Minutes of RSGB Board Meeting 19 January 2008

Draft Board Meeting held on Saturday 19 January 2008
At The Novotel Hotel Southampton
Present :
Directors
Colin Thomas G3PSM President, Spectrum and Regulatory
Robin Bellerby GM3ZYE Public Services
Leslie Butterfields G0CIB Technical and Propagation
Don Field G3XTT Radio Sports, IOTA, QSL Bureau
Pam Helliwell G7SME RM Region 11 for Regional Board Member
Alison Johnston G8ROG RM Region 09 for Regional Board Member
Brian Reay G8OSN Amateur Radio Development
Dave Wilson M0OBW Convention, ETCC
Ex-officio
Peter Kirby G0TWW General Manager
Rupert Thorogood G3KKT Company Secretary
Robert Dingle G0OCB Treasurer
Guest Observer
Ole Garpestad LA2RR President of IARU Region 1
The President, Colin Thomas G3PSM, opened the meeting and welcomed the
members to
Southampton for the first meeting of the 2008 Board. He welcomed the
new members
and especially the guest observer Ole Garpestad.
1. Apologies
1.1 Apologies were received from Philip Brooks G4NZQ Regional Council
delegate, Jim
Stevenson G0EJQ Regional Council delegate, Jeff Smith MI0AEX
(co-opted) and
Anthony Vintner G0WFG Education (co-opted)
Meeting note: the General Manager raised the question of approval of
agenda. The
meeting agreed that the present system of prior arrangement of the
agenda will continue.
2. Reappointment of Honorary Treasurer and Company Secretary
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2.1 The Honorary Treasurer and Honorary Company Secretary were
reappointed by
acclamation.
3. Minutes of the previous meetings held on Friday 16 November 2007
and Saturday 17 November 2007 at the Premier Travel Lodge South
Mimms
3.1 The Minutes were agreed with the following corrections-
3.1.1. Para 3.1.4 planed should read planned
3.1.2 para 4.3 examination book sales are outstanding should read are
awaited.
3.1.3 para 7.4 should read present it at the next board meeting.
4. Matters Arising
4.1 Board Self Evaluation previous item 3.1.1 a more formal training
programme for
new Board members following their election. Ongoing.
4.2 Alignment of the Radio Amateurs examination with Vocational
Qualifications
previous item 3.1.2 The paperwork is now with the QCA. They have
responded
positively and said that it is awaiting signature. An announcement
will be made when this
is received. The General Manager said that our methodology appears to
have been
accepted by the QCA. Robin Bellerby asked whether the Scottish
Authority was
included. The GM stated that as far as he knows that is the case.
4.3 Accessibility of exam centres previous item 3.1.3 Brian Reay to
draft a letter
regarding guidance for exam centres. He reported that he is carrying
out a survey of the
exam centres before finalising this item. Related item 4.21.
4.4 IOTA development plan previous item 3.1.4 Dave Wilson to set up a
meeting with
John Butcher before New Year. This took place and a report has been
tabled.
4.5 Pathfinder Group Interim Report previous item 3.1.5. The
Pathfinder group is
closed but the Market Research is ongoing. There may be a presentation
at the next Board
Meeting.
4.5 Ofcom to be asked for statistical information previous item 3.1.5.
The General
Manager reported that his reminders have resulted in an e-mail
response that Ofcom are
still considering the request.
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4.6 Marketing Paper previous item 3.1.6. The General Manager said
there has been an
estimated cost of £6k. ongoing.
4.7 Payment of Travel Expenses by BACS Previous item 3.1.7. The
General Manager
said that this will be introduced during the year.
4.8 GB4FUN previous item 3.1.8 there had been a meeting following the
GB4FUN
Review report submitted by the President. ongoing..
4.9 Policy on disputes involving Amateur Radio Clubs and Club Members
previous
item 3.1.9 Angus Annan has produced a proposal. The General Manager
and the
Company Secretary will draft a modified bylaw.
4.10 Rallies previous item 3.1.10 the General Manager is still having
discussions re
dates of the Leicester Rally and whether the Society should play a
bigger part. The
General Manager said that this is ongoing and he proposed an increase
in HQ and Board
attendance.
