Special Prefixes to Celebrate Opening of the New Canadian War Museum and VE Day + 60 (Mar. 31 2005)
The year 2005 has been declared The Year of the Veteran by the Canadian government in recognition and commemoration of the determination, service and sacrifice of Canada's WW II veterans. Canadian radio amateurs are authorized to use the following special event prefixes during the period 1 May to 31 May, 2005 inclusive: CF for VA stations
(Jim Dean, VE3IQ Vice President Regulatory Affairs Radio Amateurs of Canada)
SONRA
Born in 1959 - The Society of Newfoundland Radio Amateurs (SONRA) was formed, from the dissolution of the Newfoundland Radio Club. The main purposes of SONRA are to secure the pleasures and benefits of persons interested in Amateur Radio by furthering co-operation among its members, further the interest of Amateur Radio in the community, and provide services to its membership related to Amateur Radio. Serving Radio Amateurs of Newfoundland & Labrador - For a number of years, SONRA provided services to all the Amateurs of the Province in the form of a VO Callbook, Call-plate administration, VO Newsletter, just to mention a few, but the growth in the Amateur population over the past few years made this task increasingly difficult. The advent of new regional and local clubs around the Island and in Labrador, plus a shift in the Amateur population density from the Avalon Peninsula area to the remainder of the Province, resulted in SONRA being overwhelmed with the expense of providing the services to roughly 1000 Amateurs from the funding base of a membership of roughly 300. A provincial organization starts and falters - As a result, in 1991 the thrust was reinitiated to form a Provincial organization to administer to the entire Amateur population of the Province and in 1994, through the work of Don Wyatt (VO1KX) and Mac Moss (VO1AT), the Provincial organization, VOARA, was formed, taking on many of the provincial responsibilities that had been a part of SONRA's mandate in the past, thus allowing SONRA to be one in a list of many clubs operating to serve its members and general area. Unfortunately, VOARA is no longer actively operating so all provincially-oriented activities, such as the WAVO award, Smallwood Field Day trophy and the provincial call book were returned to SONRA for continued administration. SONRA has continued to operate and holds meetings regularly. The main thrust of the club is in the area of the education of the Amateurs and the operation of those services which have proved to be of great benefit to not only the membership, but to the community as well. Currently, SONRA is involved in many facets of the Amateur Radio service to the local community, as well as Amateurs themselves. SONRA is affiliated with the local Emergency Measures Organization, providing emergency communications when called upon. We are affiliated with Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) and support the Incoming VO Bureau. We operate an HF station from the site where Guglielmo Marconi received the first wireless transatlantic signal in 1901 and operate a multi-function station from another historic site, Admiralty House, which was used during World War II as a major communications post for the North Atlantic. We are the only group officially sanctioned to operate special Marconi events from Signal Hill through our partnership with Parks Canada. SONRA helped make history on June 25th, 1997, as Paul J. Piercey (VO1HE) and Dan Goodwin (VO1MX) assisted Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in making the first amateur radio contact by a reigning British Monarch. The contact was between VO500JC, at Cabot Tower in St. John's, NF and GB500JC in Bristol, UK. Martyn Phillips (G3RFX) responded to Her Majesty on behalf of the people of Bristol and amateurs around the World. SONRA & the Marconi Anniversiary
- December 12, 2001 marked the 100th anniversary of the reception of the
first wireless trans-Atlantic signal by Guglielmo Marconi. Once again,
our club, in co-operation with several levels of government and amateur
groups around the world, provided a showcase event while making the historic
contact with Poldhu at 1600 UTC.
