RAC has been receiving questions about the status of the Industry Canada response to the RAC Proposal on Morse Code and Related Matters. Interest centres on whether Industry Canada has come to a decision on retaining or deleting the Morse Qualification for access to the HF bands below 30 MHz.

Even when the summary and responses are posted on Strategis, Industry Canada will still have to make its decision on whether to implement all, some or none of the RAC proposal. A decision until the spring, perhaps April, seems unlikely.

As soon as Industry Canada posts the comments, summary and any other information, RAC will put out a bulletin and also will post a notice on the Latest News page on tthis web site.

Thanks to VIce President Regulatory Affairs Jim Dean, VE3IQ

(RAC News Service)

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

I was ecstatic when I passed my 12-wpm CW exam in the spring of 1995, and was eager to get onto the HF bands.  However, it was the worst possible time to be setting up an HF station - believe me!  We were at the bottom of sunspot cycle #22, which was coming to an end. The prospect at the time for good long-range propagation was dismal for at least the next five years.  The reason is that long-range HF propagation is a result of signal "multi-hop", which is dependent upon the degree to which the ionosphere is ionized, and this is in turn directly related to the number of sunspots.  As it turns out, the solar flux index correlates well with sunspot numbers and so we Radio Amateurs use this index as a way of predicting the quality of HF propagation. 

Fast forward to 2005, and we are now in just about the same position that I was in 1995, and HF propagation is getting worse by the month.  As a result, I thought that it might be timely to provide a bit of a tutorial on the relationship between sun spot numbers and HF propagation.  In teaching the propagation chapter this year for the HARC Basic Amateur Radio Course, I found that it was good to review the theory in preparation for teaching it.  I hope that you find this review worthwhile too.

The following tutorial was compiled in part from excerpts taken from:

the NASA page on the Sunspot Cycle - 
http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/sunspots.htm

The Sun, the Earth, the Ionosphere: What the Numbers Mean, and Propagation Predictions--a brief introduction to propagation and the major factors affecting it. By Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA
http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html

Fig. #1 - Sunspots

Over the years, monthly averages of sunspot numbers have shown us that the number of sunspots visible on the sun waxes and wanes in approximately an 11-year cycle. Sunspot Cycle Predictions Although sunspots themselves produce only minor effects on solar emissions, the magnetic activity that accompanies sunspots produces dramatic changes in the sun's ultraviolet and soft x-ray emission levels. Over the solar cycle, these changes have important consequences for the Earth's upper atmosphere - the ionosphere,

The sun emits several forms of electromagnetic radiation that effect our upper atmosphere:

• ultraviolet radiation ionizes the F region
• soft X-rays ionize the E region, and 
• hard X- rays ionize the D region. 

Solar matter, (i.e. electrons and protons) is ejected from the sun on a regular basis, and results in what we know as the solar wind.  Solar storms (Fig. #2) occur when this solar wind becomes intense, and this can happen very quickly, with dramatic disruption to radio communication on Earth.
 

The sun's solar wind is important because of its significant impact on the Earth's magnetic field.  The Earth's magnetic field is normally compressed by the solar wind on the side facing the sun and is stretched out on the side away from the sun (the magnetotail, which extends tens of earth radii downwind) - see Fig. #3. While the sun's electromagnetic radiation can impact the entire ionosphere that is in daylight, the charged particles ejected by the sun behave differently.  They are guided preferentially into the ionosphere along magnetic field lines and thus they preferentially impact the higher latitudes where the magnetic field lines go into the Earth. The result of intense bombardment of the upper atmosphere by solar matter is an impressive nocturnal light display - the "Aurora Borialis".

Fig. #2 - Sun showing solar storm activity on the surface.

Fig. #3 - Sun lower left showing a solar storm; Earth at upper right showing the magnetic field in blue.

Variations in the Earth's magnetic field are measured daily. Two measurements that Radio Amateurs use on a regular basis are the daily A index and the three-hour K index. The A index is an average of eight 3-hour K indices, and uses a linear scale that goes from 0 (quiet) to 400 (severe storm). The K index uses a semi-logarithmic scale, which goes from 0 to 9 (with 0 being quiet and 9 being a severe storm). Generally speaking, an A index at or below 15 or a K index at or below 3 is best for propagation.  The following web site provides an excellent and current summary of HF propagation information - http://dx.qsl.net/propagation.

As we now know, sunspots come and go in an approximate 11-year cycle. The rise to maximum occurs over 4 to 5 years, and is usually faster than the descent to minimum, which takes from 6 to 7 years. 

Near the maximum of a solar cycle, the increased number of sunspots causes more ultraviolet radiation to impinge on the atmosphere, resulting in significantly more F region ionization.  This in turn allows the ionosphere to refract higher frequencies (15, 12, 10, and even 6 meters) back to Earth, supporting improved DX contacts. 

At and near the minimum between solar cycles, the number of sunspots is so low that higher frequencies go through the ionosphere into space. However, when we have a solar minimum there is less absorption of radio waves by the lower levels of the ionosphere, and as a result, we enjoy the best propagation on the lower frequencies (160 and 80 meters). 

