DECEMBER 2005

KEEPING THOSE FARAWAY HORIZONS
A LITTLE CLOSER WITH AN HF RADIO

Newsletter Contents

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SO YOU WANT TO MAKE CONTACT

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Material for Issue 1/2006 Newsletter

Closing date for material for inclusion in the next Newsletter is 11th February 2006,

This is YOUR Newsletter :
 it would be pleasant to have some new articles from other club members 
Send by email: jhnewport@dodo.com.au

or snail mail:   PO Box 7087, Toowoomba MC, Q, 4352

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The H F Radio club is proud to have the following businesses advertise in this issue of the newsletter:
                                                             
AUSTRALIAN MOTOR HOMES
BARRETT COMMUNICATIONS
CMCA (CASINO VILLAGE)
CODAN (a list of dealers is available from our office)
KEN TAME & ASSOCIATES

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From the Desk of Terry and Kay

Well we are back home again after 5 months in the west. Although the weather was not kind to us the countryside in the south of WA is just beautiful. While in Albany we caught up with Merv to whom we had been regularly speaking on the WA 5.30pm skeds. If you are anywhere on the west side of our great country, give Merv a call and if in Albany he would love you to call in and say hello. It was great to catch up with so many WA HF members and put faces to voices. We would not have met many of these members if it had not been for the HF radio as they were camped in spots where there was no telephone reception as well as the areas were not marked on our maps.

We spent a week in Adelaide, which enabled us to pay a visit to Codan, which was most fruitful. They gave us the news of a new radio, which will be out very shortly. They also have a new sales team keen to attend our meetings where necessary to run extensive workshops. The first workshop will be at Casino in April in conjunction with our A.G.M.

The Camp Oven Festival at Casino on the October long weekend was a great success with a vast mixture of competitions, entertainment and I am sure all the HF Club members who attended had a fabulous weekend.

The Special General Meeting at Paterson was a great weekend; details appear elsewhere in the newsletter. I would like to give special thanks to Campbell and John Judd for their effort and time in preparing the Constitution that was approved at this meeting. Included in this newsletter are nomination forms giving you "The Members" the opportunity to nominate for positions on the Committee to help keep this club growing. The Club is now in a strong financial position with a positive future and growing membership. I will not be continuing as President, as I believe after 3 years there needs to be new ideas, direction and enthusiasm that comes with new blood. If you feel that you, or someone you know, would lead this great club into the next phase, please nominate them.

With Christmas just around the corner we look forward to the Lowood (Qld) and Catherine Hill Bay (NSW) Christmas parties and to seeing you all there. We hope the other states are organizing their HF Christmas get-togethers.

Have a merry Christmas everyone - Keep it turned on - Terry and Kay

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The next Annual General Meeting is set down for
Saturday 22nd April 2006 at Casino Village

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General Meeting, Paterson, 22nd October 2005

Most of the matters raised at the General Meeting following the SGM are covered elsewhere.  It was a good opportunity to bring those present up to date.  Among the matters raised were:

Bases:- With the move of Ross & Judith Allen from Booral to Kempsey, we do not have any fully manned bases (I don’t think we realised how spoilt we were).  An attempt is being made to virtually have ears at Casino base full time but it is being trialled and it is too soon to see whether it is successful.  The Broome base is now closed and alternatives are being considered, though they depend on some technical developments, which, though in progress, may take some time to eventuate.

Learning to Use the Radio Properly:- A matter of some concern to the Committee – it appears that a significant proportion of our members are not aware of even all the basics so
(a)   hands-on training will be attempted at Casino and other get-togethers and
(b)   the feasibility of issuing basic instructions to all members will be investigated..

Availability of LPG at Discounted Prices:- Allgas Supplies Pty Ltd of Beresfield, near Newcastle, are offering a 10% discount to Club members on LPG refills (the price is very, very attractive!)  They also provided the BBQ and gas for the Club’s use over the weekend.

Radios for Sale:- Members are reminded that new and second hand radios can be purchased through the Club, which is beneficial for the Club as well as for the individual member.  If anyone has to resign, they should contact Ray Lawson who may be able to arrange to sell the radio for them.

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Paterson Weekend Social

It was great to see so many members, including some very new ones, some Associates and two visitors from Bathurst, turn up for the weekend at Paterson Showground in conjunction with the formalities of the Special General Meeting and also a more informal General Meeting to bring those present up to date.

While some people arrived well before the weekend and stayed till the Monday afterwards, it was also good to see those who could only make it for the meeting and the usual excellent dinner on the Saturday evening.

