, Lithium Ion, & Nickel Iron” is available here:
Presentation 2: Preview of Fall 2025 Soldering Skills and Kit Building workshops by Wayne, VE3CZO
We also asked Wayne to talk about his upcoming Soldering Skills and Kit Building workshops. These sessions will be held on Sunday mornings from 10:00 am to 12 noon at Scouts National Headquarters (same as our monthly meetings) on November 2nd, November 23rd, December 7th and January 11th. Then the group will decide how they want to proceed. The sessions will provide information about what tools and supplies you need. The Club will provide some tools for those who don’t have any or aren’t able to purchase everything they need before the second session. In this workshop you will learn how to solder and desolder wires, thru-hole and surface mount electronic components onto printed circuit boards (pcb). Then you will build at least one kit which will be provided as part of your fee. More details on the workshop are available in Wayne’s presentation “Soldering Sessions Preview Fall 2025” here:
Presentation 3: Report on the record-breaking OARC Carp Hamfest 2025 by Ed VE3WGO
Ed, VE3WGO, provided a report on this year’s OARC Carp Hamfest which was a huge success. The arena was nearly at capacity! Attendance was an all-time high with a record-breaking 540 participants in total, including vendors, visitors, and volunteers. There were eight clubs and service organizations, eight commercial vendors, and 48 private vendors. We gave away 30+ Door Prizes, including the Grand Prize of an Icom IC-V86. Mike VE3FFK supervised nine exams, with two people obtaining their Basic certificate, two achieved Basic with Honours, and one passed their Morse Code (CW) exam. There’s more detail in Ed’s presentation “OARC Hamfest Summary 2025” here:
OARC Monthly Meeting – November 2025
See you all next month on Wednesday, November 12th at 6:45 at Scouts Headquarters or online. Watch the online calendar because that’s where, a bit closer to the time, we’ll update the meeting agenda and add the link to register in advance. Thanks!
OARC Monthly Meeting – October 2025 – Photo Gallery
Last Updated on 2025-10-19 by Eve