Emitter

October 2003

Published by the Northern Alberta Radio Club PO Box 163, Station Main Edmonton, Alberta

Canada, T5J 2J1. Tel: (780) 467-1333

The NARC VE6HM site progressing well

RAC Alberta, NWT & NU Director Earle Smith, VE6NM e-mail to <ve6nm@rac.ca>

RAC Assistant Director (Edmonton Area) Earl Grotzki, VE6ERL e-mail to ve6erl@rac.ca

RAC Section Manager Alan Faint, VE6QQ e-mail to ve6qq@rac.ca

RAC District Emergency Coordinator James Ewen VE6SRV

RAC Emergency Coordinator (Edmonton & Area ARES Group) Position Vacant

NORTHERN ALBERTA RADIO CLUB

Canada Post Information - Canada Post Agreement #40036426 - Canada Post Customer #04062140

President: David Evans VE6DXX 922-0880 Vice President Don Smith VE6DKS 464-0212 Secretary Marlane Mann VE6CZM 461-5560 Treasurer Bruce Aubert VE6SA 437-1603 Past President Michael Brooke VE6XUK 430-6919 Public Service Director Paul Duczynski VE6PDD 455-2763 Public Relations Director Bill Douglas VE6WDE 455-9816 Programs Director Vacant Operations Director Ken Mann VE6CZL 461-5560 Activities Director Gern Sabourin VA6HGS 467-8679 Director at Large Les Worrall VE6LHW 462-5756 Director at Large Vacant

Mailing Address The Northern Alberta Radio Club P.O. Box 163 Edmonton, Alberta T5J 2J1 Phone: 780-467-1333 Home Page: NARC URL: http://narc.net E-Mail the executive at this address: narc2001@narc.net Emitter Editor: Rosemary Evans, G0NDB/VE6 Assistant Editor: David Evans, VE6DXX Fax Emitter articles to: (780) 922-0881 or Email to: dairyrose@attcanada.net Assembly & Distribution Paul Duczynski VE6PDD 455-2763 Dave Loken VE6DJL 472-8948 Malcolm Jameson VE6MKJ 454-4267 Advertising Rates Full Page - $120.00/yr $18.00/issue Half Page - $60.00/yr $9.00/issue Business Card (1/3 Page) $40.00/yr $6.00/issue Classified Ads - $1.00 for three lines NARC Member Classified Ads - Free for personal and amateur radio related purposes only. ATV

Les Abbott VE6OG 455-7659

RDF Crew Barry VA6DX, Don VE6DKS and James VE6SRV

Packet Sysops Bob Septou VE6AIA 437-2504 (VE6KM) Dave Yaeck VE6DJY 477-2025 (VE6MC)

Membership Chairman Lorraine Sabourin VE6MSL 467-8679

Repeater Custodian Loran Liebert VE6LRN 476-3189

Emergency Coordinator (Acting) David Evans VE6DXX 922 0880

Training (Acting) Michael Brooke VE6XUK 430-6919 Historian Earl Grotzki VE6ERL 481-3643 Net Control (Tuesdays @ 19:30 on 147.060 MHz) Bill Douglas VE6WDE 455-9816 New Hams Net (Thursdays at 19:30 on 147.060 MHz) Gern Sabourin VA6HGS 467 8679

Swap & Shop Bruce Aubert VE6SA 437-1603 NARC Site Security Officer Angus Findlay VA6AJF 922-5059

Chief Examiner Michael Eliuk VE6MY 962-0008

Tower Climber’s Group Paul Duczynski VE6PDD 455-2763

Web Master Brian Crisall VE6BCA 489-0189

Front Cover

A lot of work has been done at the NARC VE6HM site during the summer

Board of Directors NARC & Emitter Information

NARC. Activities

National Activities

N A R C N O T I C E B O A R D

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Contact the Emitter Editor on dairyrose@attcanada.net

