ATTENTION OTTAWA AMATEURS (VE3/VA3)

Well if you happen to live in the City of Ottawa Ontario it seems that the city fathers are planning to change their restrictive antenna bylaw and from what I read its not a change for the good.

PLEASE GO TO THE CITY OF OTTAWA WEBSITE USING THIS LINK AND READ IT OVER

In Ottawa we had a pretty restrictive bylaw in the past.  It really grouped us in with TV antennas, Sat Dishes and was fairly draconian on where we could put things with a major on looks and a secondary on safety.

I concider this new proposal worse and although my antennas are below the height mentioned I do worry about new hams who or amateurs moving to a new residence who now will have more red tape and hoops to jump through including really appeasing neighbors just to get something above roof height let alone think of a beam…

PLEASE READ THE PROPOSAL OVER and if you feel as threatened (as I do) then ask (no demand) that RAC takes the lead on this.  Your RAC Director for Eastern Ontario is Bill Unger VE3XT@rac.ca and let him know of your concerns. 

Now remember your complaint will go a lot further if you are  a member of RAC so perhaps this might convince you to join or in my case renew in December (when my membership expires)

 Lots of us (myself included) have not looked at RAC in a positive way recently and how this is handled could influence my opinions greatly or confirm my fears… 

If you are a member of the two major Ottawa clubs (OARC or the OVMRC) let their leadership know your opinions as well as RAC is going to need help from the locals who are effected by these changes.

As I mentioned earlier read it over… What do you think???  As I over reacting on this one???  I see it as us getting mired in red tape with more groups to appease but then maybe I have had too much coffee before writing this (or not enough). 

Either way as not too many of us read the advisories from the city I will be bringing it to your attention at least…

Your comments on this are welcomed….

73bob

Reminder- OVMRC VHF and HF Nets

Well now that September is under way and Labour Day is behind us I should remind any of you within radio range of Ottawa that the Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club sponsors two weekly nets.

The first net is the Wise Owl Net and the net is called  Friday evenings at 2000 (8pm) local Ottawa time on Repeater VE3TWO which is 147.300 (+) which also uses an optional CTCSS Tone of 100.0 hz.  This is a very friendly net and could best be described as a controlled  roundtable net.  Its a good spot to find out local amateur information.

The other net is called the Pot Hole Net (if you have ever driven in Ottawa you know where this name came from) and the net is called on Sunday mornings at 1000 hrs (10am) local Ottawa Time on 3.760 lsb.  This is also a conrolled round table net.  Participants are usually from the Ottawa area but every now and again we get people who used to live in the area who find us again to see how everyone is doing and just to say hi.

After the Pothole Net on Sunday morning (if you are a CW lover)   if you were to check on 3.620 at 11am local Ottawa time you might hear the Pot Lid Net being called.  This net is a slow speed cw net and meets every Sunday Morning.  This net is sponsored by Ed VE3GX and is an excellent source of cw practice for all participants especially those of us (like me) who need the practice.  You hear some excellent fists on this net…

73bob

Playing with the new antenna

This late afternoon (early evening actually) I found some unexpected energy and I decided to install my new S9 43 foot vertical antenna and test things out to see how it would work for me…  As you might recall I bought it from Durham Radio at the OARC Hamfest in Carp this past weekend…

It took me about a 60 minutes from taking it out of its packaging untill I was flooding the atmosphere with RF.  I fed it with my 4:1 balun and used approximately 100 feet of total counterpoises (one 50 foot and two 25 foot) stretched out and folded around my small 20 X 20 foot back yard.  I ran the antenna up the maple tree in the center of my backyard (weaving the vertical element through the branches) for stability.  Now the antenna moves with the tree so untill the wind is the strong enough to remove the tree the antenna will be fine…

Heres what I can report so far….  The antenna loads up just fine on 6m to 40m using the internal tuner in my Yaesu FT450at.  I need to use my LDG Z100 autotuner for 80m.  I have made contacts so far on 10m (groundwave in Ottawa) , 20m (HK3OZ John in Bogota Colombia) , 40m EA3JE (Lou in Barcelona Spain) and 80m (VA3ZW Jim in Utterson Ontario) or KC1MR in Boston.

The reports coming back to me are all respectable (between 5/8 and 5/9+20) so I am one happy camper…

Tomorrow I plan to add a few more radials and also try and keep things neat in the backyard… But so far so good…

73bob

September ARRL VHF Contest update

On Saturday afternoon after returning from the OARC Hamfest I got myself ready for the VHF Contest.  The telescopic mast with the loops was extended so the loops were about 25 feet agl (about 5 feet above the roof) and I found my logging program interface cable so HRD would know what frequency I was operating on and we were good to go….

