RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for June 20th 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

1. RAC members at CITEL Ottawa meeting

From June 2nd to 5th, over 100 delegates from countries of the
Americas gathered for a CITEL PCC.II meeting, preparatory to the 2011
World Radio Conference. Almost every item on the WRC Agenda was
discussed, to find common ground that would be supported by the CITEL
countries. Amateurs were represented by Daniel Lamoureux VE2KA, and
Dario Jurado HP1DJ for the IARU Region 2. Jon Siverling WB2ERA was
on the USA delegation and Ken Pulfer VE3PU, Bryan Rawlings VE3QN
and Jim DEan, VE3IQ were on the Canadian delegation. for more
information see www.rac.ca/en/news/bulletins/2009/21/ [13]

RAC Bulletin Service

2. Manitoba hams win exemption on Bill 5

Manitoba amateurs have won a very important exemption and amendment
taht specifically excludes all two way radio use from Bill 5 of the
Highway Traffic Act in Manitoba. The exemption reads that the bill
does not apply to radio apparatus operated under the authority of a
Radio Operators Certificate issued under the Radio Communications Act.

This welcome news and information will be forwarded to the MTO and to
Hon. Transportation Minister Bradley for Ontario. It is expected that
similar legislation will be adopted by the Ontario Legislature to
protect the public service value of amateur radio operations while
driving in Ontario.

- Bob Gammon, VA3RX, Ontario ARES SEC

3. Canada Day Contest July 1

The annual RAC Canada Day Contest will run from 0000 to 2359 UTC on
July 1st 2009. Bands to be used are 160, 80, 40, 15, 10, 6 and 2
meters, CW and phone. Stations in Canada send RS(T) and province or
territory; VE0's and stations outside Canada send RS(T) and a serial
number. Complete rules, in English and French, are available as PDF
files at www.rac.ca/en/rac/programmes/contests/ [14]

- Brad Rodriguez, VE3RHJ, OBM

ITEMS OF INTEREST

4. French Radio Amateurs' Handbook

The 2009 "French Handbook" written by F6BCU is now available for free
download, for the private use of individuals and radio clubs. The
four files total 455 Megabytes of information, including historical
and homebrew articles...all in French of course. Download it at
www.onlineradio.fr/handbook [15]

Southgate ARC News

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for September 12, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

1. Help Requested - ACORN Net

The Army Cadet League of Ontario is investigating the establishment
of a Royal Canadian Army Cadet radio network based on Amateur Radio
technology. Dubbed 'ACORN', for 'Army Cadet Ontario Radio Network',
the aim is to support optional training and certification of Army
Cadets as licenced Amateur Radio operators throughout Ontario.
Possible pilot sites for this initiative include Dryden, Thunder Bay,
Timmins, North Bay, Stratford or London, Oakville, Cobourg, 709
Communications Unit at Fort York in Toronto and 2332 Communications
Unit in Ottawa.

Radio Amateurs of Canada has been asked to facilitate this project by
identifying Radio Amateurs who live in the pilot areas and have the
interest, time and qualifications to mentor and provide instruction
to young would-be hams, as well as to assist in setting up and
managing Amateur Radio stations. Any interested Radio Amateur
residing in a pilot area is asked to contact Rod Hardman, VE3RHF,
email address rod.hardman (at) gmail.com. Military experience would
be helpful but is not a requirement.

-- Bob Cooke, VE3BDB, RAC President

2. Decision Expected Soon on Bill 118

A decision by Ontario's Ministry of Transportation in regards to
exemptions to Bill 118 (the Bill to limit cell phone use by drivers
in moving vehicles) is expected to be announced at any time.

All Ontario Radio Amateurs who are concerned about the possibility
that Bill 118 might curtail the operation of two-way radio equipment
while driving a vehicle in Ontario are encouraged to contact their
local MPP and Transport Minister Jim Bradley. For the latest
information on Bill 118 please visit the RAC Blog site at
www.racblog.wordpress.com [18]

-- Peter West VE3HG, RAC VP Public Relations

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

3. VE3HCB Silent Key

Timothy Smith, VE3HCB, EC for Cornwall ARES group since 2004, passed
away at the age of 61 at his home in Cornwall on September 3. He was
a retired Electronics Communications Instructor with Nav Canada;
Chairman of CRAG, and President of the Saint-Lawrence Valley Amateur
Radio Club.

I know that Tim Smith will be greatly missed by the ARES in Cornwall,
and his presence will be missed at our future ARES District
meetings.

-- Michael Hickey, VE3IPC, Seaway/Capital ARES District EC

ITEMS OF INTEREST

4. Win A Free DXpedition For A Young Ham

The 6Y1V contest team is sponsoring one young ham operator (age 21 or
under) to join our team and receive an all expense paid trip to
operate in the 2009 CQWW SSB or CW contest.

To qualify, you must send an email to contest (at) 6y1v.com,
containing an essay of 500 words or more, in English, describing how
you got started in ham radio, who guided you through the process, and
tell us why you should be selected for this DX/contest opportunity at
6Y1V. Please include your full name, call sign and home address. We
are looking for a young ham, with some DX/contest experience. You
can reside in any country in the world provided you hold a valid
amateur radio license in your country.

