1. Introduction. 2. Club Officers

Transcription

1 1. Introduction As a club officer you have the privilege and responsibility to continue our proud tradition of service to the City of Alexandria and to the ham radio hobby in general. This guide is meant as an outline of things that should, or could, happen throughout the year. It also serves as a historical record of useful information. This is meant to be a living document; please update it at least annually before handing it over to next year s officers. 2. Club Officers The following people have had the privilege of serving as club officers in past years. The club By-Laws impose a two-year term limit on any one position. This is a very important aspect of the club s rules as it prevents dictatorships and gets more people involved in club leadership. Year President Vice-President Treasurer Secretary KI4MWP N8IK W9TCE KJ4FUU 2011 KI4MWP N8IK W9TCE KJ4FUU 2010 K5OTZ N4ASX KI4MWQ KV3W 2009 K5OTZ KI4MWP KI4MWQ KV3W 2008 N4ASX KI4MWP N4CWP N8OQ (ex-kg4qwc) 2007 K7DID KI4FON N4CWP KG4QWC 2006 K7DID KD4FBT KB3IWA KI4FON 2005 WV8AA KD4FBT KB3IWA N5LF (SK) 2004 N8IK WV8AA K7DID N5LF 2003 N8IK WV8AA K7DID Karen Bunn 2002 AF2D N8IK KG4FSP, WV8AA Karen Bunn 2001 KA3RQR AF2D 2000 KA3RQR AF2D 1999 N4ASX KA3RQR 1998 N4ASX KA3RQR 1997 KA4GFY N4ASX 1996 KA4GFY N4ASX 3. Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws The Alexandria Radio Club, Inc. was founded in 1954 in Alexandria, Virginia. We are an American Radio Relay League (ARRL ) affiliated club. Our Articles of Incorporation were signed on January 26, 1970, filed with the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC), and officially incorporated on January 30, The Articles state that a quorum shall consist of 10 members present at a meeting. Revisions to the By-Laws require a 2/3 majority of the members in good standing in order to pass. A transcription of the Articles of Incorporation and the By-Laws are in Appendices 1 and 2. 1

2 4. Club Elections The election of officers to serve for the following calendar year occurs at the November meeting. A nominating committee of two or three members is appointed by the President at the October meeting and they then solicit interested members. Sometimes this involves a little arm-twisting and negotiation. Usually the negotiation involves teaming a person experienced in club leadership with one less experienced for the President and Vice- President positions. The By-Laws require that all four officers be licensed amateurs and that the President be licensed for at least two years prior to taking office. We also ask for nominations from the floor at the November meeting. Typically no one throws their hat in the ring and we end up voting in the nominees for next year by acclamation. 5. ARRL As mentioned above, we are an ARRL affiliated club and have been so since July 23, Our ARRL Master ID number is There are some excellent resources at and that are worth reviewing periodically. Club officers are expected, but not required, to be ARRL members. At least one officer must be a member in order to submit the annual report on the ARRL web site. Additionally, at least 51 percent of the voting membership must be ARRL members and at least 51 percent of the voting members must be licensed radio amateurs for the club to maintain its ARRL affiliation. 6. Club Programs Historically, the Vice-President has been charged with developing meeting programs. Starting with 2012 we have an appointed Program Chairperson. Anything remotely related to ham radio is up for consideration. A survey of the membership in January can be useful for determining if there is broad interest in certain topics. Traditional meeting topics include the club s annual budget in January, Virginia QSO Party in January or February, our Division Director (currently Dennis Bodson, W4PWF) in March or April, Field Day planning in May and June, elections in November, and the holiday party in December. The Vice-President distributes the meeting agenda to club officers 1-2 weeks prior to the meeting. 7. Meeting Locations & City Relationships For 2012 the club meetings have moved to the City s new Police Department and Department of Emergency Communications headquarters building just off Quaker Lane and Duke Street at 3600 Wheeler Avenue. Thanks to Eric Parker, KG4DZA, for arranging this new meeting place. Per the By-Laws, we meet on the 2 nd Friday of each month. The monthly meeting starts at 7pm. 2