October Club meeting - at The Continental Inn, 16625 Stony Plain Road, Edmonton on Wednesday the 15th of Oc-tober at 7.30 PM. A Presentation on changes made to the NARC VE6HM site during 2003. NARC Web site - Thanks to Brian VE6BCA who has taken over as the Club’s Webmaster and Ray VE6RHS who is now hosting the site, the NARC Website has a very new look - check it out on http://www.narc.net Jamboree on the Air - The Club will be helping out with a Scout Group in Devon on the 18th & 19th of October. Give Paul, VE6PDD a call if you want to help out. NEW HAMS NET - VE6HM (VHF) - Thursdays at 7:30 PM - if you have held your licence for less than 2 years. VA6HGS is the net control. NARC is looking for a new site for the VE6JN repeater, preferably on the West or North West side of the city. If any member has an idea for a potential location for this repeater, would they please contact Ken VE6CZL at 461 5560. Introductory Amateur Radio Course - Michael Brooke at mhbrooke@shaw.ca. The next course will start on Thursday September 18th. Classes will be from 7 to 9 at Avalon Junior High School. The cost will be $50.00 refundable when you pass the exam.

NARC Repeaters - The 2m and 70cm repeaters remain op-erational during renovations at the NARC site. The other re-peaters are not currently operational.

Much has happened Club-wise, even in the last few weeks. We have to thank Mitch VE6JTM for arranging the replacement trailer at the NARC VE6HM site. After the trailer arrived safely on site, Bruce VE6SA took over the project. The replacement trailer has now been modified internally and has been redecorated and has new flooring. There are now two areas in the trailer; the main room and the equipment room with associ-ated battery hut. The equipment room is largely the domain of the technical experts and will have limited access for security and safety. The main room will house five or more permanent stations. These will normally feature different as-pects of amateur radio, but during a major emergency or disaster situation will be quickly adaptable to an emergency communications centre to work in tandem with vari-ous Agencies around the Edmon-ton area. We will also be able to utilize the trailer for smaller meet-ings and training sessions, thus considerably reducing room hire costs. The trailer needed steps, a deck and skirting. Bruce tackled all of these tasks with enthusiasm and when this work is completed, the end result will have been largely the result of Bruce’s efforts - thank

you. We also have to thank others who have done much work on the new trailer. These include Ken VE6CZM, Dave VE6DJY, Loran VE6LRN (helped by Paul VE6PDD), James VE6SRV and others. Of course, there have been no shortage of supervisors and advisors! Changing tack completely, the Club has made radical changes to its web site in the last few weeks. All of this work has been made possible because Ray VE6RHS offered to host the Club’s web site at short notice, when a move be-came inevitable. Brian VE6BCA also stepped in to take over as the Club’s Webmaster and has done just a fantastic job of giving the web site a brand new look. Anyone who has not looked at the Club’s web site recently should have a look now. The Club’s reflectors and the @narc.net e-mail should have been reactivated by the time you receive this edition of the Emitter. We also have to thank Gern VA6HGS and Lorraine VE6MSL for organizing the Club’s Fall BBQ and for arranging such good weather! This seems to be a month for thanking lots of people for their hard work, but then this just em-phasizes the fact that without this quality voluntary effort the Club would not be moving forward at such a pace. Thank you all.

The President’s Page

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73 de David VE6DXX

NARC.NET Has been re-launched on a new web-server

http://www.narc.net

Main

NARC Notice Board

All about the NARC (Club)

On the Air

What is Amateur Radio

NARC Reflectors & Message Board

NARC Emergency Preparedness

Links to Members home pages

Links to Amateur Radio Related sites

3

Webmaster Brian VE6BCA Hosting by Ray VE6RHS

New Products

Kenwood will shortly be launching a new HF and 6m mo-bile/base/Dx-pedition in Japan this October. The rig will be available in two versions. One with 100 W output and a HF/6m ATU and the other with 200 W output and no ATU. The radio is compact in size and has a detachable front panel. Kenwood claims that its quad mixer will offer a TS950 dynamic range, while Af DSP will provide a range of selectivity and filter feature.

Yaesu has just launched their new VX-2R, which they claim is the smallest dual-band hand held with wide band receive. The VX-2R has 1.5 Watts output on the 2m band and 1 Watt output at UHF or 2 and 3 Watts output from a 6 Volt DC supply. The radio covers the medium and short wave bands band the VHF/UHF TV and the air-band on receive. The built in batters is Lithium-Ion.