I spent about 1 hour in total on Saturday listening to static and talking to myself as I called CQ Contest.  I’m actually suprised that I made the whole hour but after that I decided to enjoy the rest of the day and try again on Sunday…

Sunday was much better as I managed the following contacts:

2m-       VE2HAY in Laval QC- approx 150kms  FN35

                 VE3CVG in Cumberland ON- approx 20kms FN25

                 VE3OJN in Moose Creek ON- Approx 50kms FN25

6m-        VE3CVG in Cumberland ON- FN25

                  VE3OJN in Moose Creek ON- FN25

70cm-   VE3CVG in Cumberland ON- FN25

                  VE3OJN in Moose Creek ON- FN25

Thats about all I managed….  I heard a station in Maine on 2m but he could not hear me and there was another 2m station who was calling CQ on 144.200 CW but he was sending way too fast for me and unfortunately his fist was a bit poor as my DM780 decoding program in HRD could not copy his CW.  His filter must of been set fairly tight as he never acknowledged my voice calls in response to his CW. 

Needless to say no records were set this contest but I was pleased with the Loops working so well.  With a horiz loop for 2m at 25 feet working a VE2 station 150kms away made my day.  Just wish there was more contacts

73bob

 

Back home from the Carp Ontario Hamfest

On Saturday Sept 10th I managed to catch a ride with Ante VA2BBW to Carp Ontario to visit the Ottawa Amateur Radio Clubs  Hamfest 2011.  As it has in the last few years we were hosted at the Carp Arena (owned and operated by the City of Ottawa).  The arena is part of the Carp Fairgrounds and this year we had the Carp Farmers Market along with the Ottawa Fire Department Extracation Contest happening at other locations on the grounds.

Ante picked me up at a local timmies and we were on our way…  We arrived just before the doors opened at 0900 and were quick to get inside and check the deals after that. 

One thing that really impressed me was the dealers (commercal vendors) in attendance.  Radioworld, Durham and Elkel were all there.  Harold MacFarlane, Radio HF as well. 

 In addition to the great support from the guys who do this for a living there was a good amount of private vendors who were selling really decent equipment and accessories.  To me there seemed to be less of the really old stuff…  (my defination of really old stuff is items I would of turned my nose up at when I went to my first hamfest about 20 years ago…  If it was junk then…. its junk now…. 

 And before you really rag on me for that comment…  My first two HF rigs were tube rigs and my first three HF rigs had analog displays…  It took me a few years to get to solid state and digital displays…

However I did find all I was looking for at Carp.  I walked away from the Hamfest with a pre ordered antenna, along with two used runs of coax and a few connectors….  Last year at Carp it was my VX8gr and this year it was a new 43 foot Vertical antenna that covers 6-80m

I also saw a lot of old friends as there has to be a social side of things to these events…

A good time was had by all and I hope to be there again next year

Congrats have to go out to the OARC for sponsoring the event and doing such a great job

73 bob

ps….  I forgot to bring my camera with me this time so…  but it you look at the OARC Site there should be pictures posted there soon if not already

bob

OARC Hamfest September 10th in Carp Ontario

Posted as a reminder to the Amateur Community

 

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The Ottawa Amateur Radio Club Inc. is pleased to announce its 15th annual Hamfest!

 

Saturday, September 10, 2011 (one week AFTER the Labour Day weekend)

 

Building opens for Vendor setup - 7:30 am

Tailgaters Open – 8 am

Fleamarket building Opens to public - 9 am until 12 Noon.

 

RAC and Technology Forum – Noon until 4 pm

 

Carp Agricultural Fair Grounds, W. Erskine Johnson Arena,

3832 Carp Rd

Ottawa, (Carp) Ontario, Canada

 

>> From Ottawa Highway 417 west to Carp Road (exit #144), then North about 10.5 km to the fairgrounds

 

We are in the W. Erskin Johnson Arena, so follow the signs on the site.

 

***  to Reserve tables, just reply to this email !  

…or email us at fleamarket@oarc.net , or call 613-667-2752  ***

 

$6 general admission

$12/table (plus admission)

$5/tailgate (plus admission)

 

On-site Radio Licence Exams!  Get yours or upgrade during the hamfest!  It helps (but it’s not necessary) if you contact us at fleamarket@oarc.net to arrange your exam.