Applications will be accepted until September 30, 2009. For more
information see www.6y1v.com/youth.htm [19]

-- Amateur Radio Newsline

5. Ontario VHF Association meeting

The Ontario VHF Association will hold its annual meeting on
Saturday, September 26, in the Seventh Semester Room (downstairs
KB135) at Humber College (North Campus), 250 Humber College Blvd., in
Etobicoke. Talk-in on 146.52 simplex. There will be guest speakers, a
"show and tell," and a mini-flea market. For more information visit
tinyurl.com/mmmnr3 (Mike Mike Mike November Romeo Three)

-- RAC Events Database

6. London Flea Market

The London Amateur Radio Club will hold its 32nd annual flea market
on Sunday, September 27, at the Western Fair Grounds, Special Events
Building, located at 900 Kings Street, in London. Open to the public
at 9 a.m.; talk-in on VA3LON repeater, 147.060 (+), 114.8 Hz tone.
For more information visit www.larc.ca [20].

-- RAC Events Database

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for September 19, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

1. Geoff Smith, VA3GS, re-elected Ontario South Region Director.

Following the September 1st, 2009, close of nominations for the
Ontario South Region Director position, an Election Committee was
convened, chaired by RAC Corporate Secretary Linda Friars, VE9GLF.
The committee met to open and review the sole nomination received for
the position, as required by the By-laws. There being no other
nominees, and the nomination documents found to be in order, the
committee declared the incumbent, Mr. Geoff Smith, VA3GS, elected for
another two-year term which beings January 1, 2010.

The RAC President, Board and Executive congratulate Director Smith
and thank him for continuing to volunteer his services.

-- G. Linda Friars, VE9GLF, RAC Corporate Secretary

2. RAC LF, MF, and HF Band Planning Committee

It is now official, a while ago, the RAC Board of Directors has
approved a motion to change the HF Band Planning Committee name to
LF/MF/HFBPC. This new name better reflects the range of frequencies
that the committee is responsible for.

Jim Fisher, VE1JF, the Committee Chair indicates that the work the
committee members are doing will not change much as they were already
including those bands in their ongoing reviews.

-- Daniel A. Lamoureux, VE2KA, RAC VP International Affairs

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

3. Ontario Simulated Emergency Test

The annual SET (Simulated Emergency Test) for 2009 will be conducted
Saturday Oct. 3rd and also on Wednesday Oct. 7th to allow for
Provincial EOC locations to take part in this important event.

Confirmation has been received from EMO Emergency Management Ontario
that the Provincial Emergency Operations Center station VE3EMO will
be activated and operational for this Province Wide exercise.

Additional details and schedule of this year's SET activity has been
made available by EMO ARES at Toronto for inclusion in future
bulletins and online sites. See www.emoares.org/set2009.html [23]

-- Jim Taylor, VA3KU, EMO EC, via Bob Gammon, VA3RX

4. VC3COPP Commemorates 100th Anniversary of OPP

From October 2 to October 31, 2009, Special Event Station VC3COPP
will be on the air at various times, on various bands and from
several locations around Ontario. Many OPP members are Radio
Amateurs and VC3COPP will be operated by current and retired members
to mark a century of policing by the third largest deployed police
service in North America.

A collector's QSL card has been designed and will be made available
to anyone, including Short Wave Listeners, who sends a QSL or
reception report. A stamped, self-addressed envelope is required in
every case.

QSLing and other information may be found online at
www.qsl.net/ve3bdb/vc3copp.htm [24] .

-- via Bob Cooke, VE3BDB

5. New Bulletin Stations for Lanark and Grey/Bruce

I am pleased to announce the appointment of John Boyle, VE3PMA, as
Official Bulletin Station for Lanark County. John replaces Tony
Wilson VE3XNT who is moving to a new home. I also welcome Fred Lorch,
VA3STG, as Official Bulletin Station for Grey and Bruce Counties.
Fred replaces Bob Zapf VE3RWZ who is stepping down for personal
reasons.

On behalf of RAC Ontario Section, I thank Bob and Tony for their
years of service disseminating bulletins to the amateurs of Ontario,
and I thank John and Fred for volunteering for this important job.

-- Brad Rodriguez, VE3RHJ, Ontario Official Bulletin Manager

ITEMS OF INTEREST

6. MULTIPSK 4.15 released

A new version of the popular data modes software MULTIPSK has been
released which features MIL-STD-188-110A also known as STANAG 4539 or
FED-STD-1052. Download the program from web site f6cte.free.fr

-- Southgate ARC News

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for September 26, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

1. Derek Hay, VE4HAY, elected Midwest Region Director

Following the September 16th close of nominations for the vacant
Midwest Region Director position, an Election Committee was
convened, chaired by RAC Corporate Secretary Linda Friars, VE9GLF.
The committee met to open and review the sole nomination received for
the position, as required by the By-laws. There being no other
nominees, and the nomination documents found to be in order, the
committee declared Mr. Derek Hay, VE4HAY, elected to complete the
two-year term which ends December 31, 2010.

