Director for Ontario North and
East Ontario, Ben Price VE3CDA
2004 DARF Fund Annual report delivered
to RAC (Feb. 11 2005)
To read VE3YV's report, please visit the DARF web site at http://www.rac.ca/~darf (RAC News Service)
8-9 VE1BEW Linda Industry Canada consulting on Ultra Wide Band (Feb. 7 2005) Industry Canada has just published a Gazette notice announcing a consultation on the possible use in Canada of Ultra Wide Band technology. According to Industry Canada, "Ultra-wideband is a new wireless technology, which could provide many benefits to consumers, businesses and industries. The introduction of such new technology requires the development of appropriate radio equipment standard specifications and certification requirements. In this case, however, concerns have been raised regarding the potential interference to radiocommunication services. In view of this, the Department hereby initiates a comprehensive consultation with the public, consumer groups, businesses, and users of the spectrum on the introduction and use of ultra-wideband systems in Canada." RAC and IARU representatives have been attending Industry Canada discussions on UWB for the past several years, watching for possible threats to the amateur bands. UWB technology is most likely to be applied in applications requiring communications over very short ranges, or for "through the wall" radar for personnel detection. A UWB transmitter usually covers a bandwidth of hundreds of MHz, in the microwave bands. Details can be obtained by visiting the Industry Canada web site at: Consultation Paper on the Introduction of Wireless Systems Using Ultra-wideband Technology (RAC News Service)
VO1BL Silent Key (Feb. 7 2005) Joe Craig VO1NA reports the recent passing of Bob Lewis VO1BL formerly W4CKZ. Bob was very active in amateur radio for over 6 decades. He was a member of the Quarter Century Wireless association, a founding member of the Society of Newfoundand Radio Amateurs in 1959 and later went on to become a founding member of the Marconi Radio Club of Newfoundland in which he was very active participant, despite health problems in later life. Bob was active in amateur radio until days before his passing and was a highly respected and very well known gentleman. He was 90 years old. (RAC News Service)
Halifax Amateur Radio Club Annual Ham Breakfast Date: Saturday, February 19th, 2005 Time: 0900hrs Location: Steak & Stein Restaurant on Young Street in Halifax Talk-in On: VE1PSR – 147.270(+) All are welcome. Hope to see you there.
The Truro Amateur Radio Club Annual Chinese Supper When: Saturday, Feb 19, 2005 – 6 for 6:30pm Where: Chow Family Restraunt, Prince Street, Truro, across from Fletchers Restraunt. Everyone welcome, including none Amateurs. Contact Paul VE1DGS 902-662-2016 one week before supper if you plan to attend
Lambton County Radio Club Sunday Morning Breakfasts
Currently, LCRC's breakfast meetings are being conducted at the Bridge Tavern Family Restaurant, located immediately beside the Blue Water Bridge in Point Edward, Ontario. During the meeting, patrons can order breakfast, coffee and/or tea off the menu, or they can partake of one of the Bridge Tavern's outstanding (and very reasonably priced!) breakfast specials. Visitors to the local area and prospective new members are always welcome to join us, so consider this your personal invitation! WHERE: Bridge Tavern Family Restaurant ADDRESS: 109 Michigan Ave, in Point Edward, Ontario, Canada WHEN: Every Sunday morning , 8:00 AM to around 9:00 AM DIRECTIONS: Talk-in on 147.37(-) and 444.55(+) or
Burlington Spring Flea Market
(Feb. 26 2005)
More info: http://www.barc.ca
UMS Annual Fleamarket - Montréal,
Quebec Saturday, March 5 2005
Burnaby ARC Amateur Radio Flea Market (Sunday, March 6, 2005) Location: Cameron Recreation
Centre 9523 Cameron Street Burnaby, B.C. ( behind Lougheed Mall )
Radio and Computer Swap Meet
(Saturday, March 26, 2005)
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
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
A PLAN FOR ARES® TEAMS DURING POWER OUTAGES (Feb. 3 2005) IT'S that time of year. Winter storms
can suddenly cripple the power grid and landline communications. In Northern
GUIDELINES AND A "GENERIC" PLAN FOR ARES TEAMS DURING AND/OR EXTENDED POWER OUTAGES AND TELEPHONE SYSTEM FAILURES. BEFORE THE POWER OUTAGE: 1 - MAINTAIN your radios,
accessories, lighting, and other gear in a "state of readiness." Keep your
batteries charged, your generator serviced, and a enough fresh fuel (safely
stored) to keep it running at least 24 hours. Always keep the fuel
2 - PARTICIPATE in daily and weekly nets, drills, and training. Get to know your EC, AEC, and other members on your ARES® team. Remain familiar with your local and regional emergency plan. 3 - CULTIVATE good public
relations on a daily basis. Let your friends, neighbors, and local community
leaders
DURING A POWER OUTAGE AND/OR TELEPHONE SYSTEM FAILURE: 1 - CHECK ON your family and neighbors. Especially any elderly, disabled, or infirm persons you know. If assistance is needed summon help as appropriate. 2 - ACTIVATE your station by connecting to your auxiliary power source. Monitor designated local and section EMCOMM frequencies. Keep an accurate log of pertinent information and traffic. 3 - CONSERVE battery power and help keep the frequencies clear by not transmitting unless you have traffic, useful information or checking in on schedule. 4 - AS SOON AS a net has been activated, check in when your area is called. Advise the NCS of your availability for assignment(s). 5 - YOU MAY BE asked to stay at home and serve as a relief NCS or a relay station. ARES stations (fixed or mobile) with both VHF and HF are especially valuable. 6 - IF YOU GO MOBILE, travel
self-contained. Appropriate clothing, food and drink. First Aid Kit. Tool
Kit. Shovel.
