Balloon Launch is a go!

The Space ADS-B Receiver Experiment (SABRE) team will be launching a high altitude balloon about 0900L on Wednesday, March 21st at Wingham, Ontario to test the satellite payload.

The Royal Military College launch team is now in place at Wingham and no doubt pouring over tomorrows weather and winds aloft charts. 

I'm sure all will be fine and that Richard's balloon launch will be a great success. 

You can track the balloon on APRS.FI (click here) which will have the callsign VE3RMC-11, and the chase team will be beaconing as VA3VDP-9.  I'll post more details as I get them from launch control.

The Canadian Islands Award Program

Every summer for the past four years the ham radio group I belong to has activated several islands. Last summer was no different, we activated five of the Canadian Islands around the Kingston area over a two month period. According to what records we could find most of them had not been activated for several years, and a one had never been activated at all. This was done so we could take part in the Canadian Islands Award Program.

It was a lot of fun, the days were hot and sunny, but there always seemed to be a good breeze blowing of the St. Lawrence or Lake Ontario to keep us cool and the bugs down while we operated.  It's a great way to keep hone your portable operating skills.

What amazed us was the demand for these islands. On one remarkable Sunday afternoon we worked hundreds of stations calling us as we operated portable on Simcoe Island. In fact at one point we did 139 contacts in 58 minutes after some kind soul spotted us on the DX Cluster. It was a great afternoon.

This coming summer will be no different for us, we already have plans to activate three islands- Milton, Garden, and Iroquois Islands. Milton has never been activated before so we are expecting a good response to its activation.

The downside to all this is that the management of the Canadian Islands Award Program does not do a good job in promoting the activity. Last year we sent in five activation notices to the webmaster to be placed on their news page. Not one of our activation notices was ever dealt with, or posted on their website, and we have since heard from several fellow activators who have had a similar experience.

Now I did complain via email to the program manager and coordinator, and he kindly phoned me in return and we had a splendid chat about several issues. I understand that these guys are volunteers and that they do this in their spare time….Don't get me wrong, I don’t have a problem with this. But come on, if you’re going to run an award program at least keep your website up-to-date, and list upcoming activations so that the ham community can see what is going on.

It’s been nine months today since the website was last up-dated, and in fact one page, the “Activators & Chasers & Expeditions” hasn’t been up-dated since 25 April 2004!! It’s one hell of a way to run an award scheme, in fact it looks like the award scheme is actually dead from the way the website looks.

The Canadian Islands Award Program is something Canadian hams should be proud of, it showcases our outdoors in all its glory. 

The Americans have the US Islands Award Program as well. Here’s a link to their website...............quite a difference eh?

Balloon Launch - March 20th or 21st

The Royal Military College of Canada will be launching a high altitude balloon at 0900 local, on Tuesday, March 20th, or Wednesday, March 21st, depending on the weather and the winds aloft.

Major Richard Van Der Pryt, VA3VDP, hopes that the balloon will reach 109,000 feet before it bursts.  Two vans will be used to track the balloon after it has been launched from Wingham, Ontario.

The balloon is equipped with an APRS tracker, and will use the callsign: VE3RMC-11, and it's very nice to see the RMC callsign being used once again.

This launch is part of an experiment being done for Major Richard Van Der Pryt's Phd Thesis. 

Best of luck with it Richard, we'll all be watching !!

Just another weekend...........

The bands were certainly not in the best of shape over the weekend with large solar flares and CME's screaming towards us, but it was still a good weekend DXing......well, any weekend is good if you can spend it chasing DX!

The new FT-950 certainly helped, I'm amazed at the performance of this rig.  The ATU will not handle the mismatch, so I now have a MFJ-949E manual tuner in line with the rig so I can tune up my 40m OCF on 15m and 17m.  Works like a charm.

The hard thing to remember is to put the tuner back on "bypass" so the ATU can work once I have finished on 15m and 17m.  So far I haven't screwed up.

This weekend I managed to put 8 DX contacts, including another two new countries in the log.  This weekends catch was:

PJ7PT in Sint Maartin on 10m.
ZD7FT in Jamestown, St. Helena on 17m.

And on 15m I worked:

CO8LY in Santiago de Cuba.
F4DSD in St. Martin de Crau, France.
CT9/RC5A on Madeira Island.
HA5JI in Budapest, Hungary.
IZ5HPQ in Toscany, Italy, and
ER4DX in Otaci, Moldova.

I'm pretty confident that I'll do quite well during the CQ SSB DX Contest at the end of the month......hopefully the bands will improve before then.

ARRL DX SSB Contest 2012

Another great contest weekend is over, and the bands were in pretty good shape, but there was some pretty deep QSB at times.

I played at it for a few hours on Friday and Saturday nights, and most of the day on Sunday.  I managed to log over 200 contacts in 63 countries and put three new countries in the log.

Funniest incident?  How about a PA0 in the Netherlands asking a N5 station in Texas to "please speak English".   I thought the Texan was going to have a fit!

I actually heard VA3QV this weekend on 40m, but didn't get a chance to work Bob. 

For the most part behaviour on the bands was pretty good, but the LIDS were still out in force tuning up over active QSOs.  Do the guys who do that ever listen before they press tune?   I don't think they do.

Overall I'm extremely pleased with the new FT-950 and the way it performed over the weekend.  I've still got a few things to master and remember how to do....such as working split, but the filters really make a huge difference in the pile ups.

I'm looking forward to the CQ WW DX SSB Contest at the end of the month and giving the rig another good workout.

New Gear - Part 2

This is without a doubt the best radio I have ever owned.....and I've owned a lot. 

Every contact I have made in the past week has commented on how good the audio is, and I haven't even changed any settings yet.....it's still on the factory set-up.

The audio seems to punch through and I'm making contacts on the first or second call constantly.....never did that with the Kenwood TS-570D, and certainly never with the FT-857D. 