The RAC President, Board and Executive congratulate Director Hay
and thank him for volunteering his services.

-- RAC Bulletin Service

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

ITEMS OF INTEREST

2. South African Ham Satellite Orbited

On September 16th, South Africa's SumbandilaSat satellite was orbited
by a Soyuz rocket. Among other equipment, the satellite carries an
Amateur Radio repeater. After SumbandilaSat is fully commissioned,
the repeater will be activated with an uplink at 145.880 MHz and a
downlink at 435.350 MHz; there will also be a voice beacon at 435.300
MHz. The transponder mode will be controlled by a CTCSS tones yet to
be announced.

-- ARRL Bulletin Service

3. More CubeSats Orbited

On September 23rd, an Indian PSLV-C14 rocket carried the Oceansat-2
satellite to orbit, along with four CubeSats. CubeSats are very small
and inexpensive research satellites, and all four of these use
amateur radio to downlink telemetry. Early reports indicate that all
of the CubeSats are active. Here are their frequencies and modes:

BEESAT, from Germany, CW beacon 436.000 MHz, data downlink 436.000,
4800/9600 bps GMSK

UWE-2, from Germany, no beacon, data downlink 437.385, 1200/9600 bps
AFSK/FSK

ITUpSAT1, from Turkey, CW beacon 437.385, data downlink 437.325,
19200 bps GFSK

SwissCube, from Switzerland, CW beacon 437.505, data downlink
437.505, 1200 bps FSK

-- ARRL Web

4. 75th Anniversary Worked All Zones Award

CQ Magazine's Worked All Zones award was introduced in 1934. In
celebration of its 75th anniversary, a special "Diamond Jubilee"
certificate will be issued to amateurs who make contacts in all 40
CQ Zones of the World between November 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010.
Certificates will be numbered but there will be no endorsements.
Confirmations will not be required. For details see the October 2009
issue of CQ, or click on the October issue on the website
www.cq-amateur-radio.com [27]

-- CQ News Service

5. No Evidence of Risk from Mobile Radios

Responding to a query from the ARRL, the President of the U.S.
National Safety Council (NSC) has replied that they "have no evidence
that using two-way radios while driving poses significant crash
risks. Until such time as compelling, peer-reviewed scientific
research is presented that denotes significant risks associated with
the use of Amateur Radios, two-way radios or other communication
devices, the NSC does not support legislative bans or prohibition on
their use." This is in contrast to cell phones, for which there is
evidence of increased crash risk. For the full story, see
tinyurl.com/qokajc (Quebec Oscar Kilo Alpha Juliet Charlie)

-- ARRL Web

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for October 3, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

1. Bill 118 In Effect Oct. 26

Ontario's Ministry of Transportation announced today that Bill 118
is coming into effect as of Oct. 26. The new law will make it illegal
for drivers to talk, text, type, dial or email using hand-held cell
phones and other hand-held communications and entertainment devices.
Following a three-month period that begins October 26, where the
focus will be on educating drivers, police will start issuing tickets
on February 1, 2010.

All two-way radios in all vehicles with the exception of emergency
responding vehicles must be hands-free in three years time. At the
end of the three-year exemption, all commercial, CB and amateur radio
equipment used in moving vehicles by the vehicle operator must be
hands-free in operation.

-- RAC Blog

ITEMS OF INTEREST

2. Hamilton Hamfest

The Hamilton Amateur Radio Club will hold its 2009 Hamfest on
Saturday, October 17, at the Ancaster Fairgrounds, 630 Trinity Rd.,
at the southwest corner of Hwy 53 & Hwy 52, about 1 mile south from
the Hwy 52 exit from the 403. Open to the public at 9 a.m.; talk-in
on VE3NCF repeater, 146.76 (-), tone 131.8. For more information
visit www.hamiltonarc.ca [30]

-- RAC Events Database

3. Midway Island DXpedition

The 2009 Expedition to Midway Island, DXCC Entity KH4, will take
place from 9 October to 19 October 2009. For more information see
www.midway2009.com [31]

-- K4M Expedition Team

4. ARISS Contact with Cedarview School

Students attending Cedarview Middle School in Ottawa experienced an
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on
Thursday, September 24. Astronaut Robert Thirsk, VA3CSA answered 20
questions put to him by the students. CTV Ottawa and other local
media provided news coverage.

-- ISS Fan Club

5. Old IRCs About to Expire

If you do a lot of QSLing and regularly use International Reply
Coupons (IRCs) you should be aware that the old-style IRC -- the
Michelangelo two fingers about to touch -- was recently replaced, as
of July 1st, by a new coupon -- the Nairobi model IRC.

The old style IRC will be accepted for redemption at post offices
around the world until December 31st 2009. Anyone with a stockpile of
this older IRC version should make plans to cash them in for stamps
as soon as possible.