3 In 2010 and 2011 we met at the Inova Alexandria Hospital on N. Howard Street. From 1997 to 2009 we met at City s Fire Training Center at the west end of Old Town on Jefferson Street behind the Nanny Lee Recreation Center. From 1954 to 1997 we met at the Red Cross Chapter House in Alexandria. The Chapter s move from the old site on Royal Street to their current location created unacceptable antenna and parking problems. We have repeaters at the hospital located in the elevator machinery room on the rooftop so it is very important to maintain good relations with the hospital administration. At the same time it s also important to maintain our relationship with the City s Fire Department and other emergency planners. Charlie McRorie had been our main contact until he retired in the Spring of Appendix 3 is a list of key contacts with the City. 8. Club Callsign - W4HFH Rich Adamy, KA4GFY, has been the trustee of the club callsign for years. There are no term limits on the club callsign trustee. However, if the incumbent vacates the position, the successor trustee must be an Extra Class licensee so that the club has full Amateur spectrum privileges during contests and special events. We think W4HFH is the original club call. There are currently no memorial/silent key call signs used by the club. We also have a club call KK4GEI for use with a DSTAR hotspot which serves the Fairfax county area located around Fort Belvoir. This hotspot is maintained by that callsign s trustee Cameron Mackenzie, K6CLM. 9. Club Logbook & QSL Cards Ian Keith, N8IK, is the club QSL manager and responds to requests for the club s QSL cards. Our beautiful QSL cards were designed by Deanna Lutz, K9DID (ex-k7did). We also have a Logbook of the World (LOTW) account at Rich Adamy, KA4GFY, has the credentials (certificate and password) as the club s callsign trustee. We upload our master Field Day log and Virginia QSO Party log to LOTW each year. We use as our primary logging software. We have envelopes at the FISTS bureau and the ARRL incoming QSL bureau (for DX cards). Different club officers check our post office box regularly for U.S. cards and bureau envelopes. To encourage QSLing the QSL Manager should share any incoming cards at the following meeting. Our FISTS number for CW contacts is 2963 ( 10. Field Day Field Day is always held on the 4 th full weekend in June. A Field Day chairman should be appointed in January or February. The location needs to be determined and reserved as early as possible. ARRL provides some useful planning tools at Other planning can generally wait until early May. We debrief Field Day at the July meeting. 3

4 11. Repeaters We have more repeaters than any other club in the National Capitol Region. Our analog repeaters are located on an apartment building at the west end of Alexandria. We do not advertise this location, even within the club, as we do not want other organizations learning the location through casual conversation. We have come close to losing this rooftop privilege in recent years. We now use the club callsign and a tone of Hz for all of our analog repeaters. None of our repeaters have autopatch or Echolink capability. We ve had issues with Echolink in the past and have determined that the problems and hassles with its availability have outweighed the benefits. We conduct a regular weekly FM net at 8pm on Thursday on the repeater that is open to all amateurs. A net on some other frequency and/or mode follows if there is interest. The net is directed but is pretty casual. Net control operators are assigned/volunteer at the monthly club meeting for the upcoming nets. Our four D-STAR repeaters and the transmitter of our 6-meter repeater are located in the elevator machinery room on the rooftop of the Inova Alexandria Hospital on N. Howard Street. Marshall DeBerry, KI4MWP, is our D-STAR coordinator and the gateway administrator. We have always used the club callsign for all of our D-STAR repeaters. For many years Jim Schwitz, WA4CCF (SK), was the repeater technician. Tim O Neill, KT4MV, and Mike Washall (no call yet) are now the repeater technicians. 12. Social Media Social media on the internet has grown immensely in the past few years with no end in sight. Some will say it s a distraction and not real ham radio. However, social media is here to stay and is a valuable tool for recruiting a younger generation to ham radio. a. Our web site is The webmaster is Roy Wright, K4AXQ. b. Ian Keith, N8IK, is the administrator of our Facebook page located at We also upload pictures taken at club events for safekeeping here. c. Our QTH.net mailing list is administered by Ian Keith, N8IK, Harry Jones, N4CWP, and Roy Wright, K4AXQ. There are a lot of hams and non-hams on this list who are not members of the club, and not local for that matter. When a person signs up for the list an administrator will immediately set the moderation bit. This eliminates spam altogether unless someone who is unmoderated has their address hijacked (it s happened). The only people with immediate posting privileges are the list administrators and current office holders (elected or appointed). d. We are in the process of setting up and migrating our QTH.net mailing list to Google Groups at w4hfh@googlegroups.com. Ian Keith, N8IK, is the owner. This new list will also be moderated. The only people with immediate posting privileges are the list administrators (owner and managers) and current office holders (elected or appointed). 4

