Some Pictures from the Alexandria Comms Demo

Picture taken at the end of the Demonstration by the Security Guard for the Hospital and I’m not sure whose camera he used… 

Anyway Left to Right…  Earl VE3IMP EC SDG ARES,  Tracy VA3TXN SAR Global 1 , VA3QV Bob , Louise Quenneville Glengarry Memorial Hospital Emergency Planner, Guy Vaillencourt Township of North Glengarry CEMC, VA3JSF Stan SDG ARES, VA3JO John SDG ARES and  VE3HTR  Doug SDG ARES

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If you remember back to my post of last Friday where I mentioned…

Earlier today I participated in a COMMS Demo for the Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria Ontario.  The demo was to give them a view as to what equipment might be available to them to assist with communications in a emergency situation if they were to partner up with the Amateur Community…

The DEMO included 2m fm (analog), 2m fm (DSTAR)  2m fm (APRS) and 40m ssb.   The VHF Bands were stronger than the HF Bands so everything worked as expected and their Emergency Prepardness Officer has lots of info now to continue with her tasking.

For us it was a group from the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SDG ARES) and a Group from Ottawa coming together to successfully demo what I concider to be a great hobby and public safety resource.

I think it went well and a new partnership (GMH and SDG ARES) has been formed…

You might also remember that I had made mention of several cameras being there and as soon as I could find some copies I would share them with you…

So here they are…

Louise (left),  Bob (center) and Guy (right) discussing the mornings events

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Earl (left), Doug (center) and Louise (right) discussing the event.

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The portable APRS station of VA3TXN

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Left to right Guy, Louise, Tracy, Bob and Earl at the HF Radio Station.

Rig was a FT 897 with a Par End Fed antenna running off the Luggage Rack on the SUV

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Now I am sure that there are more pictures out there but…  so far they have not made it to my inbox and I wanted to share what I had with you while it was still a current event rather than History so the above is what I had available and now you have it…

I am also believing that this week we might be getting some Press about this courtesy of the local Glengarry News  which is a weekly paper.  If this happens I will share as many details as I have with you…

I would also be amazed if someone did not write this up for TCA in the near future…

73bob

Rare DXPedition starts today

Yemen  7O6T (Seven Oscar Six Tango)

This morning the bands seemed alive with DXers and those who think they are DXers (like me) about the start of the Yemen 2012 DXPedition.  I have an average station (100w and a vertical) so I figure that my chances of getting a really rare one in the log are sitting about 25 percent or so…  A beam would bring me up to about 40% and a beam with an amp would be about 60% and after that its all up to luck to get them in the log…

But you know I am going to try…

73bob

May report from RAC Director for North and East Ontario

The following come to us from Bill Unger VE3XT who is the RAC Director for North and East Ontario…  Posted as a service to the Amateur Radio Community.  All questions should be directed to Bill… All complaints should be directed to Bill

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North East Ontario Regional Directors Report for May, 2012 

By now you will have heard that Ontario Amateurs have a five year extension to the distracted driving legalisation. This is how many Amateurs across the province worked together with RAC to put forward our case and get some excellent results. Yes we did want a permanent exemption but I believe in 5 years the technology will be so different and quite possible this will not be an issue. We have not given up on a permanent exemption however.

Glenn MacDonell, VE3XRA agreed to be the Deputy Director for North East Ontario Region. Glenn is the current President of the Ottawa ARC and brings an impressive skill set to the table. Please reference the bulletin 2012-24E on the RAC webpage at http://www.rac.ca/ for more details on his appointment. If you want to contact him his email is ve3xra@rac.ca

On April 18^th I was invited to speak via Skype to the Quinte ARC in Bellville. 28 members were in attendance and we had a great meeting. This month also marks the 65^th anniversary of the Quinte Amateur Club. Congratulations and I am looking forward to meeting you again via Skype. The call worked well and I would be pleased to do the same for any clubs in the North East Region. I am hoping to do a lot more of this in the future as it gives you a chance to talk to me directly and tell me what you think of how RAC is doing. If you are a member of a club and want me to “visit” your next meeting send me an email with details.

 Help Wanted.