The highlights of the weekend included the arrival of our revered President, with Vice-President John and also Alan Tesch in tow.  Perhaps the emphasis should be on the TOW as Terry did require some assistance in that department!  Helen Ashlin, in conjunction with the barbecue chefs and all the people who provided the range of salads, organised the meal on Saturday evening (where were all the sausages?)  We should not forget Bob Locking who was the basic organiser of the weekend, even if he had to work in the dark because very few people would let him know if they were coming (less than 10 out of the 50), which seems to be about par, even though it makes catering difficult, almost impossible.

The weather was good to us, more was learnt about radio usage and there was much fellowship – all in all, a very successful and enjoyable weekend. 

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FIELD OFFICER'S REPORT

It’s time again to put pen to paper and tell all what has been happening to “Peg Ray” and the H F Radio Club over the past months. The committee was very pleased with the roll-up of members who attended the HF meeting at Ross River Dam, Thuringowa on the weekend of 19-22nd August. Members enjoyed a delicious bar-b-que at our members’, Arthur& Heather Doubleday, house and a great evening, with 35 members attending, was had by all. As Arthur said, in the last newsletter, it will be on again next year. We will advise you of the dates in the next newsletter.

At the CMCA Maryborough Rally, I gave a Seminar on ‘Radio Communication when on the Road’, which was well attended. We welcomed the new members who had purchased Radios and joined the club at a Bar-b-cue on the Sunday, which was well attended. 

Thanks to Ron and his workers for a job well done. There could be a report on this in this newsletter to whet your appetite for the next.

We are at the Base at Casino Village as we write and have been listening at Sked times to see how our members are coming in from all over Australia on the base radio 2525 and are pleased with the results.

On checking our telephone interconnect we note that there are not a lot of calls going through. May we suggest, that if you have trouble using this system, that you report it to the Secretary by phone and it will be checked out with the committee.

Now I am on call for help. As you all know, our club is a dealer in HF Radios and can supply new Codan NGT, 950 Barrett Radios & second-hand radios. It is very important that you all work for the benefit of our club by helping to find prospective members for the club to follow up with the sale. I have said before that the profit we make from these deals, is put towards New Base Stations to give you better coverage of this country.

There are some members who would like to know more on how to get the best out of their radio. May I suggest you listen on our Sked times 7.30am and 4.30pm Eastern Standard Time (EST). Don’t be shy, have a talk to other members and they will be happy to help. (Please keep your talks short and allow more members to have a go)

Safe and happy travelling - I’ll be listening.

Regards,  Ray Lawson Field Officer

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My friend, Margaret, and I attended the meeting at Paterson, & did enjoy ourselves. This was our first occasion at an H.F. Radio function, so we were able to make some new friends and meet old ones we already knew. We did enjoy ourselves & are hoping to go to Catherine Hill Bay in November.

If anyone would like to contact me regarding the Dunedoo Bush Poetry Festival (page 17) or Hartwood 2006 Campfires & Country Music Easter Weekend, April 14-16th (page12) please phone me on  02 49 506 857 or email melrh@netcentral.com.au

Mel Hall

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Double Check Before Using Channel 52

It was pointed out at the Paterson General Meeting that Channel 52 (5135kHz) is also licensed to at least one other organization. Further investigation shows that there are two in the North Queensland area:

• TC Communication Qld Pty Ltd in Townsville, who operate a local telephone interconnect base on that frequency;
• Magnetic Palm Islands Rent-a-Yacht, MIRAY Pty Ltd, who have two brief skeds per day. 8:00am and 5:00pm for general and safety contacts with their customers. They only last about 15 minutes, so we cannot begrudge them this short amount of time. This is also their designated emergency frequency.

Note that the latter skeds are immediately after ours, so we could, without thinking, interfere with them if a couple of our members decided to drop down to a lower frequency to continue a discussion started after making contact during one of our skeds.

To avoid interfering with their calls (unlikely though it might be), members are asked to take particular care to listen for any traffic before using this channel, especially if you are in North Queensland. (NB. Their selcalls are not used by us).

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Nominations for the Committee

Click here to print out a nomination form

Under our new Constitution, there will be vacancies on the Committee to be filled at the AGM.  Our secretary, Pam Tustian, has had to resign because of Garry’s health, which means that there will be an election for Secretary too, though only for one year as that office is normally vacated in odd numbered years.  The other Office-bearers due to be elected are for two-year terms (till the next even-numbered year, 2008).  Thus the vacancies and lengths of office are:

• President (elected for two years)
• Secretary (elected for one year only on this occasion)
• Treasurer (elected for two years)
• Three Ordinary Committee Members (elected for one year)

The current incumbents are all entitled to be nominated for re-election (elections for the Vice-President and Secretary positions are held on odd-numbered years).

