This is the time of year when we reflect back on what we’ve accomplished for ourselves, for family and friends and perhaps also on our contributions to the wonderful service of amateur radio.

As RAC moves forward into 2005 I encourage all Amateurs to continue working towards making our organization stronger.  A healthy membership foundation will ensure our continuing relationship with Industry Canada and other national organizations, with member societies in the International Amateur Radio Union and, finally, our ability to fulfill our commitment of emergency communications.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, Executive and Volunteers at Radio Amateurs of Canada, I extend to all Canadian Amateurs and your families a joyous and peaceful holiday season and a prosperous 2005.

73, Earle Smith – VE6NM
President, Radio Amateurs of Canada

Once again this year, jolly old Saint Nick will be present on the amateur bands to answer letters from children across Ontario, and perhaps beyond. The 40 metre net will be on the TPN frequency, 7.055 mhz, on December 19th, 2004 at 1:00 pm. In addition, three segments are scheduled on the 80 metre band, on December 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. The frequency will be 3.760 mhz +/- QRM, at 5:00 pm each day. Anyone wishing to send letters to Santa may do so by either of two means, e-mail or snail mail. The e-mail address is santaclausradio@rogers.com  and the snail mail address is:  Santa Claus Workshop, c/o Gordon Mitchell,  41 Hamilton Ave., Brantford, ON N3S 7A1.

Please round up as many letters and requests as possible, as Santa wants to have a good turnout. 

(Gord Mitchell, VE3GIN) 

Atlantic Region Correspondent Needs Your Help PLEASE, if there is something interesting being planned, currently going on, or has taken place in Amateur Radio in your location, drop me an email and let me know so I can share your news with others in the region and across the country. D. Howard Dickson - VE1DHD dhdickson@hfx.eastlink.ca

Did you know that the tradition of decorating Christmas trees began in Germany? In the old days, German families would bring trees into their houses as symbols of fertility during the cold winter season. And when Great Britain's Queen Victoria married Germany's Prince Albert in 1840, he brought the tradition to London. When pictures of the British Royal Family and their Christmas tree appeared in newspapers, thousands of people in Canada, the United States, and England soon began decorating their own.

However, it's very likely that many Nova Scotians set up their own trees long before then, since many of them emigrated to Canada from Germany in the 1700s. In fact, many of them settled in present-day Lunenburg County, which today calls itself the "Christmas tree capital of the world." Every year, thousands of trees grown especially for Christmas are harvested in Nova Scotia and shipped as far away as the southern United States and Mexico. 

But there's one tree that has special meaning to the Nova Scotians who live in Halifax, the province's capital city. On December 6, 1917, a massive explosion nearly obliterated the city. At 8:45 a.m., two ships, the Imo and the Mont Blanc, collided in Halifax Harbour, causing the Mont Blanc to explode. The ship and its cargo of explosives were blown a mile high in what was at that time the world's largest man-made explosion. 

With half the city obliterated and many of its people dead and dying, Halifax needed help desperately. Trains from all over Canada and New England brought medical aid, food, clothes, building materials and laborers to rebuild the devastated city. One of the biggest sources of help was the city of Boston, whose citizens sent millions of dollars' worth of aid and supplies. 

In gratitude, the people of Halifax presented Boston with one of the province's finest trees to serve as the city's official Christmas tree in Boston Common. And every year since, a special Nova Scotia tree is selected and shipped to Boston to show the province's thanks for its neighbor's help in its time of need. 

Many Radio Amateurs are either unaware or have forgotten that when VE1 Vanity Plates are issued to valid Radio Amateurs, two plates are issued.  Both of these plates are required to be displayed on the car - front and back - this, in spite of the fact that Nova Scotia has not required automobiles to display a front plate for several years now.

If you are caught with only one VE1 plate on your vehicle you run the risk of getting a significant fine for operating a motor vehicle without the properly displaying the vehicle licence plates.

Radiogrupo Sur.  For several years now, I have been a corresponding member of this radio club, only visiting, however, for a couple of weeks at a time. Since I arrived in September, I have been able to attend their weekly get together on Wednesday evenings.  Their club location is on the third floor of an old building of flats near the University in downtown Montevideo.  They have a number of rooms: a large board room for the meetings and for running their ham radio course; an office; a room for the club station; a kitchen and several rooms that house the Guglielmo Marconi Amateur Radio Museum of Uruguay. This seems to be the final resting-place for old, hard used gear in this country. They also operate local repeaters on 6, 2 and ¾ meters that cover the larger Montevideo area, and they publish a quarterly magazine: QSO: Publicacion informative para Radioaficionados.  They are a very active group of hams.