5 e. We have a Yahoo Group that originally had an ARES function. Ian Keith, N8IK, is the administrator. We don t currently use this group for anything except sending out an automated monthly meeting announcement. The group members are fewer in number and are not the same as the QTH.net mailing list. This list needs to be retired. f. We have a QRZ.com page at maintained by Ian Keith, N8IK. This page changes very infrequently. g. We have a Twitter account and we Cameron Mackenzie, K6CLM, is our Chief Tweeter. The address used to establish the Twitter account is info@w4hfh.org. Ian Keith, N8IK, is also an administrator for this account. h. We have a LinkedIn account at The address webmaster@w4hfh.org was used to establish the account. i. Passwords for each of the above accounts are maintained by Ian Keith, N8IK, in a separate document. j. Our D-STAR website is which brings up the current status of the various linked DPlus reflectors and those users who last transmitted on the W4HFH D-STAR repeater system. The direct registration page for users desiring to register their callsigns on the W4HFH D-STAR system is The domain registration for this site is done through as they have the infrastructure to handle the dynamic IP address that Verizon provides, and includes the following services: domain registration ( custom/private registration, forwarding/relay, and annual SSL certificate provisioning. The domain registration/ forwarding is currently set to expire in July 2012; the relay in January 2014; and renewal of the SSL certificate in November Marshall DeBerry, KI4MWP, maintains the status of the w4hfhdstar.org site. Users who request a D-STAR registration generate an that is forwarded to Marshall who in turn checks the user s status (valid callsign, already registered elsewhere, etc.). If the user passes this check, Marshall starts the approval process by allowing the user into the W4HFH D- STAR system. He then sends an back to the user that outlines the next steps that the user must do in order to be fully registered into the global D- STAR network. A sample is shown in Appendix 4 to this document. 13. Holiday Party The annual holiday party is our December meeting. Depending on the venue s availability we don t always have the party on the 2 nd Friday in December. The location must be confirmed and the reservation made in the spring as restaurant rooms for large groups book quickly in this area and will be unavailable if we wait until the fall to start planning. We try to keep the cost around $25 per person and we also try to avoid a room rental fee. 5

6 14. Club Finances Our annual budget is presented by the club treasurer and voted on at the January meeting. Our largest expenses are Field Day, the post office box, and the annual club liability insurance policy. Monies collected are directed to our General fund, communications trailer fund, and D-STAR fund (sub-accounting under the General Fund). We have also created an education/training fund at the request of the estate of Cory Hamasaki, AH6GI (SK). Repeater maintenance has historically come out of the General fund. We have a checking and two savings accounts located at the Department of State Federal Credit Union on 1630 King Street in Alexandria. Our sub-accounts are designated with a suffix. Anytime we want a check to go to a particular account, we must endorse it with "Alexandria Radio Club" and then the account number, -, suffix number. We currently have the following set of suffix numbers: 00 Regular Share Account, 08 Communications Trailer, 01 Basic Checking, and 09 Education Fund. If we do not put the account number with a suffix, it will go by default into the 00 Regular Share account. Checks drawn on our account require two signatures. We had a debit card at one time but it has been canceled as it only requires a single signature. Other items meriting a regular review include: a. Dues and Membership are currently $20 a year, $30 for families. Club membership is open to any amateur or non-amateur interested in ham radio. b. We currently run a 50/50 drawing at club meetings. Tickets are sold at the price of one ticket for $1, with an incentive of six tickets for $5. If a holder s ticket number is drawn at the club meeting, they receive half of the monies collected. Some winners generously elect not to collect and all the proceeds are deposited into the General fund. c. Repeater maintenance costs are relatively infrequent and monies needed are drawn from the General fund. Our analog repeaters do not use a telephone line for control or autopatch. All control functions are via radio links. d. The current cost for the DSL Line for the D-STAR gateway is $59 a month for a Verizon business DSL line that provides a dynamic IP address. This is a naked DSL line which means its only function is to serve as a data (DSL) line without voice capability, thereby allowing for a cheaper cost. Voice capability is not necessary as there is no autopatch capability with D-STAR. e. The internal audit occurs in January if new officers are elected (so not necessarily an annual event). The audit is usually coordinated by Rich Adamy, KA4GFY, (who is a CPA) assuming he is not an incoming or outgoing officer. f. Activities and requirements involving our incorporation and the Virginia State Corporation Commission ( are currently handled by Judge Robert (Bob) Colby, WA4ZJR. Bob is our corporate agent and is also an honorary life member. g. As an affiliated club we are required to submit an annual Club Report to the ARRL. Instructions are at Our ARRL club info is at Our ARRL Master ID number is There s no specific due date but January is a convenient time to do so. 6

