SARC's Christmas Party, held at the ABC Family Restaurant, was attended by 38 members, spouses and guests. President John VA7XB first introduced the Executive and Directors, new ham class graduates, and guests. After a hearty buffet-style lunch of roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, mixed vegetables, salads and dessert a brief business meeting was held, which included a Treasurer's report by Scott VE7HA and an RAC status report by Bill VE7XS. Fred VE7IO thanked Surrey Fire Services for their support of both SARC and SEPARS. He also reported on his visit with Mike VE7CLE, now in care at Kinsmen Lodge, and suggested that Mike would welcome visitors.
John VA7XB then showed a series of Powerpoint slides illustrating highlights of the past year. He began the presentation by stating that one of the guiding principles of the current Executive has been to strengthen SARC's relationship with other amateur groups, most notably Langley ARA and SEPARS. The Club leadership had also tried to present to the membership a variety of interesting activities through the year, in the belief that everyone would find some aspect of this great hobby to interest them.
Telus Tower: early in 2010, Telus donated a 100 ft tower on a trailer which has been used in a number of club events since that time and will be used in Coquitlam at the RAC Contest on Dec. 17/18.
Field Day: SARC joined forces with Langley ARA and SEPARS at Campbell Valley Park on Field Day with the result that the team ranked 2nd in BC and 3rd in Canada for Class 3A. In 2011, Field Day will be held at Grandview Heights School grounds, thanks to the support of Surrey Fire Services, who secured the site for us.
Flea Market: the outdoor flea market (again, with Langley ARA) was the first outdoor swap meet for amateur radio in this area. As it was a success, it will be repeated in 2011.
Repeater: In Spring 2010, an IRLP/Echolink node was installed on the 2 m repeater, supplementing IRLP on 440 MHz at the UHF repeater site. SARC is in the final stages of securing a new, improved repeater location on the roof of a North Surrey high-rise. This is expected to significantly improve VHF and UHF communication within Surrey and beyond. In addition, SARC's lottery application was successful and the club will be begin replacing obsolete equipment with new gear early in 2011. SEPARS was equally successful with their Lottery application and the two projects will complement each others' objectives.
Meetings: Several interesting talks were held during regular club meetings throughout the year on various aspects of amateur radio. Two highlights were the "Getting Started in Moonbounce" talk by Lionel Edwards VE7BQH and Langley ARA's presentation on their successful school project to communicate with the International Space Station via amateur radio.
Foxhunts: Anton VE7SSD, with the help of BC Radiosport, organized two Fox Hunts, one at Crescent Park in the Spring and a second one at Watershed Park in October, the latter in support of Delta ARA's Comfest 2010.
Ham Classes: Fall ham classes just concluded. Over a period of 10 weeks, Gary VE7AS guided a class through the technical material and regulations, with the result that 9 student passed the exam and received their call signs. Gary followed this up with a Beginners' Seminar in November.
Garage Sale: Through the generous donation by Andy Lo of 30 years' accumulation of electronic gear, SARC and SEPARS held a garage sale and raised a significant amount of money for club activities.
Vice President, Don VA7GL, then reviewed activities for the coming year, including Field Day, Foxhunts and the summer flea market, which will continue. At SARC's January 12th meeting, Gord VE7GRK will give a talk and demonstration of emergency life-saving measures that we all should know. Then in February, Amel VA7KBA will tell us about his experiences at the RDF competition in Croatia. Later in the spring, we plan to have a talk on tower safety, a demonstration of antenna modeling software, and possibly workshops on Grab & Go kits and antenna construction. In addition, the Club will be busy purchasing and installing new equipment at the improved repeater location.