One very different aspect of amateur radio here is that the CBers are included in the Club and seem to conform to the same standards of operating.  The 11-meter band is regarded here as a first step for many, if not most people, to getting a ham license.  This band actually works very well for communications around the densely populated coastal area between Uruguay and Argentina.  Once up grading to a ham license has occurred, many just move over to the spacious spectrum available on 10 meters.  One also finds that 80 and 40 meters are full of modest stations engaged in local and regional conversations and no apparent interest in DX.  Linguistic barriers are also likely a factor in operating choice.
The level of Amateur Radio activity in Uruguay is modest, with approximately 2,500 active Radio Amateurs.  There are about 20 radio clubs in the country, but the largest and most active seem to be in Montevideo - the Radio Club Uruguay, Centro de Radioaficionados, Radio Club Oriental, and Radiogrupo Sur - all in Montevideo. Other active clubs exist in Salto and in Paysandu.  DX-pedition activity is mainly from some off-shore islands (Lobos Island off of Puenta del Este; Flores Island off of Montevideo Bay to name but two) and prominent inland landmarks (Pandazucan Hll, the highest point in Uruguay at 400 metres.  Air Mobile Expeditions are also popular.  There are several very active DXers in the country and you may have made contact with some of them: CX2ABC (Lupo) is the President of the Radiogrupo Sur (RGS) in Montevideo; CX4DC (Manuel) CX6ACY (Ricardo); CX5BE (Julian); CX6DAP (Jorge) and CX8BBA (Enrique) - an interesting chap who has spent time in and operated from Antarctica.

Hams in Uruguay use the same frequency allocations as in Canada, EXCEPT their allocation on the 160 meter band is 1800 - 1850 KHz; and on 80 metres it is 3500 - 3750KHz and 3775 - 3800 KHz.  Call signs in Uruguay start with CV, CW or CX, with the first letter of the suffix indicating the province in which the station is located.   Stations operating from Montevideo will have either an A, B or C as the lead letter in the suffix followed by an unique two-letter call - i.e. CX1BCH

Like HARC, this club (RGS) represents a large cross-section of people, united by a common interest in amateur radio.  They are a talented group of people who, because of very different levels of wealth and resources, must be very innovative.  Their technical ability and talent for scrounging needed materials reminds me of the way we all functioned as hams some years ago.  What they accomplish is remarkable.  There is a spirit of comradeship and mutual assistance that is very attractive.

I have found only two people in the club who actually speak English at a level sufficient to carry on a conversation of substance.  Yet, many of them are operating on the DX bands and in contests with just enough English to do the job! Shouldn't we all learn as much Spanish? 

Chao! 73 de Scott, VE1QD.

I received this information  from Gord earlier in the fall and submitted it in November to the CAR Bulletin.  Gord just recently sent along some excellent photographs of the conversion process for their new EMO Bus so I thought it worth reprinting with the added visual impact.
Howard Dickson - VE1DHD

Two years ago, our Club, "SPARC - Summerside Amateur Radio Club" acquired a used school bus. We painted it 'light lime in colour' to match emergency vehicles in Summerside, ripped out most of the seats, installed 'large map tables' down one side and several operating positions down the other. 
 

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Special Event Station VC9COAL

Authority has been granted to Wade Smith to use the special event call sign VC9COAL to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the naming of Minto, New Brunswick for the arrival of the railroad in 1904.  The station will be on the air from December 1 to December 31, 2004. A special QSL card will be available for any contact or SWL Report. QSL via VE9WGS direct with return postage or via the bureau. No e-qsls will be available. 

Complete details can be found online by visiting: www.qsl.net/ve9wgs/vc9coal.html

Maritime Swap Shop

The Maritime Swap Shop is held every Tuesday at 2330z or 7:30 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

Ontario Amateur Radio Service celebrates 33rd Anniversary  (Jan. 08, 2005)

Just a reminder that the ONTARS Net will celebrate its 33rd anniversary on January 08, 2005. The net was founded by Bruce Carveth, VE3BC (SK) in 1972. The net operates seven days per week from 7 am to 6 pm on 3.755 mhz, with a different controller each hour. 

(Shawn Gartley, VE3PSV, ONTARS Net Manager) 

Basic Radio Course - Quinte, Prince Edward and Trenton Radio Clubs
 

Course Starts: January 13th, 2005 and finishes March 10, 2005 Course Location: Trenton Radio Club Meeting room at CFB Trenton Course Times: starts 7:00 PM ends 9:00 PM plus and includes half hour for Qs & As Course Days: Alternates between Tuesdays and Thursdays except first Thursday of month and second Tuesday of month

 Course Cost: $50.00 - this includes RAC study guide (cost of $40.00) and membership into one of 3 Clubs for one year - Trenton ARC; Prince Edward RC; or Quinte ARC and examination.