The SONRA WWW page (http://www.sonra.ca)is just another step that takes advantage of all communication methods possible. If you are interested in our organization you can contact us via the following methods: Society of Newfoundland Radio Amateurs
Five New Fredericton Hams Get Callsigns Congratulations to the following members of the Fredericton Amateur Radio Club who have just received their callsigns: Tony Brayall VE9TB Charles Nickerson VE9CN David Nickerson VE9DCN Jim Ingraham VE9JI Colin Ingalls VE9CJI If you hear any of these fellows on the air please say "Hello" and welcome them into the Ham fraternity. Our Youngest New Ham Congratulations to Caleb Crain who successfully challenged the Basic Exam recently. At the ripe old age of 15, Caleb will be the youngest amateur in our Club. It's really great to see someone of this age taking an interest in our hobby. Caleb is the grandson of Phil Crain (VE9PC) who dutifully transported Caleb to the classes two nights each week for the duration of the course. We're not sure who is more proud - grandson or grandfather. This means that, with the exception of one student who we believe is out of the country and hasn't yet written, all of our students have now passed the Basic Exam. Thanks to all the instructors and examiners who contributed to another successful course. David Hildebrand (VE9AV)
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Hamfest Laval-Laurentides 2005
- Laval, Québec Saturday, April 2
IARC Tenth Annual Flea Market
(Saturday, April 2, 2005)
Moose Jaw Amateur Radio Flea Market
(Saturday, April 2 2005)
Montreal Hamfest and Fleamarket
LaSalle (Montreal), Québec Saturday, April 9 2005
HAM-EX 2005 (Saturday, April 9, 2005) Sponsored by: The Peel Amateur Radio Club / Mississauga Amateur Radio Club Location: Brampton Fall Fairgrounds, located on Heart Lake Rd @ Old School Rd (North of Mayfield Road). Opens: Vendors: 7am Public: 9am Cost: $6 to the public Talkin: VE3PRC 146.880(-) and VE3MIS 145.430(-) Notes: Featuring Amateur Radio Equipment Manufacturers, Major Amateur Radio Retailers, New & Used Equipment / Parts, Computers, Parts, Software, Tables & Tables of Radio & Electronics Gear, Licensing Exams for Basic, CW, & Advanced Qualification, DXCC Card Checking, Exhibits, Demos, & Seminars, Gala Banquet with Guest Speaker, Door Prizes Galore & $1000 Grand Prize Draw For more info visit:http://www.ham-ex.ca
Winnipeg A.R.C. Spring Fleamarket (Sunday, April 17 2005) Location: Heritage Victoria
Community Club, 950 Sturgeon Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Durham Region Amateur Radio Hamfest
(Saturday, April 23, 2005)
Location: This is the hamfest you always knew as "Pickering", the big one. It's still at the Iroquois Park Recreation Centre on Victoria Street at Henry Street. Get to the Brock STREET exit in Whitby on the 401 then turn south on Brock and west on Victoria (right) (first street south of 401). A couple of blocks and you'll see the site. Opens: Vendors 7:30 am, Public
9 am to 1 pm
Notes: Lots of parking for all. Vendors enter west entrance on Victoria Street. Public enters from Henry Street. If lot is full, use (approved) parking at GO station right across the road. ATM machine on site. 3 food outlets on site. For more info visit: http://drhamfest.tripod.com
Calgary and Area Flea Market (May 14 2005) Sponsored by: Calgary Amateur Radio Association, Calgary Communications Club and The Southern Alberta Repeater Association Location: EASTSIDE CITY CHURCH 1320 Abbeydale Dr SE, Calgary, AB (Take Memorial Drive East off of Deerfoot Trail and go all the way to the East end, then turn South) Time: Saturday, May
14, 2005 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Notes: 50/50 draw, lunch available and more.... Need more information and table rental? CONTACT: Tim Thompson, VE6BZ 403-253-4893 or 403-829-4893 tlt46@telus.net
DOWN-EAST FLEA MARKET (Saturday,
June 11, 2005)
The Down-East Flea Market is the largest Ham Fest in Atlantic Canada. Details on Commercial Suppliers and associated Flea Market events will be published over the next couple of months. Location: Halifax Forum Complex
at the corner of Young and Windsor Sts. in Halifax
Tables: free and can be reserved by contacting David Nimmo at ve1nn@rac.ca Talk in Frequency: VE1PSR 147.270(+) Associated Social Events: Friday 10th Evening - 1900 at The Jolly Mug - for info contact Hugh ve1pq@rac.ca Saturday 11th Breakfast - at the Steak and Stein - 6061 Young St, Halifax Talk by Wayne-VE1WPH on the ISS set up Hope to see you there