As this piece was being written in late December 2004, the average daily sunspot number had declined to 26.9, and average solar flux was down to 88.7.  Sunspot counts have been quite low, and will continue their retreat for about two more years.  However, the long-range prediction for this cycle (the predicted smoothed sunspot number) for December 2005 it is 10, and the lowest value is projected to be five sometime in December 2006 or January 2007.  So, we are not at the bottom of cycle 22 yet! 
 

*  Cycle 21 started in June 1976 and lasted 10 years and 3 months. * Cycle 22 started in September 1986 and lasted 9 years and 8 months. * Cycle 23 started in May 1996.

On an optimistic note, once we get past December 2008, the monthly sunspot count for cycle 24 should start to increase rapidly.  In the meantime, there could be some long spells with no sunspots at all.  Looking on the bright side of things, remember that cycles rise faster than they decline, and so we should be seeing improved HF propagation conditions in about three or four years from now, sometime in 2008 or 2009.

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

Emergency planning to continue in 2005  (Jan. 12, 2005)
By Duane Hicks
 

While Fort Frances was tops when it came to developing an emergency management plan last year, the town still has work ahead of it in 2005, said Dale Smyk of Emergency Management Ontario. “Kudos to [Fort Frances Fire Chief] Steve Richardson and his group. They were the first to get the whole program I’m going to talk about completed in 2004,” Smyk said before his presentation to town council Monday night.

 “They were quite active,” he added. “They got their work done early, and actually provided a template for some other communities.”

    But Smyk explained that Fort Frances, along with the other 400-plus municipalities across the province, will have to keep at it in the year ahead.

    Smyk began by explaining that the community emergency management program, in accordance with the Emergency Management Act, is a provincially-mandated initiative in which Ontario municipalities must develop plans to deal with potential disasters (natural or otherwise).

    The program is split into three stages—essential, enhanced, and comprehensive—which must be completed by the end of 2006.

    In the first stage, which municipalities started working on in late 2003 and should have had wrapped up by the end of 2004, community emergency management committees had to meet a number of goals—all of which the committee here, under the guidance of community emergency management co-ordinator Chief Richardson, did by last November.

    For instance, the committee established an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in the committee room at the Civic Centre, with an alternate location at the Fort Frances Airport.

    Smyk noted it’s good to have the locations some distance apart because if they’re too close, disaster conditions preventing the use of one site could affect the other one.

    The town also has access to a mobile command unit, if necessary.

    But at the enhanced level, the committee now should work to determine a protocol for staff at the EOCs in the event of an emergency.

    In another example, while a co-ordinator (Chief Richardson) was chosen to head up the program here, Smyk said the local committee should consider getting an alternate co-ordinator for “continuity purposes”—in case the fire chief ever moves away from town.

    Another thing the committee did last year was identify community critical infrastructure.

    Smyk noted these are the “lifelines that provide a certain quality of life for people in the municipality,” such as sources of food, water, means of sewage disposal and electricity, municipal governance, banking services, and telecommunications.

    At the enhanced level, the committee now has to determine whether it’s possible to develop “back-ups” for these services.

    Smyk also said while the group developed a public awareness program last year, it has to step it up to “public education” in the year ahead. This means developing “customized messages to address specific hazards in the community.”

    The local committee also will be focusing more on Hazard Identification and Risk Management (HIRAM) in the enhanced phase.

    “In the past, communities took an all-contingency approach to emergency management. They said, ‘Here we are in Northwestern Ontario. We’re ready for any eventuality. We’ve done all we can,’” said Smyk.

    “What we’ve asked municipalities is to take a look back at the past 15 years and identify the most likely hazards to occur in their community down the road,” he added.

    In Fort Frances, for instance, the top hazard was identified as “hazardous materials in a fixed facility”—or, in other words, chemicals from the mill.

    Other tops hazards common in Northwestern Ontario communities are forest fires, floods, and power outages due to severe storms, noted Smyk.

    “What we want to get into with the enhanced and comprehensive level programs is do work around those top hazardous risks,” he added. This will be in terms of first finding means of prevention, and then mitigation (in case a situation can’t be prevented).

    Also, the committee now will have to look at conducting annual staff training as well as an annual program review.

    Ultimately, the committee should develop a five-year plan, whereby each year the community can undertake exercises of increasing scale—culminating in a “full-out field exercise” in the fifth year, Smyk said.

    Smyk noted Emergency Management Ontario, which came about April 15, 2003 to coincide with the Emergency Management Act, is the evolution of Emergency Measures Ontario.

    The latter helped municipalities develop emergency response plans and came on-site to help if an actual emergency ever occurred.

    But the former is different. “It’s a change that takes people from having plans to actually practising them,” said Smyk.

    While more than 90 percent of municipalities in Ontario have emergency plans, only 30 percent actually practice them on a regular basis, he noted.

    “An analogy I’d like to claim is: You have life insurance, you throw it the safety deposit box, and you’re covered. You have car insurance, you put it in the glove box, and you’re covered.

    “You create an emergency response plan, and don’t do anything with it, you’re not covered,” Smyk warned.