4.11 HFC previous item 3.1.11. The wash-up meeting. Dave Wilson is to
meet Mark
Allgar to conclude this.
4.12 RadCom Editorial situation, previous item 3.1.12. The General
Manager said that
the situation had been stabilised and he was reviewing various
options. This is still
ongoing.
4.13 Marketing International Magazine Initiative previous item 3.1.14.
The General
Manager reported that this is in draft form but is still being
reviewed by the German
partners.
4.14 Directors listing at Companies House previous item 3.1.15 The
General Manager
and Company Secretary to draft amendments to the Memorandum and
Articles of
Association and the bylaws. The General Manager said that this is in
hand.
4.15 Olympics 2012 previous item 3.1.16. Don Field reported that this
item is on track
for the March meeting.
4.16 Enforcement by Ofcom previous item 3.1.17 Ongoing and there is a
draft MoU
from Ofcom.
4.17 contacting lapsed members previous item 3.1.18. The General
Manager said that
he had reviewed the various approaches and that the most efficient way
is by phone.
However the response from the Regional Council had been unenthusiastic
and he will
endeavour to explain it again.
4.18 Examination Charges previous item 4.4 General Manager to
ascertain the
situation regarding exam charges. Ongoing.
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4.19 Contests previous item 10.1.3 Colin Thomas, Don Field and John
Gould to
formulate an item for RadCom on Contest Management. Closed.
4.20 HF Spectrum Management previous item 10.1.4 The President (Angus
Annan) to
send a note of appreciation to John Gould and Alan Messenger for their
contribution.
Completed and closed.
4.21 Instructor?s Books previous item 10.5.2 Brian Reay to bring a
proposal to the next
board regarding books for Instructors. He is awaiting the result of
his survey of Clubs and
proposes to send book to clubs and independent instructors. Ongoing.
Related item 4.3.
4.22 Legacy Policy previous item 7. The Treasurer said that this will
be redrafted for the
next Board Meeting.
5. Financial Report
5.1 The Financial Report had been prepared by Marilyn Slade Financial
Controller and
was presented by the Treasurer.
5.2 November Accounts
5.2.1 The result for November was a surplus of £27.1k this is 7k
better than forecast. This
included a donation from the RCF for £20k.
5.2.2 Subscriptions were better than budget by £1.6k. The margin on
books was lower
than budgeted with an adverse variance against budget of £0.4k.
5.2.3 Commercial expenses were lower than budgeted for by £6.3k. £1.5k
of this will be
incurred in December but the balance has either already been utilised
or will not be
needed now.
5.3 Year to date
5.3.1 The position is now £21.5k deficit which is better than the
projected £30.9k deficit.
This includes £8.2k preliminary re-location costs, £4.4k for the
Marketing project and
£1.7k AMSAT donation.
5.3.2 Exam income has performed better than budget throughout the
year, particularly the
Foundation Licence.
5.4 Don Field raised the question of overspend of the Board and
Committee members
expenses and suggested that they should have a budget. The Treasurer
felt this should
remain flexible but agreed that this should continue to be carefully
monitored. The
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General Manager will make a note in his letter to the Committee
Chairmen to remind
them of their obligations in this respect.
6. Commercial Report
6.1 The Commercial Report had been prepared by Mark Allgar M1MPA
Commercial
Manager and was presented by the General Manager.
6.2 Advertising.
6.2.1 He said that advertising continued to be a problem even though
there had been an
improvement in revenue.
6.3 Books
6.3.1 He said that the sales were on track. The members offers
continued to be
satisfactory apart from a problem with the review of the Alinco PSU.
He announced that
there will be a souvenir RadCom to coincide with Pat Hawker?s
retirement from the
Technical Topics item. Leslie Butterfields G0CIB said that he thought
the Alinco review
had been good and that he will respond to the complainant.
6.4 Membership.
6.4.1. He reported that there were more members at the end of the year
than at the
beginning.
6.5 Rallies.
6.5.1 There has been no activity but attendance by HQ staff is planned
for Blackpool and
Kempton.
7. Portfolio Reports
7.1 Spectrum
7.1.1 The portfolio holder, Colin Thomas G3PSM, had tabled a report
and said that this
recorded the results of WRC07.