London Amateur Radio Club 28th Annual Fleamarket (Sept. 25 2005) Sunday, September 25, 2005, located at the Western Fair Grounds Special Events Building, London Ontario. 9:00am to 1:00pm Vendor setup at 7:30am. Admission: $6.00 , tables $ 10.00 Free parking, Air conditioned, commercial dealers, snack bar facilities, wheelchair accessible with handicap washrooms Inquiries: email: hamfest2005@hamster.foxhollow.ca
or phone / mail to Doug Tompkins, VE3IDT (519) 439-5113
Website: http://larc.ca/newsletter/LARC-HAMFEST-2005.pdf
SHF 2005 Committee...Hamfest Update The SHF 2005 committee has undertaken a centennial history project. Through the years, we have noticed a decline in the archiving of photographs and history of radio in our Province. We would like to restore our past and make it accessible for everyone. Do you have old photographs that you can part with for a while? Can you make us copies? How about writing up a few pages about what has happened over the last one hundred years in your home area. Anything you can help us with is much appreciated. Please contact the SHF 2005 Committee with any information you can share. Also, as this is the celebration of the province’s one hundredth birthday, we want to make this the biggest, best hamfest the province has ever seen! Do you have ideas that you would like us to explore? Let us know! The committee has also developed a survey for gathering input from the ham community. Visit the website, www.saskhamfest.com and fill it out online!
Vancouver Emergency
Community Telecommunications ORganization (Vector)
The Vancouver EOC shares the building with the new 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Centre (E-Comm), which provides Emergency Services professionals (Police, Ambulance & Fire) with uninterrupted telecommunications from Pemberton to Boston Bar. VECTOR was over two years in development. For a number of reasons, previous attempts to involve amateur radio in Vancouver’s Emergency Plan were not entirely successful. Extensive research and consultation was done with other municipal emergency planners and their plan’s integration with amateur radio, both successfully and unsuccessfully. BCIT Business Administration students, including one who is a Ham, also assisted by conducting a 3-month study, resulting in an assessment of current preparedness and recommendations for the future. The findings led to the concept that a non-profit Society should be created to ensure the interests of both the Ham community and the City of Vancouver are served. VECTOR has been registered as a non-profit society and four classes of membership are offered. Full membership is offered to licensed radio amateurs; Affiliate membership is open to amateur radio clubs or organizations; Associate memberships to unlicensed volunteers who wish to assist; and Corporate membership for Corporations who wish to support the Society and for the City of Vancouver itself. The City of Vancouver and the Vancouver Police Board each have one appointed director on the VECTOR executive. Full details about VECTOR can be found online at: www.qsl.net/ve7vct or vist the Vancouver Police Department web site
Getting Environmental Canada Weather Updates by Email Were you aware that Environment Canada has a FREE service whereby they will send you weather warnings, forecasts, etc. by email. Sterling (VE9SK) tells me that various services are offered including bulletins only for specific locations, forecasts up to three times a day, everyday, selected days, etc If interested you can go to www.weatheroffice.pyr.ec.gc.ca/e-products and select the subscription(s) of your choice. David Hildebrand (VE9AV)
RAC Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Ontario Section
The 9th Annual Ontario QSO Party 2005 (April 16-17 2005)
The Ontario QSO Party is open to all amateur radio operators regardless of license class and shortwave listeners world-wide. Objective: For Ontario stations to contacts as many amateur radio stations as possible on as many bands as possible world-wide. For stations outside Ontario to make as many contacts with Ontario amateur radio stations as possible. Frequencies: (Phone/CW) All HF Bands 160-10 meters with the exception of the WARC bands. All VHF/UHF Bands. For full details about this fun event visit the ODXA website: http://www.odxa.on.ca/oqp/index.html