7 h. Annual liability insurance for the club is arranged through the ARRL s club insurance administrator. The current cost has been approximately $200 per year. i. Our Post Office box is located next to the Rose Hill Shopping Center at 5221 Franconia Road, Alexandria, VA, Our club mailing address is: Alexandria Radio Club, PO Box 30721, Alexandria, VA The annual fee is currently $150 and is due each January. Marshall DeBerry, KI4MWP, and Ted Einersen, W9TCE, currently have the box keys. The box must be checked every two weeks, and before club meetings in case some matter needs to be brought before the membership. 15. Licensing Classes & Exams Rich Adamy, KA4GFY, has been our Chief Instructor for years and coordinates the spring and fall licensing classes. We are part of the ARRL VEC and therefore require ARRL Volunteer Examiner (VE) credentials of our examiners. ARRL VE credentials require ARRL membership. We also strongly encourage our examiners to be Extra Class licensees as that makes test administration much easier. The licensing classes have been a primary recruiting tool for club membership. Presently Roy Wright, K4AXQ, has generously provided office space for our classes. 16. Club Trailer Our club s trailer was purchased in June 2005 from CargotrailersUSA.com for $2,500. It is a single-axle, 6 by 12, fully-enclosed, Danzer trailer. The interior layout and exterior graphics were primarily designed and constructed by Gene Jenkins, N4JEE, who now lives in Florida. The trailer has a permanent Virginia trailer license plate W4HFH and, because it has no brakes, does not require an annual Virginia safety inspection. The DMV registration should be kept in the cabinet with the antennas and electrical connections. Rich Adamy, KA4GFY, and Rick Bunn, N4ASX, have historically provided the tow vehicles. 17. Contests Though not technically a contest, Field Day is a major club event. We also participate in, and sponsor two award plaques for, the Virginia QSO Party held in mid-march. This contest is sponsored by the Sterling Park ARC ( SPARC members will travel to area clubs to present a pre-contest program in January or February. Occasionally we ve participated in the IARU HF Championship held every July and the FISTS Coast-to-Coast Contest held sporadically in the fall. Our FISTS number is 2963 ( We do not currently have a number ( 7

8 18. ARES ARES is the Amateur Radio Emergency Service. ARES and the Alexandria Radio Club are separate activities. However most of the club s members are also ARES members and therefore supporting ARES is a core function of our club. In the past the City has called on us to help in time of need and they will certainly do so in the future. Thus it behooves us to train and be ready to respond on very short notice. The club has assisted in the recovery of the Air Florida crash of 1982, the aftermath of the 9/11/2001 attack on the Pentagon, and Hurricane Isabel in 2003 to name a few. a. The club Emergency Coordinator (EC) for Alexandria is an appointed position of any license class amateur except Novice. There are no term limits on this position. We would discourage a Novice licensee from being the EC because they lack 2m/70cm frequency privileges where most of our emergency coordination will occur. Our current EC for Alexandria is Rick Bunn, N4ASX. The EC maintains a separate club ARES Handbook. The last club ARES Handbook was issued in February 2007 and is now being rewritten. b. Our Alexandria City contact is currently Mark Penn, Emergency Management Coordinator for the Alexandria Fire Department. c. The new Police Department and Department of Emergency Communications headquarters building is located just off Quaker Lane and Duke Street at 3600 Wheeler Avenue. d. Relationship to RACES: A memorandum of Agreement was signed with the City of Alexandria in This agreement states the ARRL Emergency Coordinator is also the RACES Radio Officer. e. The Marine Corp Marathon is historically run on the last Sunday in October. This is a major ARES event in the National Capital Region and requires about 125 hams to be really successful and to staff all the positions. We need to encourage as many club members as can to participate. Signup begins in early summer at We usually take our club trailer to this event. f. Alexandria s Washington Birthday Parade is always held on the Monday holiday in February weather permitting. We usually have members take part in this event and we take our club trailer to this event for net control. Our contact with the City for the parade is Joseph Shumard. A 10k road race is held on the prior Saturday morning on Eisenhower Avenue. 8