7.1.2 He said that a secondary allocation on 136 kHz had been approved
with an
exception for a number of Middle Eastern countries.
7.1.3 He said that discussions on 500 kHz had been problematic but
decisions on the
continuance of use in the UK will be decided shortly.
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7.1.4 The 5 MHz proposal was abandoned although some countries might
admit it on a
national basis. Ole Garpestad commented that the CEPT Working Group FM
will raise
the matter in IARU Region 1.
7.1.5 A meeting of the ETCC will be held shortly
7.1.6 The Society will present a number of papers to the Region 1
conference in Croatia
in November. See agenda item 11.
7.2 Radio Sport
7.2.1 The portfolio holder, Don Field G3XTT, had tabled a report and
said that there was
not a lot to note. He said that the contest committee and NGIS
occasionally wished to
access the Society membership database. The General Manager said that
this was not
technically possible at the moment but the system will be
re-engineered following the
move of HQ however politically this may not be possible either and
that access may have
to be limited.
7.2.2 The General Manager asked if the contest supplement planned for
the May edition
of RadCom will be available and this was confirmed.
7.3 HFC, IOTA (Special Projects).
7.3.1 The portfolio holder, Dave Wilson M0OBW, had tabled a report and
said that there
had been a meeting with the IOTA manager and that a record of the
meeting was
attached.
7.3.2 He said that he had not received invoices for the work on the
software and added
that assistance in maintenance of the software may be required.
7.3.3 He said that there had been a surplus in excess of £700 from the
HFC and that a
contribution had been made to the clubs concerned. He confirmed the
dates for 2008 and
was looking at additional streams. Leslie Butterfields G0CIB offered
to approach the
Technical Committee for contributions.
Action: Leslie Butterfields to approach the Technical Committee for
contributions to HFC2008
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7.4 Amateur Radio Development
7.4.1 The portfolio holder, Brian Reay G8OSN, had tabled a report and
said that the
Train the Trainers sessions are proving increasingly popular and
thought that 25% of the
instructor population had been covered.
7.4.2 He said that Mauritius had enquired about the International RAE.
7.4.3 He continues to have concern about the RCF Examination
Committee. He
commented on the paper by Anthony Vintners (item 7.6) which questioned
the gap
between the Foundation and the Advanced exam and the high pass rates
of the
Intermediate Exam. The General Manager commented that he was concerned
that the
Chairman of the Examination Committee was extending his remit. He felt
there should be
a constant review of the syllabus and the flexibility to achieve any
changes but these
should be dealt with by the Standards Committee.
7.4.4 The General Manager asked about increasing the Training the
Trainer sessions and
Brian responded by saying that there several possible applicants to
assist.
7.5 Technical and Propagation matters
7.5.1 The portfolio holder, Leslie Butterfields G0CIB, had tabled a
report and said that he
had received the antenna book review from P Swallow G8EZE and a letter
of thanks had
been sent.
7.5.2 He paid tribute to the late Roy Clarke G8AYD and his work on a
Pacemaker
project.
7.5.3 He suggested that there should be a review of the Propagation
Studies committee
and the Technical Committee but it was decided to look at the
Technical Committee only.
7.6 Education Portfolio.
7.6.1 The Portfolio holder, Anthony Vintners G0WFG, had tabled a
report which was
noted.
8. Board/Co-option
8.1 A paper had been circulated by the President with suggested
allocation of Portfolios
amongst the Directors. He explained his proposal for the co-opted
directors.
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8.2 Brian Reay expressed concern that the ARDC examination connection
had been
broken and thought that the proposed arrangements would not be
satisfactory.
8.3 The General Manager outlined the requirements for teaching and
examination and
that these areas need to be grown quickly. He said that Jeff Smith had
been part of the
original planning teams. He was concerned that the Train the Trainers
had not been
developed as originally envisaged and said that the ARDC had been
required to develop
the questions. He said that ideally there should be additional
portfolios but there were
insufficient experts to fulfil this. Dave Wilson recalled that the
original Train the Trainers
weekend was very successful although very expensive but thought that
the current system
was preferred by the trainers. Don Field commented that there now
appeared to be three
roles in the education background and that the vacated portfolio (EMC)
needed to be
filled. Don added that he was unhappy about the conclusion drawn about
the ARDC.
