RAC Bulletin 2015-08-08

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RAC Ontario Sections Bulletin for August 08, 2015

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

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1. RAC Public Group Followers, "WE HAVE MOVED"

Come and visit us at our new Business Page at:
https://www.facebook.com/radioamateurscdn

In a few days we will be shutting down the RAC Facebook public group to
enable us to utilize
future integrations and applications that can tie into our main web site.
We are also complying with the Facebook regulations as they apply to a
business operating Facebook pages.

So pop on over...register a "Like" and renew your book marks to our new
page
at: https://www.facebook.com/radioamateurscdn

-- Paul Burggraaf, RAC Chief Information and Technology Officer

ONTARIO SECTIONS NEWS

2. Victoria Haliburton Amateur Radio Association Hamfest
Date: Saturday, August 29, 2015
Location: Lindsay, Ontario at the Masonic Temple, 10 Ridout Street
Times: Doors open Saturday August 29th, 2015 from 8:00 AM to 11:00AM
Vendors: 7:00 AM Set-Up
Cost: FREE General Admission!
Vendors - see webpage for more information. (http://www.vhara.ca)
Vendors are required to supply their own tables and chairs

Talk-in frequency: VE3LNZ Repeater 147.195 MHz +
Webpage: http://www.vhara.ca

-- Len, VE3VSR

ITEMS OF INTEREST

3. Drone Air Traffic Control?

The drones that one day will deliver groceries, toiletries or a box of
pizza could swarm haphazardly
over cities, occasionally colliding with other drones and careening to
the streets below.
Or they could form a buzzing symphony as complex and coordinated as a
bee colony.

The latter vision -- orderly, multitiered highways in the sky -- is what
Amazon, Google and the
U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration have in mind as they
collaborate to develop an
automated air traffic control system for unmanned aircraft.

Equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle communications technology and sensors
that allow them to avoid fellow drones
and other objects, the drones could deliver their goods or complete
other missions without much human intervention.
They would stay below a buffer zone to ensure they don't hit planes and
helicopters but could also be
programmed to move away if a helicopter arrives.

Amazon and Google, along with Verizon and other partners, have been
working with NASA for months on developing
scenarios for a cloud-based control system that could track drone
traffic using cellphone networks, satellites and radar.

For the full story see: http://www.mercurynews.com/ and search for
"drone traffic control"

-- Matt O'Brien. Follow him at Twitter.com/Mattoyeah.

4. Arduino CW Decoder Project

Dan Trudgian M0TGN has been blogging recently about his latest project,
an Arduino Morse decoder

He wanted to create a project that would “inspire” young electronically
minded students that might
have an interest in radio – (i.e the Morse code) some coding experience
and some construction / electronic interest..

He is using a very simple single tone detector interface between his
radio and the Arduino microcontroller board.

Single tone detector circuits first became popular in the UK around 1980
when they were used for RTTY as well as CW.
The circuit Dan is using is based on one published in QST magazine and
only needs a few components.

Read Dan's blog http://www.m0tgn.com/

-- Follow Dan on Twitter @M0TGN

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