4

OK - What is this ?

Answers on a postcard !

5

The replacement NARC Trailer

Paul VE6PDD & Loren VE6LRN re-installing the VE6HM repeaters

Antenna cables running into the new equipment room 6

What’s been happening ?

Steps, deck and skirting in position

Security panel, Internet & Cat 5 cables, temperature control panel

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8

During August & September

Five operational stations in position, not yet fully equipped

9

IARU President & Vice Presi-dent Nominations -

The IARU International Secretariat presented nominations of candi-dates for President and Vice Presi-dent for the 2004-2009 term, and the nominations were unanimously endorsed by the Council. Larry E. Price, W4RA, was nominated for a second term as President. Timothy S. Ellam, VE6SH/G4HUA, was nominated as Vice President. The nominations will be submitted to the IARU member-societies for ratifica-tion.

Morse Requirement Remains in Canada Pending Review of WRC Decisions - In the wake of the decisions re-garding Morse qualifications made at WRC-2003, Industry Canada's Amateur Radio Service Centre and RAC have received numerous que-ries about the status of Morse ex-aminations in Canada and the qualifications required for HF opera-tion. Canadian radio amateurs are advised that Basic and Morse Qualifications are still required for operation below 30 MHz and that this requirement will remain pend-ing a review by Industry Canada of the impact of the WRC-2003 regu-latory changes on the Canadian radio regulations, policies and pro-cedures. While the new international regula-

tions, which dropped Morse from the Treaty requirements and left a Morse qualification to the discretion of administrations, became effective 5 July, 2003, each administration (country) still must individually de-cide whether it will retain a Morse qualification requirement. Canada must now decide what it will do. RAC will be working with Industry Canada on the review of the impact of the new international regulations and will keep Canadian amateurs informed through Bulletins, the RAC web site and The Canadian Ama-teur. Amateurs should send their comments and views on Morse retention or deletion to their RAC regional Director. A Canadian 60 metre band?

RAC has been receiving a lot of e-mail lately from amateurs who have heard about the FCC decision al-lowing some US amateurs limited access to certain assigned frequen-cies just above 5 MHz. The 5 MHz allocation is a US domestic assign-ment only, and Canadian amateurs are not entitled to use the US fre-quencies. To do so would be oper-ating without authority and could cause interference to Canadian Fixed and Mobile services. Ama-teurs in this country want to know about the prospects of a similar decision here in Canada, and what RAC might be doing to encourage such a decision.

N e w s

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11

1 Wed Local gathering - Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St. at 9:30PM VE6PDD

2 Thu 3 Fri German Telegraphy Contest - CW - 0700Z to 1000Z

4 Sat Informal gatherings - (1) Edmonton Flying Club at 9AM, (2) VE6HM Site from 9AM - call VE6HM (2m) first. The PSK31 Rumble - PSK - 0000Z to 2400Z UCWC Contest - CW - 0000Z to 0800Z International HELL-Contest (1) - 1400Z to 1600Z EU Sprint Autumn - SSB - 1500Z to 1859Z Oceania DX Contest - Phone - 0800Z to 0800Z on 5 Sept. F9AA Cup Contest - CW/SSB - 1200Z to 1200Z on 5 Sept. California QSO Party (CQP) - CW/Phone - 1600Z to 2200Z on 5 Sept. QCWA QSO Party - CW/Phone - 1800Z to 1800Z on 5 Sept.

5 Sun Local gathering - Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St. at noon ON Contest - SSB - 0600Z to 1000Z RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest - SSB - 0700Z to 1900Z International HELL-Contest (2) - 0900Z to 1100Z

VE6PDD

6 Mon

8 Wed Local gathering - Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St. at 9:30PM YL Anniversary Party (YL-AP) - CW - 1400Z to 0200Z on 10 Sept.

