The purpose of the Net is to overcome the lack of member contact
since General Meetings of the VK6 division were discontinued
As with the General Meetings of the past,
visitors (non-members) are welcome to attend

Call Sign VK6WIA 146.750 MHz Lesmurdie Repeater
and 80 Metre Gateway on 3.564 Mhz controlled by Will VK6UU

 Net Control Tony VK6TS - Meeting Opened at 1930 Hours

No formal check-in called for except 80 Metres
VK6AT Geof (Mandurah) VK6AFA John (Binningup) VK6BH Bill (Allanson)
Some thunder storm activity noted.

Those participating were:
VK6AFA John (Binningup) VK6AT Geof (Mandurah) VK6AX Geof (Perth) VK6BH Bill (Allanson)
VK6CSW Clive (Perth) VK6GU John (Perth) VK6HAO Peter (Perth) VK6HK Don (Perth) VK6 Councillor
VK6JG Gwynne (Perth) VK6JP Jim (Perth) VK6JS Jack (Perth)
VK6KZ Wally (Perth) VK6 Councillor & Federal Director VK6LZ Cliff (Perth) VK6 Councillor & VK6 President
VK6OO Bruce (Perth) VK6 Treasurer VK6PNS Norma (Mandurah) VK6QM Gerrard (Singleton)
VK6RF Ron (Perth) VK6TS Tony (Perth) VK6 Councillor & Broadcast
VK6UU Will (Perth) VK6 Councillor & Federal Councillor VK6XH Keith (Perth) VK6 Councillor

VK6TS Tony opened the net and invited participants to raise points of interest for discussion.

Amateur Radio Magazine

VK6AT Geof: -Felt that the format of Amateur Radio Magazine could be improved
and should include articles on computers and the internet
. VK6CSW Clive: Was intrigued by previous comments and felt that
the latest (December) edition was particularly good as a radio magazine.
VK6RF Ron: Must agree that the latest AR was very good and was easy to read,
was also interested in the popular web site addresses included in the February issue.
VK6TS Tony: Commented that it was necessary to first find someone to write the articles
on the internet and computing and that we could not expect the editor to write everything himself.

Exam Service

VK6QM Gerrard: Questioned how do we get the name of
a non-active examiner removed from the official WIA list?
VK6UU Will: Asked who was written to and by whom
VK6QM Gerrard: (The Peel ARC) wrote to the exam service over a period of three years.
VK6UU Will: Will make enquiries.

VK6AFA John: Was generally satisfied with the articles in AR but
thought that some radio related computer articles would be appropriate.

Also commented on interfering signal this afternoon on 2 metres.
VK6TS Tony: The less said the better.

VK6JS Jack: Would like to see more explanation of
future planning of the Federal body written up in AR.

VK6TS Tony: Currently the revamp of the Federal Business plan is in progress and
there has been a phone hook-up (phone conference) of the various
state Federal Councillors and the Executive as mentioned on Sunday's news.
Invited VK6UU to comment.
VK6UU Will: Explained that the Business Plan is a discussion paper and is quite detailed.
He felt that opening up the discussion to the general membership would not
be constructive at this stage in that many diverse opinions would be generated.
On the phone conference he would prefer to wait until the minutes
of the meeting were available (shortly) before commenting.

VK6KZ Wally: Explained that the Institute has been eating into
it's reserves for some time and discussions were on how to stop.
On AR a significant saving of $28K
Per annum in production costs has just been achieved.

 Federal Directors Phone Conference

Discussion points during the phone conference were
80 Metre DX window
LF band provision
Future of secondary operation on the 3.4 GHz band
Future of Exams
High power operation for EME
Reciprocal Licensing
HF to VHF/UHF Gateways
Electrical Magnetic Radiation
Schedule of the committee meetings for 1999
The agenda for the ACA/WIA Liaison committee

VK6OO Bruce: Felt that the only person who should be writing
to have an examiner's name removed from list was the examiner himself.

VK6CSW Clive: Thanked Wal for his comments.
Quoted a VK3 in the "over to you column"
as stating a membership of 4,000
was looking after the interests of 16,000 amateurs
i.e. 12,000 hangers-on.
Thought that all amateurs should be obliged to
give financial support to the hobby (not necessarily the WIA).
VK6TS Tony: Likened the problem to Union/Non Union membership.

VK6JP Jim: Reverting to the Examiner problem,
asked if an examiner had to be a licensed Amateur (No).
VK6PNS Norma: Stated that the examiner in question was previously
a member of the Peel ARC but was no longer active due to ill health.

JOTA

Changing the subject to JOTA,
Norma stated that she had sent out a packet asking for ideas to increase the
falling participation and had received only one reply.