5MHz (60 metre) Activity Day Canadian Hams can listen but can NOT Transmit by D. Howard Dickson – VE1DHD I recently was informed that there will be a 5 MHz Activity Day on April 8th/9th 2005. This event has been arranged by Marko Saarela OH2LRDs and they hope to involve other licensed Hams in the EU and elsewhere. For example, there are now 18 club stations in Finland with the 5 MHz license, and Norway received authorisation to use 5 MHz in February of this year. Here in Canada, the 5 MHz or 60 metre band has NOT been approved for general use by Radio Amateurs, although it has been approved for Hams in some European countries. However, Industry Canada has given special permission to Joe Craig – VO1NA – of the Marconi Radio Club of Newfoundland (MRCN) to operate on a limited basis on 60 metres for propagation testing purposes. Other Canadian Hams may listen, but are NOT permitted (even if their equipment permits) to transmit on 60 metres. Joe informs me that the MRCN will
be participating in this 60-metre event and that they are greatly honoured
to represent Canada and Radio Amateurs of Canada for the 5 MHz Activity
Day. At present, they are able to transmit CW on 5260.5 kHz and USB on
5327.5 kHz and
In terms of propagation reporting on 60 metres, Canadian Radio Amateurs may want to listen on 60 metres during this event on April 8th and 9th and make any SWL reports either Direct or via Bureau to MM1RAH. For further information on the 5 MHz event go to: http://www.netronic.co.uk/
Maritime Swap Shop The Maritime Swap Shop is held every Monday at 7:30pm local time on 3.750 MHz. All station are invited to checkin and post their wants and items for sale. The Maritime Swap Shop list can be found on many places on the internet, here are just a few: The Loyalist City Amateur Radio Club , hfradio.net , VE1AIC's Home Page and Truro Amateur Radio Club Please Note: The Maritime (on-air) Swap Shop, which was formerly held on Tuesday evenings, will now take place on Monday evenings at 1930 local time on 3750.
The Swap Shop list is posted every Monday on the Trans Provincial Net website, Ontario Swap Shop Listings , the swap shop list can also be found on packet by calling up VE3DID (Nick VE3NJG)
The
German Navy, U-Boats & Magnetic Antennae
Introductory comment by VE1DHD
-
The majority of the following material was taken, with permission, from the website of Bill Galloway - http://www.bill.gallowaysystems.com/index.html Background: Back during World War II, the German Navy U-Boats were having great difficulty communicating with their Headquarters, which I think was in the heart of Germany.
If we submerge an ordinary dipole antenna in seawater, you will very quickly realize that it just won't work. The seawater being very conductive causes the antenna to be unusable. A dipole operates with a very high intensity electric field as the basis of transmitting. With conductive seawater all around the antenna, the Electric Field coming off a dipole would be attenuated to nothing in short order. The German Navy therefore needed an antenna that would not use the electric field as the basis of transmission, but instead the magnetic field. The magnetic field would not be affected to the same degree by seawater as the electric field. And so, the Magnetic Antenna was born and it has been in use ever since. Basic Antenna Design and Function:
I would show that the strength of the E-field near the dipole is very high relative to the strength of the H-field or magnetic field (shown as B in Figure 1 above). Specify that as the field moves away from the antenna, the strength of the E-field increases somewhat and the strength of the H-field decreases to achieve a ratio of E to H of 377:1 A Dipole antenna can be classified as an Electrostatic Dominant Antenna, or just simply an Electric Antenna. A Magnetic Dominant Antenna is called a Magnetic Antenna. Why a Magnetic Antenna?
To be more specific, the Magnetic Antenna is a loop whose circumference is 1/4 wavelength at the operating frequency. For 14 MHz 1 wavelength is 300/14 = 21.216 m. 1/4 wave length is 21.216/4 = 5.304 m. The diameter is 5.304/3.14159 = 1.688 m. A Magnetic Antenna can be tuned from the designed frequency frequency and still maintain acceptable efficiency. A word or two about Radiation
Resistance.
