WestCumb  Amateur  Radio Club  VE1WRC

The final meeting of the WestCumb ARC for 2021-2022 took place Tuesday June14th, via Google Meet with twenty-two members participating.

Those in attendance included Jim VE1JBL, Bill VA1BIL, Borden VA1CBC, Brad VE1ZX,Dana VE1VOX, Don VE9CUB,

Eric VE1JW, Frank VE1FSM, George VY2GF, Gordon VE9GC, Jim VE1CHI, Joe VY2JC, Kevin VE1KEV, Lorne VE1BXK, Mike VE1MY, Mike VE9MTV, Peter VE1WIN, Rob VE1RMJ, Ron VE1BIC, Ron VE1BBB, Steve VE1SV, Terry VE1AS.

Regrets from Dave Harris VE1DEH, Mike Johnson VE1MWJ and Mike Masters VE1ZB. 

• A minute of silence was held for Roger VE1TNN and Betty VE1ETT Boss who passed away from their injuries due to a house fire in Fenwick.

• The club next welcomed Jim Cleveland VE1CHI from Crowes Mills NS as member #64 to our club.

• The Run for the Sun event will take place Saturday June 25th. Interested members are to meet in the parking lot behind CFTA Community Radio Station on Church St. Time TBA.

• There will be a road trip to Maccan on Sunday June 26th at 1pm to set up a radio and antenna for club member Rick Lloyd VE1RFL. Any members interested in participating contact Jim Langille VE1JBL at jimve1jbl@gmail.com.

• Anyone interested in taking over Net Control Coordinator for the WestCumb ARC 2 meter net contact Mike Masters VE1ZB at mikemasters@eastlink.ca

• After a motion and vote, the club has purchased three MTR repeaters from the NSARA to replace MSR repeaters around the county. The three sites will probably be VE1WRC Amherst, VE1SPH Springhill and VE1SDR Sand River. Thanks to Brad VE1ZX and Lorne VE1BXK for looking after the purchase of these repeaters and of course the installation of the repeaters in the near future.

• Any member interested in being on the executive and / or director for 2022-2023 bring it up to the membership at the annual meeting in September.

• The first meeting of the 2022-23 year will take place September via Google Meet on the NEW Meeting night of September 6th, 2022.

All future meetings will be on the first Tuesday of each month.

Everyone have a great summer and hope to see you all when the club begins a new year in September.

The April club meeting of the WARC turned out to be a very informative meeting and very well attended. There were 24 members and one guest including Jim VE1JBL, Bill VA1BIL, Brad VE1ZX, Dana VE1VOX, Eric VE1JW, George VY2GF,

Joe VY2JC, Ken VE1UF, Kevin VE1KEV, Lorne VE1BXK, Matt VA1MRT, Mike VE1MWJ, Mike VE1MY, James VE9WIN, Peter VE1WIN, Pravin VE9PKV, Robert VE1RMJ,Ron VE1BIC, Scott VE1CHL, Steve VE1SV, Terry VE1AS, Tom VE1TWH, Mike VE1ZB, Borden VA1CBC and guest Frank VE1FSM.

New business included help to Allen Ramsay VE1GAR from Amherst who asked to have someone from the club help him set up his ICOM 7300 radio. Kevin VE1KEV will work with Frank VE1FSM to help Allen get his station on the air.

Kevin VE1KEV will be setting up “Run for the Sun” put on by the YMCA. Amateurs will monitor the event from different locations throughout the race. Contact Kevin for more details.

Lorne VE1BXK mentioned work continues on upgrades to several repeaters around the area. A newer repeater has been acquired from the NSARA to be installed at Sugarloaf.

Mike VE1MWJ will be heading to PEI to meet up with George VY2GF and Joe VY2JC to investigate taking down several towers at the home of Jeff K1ZM. More on this at a later club meeting.

The club would also like to thank Steve Orr VE1OR for donating several Motorola radios for some of these repeater  upgrades.

Robert VE1RMJ mentioned that he will be continuing work on MESH very soon. More on this at a later date.

Mike Johnson VE1MWJ talked with Bill Ireland at the county office and Bill is all for the club and what it represents. He will talk will others at the office to see if we can return to the building to hold our meetings come September.

Mike VE1ZB mentioned that the club net was still very active with over 30 check-ins per week. A reminder to all members to support the net each Monday night at 8pm.

SMART22 is still a go for April 30th. After much discussions the event will take place and everyone will need to wear a mask or will not be able to enter the building. More on this on the club website.

Next meeting will be May 10th.

•   Under sick & visiting it was mentioned that Bob Perry VE1EDP is in the Amherst Hospital.

•   Under old business Robert VE1RMJ explained the operation of GOOGLE Meet and how we will be using it for our meetings. Jim VE1JBL has renewed Society status for the club and also has renewed our affiliation and insurance with the Radio Amateurs of Canada.
  

•   Under new business Robert VE1RMJ spoke of AREDN Mesh and how it could be used by the club. He will be setting up a committee to look into this. If anyone is interested in taking part in this project contact Robert at ve1rmj@gmail.com

•   Under correspondence Wayne Tuttle nephew of Bob Tuttle called Jim Langille to find out about Bob's radio equipment and how to sell them. I will be heading down to Pugwash soon to meet with him, log the radios and accessories and will them post them on the website for sale. It has not been finalize what will become of the funds from the sale. A notice will be put out to all members when these items are on the site. 

• Mike Johnson VE1MWJ has retired as Cumberland Regional EMO Coordinator. He will soon be cleaning out his office and the club may need to log the items they own and remove them. More on this at a later date.

It is with great sadness that I report that Bob Tuttle VE1DR has passed away at his home in Pugwash Junction NS.

Bob had been a long time member of the WestCumb ARC.

He was a regular net controller on the morning Wake-Up Net, back-up NCO for the WestCumb 2 Meter Net, one of several WARC operators that participated in the YMCA Cross border challenge, auxiliary member of Cumberland REMO and first operator of the VE1PFD ham radio station at the Pugwash Fire Hall and the North Cumberland Memorial Hospital.

Bob was also the “Talk-in Host” for the SMART Symposium guiding hams to the regular event in Springhill NS.

Bob was very interested in being part of the new VE1AMH Fusion repeater for Amherst and donated half of the funds needed to get the repeater up and running and the only request from him was to name the repeater in memory of his late wife Florence Tuttle.

Bob will be dearly missed by many hams around the Maritimes.

Below is a picture of Bob at his home in Pugwash Junction taken in October 2020 after we finished setting up his new fusion radio and installing a new dual band antenna at his home. The other photo is Bob (center) at the YMCA Cross Border Challenge providing communications for the event.  

Bob Tuttle VE1DR, this station has gone silent.