I've spent quite a bit of time tuning around and listening to QSO's.  While I'm listening I'm playing with the extensive filtering system, and I'm very impressed with the systems.  It seems I can take almost any QRM out and get a workable signal.  The ATU works as advertised and I've had no SWR problems with my 40m OCFD. 

The race is on to be 90% familiar with the rig in time for me to take part in the two big contests in March, those will be the tests.

New gear!

The day started off pretty early today, it was off to Radioworld in Toronto with Don-VE3MNE.  The trip down was "interesting", lots of snow and blowing snow, and lots of idiots driving way over the safe speed level.  No surprise then that we drove past 6 accidents, mainly cars and trucks in the ditch.  Several of them down pretty steep embankments.  A very busy day for the Police, Fire and Ambulance units who were doing a great job under pretty crappy conditions.

Our trip back wasn't much better as we were driving back into the storm, and the idiots were still on the road.....or should that be "all over the road"?  Once again lots of Police on the highway sorting out messes that could have been avoided by people driving to the conditions, and not like maniacs!

Don picked up a new FT-8800 Dual bander.  A nice piece of kit for his truck.  He also picked up a new "plug and play" Rigblaster.  Don will be cruising the bands on FLDigi in no time!

My purchase was a bit larger....a new FT-950.  What a nice piece of kit.  It will be a few days before I can give a proper report on the rig, but from what I have seen already it's a real winner.

More on the rig in a few days after I  experiment with the settings etc.

CY9 - 2012 Activation Update

The following news was received today from Col - MM0NDX:

Press Release #1

St Paul Island is called the ”Graveyard of the Gulf” and that is where an international, seasoned team of DXers will be heading to later this year.

Plans are well under way for a 10-man team to activate this now wanted DXCC entity, which was last on air in 2005. When you consider most needed entities (perhaps out with the Top 10) are activated every five years or so, it is now time to mount a serious effort from CY9.

Most operators will be unaware that in 2010, St Paul Island became the highest mover on DX Magazines most wanted list; from #77 to #47. Today, according to that list and ClubLog, CY9 is more needed than entities such as Tokelau (ZK3) or PY0T (Trindade & Martim Vaz).

The team consists of Mike AB5EB, Oscar EA1DR, George EA2TA, Christian EA3NT, Simon IZ7ATN, Col MM0NDX, Bjorn SM0MDG, Vicky SV2KBS, Steve VA3FM and Kevin VE3EN.

From late July to early August, IOTA contest included, the group will be active all bands, modes (160-2m) with special attention on 6m and 160m if propagation allows.

A website is currently under construction and will be ready in a few short weeks where much more info can be found.

QSL manager for the expedition is M0URX.

A Novel Concept in Ham Radio

Some of the readers of my blog may be aware of the mess RAC ARES in Ontario has found itself these days.  For most of us there has been zero communications from them for the past 12 months, how can you lead an organization with no communications?   How can this organization grow? 

It amazes me that RAC ARES in Ontario thinks it can get away with this very poor website (CLICK).   What is the purpose of this website?  It has no useful information on it, and some of what is on it seems to be out of date. 

In fact things seem to have fallen apart so much, I have to ask if RAC still has a viable ARES organization in Ontario anymore?  

Has anybody told RAC that in the 21st Century an organization needs an informative, easy to navigate, and a constantly updated website in order to attract and inform new, as well as old, members?  How about a Blog that actually allows its members to post comments.....negative and positive?   Unless you get the odd negative comment you don't know what may require a little tweak now and then to fix things......(and before anybody leaves me a comment, I'm well aware what RAC did to the Blog that Peter West - VA3HG built for RAC).

So I was very pleased to see that ECOA has announced their 2012 AGM on their new blogsite.  It will be held in Toronto on the 3rd March at 1200L, at Fort York Armouries, 660 Fleet Street West.

What is really nice to see is that ECOA members will have the opportunity to actually cast a vote on agenda items, and on who will be their new executive members.  Not bad for $15 a year membership fee - which includes $2 million liability insurance coverage, and a real voice in what the association does. 

A real vote you say?  What a novel concept in emergency communications!

CY9 in 2012

Plans are afoot for an international 10-man team to be active from St Paul Island, CY9 during the middle part of 2012.  One of the operators will be Kevin-VE3EN, the webmaster for Solarham.com.

CY9 is nearly always in the top 100 DXCC, so the crew should be pretty busy handling traffic.

The island is nicknamed the “Graveyard of the Gulf of St. Lawrence" as it is fog-bound throughout much of the navigation season and posed a significant hazard during the age of sail.  Access to the island is usually only granted in July and August due to weather concerns.

Full details and a website will be made available in the weeks ahead.

Winter Field Day - The Sunday Report

It was a dark and windy morning…….so goes the tale! Well, at 0600L at Lamoine Point on Sunday morning it was very dark and very windy; thankfully the snow never really arrived in force.


Jim - VE3ULC

We set up five HF stations with only headlamps and flashlights bobbing around in the dark. The surprising thing was that it didn’t take us much longer to set up than it does during the summer, and nobody got hurt.  Granted the weather wasn’t that bad…..and it could have been a lot worse, but still, I believe that the many island and lighthouse activations we do over the summer really are helping us get our act together.

The Motley Crew on Sunday Morning

We had VE3MNE, VE3HRW, VA3TBZ, VA3ORP, VE3ULC, VA3VDP, and VE3CLQ in attendance. Thanks must go to Dave-VE3DZE who arrived around 0800L to do a coffee and bathroom run for those that needed it, and a very welcome sight he was to!

Thanks also must go out to Les-VE3KFS and Tim-VA3TIC, these guys couldn’t be on site but they were on the air making sure we made a few contacts.

Special mention must also go out to Bob-VA3QV in Ottawa, who also came looking for us on 40m. It’s always good to chat with Bob on, or off, the air, unfortunately I was on the 20m radio when he called in, but his message was passed to me via 2m simplex.

Don VE3MNE

We made contact with 11 countries: Canada, USA, France, Poland, Ukraine, Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Russia, Belgium, Bulgaria, and Iceland. We had 43 HF contacts, 2 VHF contacts, and 2 PSK31 contacts. All contacts were done on battery power.