7 - RESPOND as directed by
your NCS or go to the nearest location where people congregate during an
emergency. This may be a local fire station, community hall, school, church,
general store, or even an intersection. When surveying an
8 - IDENTIFY yourself as an emergency communications unit. Wear your ARES® cap, jacket, or other ID materials. On vehicles, magnetic signs are nice, or you can make placards and place them on your dashboard or sun visor. 9 - INTRODUCE yourself to local officials. Briefly tell them who you are, what you can do, where you will be located, and that they may refer persons with emergency, priority, or health an welfare messages to you. Remain polite, cooperative and helpful. 10 - KEEP IN CONTACT with the NCS. Check in every half-hour or as directed. The EC or acting EC may need you to move to another location (such as a hospital, utility office or city hall). 11 - IF YOU MUST leave your post or assignment notify the NCS. Allow enough time for him/her to find a replacement. 12 - KNOW your own limitations.
Do not try to be a "marathon operator." When your relief arrives, give
him/her a brief
(A message from EMCOMM MONTHLY - February 2005)
RAC Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Ontario Section
Maritime (80-metre HF) Contest Phone and CW Planned dates:
Operating Times & Frequency: Both sections are on 80M, open to hams in the three Maritime provinces only and run from 7 -11 am and 2 - 6 pm local time (AST). Exchange: Call, Name, RST, County, Province, Serial #. Scoring: 6 points / QSO (1 point per correct exchange item). Multipliers: Counties and Memorial station will count as multipliers. Awards: A plaque will be awarded for first place in each section and certificates will be awarded for 25+ CW contacts and 50+ SSB contacts Submission of Entries within 30
days to:
As of now we are not 100% sure that we have a CW Op for the BBL section, but will keep everyone advised. We are recommending that the CW section operation be kept to 3.700 kHz and below. 73 Avery - VE1HS
The Telephone Pioneer Net "The Bell Telephone Company of Canada had a department located in Montreal known Toll Area. This group was responsible for the design, engineering and maintenance of all long distance switching and carrier equipment throughout Quebec and Ontario as well as liaison with other Telco’s in Canada and the U.S. A significant number of department members were Radio Amateurs. Due to the nature of this group, personnel were moved in and out of Montréal on a regular basis. As many friendships had developed VE2YA (now VE3PI) spread the word around that starting in February 1968 a “keep touch net” would be established and scheduled for Sunday evening, 20:00 Eastern Time, on 3.760 MHz. The net became very popular meeting place with expatriates some of who were working in exotic locations such as Labrador. The net also had a large number of Telephone Pioneers (employees with over 21 years service) hence the formal name “The Telephone Pioneer Net”. By 1971 regular check-ins included amateurs who worked for Quebec Telephone, Maritime Telephone, New Brunswick Telephone, Northern Electric and A.T. & T in the U.S. as well as many retired Telco employees. After several years of operation on 3.760 MHz. difficulty arose when a new group in Southern Ontario decided that they would also like to use this frequency. The new group reluctantly moved to 3.762 MHz, which was not enough change to exclude QRM. For unknown reasons the was no further cooperation and “The Telephone Pioneer Net moved top 3.740 MHz. which was a clear frequency but unfortunately eliminated the SSB participation of A.T. & T Amateurs as it was out of band for them This net has been running continuously since 1968 and has had about six different net controllers over this time. The net continues in operation to this day and although many of the original members are SK’s it still has a regular group of participants located in the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario. The net also welcomes all Amateurs not just those with Telco backgrounds”. Cheers Don, VE3KII (Thanks to racaresontatio.ca )
Weekly QRP Net. Please join us if you can for an
informal weekly QRP gathering Sunday mornings at 1500 UTC (10 AM EST) on
the closest clear frequency to 7.067 MHz. All Hams within hearing range
are invited to call in on CW or SSB.
