RAC Bulletin 2015-05-02

RAC Ontario Sections Bulletin for May 2, 2015

This is V__3____, Official Bulletin Station for Radio Amateurs of Canada, with this week's bulletin

NATIONAL/INTERNTIONAL NEWS

1. Nepal earthquake

As the time passes the situation in Nepal, hit by a 7.8-magnitude
earthquake over the past weekend, seems to be getting worse.
Rescue teams are moving away from capital of Kathmandu, to reach
devastated villages near the quake's epicenter.
There is very limited or no power available, cellular towers are down
and cell/satphone recharging is impossible.

In spite of the appalling conditions, HAM radio operation is in progress
and the Nepalese Government
has started issuing HAM licences to visiting HAMs, with callsigns that
have the 9N7 prefix.

The authorities have asked for radio stations to be set up at different
places to cover most of devastated areas.
Health and Welfare traffic is using 20m for out of country traffic and
vhf frequencies are in use locally.

Please keep 14.205 - 14.215 clear for emergency traffic while the
operation is ongoing.
(various sources)

ONTARIO SECTIONS NEWS

2. Canwarn training - Week of May 17th to May 23th.

May 20 – 7 PM – Thornhill – Thornhill Community Centre, 7755 Bayview Ave
May 20 – 6:30 PM – Renfrew – Best Western, 760 Gibbons Road
May 21 – 7 PM – Peterborough – Peterborough Public Library, 345 Aylmer
St. North
May 23 – 9 AM – Orillia/Rama – Rama Fire Hall, 7454 Williams Road, just
north of Casino Rama
May 23 – 9 AM – Greater Sudbury – Lionel E. Lalonde Centre, 239 Montee
Principale, Azilda
Please RSVP to canwarn.ontario @ ec.gc.ca if you plan to attend these
sessions.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

3. THREE 2015 DX OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR CREDIT

ARRL DX Advisory Committee reports that several 2015 operations have
been approved for DXCC credit.
These include 3XY5M from Guinea, E30FB from Eritrea and C21EU from Nauru.
You can file for DXCC credit for working these operations now.
(DXCC)

4. ZL100ANZA COMMEMORATING ANZAC DAY IN NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand telecommunications regulator Radio Spectrum Management has
given permission for use of the
special call ZL100ANZA until May 26th. This to assist hams in New
Zealand to help commemorate the
100th anniversary of the first major military action fought by
Australian and New Zealand forces
during the First World War.

ZL100ANZA will start operations on April 25th at midday New Zealand time
and will last of one month.
All logs will be on a regular basis posted to both Logbook of the World
and Club Log to enable
other operators to check their QSOs. QSL via the bureau.

- Amateur Radio Newsline

5. NEW ALUMINUM BENDABLE BATTERY

Scientists have built a flexible aluminum battery which they say could
be a cheap, fast-charging
and safe alternative to current designs.

The prototype consists of a soft pouch, containing aluminum for one
electrode and graphite foam
for the other and all surrounded by a special liquid salt. It can
recharge in less than a minute
and is very safe and durable compared to lithium-ion batteries.

The only drawback is that the new design currently only delivers about
half the voltage but work
is ongoing to improve this. On the plus side and unlike other designs,
this battery will not
catch fire even if accidentally punctured or drilled through.

The work appears in the journal Nature. You can find it at
tinyurl.com/aluminum-salt-battery

(BBC, Nature.com, Science Today)

This concludes this week's bulletin. Does anyone require repeats or clarifications?
Hearing none, This is V__3____ returning the frequency to net control.