 

The OARC is also proud to sponsor the RAC Forum and Technology Update. This highly informative event will start at Noon, right after the fleamarket.  Technology, operations, and regulatory updates on the new Low Frequency Bands (“LF”) will be this year’s highlighted topics.

 

Excellent Door Prizes!

 

For further information, or to reserve tables, please contact:

 

Ed Sich, VE3WGO

Tel: (613) 667-2752

 

 

e‑mail: fleamarket@oarc.net

Web address: http://oarc.net/fleamarket

 

Talk‑in on VE2CRA , 146.940‑ MHz, 100 Hz.

 

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Well you know where I hope to be this Saturday…

73bob

RAC-North East Ontario Regional Directors Report September, 2011

The following found its way into my spam filter….  It should of made it to my inbox…  Sorry its a bit delayed but better late than never….

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North East Ontario Regional Directors Report September, 2011

 

            Hello and I hope you all had a good summer. As you may be aware RAC was at Dayton and it was the first time I have been back there in 20+ years. If you have been there you know it’s an Amateurs Paradise, and if you haven’t been put it on the list. If you do go next year please stop at the RAC booth and say hello.

            Moving forward there are multiple things going on with RAC in Ontario.  The first one is the Distracted Driving Legislation and RAC’s attempt to get a specific exemption for Amateurs. We are still hoping to get a meeting with the policy Advisor to Ms Wynne and explain why we want an exemption. If you can get a letter from a local organization, NGO or group explaining how Amateurs help your community please send me a copy. There are other plans in the work and they will be unrolled as needed. We need to get Amateur Radio on bureaucrat’s radar.

            Another task force under RAC has been formed to update how the RAC Field Services operate in Ontario. Ontario is a large and diverse province and emergency preparedness is not the same for Thunder Bay as is Toronto. We need to be able to accommodate all regions. So some changes will be made to the Field Organization. Stay tuned.

            For more background information use the following link to view all the RAC Bulletins: http://www.rac.ca/en/news/bulletins/2011/

            The other item I would like to highlight is that several positions are open on the RAC executive. The President’s, Treasurer and all the Vice Presidents positions are open. They serve a 2 year term and it is a chance to help further Amateur Radio in Ontario. You have until October 31 to apply. If you have any expertise in financial matters and can use quick books please give the Treasurers position a thought.

            The other bit of great news is that with RAC intervention Industry Canada has gazetted a proposal for Amateur operation on 60M. This could be a great Christmas present for Canadian Amateurs.

            If you are in Ottawa on September 10 or Sudbury on September 24 both cities are having Hamfests. For more information go to: http://rac.eton.ca/events/upcoming.php

            Finally if you are operating there are a lot of special call signs that are available, for a complete listing go to the RAC site: http://www.rac.ca/en/amateur-radio/regulatory/callsigns/special-event.php

 

If you have any questions or concerns please email me at ve3xt@rac.ca.

 

73 

 

Bill VE3XT

North East Ontario

Regional Director

 

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The above is being posted intact with no content editing as a service to the Amateur Radio Community

73bob

Teen radio pirate gets probation for threatening Ottawa radio personalities

For some background information on this link from the Ottawa Citizen please check back in my archives for December 2009 and January 2010

Hoping that its finally over…

73bob

Teen radio pirate gets probation for threatening Ottawa radio personalities.

Pirate radio DJ gets probation – Ottawa Sun

For background infomation on this story you would have to go back in my archives to December 2009 and Janurary 2010 for a series of blog posts on this topic.

Thanks to the Ottawa Sun for what we assume is the final word on this story

73bob

Pirate radio DJ gets probation   Ottawa Sun.

Attention Prefix Hunters

The following bit of information comes to us from Martin VA3SIE on behalf of the Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club (OVMRC)

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The OVMRC has sponsored a national special event prefix for the months of September and October 2011:

CF for VA
CG for VE
CH for VO
CI for VY

This special prefix celebrates the Centennial (100 years anniversary) of Parks Canada, the Worlds First National Parks Service.

From the 1st of September until the 31st of October 2011, Radio Amateurs in Canada can use CF instead of VA, CG instead of VE, CH instead of VO and CI instead of VY as callsign prefixes.

Why not organize an outing to a Parks Canada maintained property in your region and try out the new prefix there portable?!   I”m planning to visit the Rideau Canal (which is maintained by Parks Canada) here in Ottawa sometime this month or next…

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Thanks to Martin and the OVMRC for getting this set up and also watch this blog and my twitter account @VA3QV to see when you will have a chance to work CF3RCS (Canadians Freezings 3 Real Cold Spot) as I’m sure I can find a location to operate from between now and then…

73bob