VE6PDD

9 Thu International HELL-Contest (3) - 1800Z to 2000Z

10 Fri 10-10 International Day Sprint - All - 0001Z to 2400Z

11 Sat Informal gatherings - (1) Edmonton Flying Club at 9AM, (2) VE6HM Site from 9AM - call VE6HM (2m) first. EU Sprint Autumn - CW 1500Z to 1859Z FISTS Fall Sprint - CW - 1700Z to 2100Z Oceania DX Contest - CW - 0800Z - 0800Z on 12 Sept. Pennsylvania QSO Party (1) - CW/SSB - 1600Z to 0500Z on 12 Sept.

12 Sun Local gathering - Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St. at noon North American Sprint Contest - RTTY - 0000Z to 0400Z ON Contest - CW - 0600Z to 1000Z Pennsylvania QSO Party (2) - CW/SSB - 1300Z to 2200Z SSA Mǻnadstest nr 10 - SSB - 1400Z to 1500Z SSA Mǻnadstest nr 10 - CW - 1515Z to 1615Z

VE6PDD

13 Mon 14 Tue NARC Net on VE6HM (2m) at 7:30 PM VE6WDE

15 Wed Local gathering - Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St. at 9:30PM NARC GENERAL MEETING + YL Anniversary Party (YL-AP) - SSB - 1400Z to 0200Z on 17 Sept.

VE6PDD

7 Tue NARC Net on VE6HM (2m) at 7:30 PM VE6WDE

October 2003 Calendar

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16 Thu

17 Fri

18 Sat Informal gatherings - (1) Edmonton Flying Club at 9AM, (2) VE6HM Site from 9AM - call VE6HM (2m) first. JAMBOREE ON THE AIR - 18 & 19 - NARC involved JARTS WW RTTY Contest - 0000Z to 2400Z on 19 Sept. QRP ARCI Fall QSO Party - CW - 1200Z to 2400Z on 19 Sept. Worked All Germany Contest - CW/SSB - 1500Z to 1459Z on 19 Sept.

VE6PDD

19 Sun Local gathering - Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St. at noon Illinois QSO Party - CW/SSB - 1800Z to 0200Z on 20 Sept. Texas Armadillo Chase - CW - 2100Z to 0100Z on 20 Sept. Asia-Pacific Sprint Contest - CW - 0000Z to 0200Z RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest - CW - 0700 to 1900Z

VE6PDD

20 Mon

21 Tue NARC Net on VE6HM (2m) at 7:30 PM VE6WDE

23 Thu

24 Fri

25 Sat Informal gatherings - (1) Edmonton Flying Club at 9AM, (2) VE6HM Site from 9AM - call VE6HM (2m) first. CQ WW DX Contest - SSB - 0000Z to 2400Z on 26 Sept. CW WW SWL Challenge - SSB - 0000Z to 2359Z on 26 Sept. 10-10 Intern. Fall QSO Party - CW/DIGI - 0001Z to 2400Z on 26 Sept.

26 Sun Local gathering - Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St. at noon VE6PDD

27 Mon

28 Tue NARC Net on VE6HM (2m) at 7:30 PM VE6WDE

29 Wed Local gathering - Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St. at 9:30PM VE6PDD

30 Thu

22 Wed Local gathering - Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St. at 9:30PM VE6PDD

31 Fri

October 2003 Calendar

1 Sat Informal gatherings – (1) Edmonton Flying Club at 9AM, (2) VE6HM Site from 9AM – call on VE6HM (2m) first. CALGARY FLEA MARKET Eastside Church - 10AM - 2PM IPA Radio Club Contest (1) - CW - 0600Z to 1000Z IPA Radio Club Contest (2) - CW - 1400Z to 1800Z Ukrainian DX Contest - CW/SSB/RTTY - 1200Z to 1200Z on 2 November ARRL Sweepstakes - CW - 2100Z to 0300Z on 3 November NA Collegiate ARC Championship - CW - 2100Z to 0300Z on 3 November

2 Sun Local gathering – Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St at noon IPA Radio Club Contest (3) - SSB - 0600Z to 1000Z High Speed Club CW Contest (1) - 0900Z to 1100Z DARC 10m Digital Contest “Corona” - DIGI - 100Z to 1700Z IPA Radio Club Contest (4) - SSB - 1400Z to 1800Z High Speed Club CW Contest (2) - 1500Z to 1700Z