9 APPENDIX 1 Note: This is not an original document. This document has been transcribed from a copy of microfilm provided by the Virginia State Corporation Commission. The copy provided by the SCC has the notations BOOK 62 PAGE 258, BOOK 62 PAGE 259, BOOK 62 PAGE 260, BOOK 62 PAGE 261. The documents from the SCC include a cover sheet with the following statement: The attached documents are "the best available" from microfilm. The original documents submitted for filing were not suitable for microfilming. Begin BOOK 62 PAGE 258. ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION OF ALEXANDRIA RADIO CLUB, INC., ************** This is to certify that we do hereby associate ourselves to establish a corporation, not organized for profit, in which no capital stock is required or to be issued, under and by virtue of Chapter 2, Title 13.1, Code of Virginia, 1950 and acts amendatory thereof, for the purposes and under the corporate name, hereinafter mentioned, and to that end we do, by this our certificate, set forth as follows: a. The name of this corporation shall be ALEXANDRIA RADIO CLUB, INC., b. The purposes for which this corporation is organized area as follows: To provide a means of social contact amongst its members. To promote better relationship between the radio amateur and the general public. To extend the knowledge of the radio art. To prepare for and to participate in radio communications incident to public service during times of disaster or national emergencies and in other activities to promote the public welfare. To have as part of the organization an amateur radio station located at the Red Cross Chapter House in the City of Alexandria and/or such other suitable locations. To organize and operate as an RACES and AREC amateur radio group both fixed, portable, and mobile. To participate in amateur radio activities such as field day and contests and to erect, install, and operate portable or mobile radio stations in all such instances. To participate in and assist in all State, national and local emergencies at the Board of Directors may from time to time decide. 9

10 c. The period and duration of this corporation shall be unlimited and perpetual, and no part of the net income of this non-stock, non-profit corporation is to inure to the benefit of any private stockholder or individual. In the event of dissolution, the assets of the corporation, remaining after the payment of its outstanding liabilities, will be transferred to one or more (Begin BOOK 62 PAGE 259) organizations operating for charitable, educational, or scientific purposes and exempt from Federal income tax under the provisions of section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code if 1854, or future amendments thereto, or to a Federal, State, or local government entity to be used for exclusively public purposes. d. The corporation shall have one class of members, who shall be those persons accepted to membership by the Board of Directors of the corporation. All such members shall have voting rights, which shall include, but not be limited to, the annual election of the members of the Board of Directors of this corporation and such other voting rights as are conferred by the Code of Virginia. e. A quorum shall consist of to (10) members present at a meeting. f. The names and places of residence of the initial board of directors (Ed: Proper case was not used in original) of this corporation, which shall initially be six in number, and who shall manage the affairs of the corporation for the first year, unless others are sooner chosen to act in their stead, are as follows: Malcolm Bufton 3923 First Street Sw. Washington, D.C Roy Hawkins 2513 Jamaica Drive, Alexandria, Va Thomas Johnson 6420 Wildwood Lane, Alexandria, Va Robert Lepelletier Jr Taney Ave, Alexandria, Va Dean May 129 Fourth Street, Woodbridge, Va Lynn Wilson 160 Moncure Drive, Alexandria, Va g. This corporation shall be one in which no stock is to be issued. 10