Overall it was a good time; everyone was cheery and seemed to have a good time at the park.  Winter Field Day next year? You bet, the plan is to find a cabin or cottage like we did in 2011 and make it a weekend event.

Until next year………stay warm!

Winter Field Day - The Saturday Report

A slow day on the bands, and I could hear a lot more than I could work.  I did hear quite a number of stations calling CQ Winter Field Day, and I managed to work three of them.

First up was KB3BHL in Georgetown, Delaware on 40m.  Then it was Joe WA4VAG in Walton, Kentucky on 20m.  Joe was using an ex-military PRC-70 putting out 45 watts, and then it was back on 40m to work K8UO in Mt. Clemens, Minnesota.

Only DX for the day was Anderson CT2IUK in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal, on 17m.

SFI today was 115.  The A index was 7, the K index was 1, and the sunspot number was 39.  Nothing really to get excited about, maybe tomorrow will be better? 

Weather today was not nice, -3C in winds gusting up to 70 KPH, and driving snow.

I've an early morning start on Sunday.  Frontenac ARES group are meeting at Lamoine Point Conservation Area at 0600L, and plan on working the HF bands until about 1030L when we will break things down and go to breakfast.

Hope to work a few early birds.......hey, maybe VA3QV will be waiting for us to come up on 40m !  Listen out for VE3FCT.

The Coldest Event of the Year???

Get your winter gear ready!! The FYBO (Freeze Your Butt Off) Winter QRP Sprint, sponsored by the Arizona ScQRPions, is being held Saturday, February 4, 2012, from 1400Z-2400Z.

Apart from Winter Field Day this is one of the coldest events of the year…..you just don’t want to miss it!!

Rules can be found here

Winter Deployment Training

You don't need to be a genius to figure out that emergencies can happen at any time of the year, and that holding practice deployments only during the warmer months isn't going to help you when you get called out at midnight on a sub-zero, and very snowy mid-February night!  

One only has to remember back 14 years ago today, January 8th, 1998, when the people of Frontenac County awoke to the biggest ice storm in a century, to know that as a member of an ARES group, one never knows when the call will come.  One hopes a callout will never come, but you must be prepared....just in case.  There is a lot of truth to the phrase "practice makes perfect".

So it felt very strange this morning, with the temperature at -5C, no wind, no snow on the ground and a brilliant blue sky, to be heading off to Rotary Park with nine other members for a winter deployment training session with the Frontenac County ARES group.  

Dave VA3ORP, our training officer, took us through several subjects including how to dress in layers, and the best type of boots.  Dave also went over the use of the buddy system, and checking each other over periodically for frostbite.  We were reminded that it doesn't take long for hypothermia, or frostbite, to set in and those items need to be looked after immediately.

Other topics included the effect of cold on our equipment, the danger that abrupt changes in temperature (from outside to inside) could have on the equipment with condensation.  The effect of freezing temperatures have on coax, and ways of keeping things dry.  We also talked about how easy it is in the snow to lose bits of kit......normally the important bits go first!

We ended the session by putting up and guying a portable mast system, designed to hold a VHF antenna and a HF dipole.  It was interesting to see it go up, and who had to take their gloves off to make it happen.

All in all it was a great training session, for those members who are ex-military it was a good refresher, and it'll probably bring back a few nightmares of sleeping naked in a sleeping bag, in a snow hole, at -45C....I get cold just remembering it!

This morning was a good lead up for Winter Field Day, an event every ARES and EmComm group should support.

Winter Field Day

Coming up at the end of the month is Winter Field Day.  From their website:

"The 2012 Winter Field Day will be held from 1700 UTC (12:00 noon EST) Saturday January 28, 2011 through 1700 UTC (12:00 noon EST) Sunday January 29, 2012. The object of the event is familiar to most Amateur Radio operators: set up emergency-style communications and make as many contacts as possible during the 24 hour period. The rules encourage as many contacts on as many bands and modes as possible, because during a real emergency, the most important factor is the ability to communicate, regardless of band, mode or distance".

The official rules can be found at the SPAR web site. This event is open to all amateurs.  Frontenac ARES will be setting up at Rotary Park in the west end of Kingston, and taking part for the fourth year in a row.  It's great practice deploying and setting up in inclement weather, as SPAR likes to state, not all emergencies happen in the good weather.

Give a listen for VE3FRG, you'll know it's us by the chattering teeth!

New Toy

Well I hope Santa was as good to you all as he was to me!  One of the new toys I picked up over the holiday, used for $20, is a MFJ-16010 long wire tuner.  I've been after one of these for quite some time.

This tuner is a variable L-network random wire antenna tuner and is designed to match the low output impedance of your transmitter to the high impedance of a random wire (or vice versa). It will match almost any random length of wire to any transmitter from 160 thru 10 meters. The transmitter may have an output RF power up to 200 watts.

Now the fun starts - experimenting with it, after all they do say winter is the best time to work on your antennas!

VA3QV.......not so elusive!

Got him!!!  After searching for Bob-VA3QV for the past three or four contests with no luck at all, I can finally report that he was found skulking around 7.080 at 1657Z........and he's now in the log!!

The RAC Winter Contest is now over, and rigs and power supplies are starting to cool down after a frantic 24 hours of go-go-go.  It was a good contest, I had a great time, and managed to work all provinces and territories except Yukon and New Brunswick.  Yukon is hardly ever heard, but the absence of any VE9's really surprised me.

The contest started with a noise floor around S8 which continued until 2045Z when it fell to S3.  No idea what was causing it, and as nothing was turned off at 2045Z in my house, I can only assume that it was something next door.

As you can see from the Solar Data Banner on the left, the SFI and other numbers were not the best on the 17th December.  We've all seen a lot worse of course, but after the past few months of great DXing, it's hard to see it sink back to these levels again.

I had a couple of good catches today (besides Bob!).  Osvaldo-LU2QC in Argentina, Norman-V31NB in Belize, and Bob-G3ORY in the UK.  All three of these stations were calling "CQ RAC Contest", it's nice to see other countries taking part in the Winter Contest.