VE6PDD

3 Mon

4 Tue NARC Net on VE6HM (2m) at 7.30 PM VE6WDE

5 Wed Local gathering – Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St 9:30PM VE6PDD

6 Thu

7 Fri

8 Sat Informal gatherings – (1) Edmonton Flying Club at 9AM, (2) VE6HM Site from 9AM – call on VE6HM (2m) first. SL Contest - CW - 1100Z to 1200Z SL Contest - SSB - 1230Z to 1330Z Worked All Europe DX-Contest - RTTY - 0000Z to 2359Z on 9 November Japan International DX Contest - Phone - 0700Z to 1300Z on 9 November OK/OM DX Contest - CW - 1200Z to 1200Z on 9 November

9 Sun Local gathering – Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St at noon Anatolian ATA PSK31 Contest - PSK31 - 0900Z to 1500Z

VE6PDD

10 Mon

11 Tue NARC Net on VE6HM (2m) at 7.30 PM VE6WDE

12 Wed Local gathering – Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St 9:30PM VE6PDD

13 Thu

14 Fri

15 Sat Informal gatherings – (1) Edmonton Flying Club at 9AM, (2) VE6HM Site from 9AM – call on VE6HM (2m) first. EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party (1) - 1500Z to 1700Z EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party (2) - 1800Z to 2000Z All Austrian DX Contest 160m - CW - 1600Z to 0700Z on 16 November cont…..

November 2003 Calendar

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16 Sun Local gathering – Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St at noon EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party (3) - 0700Z to 0900Z EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party (4) - 1000Z to 1200Z SSA Mǻnadstest nr 11 - CW - 1400Z to 1500Z SSA Mǻnadstest nr 11 - SSB - 1515Z to 1615Z

VE6PDD

17 Mon

18 Tue NARC Net on VE6HM (2m) at 7.30 PM

VE6WDE

19 Wed Local gathering – Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St 9:30PM

VE6PDD

20 Thu

21 Fri YO International PSK31 Contest - 1600Z to 2200Z

22 Sat Informal gatherings – (1) Edmonton Flying Club at 9AM, (2) VE6HM Site from 9AM – call on VE6HM (2m) first. LI/NJ-QRP Doghouse Operation Sprint - CW - 1700Z to 2100Z LZ DX Contest - CW/SSB - 1200Z to 1200Z on 23 Novem-ber

23 Sun Local gathering – Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St at noon

VE6PDD

24 Mon

25 Tue NARC Net on VE6HM (2m) at 7.30 PM

VE6WDE

26 Wed Local gathering – Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St 9:30PM

VE6PDD

27 Thu

28 Fri

15 Sat Carnavales de Tenerife - SSB - 1600Z to 1600Z on No-vember 16 RSGB 1.8MHz Contest - CW - 2100Z to 0100Z on 16 No-vember ARRL Sweepstakes - SSB - 2100Z to 0300Z on 17 No-vember NA Collegiate ARC Championship - SSB 2100Z to 0300Z on 17 November

29 Sat CQ WW DX Contest - CW - 0000Z to 2400Z on 30 Novem-ber CQ WW SWL Challenge - CW - 0000Z to 2359Z on 30 November

30 Sun Local gathering – Boston Pizza, 12711 97 St at noon VE6PDD

November 2003 Calendar

14

Date: September 15, 2003 Location:NARC TRAILER Board Members Present: David Evans VE6DXX, Ken Mann VE6CZL, Bruce Aubert VE6SA, Gern Sabourin VA6HGS, Paul Duczynski VE6PDD, Marlane Mann VE6CZM; Les Worrall VE6LHW, Michael Brooke VE6XUK and Don Smith VE6DKS, Apologies were received from Bill Douglas VE6WDE. Guests present: Kathy Nicholl VE6HI and Loran Liebert VE6LRN, the Club’s Repeater custodian.