Under the new Constitution, if there is more than one nomination for President, Secretary or Treasurer (or more than three nominations for Ordinary Committee Members), a postal ballot has to be conducted (so that all our members, not just those who can get to the AGM, can have a say).

The Procedure: Nominations must be signed by the persons nominating and seconding the nominee and by the nominee, stating that he or she is willing to accept nomination.  The nomination must also show the position(s) for which the nominee is standing.  Nominations must be in the hands of the secretary before 11th February, 2006.  Nominations may be accompanied by a “credentials” statement of no more than 100 words stating the experience, objectives etc. of the candidate.

If there are no nominations for any particular office received by 11th February, 2006, nominations will be called for at the AGM and those present and with legitimate proxies shall vote if there is more than one nomination.  Nominations shall be accepted for members not present providing there is written evidence that the nominee is willing to stand for the position.

If only one valid nomination for any particular office is received by 11th February, 2006, that person shall be declared elected at the AGM.

If more than one valid nomination for any particular office is received by 11th February, 2006, the Returning Officer (who shall be appointed by the Committee but shall not be a member of the Committee) shall cause a preferential postal secret ballot to be conducted amongst the members.  The ballot papers will be distributed with the Newsletter due out early in March and will have to be sent back to the Returning Officer by the time stipulated on the instructions accompanying the ballot papers.

Where there are less than three nominations for the positions of Ordinary Committee Member, those candidates will be automatically elected and the remaining positions will be filled at the AGM.

The March edition of the Newsletter or the material accompanying the ballot papers will contain the credentials statement of any candidates for positions requiring elections.  The Newsletter will also state which positions remain to be filled at the AGM and positions filled unopposed.

Where a member is nominated for more than one position, his or her name will be included on ballot papers required for each position but, if the candidate is successful in filling a more senior position see the list above), votes cast for him or her in the lesser positions will not be wasted because they will pass to the next candidate according to the preference on each ballot paper.

If the Vice-President (whose position is not up for election on this occasion) is nominated for President then:

• If he or she is successful, an election for the office previously held (the Vice-President) will be conducted at the AGM;
• If he or she is unsuccessful, the candidate will remain in their previous position.

If anyone requires more details on the voting, please see the book “Guide to Meetings and Organizations” by N.E.Renton, who describes the various methods of voting, with examples.

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THE SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING AT PATERSON

The Special General Meeting was held at Paterson on 22nd October and lasted less than four minutes, as the two notions on notice (i.e. the adoptions of a new Constitution, and of new By-Laws and Standing Orders), as listed in the last Newsletter, were passed unanimously and without any discussion at all. There were 42 full members present and notifications of two proxies.

We have received approval for the changes from the Office of the Department of Fair Trading, so the changes are now fully effective. The immediate effects of the changes are that the financial year will end on 31st January 2006 and postal voting for office-bearers (President, Secretary and Treasurer in 2006), and committee may be required (see the preliminary notice of the AGM and the call for nominations for the next Committee [p.10-11]).

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TIC REMINDER

Members are reminded to ask the person to whom they are speaking to ‘Dial 99 and hang up’ as they complete their conversation. This ensures breaking the contact. Without this members will be charged for the entire 6 minutes.

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CROSS WORD ANSWERS

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OTHER SOCIAL EVENTS

General Meetings were held at Paterson on the weekend 22-24th October, 2005. There were 29 rigs in attendance and 56 members for the BBQ lunch. A good time was had by all, and talking to the members who you only speak to on the radio was great. Now we can put faces to Selcall numbers!

The gathering at Catherine Hill Bay Bowling Club was attended by 13 rigs and the Christmas dinner held on the Saturday night was excellent. On the Sunday at morning tea, we drew the raffle for the Christmas hamper and 6 other prizes. The hamper was won by Dennis and Elsie Goodsell. By the time we were ready to leave on the Monday, we had web feet as it rained for the 4 days we were parked.

If everything goes to plan we will see you all at Lowood next October 2006 for the Queensland get together and back to Paterson for the General Meeting on 10-12th November 2006.

Safe Motoring and great travelling.

Jazabel  (No photos taken due to rain!!)