More Information: Contact Michael Papper VE3VMP 613-969-1744 or ve3vmp@sympatico.ca
WWW: http://www.qarc.on.ca/hamradio.htm

(Tim VE3UO Secretary, QARC)

Burlington Amateur Radio Club.....News

The Burlington Amateur Radio Club will be starting a new Roundtable Net which will be held on Wednesday Evenings at 8:00pm on or about a frequency of 7.094 MHz.  The purpose of this Net is three fold: 1) To discuss things of a general nature to the Amateur Radio Service 2) To discuss things of a specific nature to the Burlington Amateur Radio Club 3) To provide a "Hands On" training ground for new licensees as they acquire their advanced certification in the future.

This weekly activity is designed to be an open Net, so any and all stations are welcome to check in at any time. Join us if you can, your input would be greatly appreciated.

More information about the Burlington Amateur Radio Club can be found online at: www.barc.ca

73 John Stock  VE3EWJ

Kitchener Waterloo Linux Users Group "install-fest" (Jan. 11 2005)

The Kitchener Waterloo Linux Users Group is holding a Linux "install-fest" Tuesday night, 11 January 2005. This is an opportunity for you to install Linux on your computer with the assistance of experienced Linux users. It starts at 6 p.m. at the Cambridge Holiday Inn (200 Holiday Inn Drive). The event is free but pre-registration is required. For more information visit http://www.kwlug.org/fest.php. 

(Brad Rodriguez, VE3RHJ, AEC Grey County) 

The Amherstburg  Radio Club is starting  Classes for both basic and advanced starting with a signup meeting on Sunday December 19/04 at 7Pm. at 300 Seymour  St.  Amherstburg. Classes will be held at the  Food and  fellowship mission building on Victoria St. next to the Boyscout Hall at Victoria and Simco St's in Amherstburg. 

(Dave  VE3HKO)

QRP Special Event Station VC3W Jeff Hetherington VA3JFF, of Welland Ontario says will be operating QRP Special Event Station VC3W from 0000Z 23 October 2004 until 2359Z 23 December 2004. The call sign will be used to commemorate the 175th Anniversary of the Opening of the original Welland Canal.

ARCI Fall QSO Party
CQWW Contests
Canada Winter Contest
November 13 1700Z on 14.260 from The Island, ON-109 for Canadian Islands Program
November 14 1700Z on 14.260 from Merritt Island, ON-110 for Canadian Islands Program

Jeff will be active on all bands, 2 through 160 at some point in time over the period of authority for VC3W.
QSL Route is direct or bureau to VA3JFF.

(RAC News Service)

The Lambton County Radio Club will be sponsoring a Basic Amateur Radio course beginning in the early part of January, 2005 and running for 8-10 weeks. 

Classes are tentatively scheduled to be conducted at the downtown Sarnia (Ontario) Police Headquarters classroom facility on a weekly basis (Tuesday evenings) from 7:30 PM to around 9:30 PM.   The course will cover basic electronic and radio theory as well as basic rules and regulations relating to the Amateur Radio Service in Canada.

Tuition fee for the course is $55 (Cdn) per person, payable in advance. The tuition fee includes payment for a personal copy of the "Radio Amateurs of Canada Study Guide for the Basic Exam" (6th Edition) as well as payment for classroom materials and related costs. 

A closed book, written examination session for the Basic Qualification by an official Industry Canada accredited examiner will also be conducted as a part of the course during the final class session.   Those who successfully take and pass this examination will be issued their Basic Certificate of Proficiency in Amateur Radio from Industry Canada along with a Canadian Amateur Radio call sign. 

Course registration and tuition fee collection will be conducted on Tuesday evening, November 23, 2004 at 7:30 PM at the downtown Sarnia Police Headquarters classroom facility.  Due to the size of the classroom facility, the number of students that can be accommodated will be limited to approximately 15-20.   Therefore, course registration will be on a "first-come, first-served" basis.

For more information, contact Keith Baker, VA3KSF, at 519-481-0153 or you may contact him via e-mail at: va3ksf@rac.ca

Full details on the Lambton County Radio Club can be found online: www.kcbassociates.com/lcrc

New Repeater in Collingwood

There is a new repeater now located in the town of Collingwood. The identifier is VE3RMT, and it is operational on both 2 meters (145.250 - PL 156.7) and 70 cm (443.800 PL 156.7). This repeater will remain in service for the foreseeable future, unless repairs or mods are required. I am also working on controller mods to connect to 927.9875/902.9875 repeater and to 53.150 transmitter.     Bob Purvis, VE3INY

(RAC OB Service)

Looking for that special piece of radio gear to finish off your ham station? Do you have extra radio gear you'd like to turn into some cash?