Now we come to the capacitor
The Transceiver must be connected directly to the Faraday Shield Loop. Tuners must not be used. The other type of feed system is the Gamma Match. Here the shield of the coax is electrically connected to the electrical centre of the large loop. The inner conductor of the coax is electrically connected somewhere along the large loop to obtain a 50 ohm match once the antenna is in resonance at the operating frequency. Tuning the Magnetic Antenna is done by adjusting the capacitor so resonance is achieved at the operating frequency. Magnetic Loops are fed with unbalanced co-axial feeders. Until the capacitor is tuned to the correct transmit frequency the antenna will not resonate, and cannot be loaded properly. Once tuned however, the smaller loop used to load the antenna then needs to be positioned to effect a 50-ohm match. Any mismatch will result in standing waves on the coax cable, which in turn will radiate and reduce one of the advantages of a magnetic loop - its narrow band-pass filter effect. So in other words, adjust the tuning capacitor to obtain resonance of the antenna as indicated by the lowest SWR. If the SWR isn't 1:1 the smaller feed loop will have to be deformed somewhat. Deform the smaller loop by forming it into an ellipse for example. You will notice a corresponding change in SWR. Once the 1:1 SWR is achieved nothing else will have to be done to the feed loop. You now have a tuned loop, and have positioned the smaller driver loop to get a 50 ohm match, you can retune the transmitter and main loop without having to worry about altering the driver loop - the 50 ohm match works for all resonant frequencies without further adjustments. I found greater success using the Faraday Shield Loop feed system. The Gamma Match feed system tended not to have optimum VSWR on all bands and it has more noise pickup than the Faraday Shield method. I made a Single Turn Magnetic Antenna as a test of different capacitor types and achieved success right away. I was sold on the idea when it was just as good as my Telex Vertical but with a much lower noise figure. You may physically place the Magnetic Antenna almost anywhere and it will function quite well. You don't need to be high above the ground. For that matter you can place it on the ground and it will perform well. The Magnetic Antenna operates best when it is mounted vertically. The wheels of a vehicle are in the vertical plain. If you look through the "hole" in the middle of the loop, you are looking along the only point of a Magnetic Antenna from where there is no radiation - a Null. The maximum radiation is 90 degrees to the null or off the ends of the loop. As was mentioned earlier, the Electric field near the Magnetic Antenna is very weak whereas the Magnetic field is strong. The further away you get from the antenna the stronger the Electric field becomes and the weaker the Magnetic field becomes. At around 2 or 3 wavelength from the antenna the ratio of Electric and Magnetic field strengths is 377:1. A Magnetic Antenna -- the practical solution to a difficult situation. I wanted to have a Magnetic Antenna in my attic that would cover the 20, 30 and 40 meter bands. The problem is my attic is only 35 inches high! I decided to make a two turn loop which put both the feed point and the capacitor at the bottom. A great number of questions needed answers after determining the physical aspect. Questions like, what is the total overall length of copper pipe needed, how far apart will the turns be, how do I tune within a band and how do I tune from one band to another, what size of capacitor(s) do I need, how do I feed the two turn loop. I decided to make the total length of pipe somewhere around 15 feet. That value was mostly determined by the physical size the antenna must be to fit in the attic in a vertical plane. I made it up using a kitchen cutter board at the bottom to hold everything there solidly in place. I wanted to use a Trombone-type capacitor to tune it. I performed numerous tests and came up with a design that met my needs. After putting it together without the feed loop, I used a dip meter to determine its self-resonance point. It was just above the 20-meter band, which was great. If it hadn't been, I would have adjusted the spacing between the turns to increase or decrease the capacitance. I ended up with approximately a 2-inch separation between the two loop turns. I pushed the Course Trombone capacitor in slowly, tracking it down in frequency until I got to the low end of 40 meters. That was good. I added a Fine Trombone for tuning within bands, leaving the Course Trombone for Band changing. I used the Faraday Shield feed loop design. Since it should be 1/5 the circumference of the large loop I decided it should contain 1/5 the length of pipe for the two turns of the large loop. That resulted in about 3 feet. With the Antenna installed and the
feed loop in place it was time for the first test. The SWR was terrible,
everywhere. I deformed the feed loop to be approximately 16.5 inches high
and 5.5 inches wide. The resulting best figures for all three bands are
as follows:
Bandwidth on all bands at the SWR of 2:1 points: 70Khz. As far as performance is concerned, I tend to use it all the time. As compared to my Telex Vertical, it has a much lower noise figure, Some signals are the same strength on the S meter as the Vertical, and some are less. Reports back indicate that my signal strength is satisfactory. I don't see any difference with the Vertical My Magnetic Antenna is but inches from the household power lines and alarm system line. It doesn't get into either. It doesn't get into anything in the house.