Call to Order: David VE6DXX called the meeting to order at 19:30, saying that this was a historic meeting for the club, the first ever Board meeting to be held at the NARC VE6HM location. The minutes of the August meeting were accepted as presented with minor corrections. The President noted that Mitch VE6JTM had resigned from the Board and all other positions within the Club on September 12, 2003. The President would write a letter to Mitch VE6JTM accepting his resignation with regrets and expressing the hope that he would continue his work for the club in the future. Previous Business:

Filing of Bylaws – Bruce VE6SA is still working on them, and would attempt to complete by the next Board meeting in October 2003.

Pigeon Lake – Loran VE6LRN is to con-tact Don Weymouth at Pigeon Lake and find out if they want to pursue NARC taking over the site assets.

VE6JN location - still looking for a new location.

Review of Grant Projects: NARC SITE Bruce VE6SA (the project coordinator) advised the Board on the status of the project to date. The President thanked Bruce for his work to date on the project and the rate at which the replacement trailer project had proceeded. It was agreed that Ken VE6CZL and Les VE6LHW will form a Presidential working group to determine what equipment is needed in the trailer. It was noted that in the event of an of a major emergency or disaster situation that three stations would be required to operate on VHF frequencies within the local NARC/ARES plan.

CITY EOC - Les VE6LHW noted that the site is operational. Bruce suggested NARC needs to establish a link between NARC, ARES, and PRN.

NARC PAC II - Don VE6DKS said that few renovations were done this summer, but that work would now commence to make the trailer more user friendly.

WIND GENERATOR - deferred to next year as planned. TRAINING - Michael VE6XUK noted that the new session starting sessions would commence on September 25, 2003. Michael VE6XUK also put forward a list of brochures that could be published, which was agreed by the Board.

ATV Project - David VE6DXX noted progress saying that it was intended to put up a TV beacon as soon as possible and part of Phase 1, once re-access to the NARC trailer was possible. Arrange-ments for expenditure on this project were discussed following a note from Barry VE6SBS.

Emergency Preparedness - It was agreed that David VE6DXX would take over the role of Emergency Coordinator pro tem. The ARES Steering group to meet in October. The OCIPEP October 3 - 2230 to October 5 exercise was noted.

NARC - Minutes of the September 2003 Executive

Meeting

15

Financial Report - CASINO The AGLC had sent a letter about who qualifies to do Casino’s. A training session needs to be organized. Bruce will give this letter to Al Roth for follow up. Bruce presented our present financial situation.

September General Meeting. A technical presentation would be made.

NARC activities. There will be an Open House and BBQ at the NARC site on September 22.

Bill VE6WDE gave notice that he would like to see a new Tuesday Net controller start in 2004. October 18, 2003 Boy Scouts Jamboree. OTHER BUSINESS - The board agreed to make a $150 donation to the Radio Amateurs of Canada, with its next re-newal. Paul VE6PDD noted that Canada Post bulk mail costs are going up Janu-ary 2004. A number of options were dis-cussed and it was agreed that the bulk mailing system would be continued even though the minimum number for Canada Post would not always be met. It was agreed that the President would prepare a membership questionnaire for the next Board meeting, with a view to publication in the November issue of the Emitter. It was noted that Mitch VE6JTM would be withdrawing his hosting of the Club’s web site and other web based facilities at the end of September. Alternative web hosting would be explored by David, VE6DXX, while Don VE6DKS would seek a new Webmaster for the NARC site.

VE6HM Site Security Officer – The club needs someone responsible for keys, security system, etc. David VE6DXX will make an approach to a person the Board thought would make a first calls job of this task.

The Meeting adjourned at 19:47. The next meeting of the Board would be on October 14, 2003.

