We have a major problem in the North-West of the UK. It is possible that we will lose all seventeen of our repeaters, in various bands and modes, because of falling group membership, and increasing land rental charges. The UKFM Group (Western) - http://www.ukfmgw.co.uk/ - is short of approximately 150 members - just to break even on the running costs for 2017. This was discussed at our AGM on Monday just gone. Two of the land-owners where our major repeaters are located have more than doubled their fees for the coming year. The finances are such that we have a mere six months left, at present expenditure, before the group becomes bankrupt. It appears that this is true across most areas of the UK, and not just us. Repeaters cost money to run, for the equipment, the electricity, the site, etc, etc, so if you use them, PLEASE support your local group by being a member. Remember, once a repeater has to be shut down, the frequencies WILL be reallocated, thus gone for ever! You used to be required to pay the RSGB the sum of £15 per year to retain your license - this is now free, so how about donating that money to your local repeater group?
Let me put you RIGHT in 2011 the UKFM WESTERN Group were offered a site to replace GB3MP's present location to a higher mountain where maintenance could be carried out any weekday from 17:00 - 05:30 Mon-Fri, Sat 13:00 - 05:30 Monday. No riggers required for maintenance needed a twenty foot ladder & the key to turn power off as mast so simple. Best was the rent FREE ! ELECTRIC 50/50 about £20 per quarter so £80 per year ! a lost different than at the time was about £1200 per year now prices are SOARING but was refused. There are over 50 Hams mostly pensioners who have had ENOUGH come November I can see the Sausage & Scouse net ending after 30 years daily from 10:15 till ends longest time just under 3 hours now lucky if 15 minutes with mic keyer's and BUCKET mouths most of which are LICENSED operators' So WHO in their right minds going to shell out the membership fee's when all of the AGRO carries on & as we all know OFCOM have no POWERS or a BUCKET to piss in! Point RSGB " listed BOOK seller at Company's House " ( nothing mentioning anything to do with RADIO) did not get licence fee's OFCOM did now it's FREE. But some repeaters cost just £10 per year like GB3LI as mentioned by 2E0AAM who was at the AGM I believe on the 06/09/2016 ( please correct me if I'm wrong ). So get rid of the NIGHTMARE costs & move to a easy access site with REAL rents. The site I had for GB3MP was GRABBED by a Taxi company they never looked the gift horse in the MOUTH ! Regards & 73 M6OXO
You are correct Brian. The RSGB is a book seller & that's it. The majority of abuse on repeaters is carried out by fully licensed radio amateurs. Which repeaters survive & which go is up to the membership of the repeater group who have an Extraordinary general meeting on 5 December 2016. The majority of member I suspect will not attend due to other commitments. Members who do attend will get to vote. The question you should ask yourself is if opportunity to keep the repeater you often use is worth the membership fee & your attendance to vote. Chatter about what was will make no difference to how the vote will pan out. Many of us remember how the grass was greener....The light was brighter then the division bell rang
I have also asked if a postal vote is possible as this is an important decision & I know there are many members who due to one reason or another will be unable to attend in person to vote. I think this is such an important matter all members of the repeater group should be allowed to vote & not just those who are able to attend this EGM This will open it up to the every member as all the votes count not just the ones of those able to attend.
Why not put to the floor at the E.G.M of the N.W.R.G. add £1 per year membership DF contest winner takes all to find the PHALIC CRANIUMS who key the mic & bucket mouth over the air. Pay out even open to NON MEMBERS then you might see more people join. In the N.W. there are a lot of people who do DF contesting now I would put a fiver in the pot, but still not join up just as a gesture for getting the old boys back on the air. 73 Brian De M6OXO
To correct myself having had a better look at the RSGB they are NOT just a bookseller. They are a resource of great value to Amateur radio & anyone who has an interest in it. As for offering cash for people to hunt down others that's a bad idea IMHO & I think amateur radio operators should not expect any further reward other than the one they already have which is a network of repeaters. The claim people don't join the repeater group because people key the mike is rather a lame excuse for the well known saying that many radio amateurs have short arms & long deep pockets protected by spiders webs.
Repeater Survey Following on from the AGM membership currently stands at 282, an increase of 29 on the day of the AGM. On that basis it looks as though rather than increasing the income via an increase in members it’s going to be necessary to reduce the expenditure which means closing down some of the repeaters. in order for the UKFM Group (Western) committee to get a feel for which repeaters will need to go we’d like you to complete the following survey. The survey is open to members and non-members alike, all we ask is that you identify yourself by, if you are a member putting your membership number in the box below and callsign if you’re not a member. http://warc.org.uk/?page_id=88891
The group would not go with a CHEAPER site for GB3MP the offer was there & not even looked into, so close them all & get back to REAL RADIO ! on SSB I'm happy to do that....
In my view it is cheaper & more straight forward to have a network of low powered repeaters linked by the internet to replace the mountain top expensive sites .So called back yard repeaters ! From radio hams own qth. You can easily convert a Analog repeater to a digital one with a mmdvm board to run a multimode repeater covering c4fm/dstar/dmr .
Who offered the cheaper site please? Is that site still available & if it is can you supply the details of it's owner & location please Brian. It would be helpful if you could post the details here in this Repeater Survey as the group are looking for an alternate location for GB3MP at a reasonable price. If you could also pass on this link to others & help it would be great. http://warc.org.uk/?page_id=88891