The New Digital
World for Radio Amateurs
So there are clearly some limitations, and if you need to transmit files and need the assurance of error checking for error-free message transmission, then you likely need Winlink 2000 and should read my article on Winlink 2000 in the March 13th edition of the Bulletin. Now having said what PSK31 won't do, here is what PSK31 is and what it will do. The term - PSK31 - is an acronym for "Phase Shift Keying, 31 Baud". PSK31 is a new modality for Radio Amateurs; well, new since 1999 or so. It is a new form of modulation that allows a much higher level of performance in keyboard-to-keyboard communication. The PSK31 platform is based on an idea by Pawel Jalocha - SP9VRC - that was subsequently refined and developed by Peter Martinez - G3PLX - the father of AMTOR. In an article that appeared in RadCom, the journal of the Radio Society of Great Britain, Peter explained why he developed PSK31. Simply put, he wanted to create a mode that was as easy to use as RTTY, yet much more robust in terms of weak-signal performance. An another criterion was bandwidth. The HF digital sub-bands are narrow and tend to become crowded in a hurry (particularly during contests). Peter wanted to design a mode that would do all of its tricks within a very narrow bandwidth. Instead of using Frequency Shift
as a method of keying (FSK), PSK31 uses Phase Shift Keying or PSK.
It employs an alphabet similar to Morse code, and this allows for text
transmission speed of about 50 wpm. PSK31 is particularly attractive
since it does not require any handshaking with a second radio station,
and this allows for roundtable QSO's with more than two stations.
PSK31 also uses an incredibly narrow bandwidth that is equal to the baud
rate and the baud rate which is 31.25. When a narrow CW filter is
employed, operators can in fact achieve a bandwidth of 31Hz, but in practical
terms, the bandwidth for most operators will be in the range of 100 Hz.
However, this still means that you can work at much lower signal levels
in the crowded digital bands. PSK31 also uses the computer Sound Card instead
of a TNC and this results in additional savings - that is monetary savings.
How Does PSK31 Work? To start, let's look at Morse code. Morse is a simple binary code expressed by short signal pulses (dits) and longer signal pulses (dahs). By combining strings of dits and dahs, we can communicate the entire English alphabet along with numbers and punctuation. Morse uses gaps of specific lengths to separate individual characters and words. When it comes to RTTY we are still dealing with binary data, but instead of on/off keying, we send the information by shifting frequencies. This is known as Frequency Shift Keying or FSK. One frequency represents a mark (1) and another represents a space (0). If you put enough mark and space signals together in proper order according to the RTTY code - the RTTY code shuffles various combinations of five bits to represent each character - you can send letters, numbers and a limited amount of punctuation. For example, the letter A is expressed as 00011. To separate the individual characters RTTY must also add "start" and "stop" pulses. For PSK31 a new code was devised that combines the best of RTTY and Morse and is called the "Varicode" because a varying number of bits are used for each character. Building on the example of Morse, the author allocated the shortest codes to the letters that appeared most often in standard English text. The idea was to send the least number of bits possible during a given transmission. For example: E is a very popular letter on the English alphabet hit parade, so it gets a Varicode of 11. Z sees relatively little use, so its Varicode becomes 111010101. As with RTTY, however, we still need a way to signal the gaps between characters. The Varicode does this by using "00" to represent a gap. The Varicode is carefully structured so that two zeros never appear together in any of the combinations of 1s and 0s that make up the characters. But how would the average ham generate a PSK31 signal and transmit Varicode over the airwaves? The answer was to use the DSP (digital signal processing) capabilities of the common computer sound card to create an audio signal that shifted its phase 180° in sync with the 31.25 bit-per-second data stream, with a 0 bit in the data stream generating an audio phase shift, however, a 1 does not. The technique of using phase shifts (and the lack thereof) to represent binary data is known as Binary