RAC is run by volunteers and to be honest we need some. Geoff, VE4BAW has indicated that he will not stand for President and is looking forward to a well deserved rest. If you have management and financial skills would you consider stepping up to volunteer? We also are looking for a Treasurer. The ideal candidate would have a CA, CMA or CGA designation. The Treasurer would be an overseer position as the Office Clerk is doing the day to day financial transactions. We also are looking for a Coordinator of Philanthropy for RAC. This position would set up and administer a Philanthropy program to benefit RAC. If you have any experience in this field please contact me.

Being a volunteer for the last few years as a Director has been a great experience as I have met countless Amateurs not only from North East Ontario but right across the country and I have enjoyed all the conversations. Please give it a thought.

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

Bill VE3XT

North East Ontario Regional Director

Radio Amateurs of Canada

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As always….  thanks for sharing this with us Bill…

Back from CANWARN Training

well Erika ( my daughter) and I are now back at her apartment after having lunch AFTER COMPLETING OUR CANWARN TRAINING SESSION.  The session was limited to 100 participants and was open to the general public as well as the Amateur community but I would guess that there was about 20 hams there…

I was not taking attendance and it was too early to remember all who was there but I would like to congradulate VA3DGN, VE3XGD, VE3MPG for winning door prizes and also thank VE3MPG for drawing my ticket so I won a door prize as well…

Although at this time there is not an organised Amateur Radio CANWARN program in the Ottawa area but it would not take me by suprise if with all the local “movers and shakers” there if it did not suddenly happen in the near future…

I found the course very informative and interesting…  Now I know when to run… 

On a serious side I would like to thank Environment Canada for providing the training session and for the coffee and snacks we had at break…  If you have a chance to take the training I would recommend it…

73bob

News from CQ Magazine and LoTW

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For those of you who use LoTW and are awaiting news of when LoTW will be supporting the CQ Awards program you can find some info HERE

73bob

COMMS Demo Update

Earlier today I participated in a COMMS Demo for the Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria Ontario.  The demo was to give them a view as to what equipment might be available to them to assist with communications in a emergency situation if they were to partner up with the Amateur Community…

The DEMO included 2m fm (analog), 2m fm (DSTAR)  2m fm (APRS) and 40m ssb.   The VHF Bands were stronger than the HF Bands so everything worked as expected and their Emergency Prepardness Officer has lots of info now to continue with her tasking.

For us it was a group from the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (SDG ARES) and a Group from Ottawa coming together to successfully demo what I concider to be a great hobby and public safety resource.

I think it went well and a new partnership (GMH and SDG ARES) has been formed…

73bob

ps…  there were lots of pictures taken as well as a few videos…  Once I get a copy of them I will share them …

60m comment from RAC

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This found its way into the comments of the recent blog posting about the 60m confusion….  I decided to keep it in comments but also post it here seeing that RAC took the time to address the issue…

The comments are cut and pasted here….

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Bill Gade / RAC Regulatory Affairs Says: April 26, 2012 at 4:23 am |

Hey guys, Just  a note on the conversation.  I’ve heard of a few district offices that don’t have all the details on how to issue the development license.  They are available however – if you still don’t have a favorable response – I’d gladly look into making sure they get some updated information on how to process your request.  

While I’ve been saying for a while the actual changes are coming – RAC has been given a date in the last few days for the beginning of the 30 day window before the rules can finally go into effect for everyone.

If I can be of help – send an email to me – the best address is regulatory@rac.ca

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So thanks to  Bill for looking into this matter and taking the time to comment on it…  and if this is your first visit here please don’t be a stranger…  If you have anything you want to share with the Amateur Radio Community send it to me in an email and I’ll cut and paste it into the Blog Posting giving you guest blogger status…

As Bill’s comment mentioned if you have any questions his email address is given above…

Thanks again Bill for taking the time to share the power with us…

73bob

KX-3 Comments from a proud new owner

I found the following Blog post this morning and thought if you were thinking of  replacing your existing QRP Radio and getting KX3 you would want to read it… or if you have already ordered your KX3 and waiting for the delivery you would want to read what this ham says about it…

Click on the picture to go to the article on the KX3 

Either way enjoy…  As I previously mentoned I will be sticking with my FT817 as I am mor than pleased with it…  But If I ever had to replace it when I finally drop it one time too many…  The KX3 would be on the short list of replacement radios…

73bob

Between all the excitement

Well lets see now…

The Capitals beat the Bruins and I-C denied developmental licences for reasons unknown…  and I was out playing in the park today with my FT 897 running higher power levels…

Yup…  I actually was running 100w for a few minutes but then dialed it back to 20 and still made the contacts…  Its been a while since this rig has made it outside.  Normally it only heads to the great outdoors for Field Day but this time its a bit different.