8.4 The President agreed to reconsider his suggestion for Brian Reay
and Jeff Smith and
will submit a revised portfolio list to the Board.
9. Committee Chairmen Appointments
9.1 The General Manager outlined his recommendations verbally.
9.2 Don Field expressed some concern about the Contest Committee and
hoped that
another chairman could be found in due course. He also worried about
the VHF awards
and it was agreed that the General Manager would write to the Awards
Manager seeking
his views to a proposal to merge the HF and VHF awards.
Action: General Manager to write to the VHF Awards Manager.
9.3 Taking into consideration the comments made in the previous
paragraph it was
agreed that all current appointments be confirmed for a further year.
10. Project North
10.1 The General Manager had tabled a paper and spoke briefly about
the progress. He
confirmed that the sale of Lambda House was proceeding to plan.
10.2 He spoke particularly about the staff situation and said that the
process was
proceeding satisfactorily. There are six posts that will have to be
replaced and two staff
will have to be recruited for the Bletchley Park section.
10.3 He said that there has been considerable interest in the QSL
Bureau and that he had
issued a Proposal and Invitation to Tender. However there were several
reports that QSL
sub managers had not been informed about the plans. The General
Manager told the
Board that he had briefed the QSL Manager fully on the proposal and
that he expected
the QSL Manager to brief his team accordingly.
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10.4 Brian Reay asked about the continuity of the Examinations during
the move period.
The General Manager told the Board that he was fully aware of the need
to keep the
examinations running and that he was confident that this will be
achieved. Asked about
the date of the move, he explained that he could not confirm this yet
but everything was
currently going according to plan and that he expected that it would
be in late March.
..
11. IARU Region 1 Conference Review of Papers
11.1 The HF Manager, had forwarded five papers for consideration, with
the Microwave
Manager submitting a further three papers.
40m Band Plan
136 kHz Band
Combating Deliberate QRM
Spectrum Management and Contests
Beacon Definition
23cms Narrowband Image and Data
Microwave Beacon Bands
Beacon Coordination
11.2 John Gould, G3WKL had proposed that the paper on Spectrum
Management and
Contests should be withdrawn. There was some discussion as to whether
this should be
submitted as it could then be seen that the Society is taking the
matter seriously. The
President suggested that the paper should be revised by John Gould and
Don Field and
resubmitted to the Board.
Action: John Gould and Don Field to revise the Spectrum Management
Paper
11.3 The Board reviewed the 40m Band Plan but were anxious to see some
text attached.
Action: John Gould to revise the plan, add prose and conform to the
pro forma
11.4 The paper on the 136 kHz Band was tabled and was approved for
submission.
11.5 The paper on Combating Deliberate QRM may be the most contentious
but the
paper was approved for submission.
11.6 The paper on Beacon Definition was approved for submission.
11.7 The paper on 23 cms Narrowband Image and Data was approved for
submission
11.8 The paper on Microwave Beacon Bands was approved for submission.
11.9 The paper on Beacon Coordination was approved for submission.
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12. AOB
12.1 Confidential minute
12.2 The General Manager asked about the constitution of the IARU
Conference Team in
November. The President proposed that this should comprise Angus Annan
as delegation
head, the VHF Manager, the HF Manager, the Microwave Manager and the
General
Manager. This was agreed.
12.3 Robin Bellerby asked whether there should be a paper on Emergency
Communications for the IARU Conference and this was agreed.
Action: Robin Bellerby to prepare a contribution on Emergency
Communications for review by the next Board meeting
12.4 Dave Wilson asked whether there would be any special tribute to
Roy Clarke in
RadCom following his demise.
Action: Dave Wilson to seek a possible contribution.
12.5 Chairman of the Management Committee. The Management Committee
had
recommended that Angus Annan should become Chairman. This was
approved.
The Meeting was closed at 1615.
The date of the next meeting is scheduled for 15th March 2008 in
Blackpool (possibly
preceded by a meeting the previous evening).
o-o-o-O-o-o-o
.