In May 1996 Ralph VK6KRB took over as President of WARG from Trevor VK6MS, who held the position from 1979. Our thanks to Trevor for such a long (17 years) stint as President.

The photo shows Dennis VK6LD on the left with Ralph weilding the pop rivet gun.
This was during the working bee at Tic Hill to install new solar panels donated by our Patron Mac VK6MM..

The panels were pop riveted to a metal backing plate before being lifted up the tower.

Words from WARG's President

Warg is primarily concerned with the installation and maintenance of VHF & UHF voice repeaters. By the end of 1997 it is envisaged that all existing repeaters will be operational and that the Avon Valley and Cataby repeaters will again be on air. With clarification of linking regulations our aim for 1997 is to link the country repeaters maximizing usage between country and suburban amateurs. Also in anticipation of the long awaited licence for our 29 MHz Gateway being granted, 1997 should see this Gateway turned back on.

Since the VK6RHW site at Toodyay became unavailable, there has not been an amateur repeater East of the Darling Scarp. A new site near Northam has been found. This site offers long tenure and has excellent coverage, particularly to the East, and is expected to cover much of Great Eastern Highway in either direction from Northam. An existing 100' mast in  excellent condition is already erected on site but needs to be purchased by WARG. Local Northam amateurs and all WARG members are encouraged to make donations to the Avon Valley Mast Fund. VK6RAV repeater could be on air this year.

Treasurer's report
Dispite the heavy licence fee increase WARG's finances are in good order. We have about $3,500 in the bank after paying $1,000 in licence fees. This is largly due to our faithfull membership, donations, such as the two solar panels for Tic Hill, and slow progress with projects. However with financial input to the new Northam repeater and planed expansion of the linked voice network, our money has to managed wisely. There are also costs associated with our digital BBS VK6BBR.

Our mebership stands at 142 as of March 1997.
Membership $17 for 97/98
To PO Box 425 Cannington 6107