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NEW CLUB MEMBERS - TERRY AND TRISH HOLLYOAK

Terry and Trish Hollyoak are new members who attended their first HFRC function at Lowood, November 2005. Terry was a building contractor and Trish his secretary/typist/computer operator. Terry is a pilot, so is quite confident with the use of radios, although the setting up of his Codan 9323 proved a ‘bit of a challenge’ . They originally had a SAT phone for a trip up Cape York as the ‘back-up’ team for 5 trail bikes. They found the SAT rather inefficient when it came to keeping in contact with their family when camping in isolated areas. Terry and Trish have a 4WD with a wind-up camper on the roof. They are recognizable by the black water tank that rides in front of the camper part on the roof. Please say ‘Hi’ to Terry & Trish when you are next on the SKED.

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PHOTOS

Our esteemed President arriving at Paterson after a ‘Round Australia Trip’. He appears (?) to be bogged! Surely not! Oh dear! Oh no! HELP!

The highlights of the weekend included the arrival of our revered President, with Vice-President John and also Alan Tesch

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The Editor cannot accept any responsibility for material/articles/photos etc received after each deadline. Where suitable, they will be included in the following Newsletter.

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You know you're living in 2005 when...

1 You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.
2 You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3 You have a list of 16 phone numbers to reach your family of 4.
4 You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5 Your reason for not staying in touch with friends is that they don't have e-mail addresses.
6 When you go home after a long day at work you still answer the phone in a business manner.
7 When you make phone calls from home, you accidentally dial " 0 " to get an outside line.
8 You've sat at the same desk for four years and worked for three different companies.
10 You learn about your redundancy on the 11 o'clock news.
11 Your boss doesn't have the ability to do your job.
12 Contractors outnumber permanent staff and are more likely to get ‘long-service awards’.
AND..............
13 You read this entire list, and kept nodding and smiling.
14 As you read this list, you think about forwarding it to your "friends."
15 You got this email from a friend that never talks to you anymore, except to send you jokes from the net.
16 You are too busy to notice there was no #9.
17 You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9.
18 & NOW U R LAUGHING @ yourself.

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CHRISTMAS GATHERING AT LOWOOD FOR 2005.

Hi to all members,

Most of our members would know that this is the fourth gathering Glynn & Ruth have organized for the members at Lowood. Last year we had 19 rigs, this year we had 20. As always it is very hard to cater for a group when you do not know how many members will be in the area at that time. With the same helpers as last year I think all members went away happy after a great time.

I know Glynn & Ruth would like to thank Noel & Jean, Denny & Esme, and Pam & I, for all the help before and during this gathering. We would also like to thank all the members who helped Terry with the cooking etc. As always Jade, (Glynn & Ruth’s granddaughter) did a great job of selling the raffle tickets & helping me (Garry).

As arranged, Pam & I arrived at Lowood on Wednesday the 16th November so someone would be there to welcome members as they arrived. Ken & Ann were the first to arrive on Tuesday 15th. Most members who brought their rigs arrived on Thursday or Friday. We had sausages & salad on Friday night, the main Christmas meal on the Saturday lunch; left overs Saturday night & on Sunday we had ham off the bone & chicken. Sunday night we went to the pub for a meal. The only thing we asked members to do was to bring a plate for the main Xmas meal on Saturday. Most of us had five meals for the grand total of $8.00. This varied on the meal they had at the pub. 

Our main raffle, a Large Hamper, was won by Ken & Ann. And we would like to thank those members who kindly donated items large and small that made up our many, many other prizes.

Most of the members left on Monday 21st.

MEMBERS WHO ATTENDED.

From Glynn, Ruth and their helpers.
HOPE TO SEE MORE HERE NEXT YEAR

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER QUIZ

The following pneumonics (initials) and abbreviations are used through this and the last Newsletter.
How many of them do you know?

Fax…………………………… 
4WD ……… …………… …………...
PO    …………… …………… 
LPG ……… …………… ………….…
AGM ……… …………… ………….. 
Inc. ……………………………
MC (in an address) ……… ……… 
kHz ……… …………….………….….
BBQ ……… …… …………... 
ABN ……… …………… ………….
TIC ……… ……… …………. 
EST ……… …………… ………….….
SGM ……… …………… …………..  
tba …… ……… ……….……
NGT ……… …………… …………... 
etc ……………………………
%  ……………………………………. 
HFRC ……….. ……………. ………. …………

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EDITORIAL COMMENT

It seems a shame that those organizing various weekend functions for the Club have to “work in the dark” as far as numbers attending. Perhaps a concerted effort by members to notify social weekend organizers of their intention to attend, would be a good, mature, idea!! Come on, everyone, be fair to the organizers. How can they tell how much food to order when only 10 people tell them they are coming but 50 turn up!! Safe travelling. See you on the road, somewhere.

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You can’t talk to us with your radios turned off 
so
“KEEP YOUR RADIOS TURNED ON”