Report on the 2006 Convention and AGM

The 2006 Convention and AGM of The Radio Amateurs’ Emergency Network was attended by over 70 representatives of all affiliations of RAYNET last weekend in Glenrothes, Fife.

A warm welcome in the main Council Chamber was given by the Provost Deputy, Councillor Andrew Paterson. This was followed by a presentation of Airwave by Bill Parker, Head of Communications and IT for Fife Constabulary. There was a lively question and answer session afterwards.

Dougie Potter, Council Emergency Planning Officer for Fife Council then spoke on the Civil Contingencies Act, its implications for the voluntary sector and what actions are already being taken to implement the Act in the area.

There were two presentations before lunch. John G8SYD gave a talk on "Safe and Effective Vehicle Installations" and Crawford Ross GM8HBY of Strathclyde Raynet on "Mull Rally Voice Communications".

RAYNET Supplies was also in attendance and delegates were given the opportunity to visit the EPO vehicle and an ambulance from the Burtisland First Aid Services Trust, parked outside Fife House.

An excellent lunch, kindly provided by our hosts, was followed by further presentations from Jim Andrews on "Mull Rally APRS" and Martin Hobson GM8KPH on "The 5MHz band".

After refreshments in the members' lounge, the Network’s Annual General Meeting took place in the main council chamber.

Chairman Cathy Clark G1GQJ outlined the activities undertaken since January 2006, which included liaison with Ofcom on emergency communications provision in the new license document, and continued dialogue with the RSGB. There had been RAYNET representation at GAREC 2006 in June and the Voluntary Sector Working Party meetings.

Cathy was pleased to announce that the liaison with 2 (National Communications) Signal Brigade had resulted in two inter-operability tests taking place. In the event of the army being requested to assist the civil authorities during a major emergency 2 (NC) Signal Brigade would be tasked to provide the communications required. If there had been widespread communications failures, it is likely that RAYNET would already be assisting local authorities.

The prime objective of the exercises was to investigate if and how the two organisations could work together in such circumstances.

A one day interoperability exercise was held at in February that successfully demonstrated that communication between the two organisations was possible using HF 5MHz SSB and VHF (70MHz) FM.

This led to an invitation for RAYNET to participate in part of the 2 week training event for TA Signal Regiments that was held during September. During the two weekends when we attended TA personnel were briefed on RAYNET and all members of radio detachments had the opportunity to establish communication with the RAYNET Control station on both HF and VHF and to send and receive exercise traffic that was pertinent to their exercise scenario.

The debriefing process from the September exercises is still in progress and it is hoped that a more detailed report will be included in the next issue of Ray-Link.

The Network’s business continuity plans had been examined and on-going steps were being taken to ensure resilience. Insurance issues had been studied in depth. An application for RAYNET to join the Airwave Sharers List had recently been submitted.

She then went on to outline plans for a revision of the RAYNET Manual, continued promotion of RAYNET to the Category 1 and 2 responders and continued dialogue with the RSGB, as well as plans for the development of projects proposed by the voluntary teams.

She thanked the leaders of the voluntary teams for their continued hard work, and in particular thanked her fellow directors, the Co. Secretary and Treasurer and Brian Tindill G4HVA for their support.

It was with great regret that Cathy read out a letter and statement from Paul Gaskell G4MWO, stating that, following the September RSGB Board Meeting, he was resigning with immediate effect from his position on the RSGB Board as Director with Portfolio Responsibility for RAYNET/Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (and QSL) together with Radio Communications Voluntary Services National Co-coordinator. Paul would, however, be remaining as a RAYNET member and talkthrough arrangements would be unchanged. The meeting also expressed their regret and asked that the Chairman convey their thanks to him for all the liaison and other work he had undertaken during his four years in office.

The RAYNET Shield for 2006 was awarded to Greg Mossop G0DUB, who was presented with his trophy on Tuesday evening by Zone 10 Co-ordinator David Hicks G6IFA.

"In recognition of his untiring work, commitment and co-operation at all levels of RAYNET. As well as being an active group, county and zonal member, he is also part of the RAYNET HF team, Emergency Planning and Technical voluntary teams and a hard-working member of the RSGB’s 5MHz Working Group. He was instrumental in the setting up of the RAY~WARP, and has assisted in the preparation of documentation for international conferences, such as the IARU Region 1 meeting in Davos in 2005, and GAREC 2005 and 2006.

He also assisted in the preparation of the Capabilities document, and the application to include RAYNET on the Airwave Sharers List."

Trophy presentation

A special award, in the form of an engraved plaque, was presented to the host group, Fife RAYNET and was accepted on their behalf by Jim Burke GM4TNP, Group Controller.

The annual accounts were then presented by Co. Treasurer Brett Rider and were duly accepted by those present.

After a short break, a raffle then took place, with prizes kindly donated by leading amateur radio manufacturers and other donors; a bottle of whisky for the further travelled was presented to Paul Farrar G8SJA who had made the journey from Fareham, Hampshire.

An Open Forum followed, in which a variety of topics were discussed including insurance, the possibility of a weekly 80m net for Scotland, whether the Network should register as an "umbrella organisation" for CRB checks and PAI.

In the evening, delegates and their partners enjoyed dinner at a local restaurant.