    Smyk said nearly all of the 440 municipalities in Ontario must have emergency plans in place, but First Nations are not required to have them at this time.

    But he added Emergency Management Ontario is trying to get funding from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada this year so First Nations can be part of the planning in the future.

    Mayor Dan Onichuk noted that when Fort Frances and International Falls had an emergency exercise last year involving a chlorine gas leak scenario, it became apparent that Couchiching First Nation could be affected by the “gas cloud.”

    But since the reserve was not part of the program, they did not have a mechanism for warning Couchiching residents of the danger.

    He added Fort Frances should develop a partnership with Couchiching when it comes to the community emergency management program.

    Coun. Struchan Gilson asked if, in this age of mass communication, there was a role for HAM radio, to which Smyk replied that partnering with HAM radio operators was “strongly encouraged” since it’s possible a situation could arise where all other means of communications fail.

    Coun. Rick Wiedenhoeft asked Smyk what would happen if an emergency happens “outside of business hours” and the nature of the emergency has to be communicated to the public?

    Chief Richardson noted B93-FM can do remote broadcasts via phone lines, and could do an emergency announcement at any hour of the day from any location with a phone.

    Smyk noted some larger communities have 24-hour radio broadcasting while smaller ones might just use sirens or other audio devices to send an emergency signal to its residents.

(Fort Frances Times)

Big Event 27
Sponsored by: The Niagara Peninsula Amateur Radio Club 
Start date: Saturday, February 5, 2005 
Location: 
Canadian Auto Workers Hall
124 Bunting Rd St. Catharines Ont. 
Opens: Vendors 7:00 am -- Public 9:00 am till 1:00pm 
Costs: Admission $6.00 Tables $20 (includes one admission) 
Talkin: VE3NRS 147.240 + Tone 107.2 
Notes:
New This Year --- VE Testing on Site NO CW --- More vendor tables --- New dealer draw --- Improved Food Menu
Radioworld --- Durham Radio --- Maple Leaf Communications and other vendors.
Door Prizes -- CanWarn -- Ares --OSLBureau -- RAC
Don't forget your GRAND PRIZE TICKET $1000.00 Gift Certificate from Radioworld.
Beef on a Bun -- Sandwiches -- Pop -- FREE COFFEE 
For more info visit: www.nparc.on.ca

Scarborough Amateur Radio Club

The Scarborough Amateur Radio Club was founded in 1946 and became Incorporated in 1977 as a non profit organization with the following objectives:

• The advancement of Amateur Radio as a hobby by providing, to Club Members aspiring to participate in that hobby, training in basic radio theory and the International Morse Code. 
• The Active support of Radio Amateurs of Canada, Inc. 
• The active support of Government and local community authorities when such support is in the best interests of our community and our Club. 

Our club has been active in Public Service Communications.
At present many of our members are active in ARES. (Amateur Radio Emergency Services). Scarborough Club Past President, Bob Chrysler, VE3IEL is ARES EC for Scarborough. In the past we have participated in varous Community Communications Activities such as the Warrior's Day Parade and the Labour Day parade in 2004. We have also provided communications for various "Walks", "Fun Runs", "Bike-athons", & "Horse Trials". In association with ARES many of our members participated in assisting community authorities during the recent power blackout. 

For more information about our club visit our website at: www.ve3we.ca

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)

RAC Amateur Radio Emergency Service, Ontario Section 

For the latest ARES news in Ontario visit the RAC ARES Ontario site at: racaresontario.ca RAC Ontario Section Newsletter: racaresontario.ca/public/display_official_bulletin.php

Hello from Red Deer

For the past 34 years our club has sponsored a picnic and hamfest on the Father's Day weekend. We have moved the picnic last year from Burbank to the Agricultural  Society Campground at Pine Lake, S.E. of Red Deer. Please let any amateurs in your area know of the changes  and we look forward to seeing you at this year's picnic. Thank you.

Central Alberta Amateur Radio Club  (Formerly Central Alberta Radio League) 35th  Annual Picnic and Hamfest
Sponsored by the Central Alberta Amateur Radio Club 
Date: June 17,18 and 19, 2005

Place: Pine Lake Agricultural Campground, Pine Lake, AB.

Directions: Go south of Red Deer to highway #42, go east to secondary highway #816, turn south 1 km to Crossroads Ag Society and Hub Community Center

Time: Registration starts Friday afternoon June 17th.

Talk-in: VE6QE 147.150 +600 and 146.52 Simplex

Information: Brian Davies VE6CKC,  (403)- 227-4409, bcdavies@telusplanet.net,

Jack VE6JRH (H) (403)  556-6775  (W) 556-3839  amateurradio@shaw.ca

Website: www.caarc.ca

73 de VE6JRH
John R. (Jack) Humphries
ve6jrh@rac.ca
403-556-3839
 

BC QSO  Challenge, a new provincial contest sponsored by the Delta Amateur Radio Society.

Participation is encouraged from everyone, Canadian and DX alike. It's a 24 hour contest, starting on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 1800z.

For rules and information, please visit the DARS website at:  www.deltaamateurradio.com/bcqsochallenge.html
 

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