11 h. The post-office address of the initial registered office is the law offices of Stephen G. Creeden, 7138 Lanier Street, Annandale, Virginia; and the name of the initial registered agent is Stephen G. Creeden, who is a resident of Virginia and a member of the Virginia State Bar, and whose business office is the same as the registered office of the corporation. (Begin BOOK 62 PAGE 260) Signed with our own hands this 26th day of January, (The remainder of this page is signatures of the officers and the witness statement of a notary) (Begin BOOK 62 PAGE 261)This page is an order from the SCC dated January 30, 1970, stating that a certificate of incorporation be issued. Rev: 03/11/98 11

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13 APPENDIX 2 By-Laws of the Alexandria Radio Club, Inc. Article I. PREAMBLE Section 1.01 The Alexandria Radio Club, Inc. adopts these By Laws to aid the governance of the organization. The Alexandria Radio Club, Inc. is a Virginia corporation and is governed by its Articles of Incorporation which serve in place of a constitution. These By-Laws are subordinate to the Articles of Incorporation. In case of any conflict between these documents, the Articles of Incorporation shall take precedence over the By Laws. Article II. REVISION OF THESE BY-LAWS Section 2.01 The procedure for revision of these By-Laws shall be as follows: (a) A proposal to change these By-Laws must be submitted in writing to the Board of Directors. (b) The Board of Directors shall present to the membership the proposal as a motion at the first or second regular business meeting after the proposal was presented to the Board of Directors. (c) A written copy of the proposal shall be made available to all members within one week after the meeting where it is presented to the membership. (d) A vote on the motion shall be taken no later than the second regular business meeting after it was presented to the membership. Section 2.02 A proposal to revise these By-Laws requires a 2/3 majority of the members in good standing in order to pass. Article III. MEMBERSHIP Section 3.01 As specified in the Articles of Incorporation, there is only one class of membership. Section 3.02 Each member shall have one vote on any issue that comes before the membership, provided that the member's dues are paid and current. 13

14 Article IV. DUES Section 4.01 At the January meeting each year, the Board of Directors shall specify, and the membership shall ratify, the amounts of the annual dues for Regular and Family memberships. These amounts of annual dues shall be stated in whole dollars. Section 4.02 The amount for a Family membership shall be calculated as follows: (a) Divide the amount for a Regular membership in half. (b) (c) If that amount includes a fractional portion of a dollar, then the amount shall be adjusted upward to the next whole dollar, and the adjusted amount shall be the dues for a Family membership. (d) If that amount does not include a fractional portion of a dollar, then the amount shall be the dues for a Family membership. Section 4.03 Dues shall be considered to be paid on the date of a regular Club business meeting. Annual dues shall cover the month in which they are paid and the following eleven months. Section 4.04 If a member fails to pay dues and becomes three or more months in arrears, then the member shall no longer be considered to be in good standing. A member shall be returned to good standing upon payment of the annual dues, including the months in arrears. Section 4.05 If a member becomes more than twelve months in arrears, then that person shall cease to be a member of the Club and shall be removed from the membership roster. Section 4.06 For the purposes of assessing dues, there shall be four types of membership. (a) Regular membership shall be held by those who have paid the annual dues. (b) Family membership shall be held by each by additional family member of a Regular member who has paid the established annual dues. To qualify for a Family membership, a person must be a member of the immediate family of the Regular member and they must reside at same address. (c) Special membership may be granted by the Board of Directors to a group of nonmembers as an encouragement to join the Alexandria Radio Club, Inc. A Special membership shall be for no more than six months. The Board of Directors may reduce the amount or waive the payment of dues for a Special membership. When the amounts of annual dues is reduced, the amount shall be stated in whole dollars. 14