-- Howard Dickson, VE1DHD, via RAC News Service

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for October 10, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

1. Military Radiolocation System to Operate on 70 cm

Industry Canada has authorized the Department of National Defence to
use a digital system called Enhanced Position Location Reporting
System (EPLRS) on the 430-450 MHz band. Canadian amateurs use this
band on a no-protection, non-interference basis. The EPLRS is
similarly authorized, which means that no new restrictions will be
imposed on Canadian amateur operations in this band.

There is a slight potential for interference to amateur radio
systems, typically in the form of a minor audible clicking noise. If
you encounter such interference, please report it to RAC via email,
regulatory (at) rac (dot) ca. Please report the geographical
location, date, time, frequency and mode being used by the amateur
station, and a description of the interference.

-- RAC Bulletin Service

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

ITEMS OF INTEREST

2. Jamboree-on-the-Air

October 17 and 18 will mark the 52nd worldwide Scouting Jamboree on
the Air (JOTA). Held the third full weekend in October each year,
this is the premier operating event for Amateur Radio and Scouting
around the world.

Officially designated Scout frequencies for SSB are 3.690, 3.940,
7.090, 7.190, 14.290, 18.140, 21.360, 24.960, 28.390, and 50.160 MHz.
For more information visit www.scout.org/jota [34] or
www.arrl.org/scouts/jota [35]

-- ARRL Web

3. York Region Hamfest

The York Region Amateur Radio Club will hold its 33rd hamfest on
Saturday, October 24, at the Markham Fair Grounds, 10801 McGowan
Road, just north of Elgin Mills Road, in Markham. Open to the public
at 9 a.m.; talk-in on VE3YRA repeater, 145.350 (-). For more
information visit www.yrarc.com [36]

-- RAC Events Database

4. Toronto Open Source Week

Toronto has prolcaimed October 24-30 as "Toronto Open Source Week."
Several events are scheduled, beginning with the Ontario Linux Fest
on Saturday October 24. For a full list of events, visit
www.opensourceweek.ca [37]

-- Brad Rodriguez, VE3RHJ, OBM

5. Lambton County Club offering US Ham Exams

The Lambton County Radio Club is sponsoring an ARRL-affiliated
Volunteer Examiner team, which will be authorized to administer exams
in Canada for all three classes of U.S. Amateur Radio licences.
This is offered to Canadian citizens or permanent residents who would
like to obtain a U.S. licence without traveling across the border.
You must have a mailing address somewhere in the United States where
you can receive US domestic mail.

Exam sessions are scheduled for Saturday, December 5th, 2009 as well
as Saturday, January 23rd, March 27th and May 22nd, 2010, at the
Sarnia Police Headquarters Training Room, 555 North Christina Street
North, in Sarnia.  Pre-registration is REQUIRED and absolutely NO
"walk-ins" will be accommodated. All sessions will begin promptly at
2:00 PM.  For more information contact Keith Baker via email, va3ksf
(at) rac (dot) ca.

-- Keith Baker, VA3KSF, President, Lambton County Radio Club

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for October 17, 2009

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

NATIONAL NEWS

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

1. New Time For OPN

Effective Sunday, October 25, the Ontario Phone Net will move its
start time up to 16:00 hrs local time. That means 16:00 Eastern
Daylight Time for the week of October 25th, and 16:00 Eastern
Standard Time starting November 1st.

The time change is due in part to the changes in propagation with the
80m band. When the conditions change in the spring the net will
revert to its 19:00 local start up time. For more OPN information
please visit the Ontario Phone Net Blog located at
ontariophonenet.wordpress.com

-- Bob Sharp, VA3QV, OPN Net Manager

2. New EC For Cornwall

The Seaway District in eastern Ontario has a new Emergency
Co-ordinator for the City of Cornwall. Earle DePass, VE3IMP of St.
Andrews becomes the latest addition to the ARES team and provides an
impressive background in community services and dedicated leadership
skills in the Cornwall area.

Several Assistant EC's have been selected to help build a viable
Emergency Communications program and the Ontario ARES welcomes Earle
to this new role and wishes every success in all his future efforts
to co-ordinate this expanded ARES group.

-- Bob Gammon, VA3RX, Ontario ARES SEC.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

3. 4U1UN Special Event Station

To celebrate the 64th General Assembly of the United Nations, 4U1UN
-- the Amateur Radio station at the UN -- began operating as 4U64UN
on September 22. According to The Daily DX, 4U64UN will be on the air
for 64 days on all bands and modes. QSL via Logbook of The World
(LoTW) or direct to Herbert Aeby, HB9BOU. Logs will be uploaded to
LoTW once the event is over. QSL cards will be mailed out starting in
December 2009.