All in all I'm very pleased with my new 40m OCF Dipole.  It works extremely well, even to the point of tuning up on 80m and allowing me to make contacts in Newfoundland and BC.  I took the design from the Buxcom website.  For more information on this antenna, and others like it, click HERE.

Hope to see everyone back on the bands for the NA QSO Party on January 21 and 22.

ARES Intergalactic Leadership

Over the past year or two I have written, rather infrequently, about RAC, and most of it has not been very complementary. I make no secret of my hate for those unelected individuals who have driven RAC into the ground, nor do I have any time for those unelected and appointed “Empire Builders” and “Control Freaks” who have been trying to turn the ARES organization into a clone of the Canadian Army Communications Branch.

So tonight I thought that rather sit here and bitch about what is going on in RAC ARES, I would give some constructive ideas, and see if anyone pays attention.

I have said many times before that ARES in Canada needs to be completely revamped if it is to survive. Is that a hard job? No, it can be accomplished in about 18 months if the powers that be really want to.

How to do it.....

For a start the VPFS should begin by sending a letter to each authorized ARES group, and ask for an annual report on everything they have done in the past 12 months. This would include meetings, deployments, training, other activities etc. Groups who fail to do this should be told that they would no longer be a recognised ARES group and lose the right to use "ARES" name.

Here’s the bottom line: If you’re not holding regular ARES meetings, if you’re not conducting regular, and ongoing training, or if you do not practice deploying to the field on a very regular basis, you’re not much of an ARES group anyway.

A basic and simple ARES course needs to be put together and made mandatory for all ARES members. RAC needs to provide a formal certificate that EC’s can present to their members, when they have completed this course. The course needs to have the following subjects covered:

a. What is ARES?
b. Personal Safety.
c. NTS training.
d. How we deploy.
e. Portable antennas.
f. Personal readiness.
g. Operator and logger duties.
h. NVIS antennas.
i. Digital operations.

Remember, this is a basic course, designed to get an operator up to speed so that they can fill a position in the team. We’re not looking for professional high speed CW Ops, but we are looking for a competent operator, who with some more “on the job training” will be an asset to their team.

The VPFS needs to then look at the current RAC rules on how an EC is appointed. According to RAC an EC is appointed for a period of two years, but can be extended for a further two year period. This has not been enforced and currently I know of at least two EC's who have been in place for over 12 years. The two year term for an EC should be rigidly enforced. The same goes for the DEC's as well. Too many of them have been around for far too long. This is not a way of attracting new members. New membership means new blood and new blood means new ideas and an invigorated organisation which is what we need.

The VPFS needs to highly encourage participation in both summer and winter field days, these are outstanding training opportunities that are under utilized by many groups. How many groups only train in the warm months?  Do we only expect to get called out when we can wear shorts and t-shirts?

Participation in both District and Provincial SET's should be mandatory, and Groups should be strongly encouraged to undertake monthly refresher training.  And how many groups never send in a monthly activity report that should be sent to the SEC?

An advanced course for DEC's and EC's needs to be developed.....keeping in mind that these guys are volunteers and not professional radio operators. They need to have family time as well! A well supported, well laid out resource website that is kept up-to-date is desperately needed.

This is not rocket science!! One of the biggest problems ARES has is the "over engineering" that goes on as people continue to build their empires. This too must stop. We need to stop being governed by committee, and we certainly do not need several layers of management above the local groups.

For Gods sake people, remember the KISS principle!!

ARES has a good role to play in their local communities, it also has a great role to play in the PR role for ham radio as a whole.  But if we continue to deploy untrained, or half trained, operators we will get no respect, and sooner, rather than later, our clients will stop using ARES and find another way to communicate.

If you agree with this, let Doug Mercer the VPFS know. His email is: vo1dtm@hotmail.com   I’m sure he would be interested in your thoughts on ARES. If you don’t agree with my ideas, just spin the VFO and keep moving along.

ARRL 10m Contest

Another good weekend on the contesting scene is now behind us. This years ARRL 10m Contest was a pretty good time, with lots of activity on the band during the day.

I decided to do this contest strictly as an SSB QRP station, and I used my IC-703. The receiver on the 703 is pretty good, and basically if I could hear them, I could work them. It was amazing what I managed to work. The furthest east I managed to work was LZ5R in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The furthest south was LP1H in Cordoba, Argentina, and to the west I worked a pile of Californians.

By the time the band died here around 1700L on Sunday I had managed to work 100 stations with 43 multipliers, giving me a total of 8600 points. Not too sure how that will stack up to the rest of the entries, but I had fun doing it.

The lack of Canadian stations was noteworthy, and several DX stations commented on that fact. No idea why, except it may be have been due to Christmas shopping, and everyone was out buying their XYL an expensive gift…..like a new FT-950.

Behavior on the band was pretty good for the most part, but I did hear a couple of altercations over “who owns the frequency”…..some people just never learn it seems.

AND.....once again the ever elusive VA3QV managed to elude me on the bands, I even searched for him!!  I did hear however that he was out and about on his "chick magnet" scooter as the weather was so good.  Maybe this coming Friday night Bob, during the RAC Winter Contest.....up on 40m????

RAC and the little Dutch Boy

It never ceases to amaze me, the garbage that is spewed from non-elected officials with grandiose sounding titles.  It seems that the lunatics are now running the asylum.  Has anyone read the RAC Bulletin - 2011-043E - issued on the 7th December?

Do these individuals who have made this decision, outlined in that RAC Bulletin, really think that this will stop the idiots and trouble makers from showing up at a disaster site?  Let's face it, anyone can buy a safety vest and buy the black letters to iron on "Emergency Communications" across the back.  Well pilgrims, here's a news flash: Nothing is ever going to stop that!  I'm sorry, but the real bottom line to this issue is all about who is in charge - it's a control issue, and it's about who can  build their empire first!

