MAARC Meeting Minutes

April 18, 2026

The April MAARC monthly meeting was held on Saturday, April 18 in Riverview at the  Riverview Fire Station. There were 26 members in attendance. After the call to order by  President Oscar, VE9OSK there was a minute of silence for Silent Key Lou Nickerson,  VE9LMN. A welcome to all was followed by introductions by all present. A morion to  approve the agenda with no additions was made by Peter, VE1WIN and seconded by Gilles,  VE9NW. The motion carried. A motion to approve the minutes of the March meeting with  one spelling correction was made by Mike, VE9MTV and seconded by Mike, VE1MY. The  motion carried.  

Mike, VE9MTV advised that he had been asked by Tri-County Ground Search and Rescue to  give a presentation on proper radio procedures. He has responded with the dates that he is  available. There has been no response. Gordon, VE9GC and Ross, VE9GCS cleaned to  connections to the UHF board on the Yaesu FT-736 Satellite radio. There was no  improvement to the receive. It appears it will need to be sent to St. John for possible repair.  

A financial report by Gordon, VE9GC and a Flea Market update by Ross, VE9GCS. Some  discussion about contacting the owner of the Liquidation store in St. Antoine about selling  some of the reported pallet of Harris speakers that we have given out as door prizes before.  Gordon, VE9GC knows the owner and will speak with him about this oƯer. Dave, VE9PTT  and Keith, VE9ELA are looking at ways to streamline the door prizes being distributed.  Possible use of the big screen to post the winning numbers.  

MAARC received and invitation from the WestCumberland Club to join them for Field Day.  After some discussion, it was decided for MAARC to hold their own Field Day event at the  home QTH of Mike, VE9MK. There will be a summer BBQ at Centennial Park this summer  and the Christmas Diner at Swiss Chalet Restaurant in Dieppe.  

It was announced that Rod, VE9HV has asked Mike, VE9LND to help with the MAARC  website. Mike, VE9LND has prior experience in these matters and has agreed to be our  webmaster. We thank him for his time. Under CARG, Mike, VE9MTV advised that he and  Ross, VE9GCS went to Kouchibouquac Park to attend a discussion on evacuating the park  in the event of a wild fire or other emergency. Up to 2,00 visitors a day visit the park on a  daily basis during the summer months. Ross, VE9GCS suggested a low power, 50 watt FM  transmitter like they have at colleges and universities might give coverage enough to cover  the whole park. This suggestion was well received. 

Melissa, EMO Region 6 director is leaving her position to accept the position of EMO  director for the City of Moncton. SMART 2026 will be on Saturday, May 2 in Springhill, N.S.  

Cam, VE9CAM advised that there was trouble linking the VE1RPT repeater with  Charlottetown repeater. A check of the UHF yagi used to access the Net showed a 4 to 1  SWR and will need to be replaced. Luckily, he was oƯered a 6 element heavy duty yagi  made for 450-470 MHz that will work on 440-450 MHz with an SWR of 1.5 to 1. Needless to  say, he gladly accepted it. It was discussed that the All Star Node will remain on the  VE9MCT repeater but will only be automatically switched on for the Wednesday and  Sunday Nets. Wednesday from noon to 1:30pm and Sunday from 2pm-4pm. Members can  access it using star 3 and then the node number just remember to knock it down when  finished.  

A motion to adjourn was followed by the cash 50/50 draw. The draw was won by Peter,  VE1WIN in the amount of $73.50 to him and a like amount to the repeater repair fund. The  Tek-Talk was presented by Gordon, VE9GC on the advent of SDR radios in amateur radio. It  was well received.