-- ARRL Web

4. Nominations Open for 2009 ARRL Humanitarian Award

Nominations are open for the 2009 ARRL International Humanitarian
Award. The award is conferred upon an amateur or amateurs world-wide
who demonstrate devotion to human welfare, peace and international
understanding through Amateur Radio. Nominations and supporting
materials for the 2009 Award must be submitted in writing, in
English, to the ARRL by December 31, 2009. For details see
www.arrl.org/FandES/field/awards/humanitarian.html [40]

-- ARRL Web

5. New Canadian Callsign Lookup Database

Dave Allen, WB0TAQ, has released a new version of his CallWin
callsign lookup program, that will look up Canadian as well as US
callsigns. Go to Dave's website, wb0taq.home.att.net, look for the
file callwinplus.zip. Download the zip file, and unzip into an
appropriately named folder on your computer. You will get three
files, callwin+.exe, autoupdate+.exe and zlibl.dll. The dll file
goes to the IC website and downloads the latest Canadian update.

The new autoupdate program has two update buttons, one for US and
one for Canadian calls. The US updates are posted each Sunday by
Dave. The Canadian updates are posted daily Monday to Friday; you
can update CallWinPlus once a week if you prefer.

The main advantage of this database is that it is resident on your
computer, so you don't need to access either RAC or QRZ for address
information. Questions may be e-mailed to me at ve3gna (at) xplornet
(dot) ca.

-- Glenn Killam, VE3GNA, Ontario STM

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for October 24, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

1. Quebec Section ARES

I am pleased to announce the formation of a new ARES Group for the
Quebec Section. Under the direction of EC Mike Lachaine VE2EXB, RAC
Certified Emergency Coordinator, the group will serve municipalities
in the St. Jean Sur Richelieu region of Quebec. With the assistance
of Quebec Section Manager Gilles Lariviere VA2SGL, Mike and his group
have already met with some municipal emergency coordinators in the
area and have run some training sessions. Congratulations folks and
welcome aboard!

-- Doug Mercer, VO1DTM, RAC Vice President Field Services

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

2. New EC For Renfrew County East

The region of Renfrew County in eastern Ontario now has a new leader
to help co-ordinate the ARES. Paul Dowdall, VA3COG has accepted a two
year service appointment as Emergency Coordinator for Renfrew County
East.

With a dedicated background in law enforcement and now as community
emergency communications provider Paul is certain to build an active
ARES program in Renfrew County East and extend his leadership role as
required in the Seaway/Capital District

-- Bob Gammon, VA3RX, Ontario ARES SEC

3. Bill 118 Precautions

Within the next few days police in Ontario will begin to pull over
drivers they see texting or talking on cellular telephones. It is
entirely likely that some amateur radio operators, who are legally
exempt from Bill 118, will be stopped if they are seen to be
operating their mobile radio equipment.

In order to prevent any unnecessary delay, amateurs in Ontario should
consider carrying a copy of their Certificate of Proficiency plus a
copy of the exemptions section of Bill 118, which you can find
on-line at tinyurl.com/yh8ocwa (Yankee Hotel Eight Oscar Charlie
Whiskey Alpha)

-- RAC Blog

4. Grey County Simulated Emergency Test

Grey County ARES completed its 2009 S.E.T. exercise on Saturday Oct.
17th. We activated stations at four municipal EOCs: Grey County,
Owen Sound, Hanover, and Durham.

The goal of this year's exercise was to establish a communications
network without using any of the VHF repeaters. Messages were
handled on two local 2m simplex nets and an 80m HF link from south to
north. Most of the messages had to be relayed. Some had to take
three hops. This exercise did not include any out-of-county messages
to provincial nets or to provincial EMO. While all of the EOCs do
have an emergency power source, we did not use them for this test.
This was our first exercise that included our new station VA3GCO in
the Grey County Building.

Thank you to all who contributed to the success of this event. For a
more detailed report see the "Extended Bulletin Articles" at the
racaresontario.ca web page.

-- Bob Droine VE3LKD, ARES EC for Grey County

ITEMS OF INTEREST

5. ARISS Contact with Boy Scouts of Canada

On Saturday, October 3, Scouts of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario
experienced an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) contact. Three hundred scouts and parents were present as
Robert Thirsk VA3CSA answered questions about life and work in space.
Thirsk turned over a few questions to Mr. Guy Laliberté, Cirque De
Soleil president and spaceflight participant. Audio was fed into the
EchoLink AMSAT and JK1ZRW servers. The ARISS contact was held in
conjunction with the Scout Science Badge Award system.

-- AMSAT News Service

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for October 31, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

1. GlobalSET November 14

On Saturday November 14, from 1800 to 2200 UTC, the International
Amateur Radio Union will activate "GlobalSET 2009", a Global
Simulated Emergency Test that encourages Hams to pass simulated
emergency traffic using standard National Traffic System format.

The Radio Amateurs of Canada, a member society of IARU Region 2,
encourages all Canadian Radio Amateurs having an interest in
emergency communications to participate. Rules and a list of
participating stations may be found at www.iaru-r1.org [45]. Search
under the heading, "Emergency Communications", working group.

This is great opportunity for RAC members to observe and practice
important traffic passing skills that are so important to the
fundamentals of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service. Those Amateurs
planning to participate are requested to register with the RAC Vice
President for Field Services as soon as possible by emailing
vo1dtm (at) hotmail.com .