Also, a group of QRPers from the Durham Region QRP Club (VE3QDR) will be operating in the FYBO (Freeze Your Buns Off ) outdoor operating event on Sat. Feb. 5, from a conservation area in Pickering. We invite all interested Hams to join us! Contact Ken VE3ELA via e-mail for details: kenlar@csolve.net or view the QRP newsletter here. Ken Rose, VE3ELA (Thanks to Glenn VE3GNA OBM Ontario)
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)
Guides On The Air Feb 19 and 20
at Guide House
This event will be held on Feb.19 and 20. The location will be at Guide House at 801 Preston Ave, near the Corner of Preston and Main St. We hope to get some volunteers to help with this project. We will need two transceivers plus some antennas. There may also be an exercise on IRLP to do with this function. We will know more on that later. The plan is to operate from Noon to Noon. There are 36 Guides and Brownies signed up so far, along with some Leaders. Contact Ned (VE5NED) for further information, or to volunteer. 382-1446 or e-mail at ve5ned@gmail.com
QSL Card Production - doing it yourself by D. Howard Dickson -- VE1DHD Designing QSL cards has become a real art. No longer are we easily impressed with a one- or two-colour card. Full colour cards are becoming increasingly popular, but they are expensive. Using a Google search, I recently found a number of sites, that on the surface seem to have an excellent reputation for service and for quality product, and delivered at a reasonable price (under $95us for 1000 cards with full colour on front and black or one other colour on back) - certainly better that I have been able to negotiate with local printers. However, if you are not in the market for 1000 cards for whatever reason, it can be much more expensive to have a full-colour run of one or two hundred cards professionally printed. There is however an alternative using your own design and a colour photocopier Actually, it is not that difficult
to design your own cards and set up a "camera-ready" template, which you
can then take (on a CD) to your local business photocopy centre to have
any number printed off on card stock at a reasonable price. Certainly
much cheaper, and better quality by far than if you try to do the actual
printing yourself on an inkjet printer.
3) Next it is time to add the text and that is quite straight forward. For this example I used Comic Sans MS text. 4) For the back of the card I included a short write-up on Peggy's Point Light, but you could take this opportunity to describe yourself and/or your station. To keep the price down, the back of the card is black and white only. The boxed area at the bottom contains the actual QSL information and if your logging program has the capability of printing QSL information on labels, then the label can be affixed over this area very nicely. 5) Now, having created the front and the back, it is important to do two things. One - save each of these images in Photoshop format. Then, "flatten" each image. This compresses the file by merging all of the various layers that went into the image, including the background image itself and all overlaying text. Save the flattened image as a .jpg image at the highest quality setting possible. 6) Now, close Photoshop and open your word processor. I use MS Word. The first thing you want to do is to set the page dimensions to 11x14. This size will allow you to place three rows of three cards per row on the page with a small border at the outside. Under page setup, set the "margins" to zero. 7) Next, Insert/Picture/from File. Even though you sized the image in Photoshop, you should check the size of the imported image and make sure that it is 3.5x5.5 inches. To do this, right click the image and click on "Format the Picture". No click "Size" to set the image size (do NOT lock the aspect ration until you get the size exactly correct). Now click the "Position" tab and put a check mark in the "Float over text" box. Finally, click the "Wrapping" tab and check the wrapping style box "Tight". 8) Now it is time to "clone" your image. Make eight copies of the image and position them so that there is no space between them. We all know that if you left click on an image you can move it by using the four arrow keys (up/down/left/right). BUT, did you know that you can "nudge" the image in "micro steps" by holding down the Control key while you use the arrow keys. (Thanks to Lynn Bowser - VE1ENT for this helpful hint when we were putting together the Maritime Callbook this year). When you have all nine images positioned in perfect alignment with no space between images and an even border at the outside, you are ready to save the "plate". 9) When setting up the backside of the card, I found that it was helpful to do the following. Import the back-side image, and then go to "Format Picture" and click on "Colours and Lines" and then select a black line to be placed around the outside of the image. This demarcates the border of the card and makes it much easier to position and align the back side images of the card. Once you have everything set up, you can, if you like, go in and remove the margin lines. Also, I forgot to mention earlier, that it is helpful if when you are setting up the back of the card in Photoshop, to make sure that you have at least a one centimetre border around the edge of the card. This way, any slight shifting on the front of the card won't seriously affect the positioning of text on the back. 10) Done - you are now ready to transfer these two Word files for the front and back plates onto a CD -- the file size will be too large for a floppy -- and head off to the printing store. 11) I found that the cost of printing was $1.52 for 11x14 colour + $0.20 for the card stock + $0.14 for the B/W back-side + tax. With nine cards per sheet, it works out to less than $0.30 per card. Now, this is a lot more than you would expect to pay if you had 1000 full-colour cards off-set printed (probably about $0.10/card) but, you don't have to print 1000 unless you really want that many. 12) Oh yes, I forgot one final thing. You are now going to have to use a slice board and cut the border off and separate the cards - not a trivial task I found!! I hope that this will be helpful for anyone contemplating doing up their own cards whether it be for off-set printing of photocopying. If you want a copy of my MS Word plate template, just drop me an email at: VE1DHD@RAC.ca and I will be happy to send that to you as an attachment.