I will be using the FT897 on Friday as part of the Communications Demonstration that a few of us are giving to the Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria Ontario.  We will be demonstrating a few different operating modes and I will be attempting to show HF NVIS SSB operations.

That means that I have to use a little more than my regular 5w portable equipment as it would be not really impressive to use the poor band conditions excuse to people who do not understand the hobby or the science of radio propagations…

So seeing that most of my antennas are also QRP Antennas (made with lightweight wire) rather than the thicker wire that can handle 100w I decided to build a new dipole.  Seeing that the dipole was built the next step was to take it out and fill it with RF and see how things worked…

This afternon VA3PCJ and myself headed over to a local park and I strung the antenna up about 4 feet off the ground and fired up the FT897 on 40m…  I set the power for 100w and the built in SWR meter on the radio said that I had done an OK job when I built the antenna as the SWR was fine…  After that I dialed the power back to 20w and spun the dial on 40 to see what I could find…

Even with the lowered antenna which SHOULD OF shortened the first hop the band was very long…  In no time I had a couple of W3′s in the log and a trio of W8′s but no VA/VE3′s…  We managed to talk to VE3HVA on 40m but seeing that we were about 2 miles west of Ricks house I won’t count groundwave…  but I did get a nice signal report…

Finally just before I tore down I did manage an actual contact in Ontario when I talked to VE3PSV on the Trans Provincal Net…

So the antenna worked fine and its also durable and strong enough to handle the 100w of the FT897 which is a good thing but…  It makes me a bit nervous when I have done everything I can and I’m still dependant on the Propagation Deity to ensure the successful demonstation

73bob

60m Confusion…

Well this one is hard to believe and I thought I’ve heard them all…

Let me take you back to my posting of April 5th which asked some questions about the 60m band…

From then we progress to my posting of April 11th which I thought answered all the questions…

I thought the email reply from was very clear…

Good  afternoon Mr. Sharp:

Thank you for your query regarding the  licensing of Developmental Radio Stations utilizing frequencies within the 60  metre radio frequency band in Canada.

In the near future Industry Canada will  be publishing a consultation paper on the opening of the 60 metre band for use  by the Canadian Amateur Radio Service.

Favourable responses to the  consultation would allow radio amateurs access to 5 specific frequencies within  the band with specific emissions designators and power levels on a secondary, no  protection, non-interference basis. This would be in line with what US amateurs  currently have access to.

At this time, the Department is  accepting applications for the use of these frequencies under the authority of a  Developmental Radio Licence. Applicants are required to submit an application  and to pay licensing fees in accordance with the Radiocommunication  Regulations.

An Amateur Radio Operator holding the  Basic + (with Honours) or the Advanced Certificate will be eligible for  licensing on these frequencies.

Application may be made by means of the  Industry Canada form, IC-2365, (Application for Licence to Install and Operate a  Radio Station in Canada) accompanied by form IC-2430, (Radiocommunication and  Broadcasting Antenna Systems Attestation) available at our website at, http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/h_sf01700.html#radiocom

The application must  include, the NAD 83 Coordinates and the street address of the proposed station.  The current licensing fee for the month of April is $52.80. (This fee is  pro-rated based on the month that the station is authorized within a given  year.) Immediate payment may be made by telephone by means of VISA or  MASTERCARD.

Authority will be on a non-interference  and no-protection basis and shall not cause interference to the fixed and mobile  operations domestically or of other administrations and if such interference  occurs, the operator may be required to cease operations.

The developmental authority will  be restricted to the use of 5 specific frequencies with no antenna or height  restrictions.