-- Doug Mercer, VO1DTM, RAC VP Field Services

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

2. OPN Needs Liaison Stations

The Ontario Phone Net (OPN) needs needs volunteers to carry traffic
to and from the Second Region Net (2RN). Stations are needed to
check into 2RN at 13:45 Eastern Time on 3.925 MHz, pick up any
traffic destined for Ontario, and then check in to OPN at 16:00
Eastern to pass that traffic to the net. Stations are also needed
to pick up OPN traffic at 16:00, and pass it to 2RN at 18:30 Eastern,
again on 3.925 MHz. These are all phone nets; no CW is required. If
you can help, please email me, opnreport (at) gmail.com

-- Bob Sharp, VA3QV, OPN Net Manager

3. U.S. and foreign hams not exempt from Bill 118

It seems the three-year exemption from Ontario's Bill 118 granted to
amateurs applies only to operators holding radio certificates issued
under the Radiocommunications Act (Canada). This means foreign
amateurs including hams from the U.S. are not exempt from immediate
prosecution under Ontario's distracted driving legislation.

-- RAC Blog

ITEMS OF INTEREST

4. Winter Olympics Special Event Stations

Members of the Vancouver Olympics Amateur Radio Group will be
activating three special event stations to promote and commemorate
the Vancouver Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in
February and March of 2010.

The first station, VG7V, is on the air from October 1st through
November 30th. Then Then, VG7W will be active from December 1st
January 31st. Finally, VG7G will be active from February 1st and
continuing through March 31st, 2010. Operations will be on all bands
and modes. Contacts will be posted to ARRL's Logbook of the World.
Commemorative QSLs will be available in April 2010; see qrz.com for
details.

-- Amateur Radio Newsline

5. Amateur Radio Newsline on Echolink and IRLP

Thanks to Skip Hansen, WB6YMH, the weekly audio newscast from Amateur
Radio Newsline can now be heard around the clock via Echolink and
IRLP.

On EchoLink just connect to the Newsline conference, node number
6397, or dial the word "news" on the DTMF pad. On IRLP connect to
experimental node 0016 providing that access to "experimental nodes"
have been enabled by the node operator. Once you do either, the
server will play the news in 2 minute chunks with 10 second pauses
between them to reset timeout timers and give you an opportunity to
disconnect simplex nodes. Audio is stopped during the pauses so no
content is lost.

-- Amateur Radio Newsline

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for November 7, 2009
NATIONAL NEWS

1. New RAC Executive

During a RAC Board of Directors' teleconference meeting on October
29th, the following new members of the Executive were elected: Geoff
Bawden, VE4BAW as President; Paul Burggraaf, VO1PRB as Secretary; and
Margaret Tidman, VA3VXN as Treasurer. They will assume their
responsibilities on January 1, 2010.

Subsequent to the October 29th meeting, the following Directors and
Officers submitted their resignations: Bob Cooke, VE3DBD, former
President, effective October 31; and Geoff Smith, VA3GS, former
Ontario South Director, and Noel Marcil, VE2BR, former Quebec
Director, both effective November 1st.

The remaining positions on the executive will be unchanged as the
current officers were acclaimed. First Vice-President Ian
MacFarquhar, VE9IM, will assume the duties of President until
December 31st, 2009.

The Board and Executive extend their thanks to Bob, Geoff, and Noel
for their past service to RAC and wish them all the very best in
their future endeavours.

-- RAC Bulletin Service

2. Canadian Experiments at 500 kHz authorized

After months of negotiations between RAC and Industry Canada over the
details of the licence applications and reporting conditions, the
first two licences granted to Canadians for experiments at 504-509
kHz in preparation for WRC-12 have been issued by Industry Canada.

Jack Leahy, VE1ZZ, has been assigned call sign VX9PSO in the
Developmental Service for his experimental transmissions. Joe Craig,
VO1NA, has been assigned call sign VX9MRC. Both of these stations
have been on the air already, with VX9PSO having been reported at
504.6 kHz and VX9MRC at 507.77 kHz. Signal reports can be addressed
to the operators at their call book addresses.

Two more authorizations, in Ontario and British Columbia, are
expected soon.

-- Richard Ferch, VE3KI, RAC VP Regulatory Affairs

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

3. 2009 OPN SET Results

On October 3rd and October 7th, Emergency Management Ontario ARES
requested that the Ontario Phone Net (OPN) be activated to provide HF
Communications Support for the Simulated Emergency Test exercise.

Here are the stats from the HF Portion of the SET.
132 Individual Stations checking in, which represented
57 Ontario Municipalities, which in turn represented
30 Local ARES Groups, which included
10 Municipal Emergency Operations Centres.
35 pieces of NTS Traffic were handled.

From our perspective given the normal poor band conditons I am
pleased with the Net's Performance during this exercise. My thanks to
all who participated.