DX
n' HF
At the present time there are 335 cur-rent entities listed on the ARRL DXCC list. If one has worked each of the current entities on all ten bands from 160 - 6 meters then the total number of possible current band-countries is 3350. The DX Challenge, a part of the DXCC Awards system, uses this metric to provide another goal for Dxers. How many band-countries can you work? With a little thought, you will quickly appreciate how difficult this challenge can be. The entry-level certificate (actually a plaque) from the ARRL is for those who have worked at least 1000 band-countries since the beginning of the DXCC Award on 15 November 1945. One can receive endorsements for each 500 additional band-countries. QSL card confirmations are taken from your DXCC records. At the present there are 1336 people
registered for the DX Challenge. Here are some revealing
statistics. The person with the most band-countries is John, W4DR who has
worked 3083 band-countries! This is an awesome number, since there are
only 267 new band-countries he can work, or an aver-age of 26.7 per band.
Just consider the challenge presented by 160 and 6 meters in achieving
a high country total. There are thirteen Canadians registered, including
the following people:
The Maritimer with the highest total is Paul, VE1DX, with 1719 band-countries. He is in 396 th place. When I register, my 1727 band-countries will put me in 391 st place. Just think for a minute about what personal operating patterns and skills are needed to be at the top of this game. Where are you in the listing? Who is the champion DX Challenger in HARC? Atlantic Canada? 73 de Scott, VE1QD
Victoria B.C.
Hams provide communications link for the Canadian Adult Recreational Hockey
Association
Once again this year, Amateur Radio Operators from Victoria have provided a vital communications link for the largest and longest running national hockey tournament of the Canadian Adult Recreational Hockey Association (CARHA). The event, which took place on the third weekend in January, marked the 28th year that the Pacific Cup Tournament has been held in Victoria. Also marking the occasion were four hams who have volunteered every year for the past 28 years – Geoff Jones, VE7DCZ, Al Muir, VE7BEU, Roy Parrett, VE7TG and Doug Shand, VA7DS. Roy also wins the distinction of being the most senior radio operator on the air that weekend. The tournament was sold out as far back as November with an unprecedented 120 teams signing up. Out-ofprovince teams that participated in the tournament this year came from Alberta, Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Illinois. The teams played 206 hockey games at eight different arenas throughout Victoria, including the newly built Bear Mountain Arena. Since the locations of the arenas were so widespread, communications to and from the rinks were vital. Amateur Radio Operators were assigned to each arena and at Harbour Towers (Headquarters) were provided with 2metre radios from WARA's Emergency Communications Programme. Having the radios at the arenas allowed the CARHA organizers to have immediate access to all the scores for the whole tournament. For those that were avid hockey fans, there were some excellent hockey games played. Two of the playoff games went into overtime and one game was not resolved in the overtime period so they went to a shoot-out to determine the winner for that division. Amateur radio operations were "on the air" for over 32 hours during that weekend which involved over 70 amateur radio operators. It was a fun-filled event and one that everyone looks forward to every year. If you would like to volunteer for next year's event, contact the Hockey Communication Coordinator, Neil Townsend, VE7NIL at (250) 382-6345 or e-mail: ve7nil@rac.ca (73 de VA7IRL)
Don MacQueen VE1DH (Feb. 6 2005) Howard, I am writing you and asking you to pass along my congratulations to all involved in the production and distribution of the Canadian Amateur Radio Bulletin. I particularly appreciate the February 6, 2005 Issue with its "menu" and feature articles including photos. This is making excellent use of the medium. As one who has done Web Pages I know a bit of the effort involved and wish to thank all of you folks for your excellent work. (Don MacQueen VE1DH) |
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