Of course I could be wrong, and this could simply be a case of "small penis syndrome", you know, the condition which compels some men to overcompensate their lack of manhood by trying to overachieve in other areas..........well pilgrims, it isn't working!

How about instead of empire building over who gets to wear what piece of ARES branded clothing, RAC officials should be working hard to develop a simple and basic ARES course that can be taught at the local level?  In fact you would think that would be a pretty high priority wouldn't you?  Apparently not.

How about having the RAC officials stop worrying about who is RAC affiliated and who is not.  ARES or EmComm, we're all out there doing the same job!  Do RAC officials really think that governments, at any level, will  worry about whether the person working the radio is affiliated to RAC or not?  Most of them don't know what RAC is, and more to the point they don't give a damn!

Let's stop kidding ourselves here, the RAC system is broke and is way beyond fixing.  The officials who run RAC are constantly complaining that they cannot get enough volunteers to run the organization.  I wonder why that is?  Could it be that everyone else has recognized the fact that RAC has tipped too far and is beyond saving and therefore won't waste their time with it, or could it be that they simply don't want to work with the current board?

RAC needs to put a stop to ARES groups that exist in name only, or local clubs that have an authorized ARES group and an appointed EC, but who hold no meetings or regular training, and who have no, or very few, trained ARES members to back them up.  I'm all for RAC sorting that mess out!  These are the groups and individuals who give ARES a bad rap!

Does RAC even know how many ARES groups are actually out there and have been authorized over the years?  Do they know which groups have never conducted training?  Which groups have never taken part in a SET?  How many never submitt a monthly report?  If not they should, but I think the truthful answer would be that they have no clue.

The story of RAC ARES is like that of the little Dutch boy sticking his finger in the hole in the dyke, and that is too little......too late.

Changes at Fort Henry

Most of the readers of this Blog will know that I spend many hours operating portable from the parking lot of Fort Henry.  It's the perfect site, low RF noise, the highest spot in the area, and a large open area for antennas.  It seems that this will change shortly.

Recently construction started on a new large Visitors Interpretive Center.  This is being built on the right hand side of the parking lot, as per the picture on the left. 

Last year the Fort started charging $5 to park in the lot, and tightly controlled access to and from it.  It will be interesting to see how all this pans out for the local hams, many of whom use this site as I do. 

Stay tuned, we may be looking for a new "secret site" in Kingston.

Saturday on the bands

Another great day on the HF Bands.  I spent the day cruising up and down 10m making many QRP SSB contacts.  It wasn't the best of days as I'm currently suffering trying to pass a kidney stone.  Not a good time at all.

Anyway, first up this morning was Les - SP9LJD in Zabrze, Poland.  Les had an outstanding signal, S9+40.  I was pleased to get a true 59 report from him, not too bad for 10w into an Off-Center Fed Dipole.

As the day progressed 10m got busier and busier and I managed to work stations in Cuba, Germany, the Azores, Ecuador, Italy, Spain, UK, and the USA. 

In the late afternoon I heard VK7ZE calling from Tasmania.  I attempted to work him but the pile up was just too great.  On top of this, the foul and abusive language that was being transmitted on top of the VK7's signal had to be heard to be believed.  I guess some people think that the DX station should answer their calls first!  Some people need to chill out and learn how to behave properly in a pile up, because if they don't they won't be too happy when other DX stations refuse to answer them as well. 

At 2201Z my day was made when I managed to work Toru - JA7MSQ in Aomori City, Japan, and almost right away I worked Masanobu - JR5JAQ in Ehime, Japan.  Both of these contacts were done on 15m with 10w.

Just a great day on the bands, and I can't wait to see what Sunday brings.  I'm extremely pleased with my new IC-703, if I can hear the station I have been able to work them.

Happy QRP'ing!!

In Remembrance

In Loving Memory of the

Officers, NCO's, and Men

of

2816 Squadron, RAF Regiment

1941 - 1946

LEST WE FORGET

Great Sunday on 10m QRP

Once again 10m is just hopping here in Kingston.  Lots of EU stations up and down the band, some very loud, 59++.  There was a bit of QSB but nothing we couldn't handle.

Of course the good weather has brought out the LIDS.  Why do people insist on tuning up right on frequency?  Why would you spend five minutes whistling into your microphone, when you know you're right on top of a 59++ QSO?  Is there now a law I don't know about, that stops you from moving up or down the band 10 Kc and tuning up there?  I just don't understand these idiots!

This afternoon I managed to get 40 minutes on the rig before "She Who Must Be Obeyed" arrived home.  I fired up the IC-703, and with a whopping ten watts managed to work:

SV3DCX - Panos in Greece
S52OT - Rado in Slovenia
MM0AMW - David in Scotland
F9IE - Bernard in France
G0UWK - Ian in the UK

Ian-G0UWK had an awesome signal, 40 over at the worst of the QSB.  When I originally heard him he was beaming into the South Pacific, looking for ZL and VK's amongst others.  Ian very kindly took the time to turn off his amp and reduce power to 10 watts.  My first trans-Atlantic QRP QSO !!

Many thanks to all the stations who heard me call QRP and asked everyone to stand by while they worked the QRP station.  Your kindness in helping make the QSOs is deeply appreciated!

CQ WW SSB Contest 2011

Wow!!  What a weekend!!  The conditions for this years CQ WW SSB Contest were outstanding as most of us will know.  This had to have been the best weekend we have had for DX chasing in many, many, years!  The bands were packed - wall to wall with strong signals.

It seemed everybody was having a great time, and what was most surprising was the behaviour on the bands...I didn't hear one piece of rude or obnoxious behaviour like we have heard in previous contests.  Also missing this weekend were the "Band Police", and given the size of some of the huge pileups I heard, that's just amazing.

This contest was the first big test for my new 40m OCF Dipole and boy did it pass with flying colours!  However, as expected it will not tune on 15m, but I certainly feel it way out performs my old 80-40-20 fan dipole by a long shot.  This antenna tunes on 40 - 20 - 17 - 12 - 10.