-- Bob Sharp, VA3QV, OPN Net Manager

ITEMS OF INTEREST

4. Hit and Bounce Nets

The Hit and Bounce Net (HBN) and Hit and Bounce Slow Speed (HBSN)
nets have been in operation since 1938 and 1976 respectively. HBN
meets daily on 7042 kHz (Mon to Fri) and 7114 kHz on weekends at
8:30 am ET. HBSN is daily at 7:30 am on 3576 kHz. I recently became
the manager of HBSN and would like to garner additional support of
the net on this side of the border.

Currently we have seven stalwarts in the role of NCS, but would like
to encourage increased participation. Both nets have a role as
independent wide-area nets outside the traditional NTS format, as
their timeslots take advantage of early morning propagation to
provide coverage for traffic purposes.

Average speed on HBSN is between 10 and 13 WPM, and HBN is conducted
between 22 and 30 WPM. All traffic handlers will QRS to accomodate
anyone who requires a slower speed.

-- Glenn Killam, VE3GNA, Ontario Section Traffic Manager

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for November 14, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

ITEMS OF INTEREST

1. Newest Ham Satellite is SO-67

South Africa's SumbandilaSat, the most recent amateur satellite to be
successfully launched and activated, has been designated as
SumbandilaSat-OSCAR 67, or SO-67. Former AMSAT-NA President Bill
Tynan, W3XO, is the internationally-designated OSCAR Number
Coordinator and issues numbers to amateur satellites once they are
put into service, upon request by the sponsoring organization.

-- CQ News Service

2. Female Wireless Operators During WW II

Perhaps a little known fact is that over 2000 Canadian women served
during World War 2 on Norwegian ships and that at least 22 of these
were wireless operators. The following link takes you to a page
within the RAC website, where some of their stories and brief
biographies are chronicled. It bears checking out before the records
of these gallant women are lost forever. Visit tinyurl.com/ydmbawr
(Yankee Delta Mike Bravo Alpha Whiskey Romeo)

-- Glenn Killam, VE3GNA, Ontario Section Traffic Manager

3. Ireland to Canada on 500 kHz

Finbar O'Connor, EI0CF, in County Donegal, Ireland reports that he
has had a QSO with Joe Craig, VX9MRC. Craig was on 507.77 kHz while
O'Connor was on 507.056 kHz. Signal reports were 559 for EI0CF,
and 529 for VX9MRC. The mode was CW, using straight Morse keys.
This is the first Ireland to Canada contact on the 500 kHz band.

-- Amateur Radio Newsline

4. Simple Sound Card Interface

Skip KH6TY has published a simple design for interfacing sound cards
and radios. PTT is derived from the output audio, and therefore does
not need a USB port or a serial port for operation. The design is at
tinyurl.com/ydoxnvo (Yankee Delta Oscar Xray November Victor Oscar)

-- ARRL Contest Update

5. Battery Tool Kit

The Battery Tool Kit Web page by John AE5X includes projects such as
a Battery Booster, a Battery Voltage Monitor for 6 V & 12 V, Battery
Chargers based on the QRPme.com PTO kit, and a Self-Powered 12V
Battery Desulfator. Visit it at www.w5usj.com/batterytoolkit.html [50]

-- ARRL Contest Update

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for November 21, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

1. Beware Phony RAC E-mails

Several users of the rac.ca e-mail alias system have received e-mails
purporting to be from RAC, claiming that maintenance was to be
performed on the e-mail system, and that certain information was
to be sent by reply to the e-mail message.

This message was NOT originated by anyone at RAC. RAC does not ask
for such information as usernames and passwords in an e-mail. It can
safely be ignored. E-mails relating to the rac.ca e-mail alias
system would come from alias-help (at) aliases.rac.ca, vptas (at)
rac.ca, or other identifiable RAC e-mail address.

-- RAC Bulletin Service

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

2. Laurentian Net Sunday Time Change

Effective November 1st, the Sunday evening Laurentian Net begins at
6:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The Ontario Swap Shop follows at
7:00 p.m. This earlier time will continue until band conditions
improve. This change does not affect the rest of the week. For
Monday through Saturday the Laurentian net will start at its usual
time of 6:45 p.m.

-- Shawn Gartley, VE3PSV, Net Manager

ITEMS OF INTEREST

3. WRTC Teams Announced

44 teams, representing six continents, have been selected for the
2010 World Radiosport Team Championships. The contest will take
place about 35 kilometres south of Moscow, during the IARU HF World
Championships, July 10-11, 2010. It will be held outdoors, "Field
Day-style," with competitors located in clusters in a total area
encompassing about 40×30 kilometers.

Eastern Canada will be represented by Yuri Onipko, VE3DZ, and Yury
Romanov, VE3XB, and Western Canada by Lee Sawkins, VE7CC, and Dale
Green, VE7SV.

-- ARRL Web

4. Happy Birthday AO-7

Amateur satellite AMSAT-OSCAR 7 was launched on November 15, 1974,
and is still operational after 35 years. If you have a receiver with
CW/SSB capability on 2 metres, during a pass you can hear AO-7
activity between 145.940 and 145.960 MHz. For information visit
www.planetemily.com/ao7 [53]

-- AMSAT News Service

5. Xlog for the Visually Impaired

Damian, SP9QLO, reports that Xlog is a ham-radio logging program
which is accessible to visually-impaired hams. It is free, controls
many modern transceivers, and can be configured to work with Logbook
of the World. Xlog runs on Linux, and particularly Vinux, which has
been customized for visually-impaired users. For Xlog information
visit www.nongnu.org/xlog [54], and for Vinux information visit
www.vinux.org.uk [55].