Phase-Shift Keying, or BPSK. If you apply a BPSK audio signal to an SSB transceiver, you end up with BPSK modulated RF. The combination of narrow bandwidth, an efficient DSP algorithm and synchronized sampling creates a mode that can be received at very low signal levels. In fact, PSK31 rivals the weak-signal performance of CW and it is a vast improvement over RTTY What Do You Need to Get Started? The first step is to jump onto the Web and download the latest version of PSK31. PSK31 requires a standard ham station (VHF or HF), a computer with a SoundBlaster 16 compatible sound card, some free software and a very simple four component circuit if you wish the computer to control Tx switching. I purchased a RIGblaster to achieve this control, but there is a great deal of information out there for those who have the skill and want to build it themselves. If you are not concerned with Tx switching, then you just want a straight audio connection between your rig and the computer, and a couple of shielded mini-plug stereo cables will do. If your radio has an accessory jack that offers an audio line output, this is the preferred way to feed receive audio to your PC. Connect one shielded cable between the radio line output and the sound card's line input. If your radio does not have a line output, you'll have to use the external speaker jack. For transmit audio, use another shielded cable and connect it between your sound card's speaker or line output jack and the accessory audio input of your transceiver. You can also opt to route the transmit audio to your microphone jack, but you'll need an attentuator if you do that. If you use the accessory audio input, don't forget to disconnect your microphone before you go on the air. When you key the transceiver, the microphone may be "live," too! That's it. A couple of shielded cables, some free software, your rig and your shack's computer and you will be communicating with PSK31 in nothing flat. I have only been active using PSK31 for a little over two weeks but I have to tell you that it has given Amateur Radio a whole new meaning for me, and the big bonus is that my next door neighbour doesn't complain about my HF signal getting into his TV's surround sound system because PSK31 is truly QRP and I am only running 5 or 10 Watts at the most. Give PSK31 a try. I guarantee you will fall madly in love with it. Material for this article was
obtained from the following sites which provide a wealth of information
that you should know about before you start to link your computer and radio
for PSK31 operation:
Father and Son Radio
Amateurs
The Bulletin is in the process of developing a series of short articles on how Amateur Radio impacts on family and in particular, we are interested in writing about families of Hams. Considering the rapidly ageing Ham population, we would love to find out about young people (teens to late 20s or so) who are getting into Amateur Radio where there is already one or more Hams in the family.
Roger got into radio at the age 11 when he built his first crystal radio set after watching his electrical engineer grandfather construct a Heathkit FM tuner for broadcast FM. Don Moman - VE1JY - taught Roger the finer points of Short Wave Listening (SWL) DXing when he joined the Canadian International DX Club in 1981. They did DXpeditions in the Rockies, laid mile-long beverages on frozen lakes and logged stations such as the Falklands, the Myanmar Defense Forces, low powered Australian stations and Radio Grenada. As an SWL, Roger tells me that he always thought that there were plenty of people talking on radio and it wasn't until Stan Gotfried - VE1WW - talked him into taking a course in 1997, that he decided to move to transmitting. Roger earned his basic license in 1997 and his code endorsement in 2000. He enjoys contesting, DXing, digital modes using both multimode controller and soundcard. He has contacted MIR by voice and received SSTV from MIR. He has used packet and voice to contact several astronauts and other amateurs by way of the ISS. Roger enjoys the challenge of building yagi, wire and small vertical antennas. Garth is 17 years old and in his final year of high school in Nova Scotia. He was born and raised in Nova Scotia and has attended local schools for all of his formal education. Like his father and many other Hams that I know, Garth is the farthest thing I know from the stereotypic uni-faceted teen. He shares his fathers love of nature, and together they enjoy trout and bass