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)

Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Ontario Region..News Season\'s Greetings On behalf of the Ontario Section Management team I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Our sincere appreciation to all Field Organization participants for making the Ontario section most successful in 2004. Thanks everyone for your tremendous support. Have a safe and happy holiday season. Ontario Section Manager - Rose, VE3RIS Source: www.racaresontario.ca

New Appointments  December 16, 2004

It is our pleasure to welcome two new ARES groups to the RAC Field Organization. Please join us in congratulating Dave Sutherland, VE3SUT on his recent appointment as Emergency Coordinator for the City of Elliot Lake. 

Welcome and congratulations to Tim Smith, VE3HCB on his recent Emergency Coordinator’s position for the City of Cornwall. 

Also joining the Ontario Section ARES Coordinator’s team is Dave Hayes, VE3EIH our new EC for the City of Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma District. 

Congratulations also to Bob Gammon, VA3RX on his new role as District Emergency Coordinator for Thames West District. 

Thank you to all new appointees for volunteering your time and leadership skills to the RAC ARES program to better serve your communities.

Ontario Section Manager - Rose, VE3RIS

Source: www.racaresontario.ca

New ARES website

I would like to point you in the direction of the new ARES Ontario website. It's URL is www.racaresontario.ca. 
Please send any ARES news to the Section Emergency Co-ordinator, Assistant Section Manager or Section Manager. If you would like to be kept informed of when news items are added to the site please subscribe to the notification list by sending an e-mail to the Ontario ARES News List or by visiting the Yahoo Group for this list. Links to each of the above parties are included on the site's main page. Please note that this is not a discussion forum, but only a service to announce news at this website. It is open to anyone with an interest in the Amateur Radio Emergency Service in Ontario and you need not be an ARES member or even an Amateur Radio Operator to join this list. 

(Paul Davidson, VE3UUM, site co-ordinator)

ARES Ontario HF Nets

I would like to take this opportunity to encourage all ARES Stations in Ontario who have HF privileges to try and make an effort to check out the twice-weekly ARES Ontario HF nets. The nets are primarily for ARES stations to report on their week's activities. Non - ARES stations are welcome to listen in. There is a net on 40 meters at 2:00 pm each Sunday on 7.150 mhz, and also an 80 meter net on 3.743 mhz, Wednesday evening at 8:00 pm. I urge all interested parties, including SWL's to listen in to these nets, even if you do not physically check into them. 

(Glenn Killam, VE3GNA, OBM). 

Golden Horseshoe Net now  the ProCom Net

This is to inform all stations that the Thursday night net at 8.30 pm, known as the Golden Horseshoe Net will now be known as the ProCom Net. ProCom is short for Provincial Communications. This will better reflect the coverage area of the net.

Thursday - 8.30 pm
VE3SNM Toronto - 442.850+ (136.5)
VE3WIK Carlisle - 443.675+ (131.8)
VE3WAJ Thorold - 442.425+ (107.2)
NW Link - VE3WIK 146.715 (131.8) / VE3MBR 147.105 (131.8)
Cross Band send & receive - 146.460 simplex (Hamilton)

Be aware that the Toronto VE3SNM repeater will soon be shut down at its current location. When that happens and until a new Toronto location is found, Toronto stations should be ready to go to VE3WAJ on 442.425 (107.2) located in Thorold, to check into the net.

Official Bulletin Service - Ontario Section Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) The RAC Official Bulletin Service (OBS) provides a vital communications link for informing the  amateur radio community of the latest developments in Amateur Radio and RAC

The OBS is supplementary to the National Bulletin Service function at RAC Headquarters that issues bulletins of national interest by e-mail and packet. In fact the OBS relays national bulletins within most Sections across Canada. It also may originate bulletins that relate only to the Section, or even a local area within the Section.

The Official Bulletin Manager is responsible for recruiting and supervising a team of Official Bulletin Stations to disseminate such news and information of interest to amateurs in the Section and to provide a means of getting the information to the OBS appointees.