While I did work stations on 40m and 20m, the vast majority - 90% - of my contacts for the weekend were made on 10m.  It's been a long time since I have heard 10m open like that.  In fact I think my Dad was still alive and operating VE7CVQ when we last had similiar openings.

I worked 58 countries this weekend, a new record for me, and on top of that I managed to put seven new countries in the log book.  Some of the 10m highlights were:  8R1EA in Guyana; C5A in The Gambia; and ZM4T in New Zealand.  However....VA3QV eluded me all weekend!!

Just a phenomenal time on the bands!

Nicholson's Point Light

There's another local light now ready to be activated!  The Frontenac ARES Group recently "found" a local light that not many people actually knew about, and the light was not listed in the World List of Lights.....so off they wrote to the Amateur Radio Light House Society to see if it could be listed.

The location of the light will be a challenge to activate as it is a small area that is very well used by the locals.  The actual site is about two regular house lots in size, covered with some good sized trees.  I have a feeling that this site will have to be activated either early in the season, or very late in the season in order to escape the crowds that seem to hang out there on the limestone beach.

The good news is of course that Nicholson's Point Light is now also known as "Can-1425", its official World List of Lights number.

We're looking forward to next year when we can activate it.  Stay tuned for news on that.  I'm sure that on its first activation it will be well sought after by the hams who collect lighthouse numbers. We'll arrange to have it put on the DX cluster which is sure to cause a good pile up.

JOTA - 2011

It's that time of year, the annual Jamboree on the Air, sponsored by the World Organization of the Scout Movement.  This is the 54th year that JOTA has been held, always on the third weekend of October.

This weekend I'm off with Frontenac County ARES Group to Whispering Pines Scout Camp in support of the Valley Highlands District JOTA Camp.  This is the second year we have done this, and while the weather forecast is for rain, it will still be a fun weekend.

Last year I blogged about this event and complained about the fact that RAC did not seem to support this event.  In fact the Ontario ARES organization actually scheduled their annual SET on that date, which stopped ARES groups from giving a helping hand to local Scout groups.

Why would you miss out on an opportunity to showcase our hobby to thousands of Canadian youth? 

So, here we are twelve months later, and guess what?  Ontario ARES has once again scheduled their annual SET for this weekend - Saturday, the 15th to be precise.  Once again I complained to the Ontario Section Manager, the senior ARES member in Ontario, Allan Boyd, and once again was given a pile of "waffle"......including the beaut of a line that the choice of the date is not up to him............jeez Allan, you're the boss, you're the guy in charge, how 'bout making a command decision for once and change the SET date!! 

You would think that after 54 years of an event being held on the same weekend, RAC just might have been able to get its collective head out of its ass and get its crap together on it......but apparently not.  RAC has not even issued a bulletin on the event, that's how high youth involvement in our hobby is to this current executive. 

The World Scout Bureau reported that the 2010 JOTA had just over 700,000 Scout participants from nearly 6000 amateur radio stations.   

Oh, and did I mention that the theme of this years JOTA is "Peace, Environment and Natural Disasters", and did I also mention that this years JOTA actually has an emergency communications exercise built into it?  Kind of ironic isn't it?

Here's what IARU Region 1 secretary, Denis ZS4BS has to say about this years JOTA: 

"Within this year's JOTA, an emergency communications exercise will take place on Saturday, 15 October, 2011 in the afternoon (European time zone). This simulated emergency test will include the Headquarters station, HB9S, of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), which will be operated by hams from 5 different countries. WOSM has now published the details for the event on its web site with numerous links to related documents of IARU and other sources.

This year's JOTA theme offers an excellent opportunity to raise the awareness for the role of the Amateur Radio Service in disaster situations."

So just where is the RAC Field Service in all this? Where are the individuals who run the RAC Youth Education Program?  Why, nowhere to be found it seems.  There's nothing on the RAC website about this event, not a whisper. 

So once again I ask why would you miss out on an opportunity to showcase our hobby to thousands of Canadian youth?

Am I surprised?  Nope, not at all.  This is typical of the RAC.  They have bleated on for a number of years about falling membership, and the lack of youth involvement, but what are they doing about it?  Apparently nothing!

Will the last RAC member please turn out the light!

Another "New" Rig

I bit the bullet today and purchased a used, but well looked after, IC-703.  I'm very impressed with it so far, but I plan on spending the weekend testing the hell out of it.

The receiver is great and well out performed my Kenwood 570D this afternoon.  There was lots of DX rolling in on 10m and 15m, and the IC-703 was crystal clear.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to take it on Sunday to our family Thanksgiving gathering at my brother-in-law's cottage on Lower Beverley Lake, and operate portable for a few peaceful hours.  There's no time like a family gathering to get the young nephews excited about CW !!

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!!

The 2m Challenge - the result.

It was a beautiful day for playing radio today. Far better to operate portable radio than to stay at home and cut the grass.  It was blue sky from horizon to horizon.


Today was the first of what we hope will become an annual event, the Frontenac Radio Groups “2 Meter Challenge”.  It’s a contest with a really simple concept, try to contact as many stations as you can on 2m using any mode you have available.

We had some good inversion this morning which of course helped us, but being a new contest there was not as many stations on the air, as had been hoped, to take part. Hopefully that will change for next year.

After our club breakfast I drove up to Fort Henry Hill and immediately started to set up. Richard-VA3VDP showed up a few minutes later and stopped by to say hello on his way to RMC. After Richard left I became, almost, the sole attraction for bus loads of Japanese tourists visiting Fort Henry.

I made only 14 contacts, a few of which are excellent, the rest local. Best DX of the day goes to KK1CW in Spofford, New Hampshire, for a distance of 370 Km. I also worked VE3DC in Hamilton, 294 Km’s away. Not to bad for 40w into a four element Yagi.