Date: September 17, 2003 Location: Continental Inn, 16625 - Stony Plain Road, Edmonton Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Don Smith VE6DKS, Vice Presi-dent, at 19:30. There were no new members or guests present. Announcements:

BBQ: Sunday, 21 September, 2003 starting at 11:30 AM at the NARC site. New Ham Net: held every Thursday evening. Gern Sabourin VA6HGS is taking the Thursday Net on the road in October and linking with Calgary. This is an opportunity for new Ham’s to get on the air province-wide at little cost. Bob VA6GRZ does the Swap and Shop on the Thursday Net. Treasurer’s Report: Bruce VE6SA presented the financial report. Gwen Simpson, from the Edmonton Community Network, spoke to the meet-ing. This is a volunteer group to lower barriers to the internet. They are holding an electronic swap meet October 18, 2003. She inquired whether the Club would like to rent a table for $70.00. This event is in conjunction with the Jasper Place Lions club. Check it out on the web www.ecn.ab.ca A technical presentation was shown as the main feature of the meeting, again using the Club’s new audio visual equip-ment The meeting was closed at 20:45

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NARC - Minutes of the September 2003 General

Meeting

With kind acknowledgements to G6MEN

Popular Nets • Amateur Radio Emer-

gency Service Net - 20:00 hrs. each Sunday on 145.695 MHz (simplex)

• Informal Sunday SSB Net

- 20:30 hrs. on 144.22 MHz

• SARA Linking Net on

VE6NHB - 19:00 hrs. on Mondays

• The 10/10 Net - 21:00 hrs.

on 28.52 MHz on Sun-days

• HF Alberta Public Service

Net - 01:30 UTC on 3.740 MHz every day

• HF CW Traffic Net - 01:00

UTC on 3.685 MHz every day

• NARC Net on VE6HM

(VHF) - 19:30 hrs. each Tuesday

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18

International Amateur Radio News

RED CROSS UNIT COMPLIMENTS AMATEUR RADIO ASSISTANCE DURING ISABEL Downgraded to a tropical storm by week's end, Isabel vented much of her fury on North Carolina and Virginia after coming ashore on North Carolina's Outer Banks the afternoon of September 18. The flood-ing it spawned in the Washington, DC, area also meant a two-day holiday for federal workers. Amateur Radio assistance in the Hurri-cane Isabel relief and recovery stage has continued this week in the Southeast. Ham radio's role has drawn compliments from the American Red Cross of Central Maryland, which praised the amateurs' dedication. "I want to thank the Amateur Radio Emer-gency Service (ARES) and the amateur radio community for coming out and sup-porting the American Red Cross over the critical 72 hours when Hurricane Isabel passed over Maryland," said Frank M. Eilbacher, KC0EKL, a Red Cross disaster communications lead. "We recognize you took time away from your families and, for some of you, your own personal disasters to support us." During the storm's peak on September 18, Eilbacher said, electrical power and tele-communication problems abounded, but ham radio operators "filled the gap provid-ing a crucial communication link between Red Cross chapters and shelter locations." Amateurs in the storm-struck region staffed state and county emergency oper-ating centers and shelters, as well as the Maryland/Delaware American Red Cross Hurricane Watch Center. The Salvation Army also has responded to affected areas including North Carolina,

where Hurricane Isabel came ashore Sep-tember 18. Salvation Army Team Emer-gency Radio Network (SATERN) volunteer Carlos Varon, K2LCV, from Flushing, New York, this week accompanied two Salva-tion Army canteen units from New York City to Morehead City, encountering heavy rain and wind on the way. ARRL PRESIDENT HAYNIE AD-DRESSES SEPTEMBER 11 ANNI-VERSARY NET On the second anniversary of the Septem-ber 11, 2001, terror attacks, ARRL Presi-dent Jim Haynie, W5JBP, joined Amateur Radio operators across the US and around the world in pausing to remember those who died that day. Haynie was among the more than 1400 amateurs checking into the 911 Commemorative Net organized by Len Signoretti, N2LEN. The net linked repeaters across the country--many via the Internet--and included opportunities to check in via EchoLink, IRLP and eQSO nodes. In his remarks, Haynie addressed Amateur Ra-dio's obligations in the aftermath of the terror attacks two years ago. "One of the reasons we have a license and the privileges we have here in the United States is to provide a voluntary, noncommercial communication service particularly with respect to providing emer-gency communications," Haynie said. "Since 9/11, our government at the fed-eral, state and local levels have a new respect for the ability of Amateur Radio operators to do just that: Provide commu-nications when all others have failed." Citing the late President John F. Ken-nedy's call, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," Haynie said hams can do a lot for their country. "We can be vigilant,