VK6QM Gerrard: In answer to question on examiner status
stated that it was not necessary to hold an AR license,
and that a name was to be removed from list if the examiner
had not held an examination in the last 18 months.

VK6BH Bill: Commented on the 16,000 being supported by the 4,000
- someone on the first net had suggested that part of the licence fee should go to the WIA.

VK6LZ Cliff: Commented on the Examiner time limit of 18 months
- with the current demand for exams this could expire quite frequently.

Part of the license fee to go to the WIA was really not on and would be very unpopular.

WIA Membership Subscription Increase

VK6GU John: Quoted from a VK 4 packet which stated that
pensioner grade membership was to rise by $6 p/a plus a $2 contribution for IARU.
VK6UU Will: Federal opinion was that some grades were being carried at a loss
and that in the current state of Federal finances this could not continue.
The IARU one-off levy on all members of $2, was discussed
in detail and it was decided that VK needed to be represented.
VK6GU John: $6.40 plus $2 adds up for fixed income retirees,
it will be interesting to see if they vote with their feet.
VK6LZ Cliff: Supported some form of subsidy for Pensioners.
Commented that if they voted with their feet, then they would not get AR
which was what was being subsidized at present.
VK6KZ Wally: Stated that whatever the recommendation.
any change of fee could only be voted on at a Federal Convention,
and if passed could not take effect until 1/7/1999.
Currently 10% of the membership belong to the "X" grade
which does not subscribe to the AR Magazine.
VK6QM Gerrard: (The hobby) needs an increasing range of people in AR.
He is a WIA member and intends to remain so.

We have to get more members,
why not put the magazine on the news stands ?

Also commented that retaining non active examiners on the list
could have a negative effect on interested new-comers.

VK6TS Tony: How do we recruit new members, and retain existing members ?
This could be discussed at the next on air net on the third Tuesday in January
 please think about it in the meantime.
Also how much is the Morse requirement deterring new amateurs ?

VK6UU Will: Putting the Magazine on the news stands has been discussed over many years,
believes that the Institute is not allowed to do this - does anyone else know ?
VK6RF Ron: A fair while ago when he was in VK3 it was held not to be legal.
VK6KZ Wally: It relates to Tax law, being a tax free organisation
it was thought better not to get involved.
VK6HAO Peter: Commented that if cost of mag was a problem, then make it bi-monthly.

Why can't exams be marked by the state examiners (invigilators)
at the time and candidates told the result ?
VK6KZ Wally: Memorandum of Understanding (between the ACA and the WIA) dictates this,
and also states the minimum fee to be charged.

VK6HAO Peter: Fees could go to states as an incentive to recruit. (Part of it does)
VK6XH Keith: "X" grade is not for financially disadvantaged, it is only for Non-AR.
According to a survey he recently carried out, the Pensioner base want to keep AR.

VK6QM Gerrard: In answer to Peter, result used to be given to candidates after exam,
but was cut out because (it was alleged) some people in the Eastern states were selling the answers.
The exam service has promised to get results out by Christmas
if exam papers are returned by 7th December, but year not mentioned !

VK6HAO Peter: Is assisting two people (Maxine and David) at the Quad Centre
to study for their novice amateur licenses, he would like to obtain
old copies of novice questions and is OK in the Call Book.
(I think he already has the book 1000 questions)

VK6NPS Norma: Thinks that JOTA is being taken over by the internet,
as numbers were substantially down this year.
VK6HAO Peter: Was involved at Paxwold and understood that numbers were down
because "they believed it had been diverted to the internet".
VK6TS Tony: Perhaps there is a case for different days for Radio and the Internet.
VK6UU Will: Asked the retorical question
" how successful is JOTA in getting kids interested enough to get into AR ?"
"How many amateurs became interested because of JOTA ?"
VK6HAO Peter: Spoke to around 60 guides (at Paxwold)
only 2 wanted to go further, most just wanted to speak on air.
VK6HK Don: Heard it said that only a fraction say 0.1 % follow through.
Considers main advantage is PR showing AR to general public (parents of participating kids).
VK6AFA John: Has been involved in the past, very few followed up, but public relations is important.
Comparing AR with the internet - no contest, had no doubt which would win.
VK6NPS Norma: Compared it with ALARA - only 4 of the local ladies get on the WA net.

There was no call back of listeners
VK6AX Geof: Enjoyed net but would prefer an eyeball meeting.
VK6JG Gwynne: Wished everyone a Merry Xmas.

Net closed at 2045 hours
Notes prepared by VK6LZ apologies for Errors and Omissions if any.

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