My Log
Time(L)      Band    Call             Name      Mode     QTH
1005           2m         VE3DZE    Dave        SSB        Kingston
1006           2m         VA3LX       Paul         SSB       Wolfe Island
1009           2m         VE3TEF     Tom         SSB       Kingston
1010           2m         VE3DC       Club Stn  SSB       Hamilton
1022           2m         KK1CW     Walter      SSB       Spofford, NH
1037           2m         VA3TIC      Tim          SSB       Kingston
1055           2m         VE3UR       Peter        SSB       Quinte West
1108           2m         VA3ORP    Dave         FM        South Frontenac
1109           2m         VE3DZE    Dave         FM        Kingston
1110           2m         VE3TEF     Tom          FM        Kingston
1113           2m         VA3ORP    Dave         SSB       South Frontenac
1123           2m         VA3AKY   Martin       SSB       Kingston
1140           2m         VA3KAI     Al              SSB       Tay Valley (Perth)
1245           2m         VE3KKL    Gord         SSB       Ottawa

This was a good learning experience today, and I’m sure we will incorporate some changes for next year.

My big lesson of the day?  I need a bigger battery for portable ops, the one I currently have doesn't last as long as it once did.

Thanks to all who participated, and to those of you who didn’t……hope we see you on the air for the next 2m Challenge, next September.

Bill's most excellent adventure..........NOT

The day started off quite normal, up at 0445 and off to work an hour later. I felt fine during the ride into work and, as usual, took part in the early “going to work net” on the VE3FRG repeater.

However……about 20 minutes into my shift I started to get chest pains, not good I thought. Anyway, like an idiot, I stuck it out for a while….that is until my boss took one look at me and called 911. Within a few minutes two Military Policemen and an ambulance showed up, and I was off on a great adventure to Kingston General Hospital (KGH)!!

I cannot say enough about the level of care, and the way I was treated, by the staff at KGH, first class all the way……even after they realized I wasn’t having the big one. It turned out that one of my medications had stopped working. They found out that my body had built up immunity to it and it no longer works for me. The result of it not working was a very uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the center of the chest, exactly like a heart attack.

After being wired for sound into a large monitor, two lots of blood work, X-rays, and the vilest tasting concoction I have ever had the displeasure to swallow….seven hours had past.

So, here’s a question for all you SOTA and portable QRP guys……considering some of the very remote spots you guys end up operating at, could you recognize the signs of a heart attack, and more to the point, would you know how to handle the situation? Most of the places we go are a long way from a hospital with a long response time, and time is precious in these situations.

The American Heart Association and other medical experts say the body likely will send one or more of these warning signals of a heart attack:


• Uncomfortable pressure, fullness, squeezing or pain in the center of the chest lasting more than a few minutes.

• Pain spreading to the shoulders, neck or arms. The pain may be mild to intense. It may feel like pressure, tightness, burning, or heavy weight. It may be located in the chest, upper abdomen, neck, jaw, or inside the arms or shoulders.

• Chest discomfort with lightheadedness, fainting, sweating, nausea or shortness of breath.

• Anxiety, nervousness and/or cold, sweaty skin.

• Paleness or pallor.

• Increased or irregular heart rate.

• Feeling of impending doom.

Not all of these signs occur in every attack. Sometimes they go away and return. If some occur, get help fast. If you notice one or more of these signs in yourself or others, don't wait……Call emergency medical services (9-1-1) right away!

We should all know these signs, it may save a life....even yours!

ChiliCon 2011 - OVQRP

The 2011 Ottawa Valley QRP Clubs "ChiliCon" is over.  What an outstanding weekend!!  Once again this event was held at the Rideau River Provincial Park, which is always very clean and extremely well maintained.  This was the last weekend the park was in operation for the season, so it was extra quiet for us noisy radio operators.

The drive up from Kingston takes about one and a half hours, and the drive is an easy one, Hwy 15 to Smith's Falls and then Hwy 43 to the park.  It was a great time of the year to travel, very little traffic and some great scenery.

I arrived at the park at 1345 and soon settled into my site.  Jim-VA3KV, from Rockland, already had his tent set up and was getting his antenna up when I drove by him.  It didn't take me long to get camp and the antenna set up.  I initially put up my Buddipole as a 20m vertical with two 17 foot counterpoises, and I'm glad I did as it worked out well for me.


The rest of the guys started to trickle in and by supper everyone was there.  As soon as the sun disappeared it started to get pretty cold.  In fact it went down to 2C Friday night......good job I took two sleeping bags, but I was still not that warm.  But, before I called it a night I worked some great DX.  Bob-PB5X in Breda, Netherlands, and Chris-G0UNJ in Oldham, UK, both of these contacts where made using 10 watts.

The next two contacts where just amazing.  I boosted the power to a wopping great 40w and worked Ian-VK3MO just outside of Melbourne, and then I worked Lee-VK2KRR, in The Rock, New South Wales.  Ian was a good S9+20 into the park, just an amazing signal, and he gave me a S8.  Both of these contacts were done on the 20m Buddipole vertical.  The picture on the right is what Ian-VK3MO was using!  Who says size matters???


It's a good job Michael-VE3WMB heard the contacts because I don't think anyone would have believed me otherwise!  I'm really pleased with with the Aussie contacts.  What a great night for DX.  The SFI was at 145, A Index 3, and the K Index 4.  The SSN was at 173, the highest its been for years.


Saturday dawned bright and clear with a bit of frost about, but no frozen water.  We all gathered at Michael's site and enjoyed coffee and an hour or two of "radio talk".  Then it was off to operate.  I worked a pile of local Canadian and US stations using 10w, and then turned things off to save the batteries in anticipation of more grey line propagation later that evening.

Saturday afternoon Jim-VA3KV helped me measure out a 28' length of wire and two 16' lengths.  With these I built a 28' vertical antenna using my MFJ mast and a 4:1 LDG balun.  After some experimenting I cut another two 16' radials to give me a total of 4, and I'll probably cut another four.  Great results, it tunes and works on 80m, 40m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 10m & 6m.  I checked into Ontars with it and received a good report from John-VE3OMA in Picton and had a 59 report from him.  The picture shows it before the additional two radials were installed.