-- Handi-Ham News

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for December 5, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

1. RAC Canada Winter Contest

In December each year, Radio Amateurs of Canada sponsors the Canada
Winter Contest. Amateurs all over the world are invited to
participate. This year's contest runs from 0000 UTC to 2359 UTC on
Saturday, December 19, CW and phone, on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6,
and 2 metres. Canadian stations send RST and province or territory.
VE0's and stations outside Canada send RST and a serial number.
Complete rules and information are available in PDF format at
tinyurl.com/ykaa7xz (Yankee Kilo Alpha Alpha Seven Xray Zulu)

-- RAC web page

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

2. New Ontario Public Service Reflector

The Province of Ontario now has a new dedicated IRLP Reflector in
operation thanks to the efforts of Russ Hemphill VE3FI and fine
technical support from Klaus Rung VE3KR and other interested persons.

This Ontario Public Service Reflector is Node 9030 with 10 channel
and very wide bandwidth capabilities The system is located in
Haliburton County and at this time is fully operational in the
primary testing stage. When completed with channel assignments the
Reflector will offer and provide a dedicated network in Ontario for
Emergency Communications for ARES and CANWARN and linking Counties
and Districts for Mutual Aid purposes.

For details visit www.ontarioreflector.ca [58]

-- Bob Gammon, VA3RX, Ontario SEC

ITEMS OF INTEREST

3. Are You Interested in Handling Traffic?

"Radiograms" -- written messages sent by amateur radio -- are still
an important part of amateur radio public service and emergency
response. If you're interested in learning to handle message
traffic, on either SSB or CW, the ARRL has made a guide available in
PDF format, at tinyurl.com/yg4b95k (Yankee Golf Four Bravo Nine Five
Kilo).

For practice, listen or check in to the Ontario Phone Net, daily on
3.742 MHz, at 16:00 Eastern Time.

-- via Peter West, RAC Blog; and Ontario Phone Net Blog

4. Antartica Active on HF and HamSats

Bill, K7MT, is going to work at the McMurdo base (AN-011) between
Nov 15 and Feb 20, 2010. He will sign KC4USV mostly on 20m during
Sundays. Listen for him in SSB on 14243 kHz, in CW on 14043 kHz or
in PSK-31 on 14070 kHz. He plans to bring his Arrow II antenna and a
Kenwood TH-7 which he can use on amateur radio satellites. QSL via
K1IED. Visit Bill's web page at www.mt.net/~k7mt [59]

-- AMSAT News

5. Rig Reference

www.rigreference.com [60] provides information about amateur radio
equipment and allows and encourages members to share their opinions
about these rigs. You can find specifications for many old and new
rigs, and reviews and ratings for some popular rigs.

-- Brad Rodriguez, VE3RHJ, Official Bulletin Manager

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for December 12, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

ITEMS OF INTEREST

1. Linux Journal launches virtual ham shack

As part of their amateur radio feature edition, Linux Journal has
launched a "virtual ham shack." In addition to an online forum,
there are links to ham-radio software and articles. Visit it at
www.linuxjournal.com/ham [63]

-- RSGB News

2. Straight Key Night on OSCAR

AMSAT is inviting hams worldwide to participate in Straight Key Night
on OSCAR 2010. Taking part fun and easy. Just operate CW through any
OSCAR satellite between 0000 and 2400 UTC on January 1st 2010, using
a straight hand key. There are no other rules, no scoring and no need
to send in a log.

All participants are encouraged to nominate someone they worked for
"Best Fist." Please send your nomination to w2rs (at) amsat.org.

-- Amateur Radio Newsline

3. Elmer Shack

Elmer Shack is a web site where you can ask and answer questions
about ham radio. Like some other web sites, it relies on users to
answer questions that are posted. Got a question? Or an answer?
Visit ask.elmershack.com.

-- via Ham Radio Daily

4. CC Cluster Software

If you're being overwhelmed by the spots from your DX Cluster
software, give VE7CC's CC Cluster a try. The program has excellent
filtering capabilities and displays extra data with the spots.
Download it at www.bcdxc.org/ve7cc/ccc/cluster.htm [64]

-- ARRL Contest Update

5. Adjusting Your Transmit Audio

Do you have clean transmit audio? Does your voice keyer sound like
your actual voice? Eric, K3NA has published "Can You Hear Me Now -
Adjusting the Transmit Audio Chain" on the Contesting Compendium, at
tinyurl.com/ykn6pg7 (Yankee Kilo November Six Papa Golf Seven). The
article walks you through the process of doing this right, offering
tips on how to make your live and recorded audio sound both good and
the same.

-- ARRL Contest Update