15 (d) Honorary Lifetime membership may be granted to an individual who has done extraordinary service to the Club. Such an individual shall be nominated by the Board of Directors. The nomination shall be confirmed by a 2/3 majority vote of the members in good standing. An Honorary Lifetime membership shall not expire. An Honorary Lifetime membership shall not be assessed dues. Article V. REVOCATION OF MEMBERSHIP Section 5.01 If the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revokes for cause a members Amateur Radio license, then that individual's membership in the Club shall be automatically revoked. Section 5.02 The Board of Directors may revoke the membership if an individual who brings discredit to the Club. In which case, the Board of Directors shall provide the member with a written notification of the revocation. Article VI. MEETINGS Section 6.01 The Club shall hold a general business meeting on the second Friday of each month. Section 6.02 Additional meetings may be called only by the President of the Club. Section 6.03 As specified in the Articles of Incorporation, ten members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Article VII. PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY Section 7.01 Robert's Rules of Order shall govern the Club in all cases where they are applicable unless superseded by the Articles of Incorporation or By Laws of the Club. Article VIII. CLUB GOVERNANCE Section 8.01 General (a) At the November meeting each year the Club membership shall elect four officers: the President, the Vice President, the Secretary, and the Treasurer. These four officers shall constitute the Board of Directors. (b) The officers of the Club shall have a term of one year from January 1 to December 31 each year. (c) No officer shall serve more than two consecutive terms in any one position. (d) At the January meeting each year, each of the four officers who served in the previous year shall make a report to the Club membership. 15

16 (e) At the January meeting each year, the officers for that year shall present to the membership for ratification a budget for the current year. The budget shall include expected income, expenses, and the amount of dues to be assessed during the year. If the membership should fail to ratify the budget, then an amended budget must be submitted. Section 8.02 Each officer of the Club must hold a valid Amateur Radio license during the term of office. The President must have been licensed for a period of at least two years before taking office. Section 8.03 Should an officer of the Club resign or otherwise be unable to serve, the following shall apply. (a) In the case of the President, then the Vice President shall assume the duties of the President for the remainder of the term. (b) In the case of an officer other than the President, a replacement shall be elected at the next general membership meeting. (c) In the case of the President or the Treasurer, then an Audit Committee shall be appointed. Section 8.04 Audit Committee (a) The Audit Committee shall be an ad-hoc committee comprised of at least three members who are not officers in the current year and who were not officers in the previous year. The Audit Committee shall complete its work and present a written report to the membership at the next business meeting following its appointment. (b) At the January meeting each year, the President for that year shall appoint an Audit Committee which shall review the Club's transactions from the prior year and perform an audit of Club's records. (c) If the office of Treasurer becomes vacant during the year, the President shall appoint an Audit Committee which shall review the Club's transactions for the current year and perform an audit of Club's records. (d) If the office of President becomes vacant during the year, the new President shall appoint an Audit Committee which shall review the Club's transactions for the current year and perform an audit of Club's records. Section 8.05 Accounts and Assets (a) All assets and accounts owned by the Alexandria Radio Club, Inc. shall be registered in the name of the Club and not in the name of any individual member. For the purpose of this paragraph, the word 'name' shall be understood to include tax identifiers and other identifiers used by governmental agencies. 16

17 (b) Any account that the Club has with a financial institution shall be an account that requires the signatures of two officers in order to withdraw or to disperse funds. Article IX. OFFICERS Section 9.01 Duties of the President (a) The President shall preside at all meetings of the Club and of the Board of Directors. (b) The President shall serve as chairman of the Board of Directors. (c) The President shall conduct all meetings in accordance with the Club By-Laws and decide all questions of order. (d) The President shall sign all official Club documents and correspondence. (e) The President shall serve as official representative of the Club and perform all recognized customary duties of President. (f) The President shall vote at meetings only in case of a tie. Section 9.02 Duties of the Vice President (a) The Vice President shall assume the duties of the President in the President's absence. (b) The Vice President shall perform those duties delegated by the President or Board of Directors. Section 9.03 Duties of the Secretary (a) The Secretary shall record and keep the minutes of all meetings of the Club and the Board of Directors. (b) The Secretary shall maintain an accurate roster of the membership and provide meeting notifications to the membership. (c) The Secretary shall be responsible for Club mail and correspondence. (d) The Secretary shall serve as the Club Historian. (e) The Secretary shall perform such duties as delegated by the President or Board of Directors. 17

18 Section 9.03 Duties of the Treasurer (a) The Treasurer shall manage all financial transactions of the Club in accordance with the rules of the Club and generally accepted accounting principles. (b) The Treasurer shall maintain accurate records of all accounts and financial transactions. (c) The Treasurer shall maintain a list of all assets and capital equipment owned by the Club. (d) The Treasurer shall submit all accounting documentation to the Audit Committee when requested. (e) The Treasurer shall perform such duties as delegated by the President or Board of Directors. 18