Anyone wishing to volunteer as an Official Bulletin Station is asked to contact his/her respective Official Bulletin Manager

The weekly RAC Ontario Section Bulletin produced by Glenn Killam VE3GNA (RAC  Bulletin Manager, Ontario) can be found online at: www.hfradio.net/obs

Winnipeg ARES participates in Skywarn Recognition Day 2004

Again this year, members of Winnipeg ARES participated in the Annual SKYWARN Recognition Day. SKYWARN Recognition Day was developed in 1999 by the US National Weather Service and the American Radio Relay League (ARRL). It celebrates the contributions that volunteer SKYWARN radio operators make to the National Weather Service. (Thanks to Jeff Dovyak VE4MBQ)

To read the full story (with pictures) visit the Winnipeg Ares Web site at: http://www.winnipegares.ca/SRD2004.htm

(RAC News Service)

2006 QCWA National Convention, Calgary, AB
The Convention date has been set for September 28 - 30, 2006. (Mark your calendar NOW!)
 

The convention hotel will be the Port O' Call Inn, a Best Western hotel, located on the corner of McKnight Blvd (48 Avenue) and 19th Street N.E. It is close to the airport and across the street from the Calgary Aero Space Museum which is home to astronaut Dr. Robert Thirsk Communications Center. This Communications Center is home to amateur radio station VE6BGC. The Convention-2006 Committee have already negotiated an excellent guaranteed guest room rate of $100.00 (all taxes included!)

The organizing committee has adopted a QCWA Convention - 2006 logo (see below) that will be available in a lapel pin. Only 200 pins have be ordered and should be available in early January, 2005. These are expected to move fast and pricing is $5.00 for each lapel pin. If you wish to receive yours now, send $5.00 for each pin plus $2.00 mailing charges to mail in Canada and $2.50 mailing charges to mail in the USA. The mailing charges are for mailing up to 10 pins in one envelope. If you wish to reserve your pin and pickup at convention time, just mail $5.00 and the committee will have you pin(s) available at the registration desk. Make Cheque or Money Order payable to "QCWA National Convention - 2006" and mail to Jack Ambler, VE6CAQ at 9994 Hidden Valley Drive NE, Calgary, AB T3A 5G3.

 And finally - as a point of interest the QCWA National Web site is already promoting the convention. Visit the 2006 Convention page on the QCWA web site at http://www.qcwa.org/2006convention.htm.
 

49th ANNUAL QCWA QSO PARTY - April 3, 2005
If you are looking for some fun with a laid back style of operating then the QCWA QSO Party is for you! For more details and log sheet - refer to the QCWA Journal or visit the QCWA National Website at http://www.qcwa.org.

2005 is the Centennial Celebration for Saskatchewan. The Saskatoon Amateur Radio Club and the Meewasin Amateur Radio Society of Saskatoon are hosting the Saskatchewan Amateur Radio League annual Hamfest for 2005.

Join us at the Travelodge Saskatoon for our Centennial Celebrations July 22-24, 2005. The theme of the Saskhamfest 2005 will be the last century of amateur radio, a look at the role of amateur radio in Saskatchewan and discussions about the future of ham radio operations in Western Canada.

All proceeds of the Saskhamfest 2005 will be contributed to the Amateur Radio Emergency Service.

Anyone who wishes to participate in the Saskhamfest 2005 may contact the Saskatchewan Amateur Radio League at www.sarl.ca

The Manitoba Repeater Society is please announce that the VE4MBR repeater owned and operated by the Triple "S" Group is once again accessible via the MRS linked Repeater System.
 

The VE4MBR repeater located in the City of Selkirk on 147.060 MHz positive offset and tone access of 127.3 Hz. is capable of linking into the VE4MIL repeater (owned and operated by the Manitoba Repeater Society).  To access the VE4MBR <-> VE4MIL link, simply issue the 403 command to bring up the link.

To drop the link issue the 430 command.  After 5 minutes of no carrier the link will automatically drop.  During this testing phase the link will normally be in a off condition.  This repeater is fully open for all hams to use.  Signal reports and coverage reports are encouraged.

The Manitoba Repeater Society owns and operates 10 repeaters in Southern Manitoba, with inter-ties to the Lake of the Woods Repeater Society (via the PineTree Inter-tie), the Brandon Amateur Radio Club, The Dauphin Amateur Radio Club and The Triple "S" Group.

Derek Hay VE4HAY
www.ve4.net/mrs

Notice: Amateurs in the Western Provinces are asked to submit their news items for 'The Canadian Amateur Radio Bulletin' to our  ' Western Provinces Correspondent'. 

Anthony Rodgers  VA7IRL
va7irl@rac.ca

Subscribe to this bulletin and have it delivered to your e-mail box automatically every week, please put your name and callsign (if you have one) in the body of the text.  hfradio@look.ca