Martin-VA3SIE and Bob-VA3QV arrived in the afternoon and went down to the beach to do their operating.  Martin did some pedestrian mobile operating with a 20' crappy pole attached to his backpack......first time I've ever seen that done.


Saturday evening we ordered pizza as the "Chili-master" couldn't make the event this year, and apple pie for desert, made a nice change.  The supper table also saw several different types of beer provided by Pat-VE3EUR and a nice bottle of Old Grouse Whiskey from Michael-VE3WMB.......see what y'all are missing by not coming out for ChiliCon??????  We spent the whole eveing till 2300 sitting around the fire talking radio and everything else we could think of.  Just an absolute great time was had by one and all.


Saturday night was an absolute heat wave, it only went down to 8C.  It certainly felt a hell of a lot warmer than Friday night!  I awoke very early on Sunday morning to the smell of a local skunk who had decided to visit another site and leave his calling card.  Once again we met at Michaels site for morning coffee and radio talk. 

I tried to check into the local Ottawa Sunday morning Pothole Net on 3.760, but the net controller couldn't hear me.  However, my battery wasn't in the best of shape by this time as it had been used pretty well over the weekend.


After packing up our gear and breaking camp we drove to a local cafe and had a slow and relaxing brunch.....but the heat in the place was off the scale!!


It was really nice to see everyone again and I had a great time.  Chilicon is a great event to attend if QRP is your thing.  It's also a great event to attend if you're into experimenting with longwire antennas....the experts always attend it.

See everyone next year!!

NORTH AMERICAN SOTA ACTIVATION DAY

THIRD ANNUAL NORTH AMERICAN SOTA ACTIVATION DAY: OCT 22ND & 23RD 2011

The North American SOTA Associations (Canada and the USA) will have an operating event on Oct 22, 2011 from 1200Z to 2400Z on Oct 23, 2011. The goal is to encourage North america SOTA (Summits on the air) summit activations and expand the awareness of this unique operating program in North America. More information about SOTA can be found at http:/www.sota.org.uk.

Summit activation teams will use all the licensed bands from VHF FM/SSB to the HF frequencies for CW and SSB. Typical operating frequencies are:

146.52,
144.200,
7.040,
7.032,
10.116,
14.060,
14.062,
14.282,
14.285 and
14.342.5

Currently there are established SOTA Associations for VE1, VE2, VE7, W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6, W7, and W0........... with more on the way!

The British SOTA Program encourages both summit Activators and and home-QTH Chasers through an extensive Awards program. Patterned after the IOTA program, SOTA is very popular in Europe and is quickly catching on in the North America as well as other countries. This is an annual event for the NA SOTA Associations. Please visit the Yahoo Group site for more information and/or questions: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nasota/

Take the SOTA challenge, activate your nearby SOTA summit and be the DX!

ARRL September VHF QSO Party - Part 2

This years September VHF QSO Party can be summed up in two words: pretty disappointing.  To be brutal about it, the band conditions where crap!  Lots of QRN, and some very deep QSB. 

Photo by Ron-VE3GO

We had four stations operating up on Fort Henry Hill, George VE3SIQ, Ron VE3GO, Dave VE3HFX and Bill VE3FCT.  Derek VE3HRW came out to pay us a visit as well.  I made a grand total of four.....yes four (!) contacts yesterday, two on 2m SSb and the other two on 6m SSB.

First up on 2m SSB was K2LIM, which belongs to the LIM Amateur Radio Group in Pine Valley, NY.  The second 2m SSB was with W3SO, the club call of the Wopsononock Mountaintop Operators from Altoona, PA.  These contacts were made with a four element Yagi made by Arrow Antennas.

The two 6m SSB contacts were locals, Paul VA3LX on Wolfe Island, and Don VE3MNE in Kingston.  Nothing spectacular as you can see.....but we did have fun !!

2 Meter Challenge - 2011

On the 25th September 2011, the Frontenac Radio Group will be running their 2m Challenge for the first time.  They are hoping to make this an annual event....depending on the level of participation.  This contest is based upon a very successful contest held annually in New England.

So far they have had lots of interest shown in it from clubs around the Golden Horseshoe and in Eastern Ontario. 

Details on the contest can be found at:
http://ve3frg.blogspot.com/2011/09/2-meter-challenge-2011.html

Plan on joining in and supporting VHF contesting, it should be a fun time.

Prince Edward Point Lighthouse

After work on Wednesday, Ron VE3GO and myself drove to Prince Edward Point to visit the old lighthouse there, and to see if it could be activated during the 2012 International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend.

Lighthouse in pretty sad condition

The Prince Edward Point Lighthouse, ARLHS CAN-787, was built in 1881. The 36-foot tower displayed a red light from 1881 to 1941, and was dubbed 'the red onion'. The light was changed to green in 1941.  In 1959, the light was replaced with a skeleton tower, and the lantern room removed.

What we found was not very pretty.  We had stopped in at the Rangers Office on the way in, as the light is now within the Prince Edward Point National Wildlife Area.   The Rangers there told Ron and I that the building was condemmed and was in really poor shape, and boy were they right! 

The steel tower added in 1959

The road has now been gated and you must walk around Long Point Harbour to the lighthouse, not a bad walk, but the mosquitoes were out in full force as there was little or no wind.  We did find thousands of Leopard Frogs on the road when we walked to the lighthouse, they were everywhere.  It was hard to walk without stepping on them.  Nice to see the frog population coming back.

What was surprising is that the light is protected as a historical building, yet nobody seems to care, or even do basic maintenance on it.

Anyway, we could activate the lighthouse for a few hours, but no overnights are permitted within the wild life refuge.  So we have another possibility for next August.

The drive home to Kingston was great, and the scenary just fantastic.  We stopped at the Black River Cheese Factory and stocked up with some great cheeses, and we also stopped at the Mariners Park Museum to have a look around.  Well worth the visits if you find yourselves in deepest, darkest Prince Edward County.

Leopard Frogs on the road

All Photos taken and Copyrighted by Ron VE3GO