19 APPENDIX 3 City of Alexandria Points of Contact Name Role Telephone Joe Shumard Gavin Latney JoAnne Munroe Joe Barasoain Eric Parker, KG4DZA Randy Walker Mark Penn Joe Henderson Paula Dade Coordinator, Washington Birthday Parade Director of Safety, Security and Emergency Management at Inova Alexandria Hospital Director, Alexandria Department of Emergency Communications Deputy Director, Alexandria Department of Emergency Communications Radio Engineer, Alexandria Department of Emergency Communications Chief Electrician, Inova Alexandria Hospital Emergency Management Coordinator, Office of Emergency Management, Alexandria Fire Department Deputy Emergency Management Coordinator, Office of Emergency Management, Alexandria Fire Department Park reservations, Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities Shumard.Joseph@verizon.net (cell) Gavin.Latney@inova.org JoAnne.Munroe@alexandriava.gov Eric.Parker@alexandriava.gov Mark.Penn@alexandriava.gov (cell) Joe.Henderson@alexandriava.gov 19

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21 APPENDIX 4 The following is a sample that is sent to users outlining the steps they must complete to become fully registered on the global D-STAR network. Subject: You have been approved for access to the W4HFH D-STAR gateway--please note next steps to take Hi, You have been approved for the Alexandria W4HFH D-STAR gateway. *** It is important for you to follow ALL the following steps in order and complete them to become FULLY operational on the D-STAR network. *** For the next steps as part of the registration, please go to the URL This time, in the section for "Already Registered?" enter your CALL SIGN (UPPER CASE) and password you created when you registered. On the page that appears, click the section of the bar that is titled "Personal Information". Your call sign should be shown eight times. Please ensure that your complete name is entered, both first and last names. Put a check mark on the first line by clicking on the leftmost box of your call sign next to the number 1. Next, go into the box with the heading "Initial" and *put a space there* (important). DO NOT check the box labeled "RPT". Lastly, under "PCNAME" put your call sign in *lower case*. You do not have to do anything to the other 7 lines--you only do this to line number 1. After you have entered the information, click on the "Update" button. A "Are you sure?" box will pop up. Click on that, and you should get an acknowledgement that it was successful. You are now fully registered on the W4HFH gateway. Remember that to use the gateway, you will need to have the letter G in position 8 of the "RPT2" field of whichever D-Star radio you are using. To see who is currently using D-STAR around the world, the site provides real time information on current users. The DV Dongle gateway software, called DPlus, is available for use, as well as D-PRS program called DStarmonitor, which provides APRS capabilities. We have a complete "stack", i.e., 2 meter, 70 cm, 1.2 GHz voice, and 1.2 GHz data D-STAR capabilities. If you are interested in experimenting with the 1.2 GHz data capabilities, a good tutorial can be found at On our 2 meter Port C D-STAR repeater, I generally have Reflector 1C attached, which is the general conversational reflector for D-STAR users around the world. On our 70cm Port B, I have the National Capitol Region D-STAR Users Association Reflector linked, which is Reflector 25B. 21

22 You may wish to find out more about the NCR D-STAR group by visiting And on our 1.2 GHz Port A, I generally keep reflector 14A linked, which is a technical group of D-STAR users located on the West coast, primarily San Francisco. To get a listing of the current set of Reflectors around the world, and a brief description, go to this URL: and scroll down the page. You might also want to visit this link on reflectors in Great Britain, as this is a helpful guide on using the reflectors that you might find useful. The site, run by the Georgia D-STAR group, also has lots of other interesting and useful information pertaining to D-STAR. For more information on the Alexandria Radio Club, W4HFH, please see our website at If you are not a member, please consider joining the club to help support amateur radio activities. Any questions, send me an . And please have FUN enjoying the world of D-STAR! 73, Marshall, KI4MWP W4HFH D-STAR System Administrator 22

23 Alexandria Radio Club, Inc. W4HFH Club Officer s Guide Last updated: April 13, 2012

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