fishing, canoeing, kayaking, basketball, volleyball, skiing, computers, as well as the intellectual challenge of a good game of chess. And although Garth has done all of these things with father Roger, he has to drag Dad to the "edge" as they say, and get him to take up skateboarding, which is another of Garth's passions. Garth played Junior High Basketball at the Annapolis Royal Regional Academy, and is currently Co-captain of the Annapolis West Knights Basketball Team (Dad is the team General Manager). The team had a highly successful season in 2005, winning the Nova Scotia West Regional Championship and placed third at a recent Provincial Tournament. Like his father, Garth got into Amateur Radio at an early age, earning his basic license when he was only 12 and at 14 he studied, along with his Dad, and together they earned their 5WPM Code endorsements. Garth has worked Low Earth Orbiting (LEOs), did six meters at the height of the current sunspot cycle and operated pileups on that band. With his Dad, he joined the Loyalist City Amateur Radio Club for a DXpedition to Partridge Island and put Partridge on the air for Islands on the Air. Garth has a membership in ARRL and has held memberships in RAC, Loyalist City Amateur Radio Club, Annapolis River Amateur Radio Club and the Fundy Amateur Radio Club. Garth and his father, along with VE1HS - Avery; VE1JS - John and VE1WAN - Gary have for several years now enjoyed the opportunity to help the Digby Boy Scouts operate from their Digby County backcountry camp during Jamboree On the Air. Garth recently experienced a whole new level of Amateur Radio activity when he joined his father and several others (VE1DHD included) as part of the VE1JF Contest team for the 2005 ARRL SSB competition. Garth received early admission to Acadia University in Wolfville Nova
Scotia this year and come September, he will follow in another set of his
dad's footsteps into the area of the Environmental Sciences. However,
I expect that the bond between this father and son team to only strengthen
with the years and that Amateur Radio will continue to play an important
part in both their lives.
CF3VEDAY by Bob Cooke VE3BDB
The station is operated by members of The Wireless Set No. 19 Group, a Canada-based world-wide group of Radio Amateurs who collect, restore and/or operate vintage military communications gear. This website [ www.qsl.net/vc3vday ] will compliment the CF3VEDAY station by providing information about station operation, including times, frequencies and names of operators. The month of May will see the official opening of the new Canadian War Museum and this station will also conduct on-air activities from Ottawa to mark that event, using vintage military equipment. Amateur Radio operators are encouraged to invite a veteran into their shacks to allow contact with other veterans and to have contact with CF3VEDAY during its brief existence. They may even hear the "chirp" of a WS#19, renewing old memories for some. Radio Amateurs could also consider inviting young people in to view and use their radio equipment, to learn more about the stellar contribution of Canada's war veterans and to demonstrate what Amateur Radio is all about. This in itself could be a valuable history lesson to those persons under 65 who have no memory of, or appreciation for, the historic contributions of Canadians during a bitter fight against tyranny on the sea, on the land and in the air. We will be offering an original, colourful QSL card to all Amateur Radio stations that contact and send a QSL card to CF3VEDAY, as well as to SWLs who hear the station and who submit a full reception report. Please read the QSL/SWL report information: www.qsl.net/vc3vday/ Please visit the CF3VEDAY website for full details: www.qsl.net/vc3vday/ Bob Cooke VE3BDB
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Howard: I read with interest "bulletin mar1305n" that arrived by e-mail today. The section on the Radio Amateur's Code, written by Paul M. Segal, W9EEA, back in 1928, got me thinking. While I agree wholeheartedly with the Code (of ethics) he wrote, I offer this for consideration as well: What does AMATEUR RADIO stand for? It stands for: A Advocate
- Always presenting Amateur Radio in as positive way.
R Ready
- To lend a hand.
73 de VO1JDH
Hi Howard,
I will go back to read more about the Winlink system/capability. (And here I've only recently downloaded Echolink, but have not yet had the time to jump into tutorials and exploration.) Cheers,
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