The operating frequencies will be:  5.332 5.348 5.3585 5.373 5.405 (MHz)

Authority will be subject to the  following conditions:

- Transmissions must not exceed an  effective radiated power of 100 Watts (PEP)

- Transmissions shall be restricted to  the following emission modes and designations: 2K80JE3, 2K80J2D, 60H0J2B and  150HA1A

- Transmissions shall not occupy more  than 2.8 kHz (centered on each frequency)

- Operators shall not cause  interference to fixed and mobile operations domestically or of other  administrations

(if such interference occurs, the  operator may be required to cease operations.)

- Operators may not claim protection  from interference by fixed and mobile operations domestically or of other  administrations

- The authority may be withdrawn at any  time by the Department

Applications may be submitted to your  local district office which is at spectrum.ottawa@ic.gc.ca.

Regards,

Sylvia  Lamarche

Amateur Radio Service Centre | Centre de service pour la radio  amateur Spectrum  Management Operations Branch | Direction général des opérations de la gestion du  spectre Industry  Canada | Industrie Canada

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Well at the time it seemed clear enough to me….

But this evening I ask you to look at the comment and check the comment from Darrin who was told the following from his IC office… any you can find this in the comments section on this post…

But here is the tread so you don’t have to hop around the blog…

Darren Says: April 11, 2012 at 9:57 pm | Reply   edit

Hi Bob… I telephoned the nearest IC office right after reading the RAC bulletin, and the Radio Inspector I spoke to was really nice, but knew almost nothing about the subject. He did email a link to the application form (Form IC-2365). I have since filled it out and mailed it in but as of yet no response. As soon as I hear more I will post. 73, Darren VE7VG

• VA3QV Says: April 12, 2012 at 2:34 am | Reply   editHi Darren, Thanks for the comments and the visit…I emailed IC on Thursday and got a reply Tues pm.  Check out  http://va3qv.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/some-info-from-industry-canada-on-the-60m-developmental-band/for their reply…73bob
• Darren Says: April 25, 2012 at 8:29 pm | Reply   editWell, I got my response from Industry Canada in the form of an email:Good Morning Darren,This email is in response to the Fixed Radio Station application form  submitted to Industry Canada, requesting the establishment of a new base station using the 5 MHz band.

  As an advanced amateur,  you should be aware of the bands that Canadian Amateurs are permitted to operate in. The permitted  frequency bands are described in our publication  RBR-4  Standards for the Operation of  Radio Stations in the Amateur Radio Service.

  As an Advanced Amateur, you are permitted to operate in many low frequency bands. ( 3.5 to 4.0 MHz for example).  But 5 MHz is not part of those bands.

  LINK to RBR-4:  http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf01226.html

  The 5 MHz. band is allocated to Private Commercial radio services, which require a private commercial radio station licencing.

  This is a licenced band used for narrowband voice communications, primarily, using 2.8 kHz emissions. It is not an experimental band.

  The  5 MHz band is not part of the Amateur Radio spectrum.   Therefore your application must be denied.

  If you should have any additional questions or concerns, please fee free to email Shaun Morgan at:    shaun.morgan@ic.gc.ca

  Or telephone  250-363-3597 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              250-363-3597     end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

  Sincerely,

  Shaun Morgan

  • VA3QV Says: April 26, 2012 at 12:32 am | Reply   editDarren:  This is very interesting (and confusing) and thank you for sharing this with us…I would recommend you look at my posting which can be found here:http://va3qv.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/some-info-from-industry-canada-on-the-60m-developmental-band/

    and feel free to cut and past the reply I got from IC and inform Mr. Morgan that someone should get their facts straight…

    The only thing that comes to mind that the 60m privs come as the result of a Developmental Licence and not an experimenters licence…  To be honest I am not sure what the difference is but….

    Also please keep us informed on how things progress…

    73bob

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So there you have it…  I’m not sure who to believe… Shaun or Sylvia…  Personally I’m hoping for Sylvia as it give us what we want….

I am confused by the fact that two different I-C offices have such a different view of the rules and regulations… 

At this point I’m not sure but either way I am still waiting to find out how I program the corrected 60m frequencies in my FT450 and FT897 and hopefully by the time I get that done perhaps Industry Canada might have got this figured out…

73bob

ps…. has anyone else actually gotten their 60m license yet????  Let me know