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we can be trained and we can be ready!" he declared. "This is a task that we can do, and you can do it well." Haynie expressed his appreciation for those who volunteered in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks and for those amateurs who continue to assist in disasters and emergencies. HAM RADIO KEPT BERMUDA CONNECTED WHEN ALL ELSE FAILED Amateur Radio became a primary means of contact between Bermuda and the rest of the world as Hurricane Fabian swept across the island September 5, claiming at least four lives and causing extensive property damage in some areas. Authori-ties in Bermuda this week were assessing its extent. A dangerous category 3 storm, Fabian took out power to some 25,000 homes--about two-thirds of the island--as well as all radio and TV stations. Addition-ally, generator problems took the govern-ment's emergency FM station off the air for a time. Tony Siese, VP9HK, reports the police operations center was evacuated after the 120-MPH winds took off part of its roof. Siese said the only contact with the out-side world for a couple of hours was via hams like himself relaying information on 2 meters to HF operators and getting weather reports from the National Hurri-cane Center via the Hurricane Watch Net on 20 meters. He said that when the gov-ernment emergency station returned to the air, amateurs provided it with updated National Hurricane Center reports from the HWN. HAWAII SCHOOL CONTACT MARKS 115TH ARISS QSO Students from second grade through high school at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii, quizzed NASA International Space Station Science Officer Ed Lu, KC5WKJ, on September 15 about how he's faring aboard the ISS. The early morning contact between NA1SS on the ISS and WH6PN in Honolulu marked the 115th Amateur

Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school group contact. Lu told the students that living in space makes him appreciate life on Earth. Lu and Expedition 7 crew commander Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP, will return to Earth in October after having been aboard the ISS since April. Malenchenko and Lu became the first primary ISS crew to travel to the ISS via a Russian Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft instead of arriving on a US space shuttle. With NASA's shuttle fleet still grounded, the crew will return on a Soyuz vehicle as well. MORSE PETITIONS' COMMENT DEADLINE LOOMS The period for public comments on seven separate Morse code-related petitions for rule making--some of which would alto-gether eliminate Element 1, the 5 WPM Morse test, from the Amateur Service rules (Part 97)--ends Monday, September 29. US amateurs may comment on the petitions--RM-10781 through RM-10787--using the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). As of week's end, the seven petitions had attracted more than 1800 comments from the amateur community. The FCC has yet to invite comments on two other Morse-related rule making petitions. The peti-tions, both filed in August, have not yet been put on public notice by the FCC. Ireland (EI) and Singapore (9V) have be-come the latest countries to remove the requirement for Amateur Radio applicants to pass a Morse code examination for HF access. Ireland's Commission for Commu-nications Regulation (ComReg) an-nounced September 15 that it took the action in line with the outcome of World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03), which removed the require-ment for prospective amateur licensees to prove Morse proficiency to operate below 30 MHz. All Class B licensees now have "Full License" privileges and may operate on HF. Singapore's iDA informed the Singapore Amateur Radio Transmitting Society ear-lier this month that it would no longer re-

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quire a Morse test for General class appli-cants, although the test reportedly will continue to be available to those wishing to take it. Restricted licensees will be given an option of upgrading to General class. In addition, Switzerland, Belgium, the UK, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Aus-tria, New Zealand and Australia have moved to drop their Morse requirements or are expected to do so this year. DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS CON-FERENCE 2003 A HIT Despite Southern New England's brush with Hurricane Isabel a day earlier, more than 100 Amateur Radio digital enthusi-asts showed up in Windsor, Connecticut, September 19-21 for the 2003 TAPR/ARRL Digital Communications Con-ference (DCC). Friday and Saturday fo-rums covered a wide range of topics--from APRS to software-defined radio (SDR). The Sunday seminar by Matt Ettus, N2MJI, focused on SDR. This year's con-ference also included a number of begin-ner-oriented sessions on PSK31, APRS, WSJT and EchoLink. ARRL Web and Software Development Department Manager Jon Bloom, KE3Z, came away especially impressed by the SDR developments he observed at the conference. "There's something happen-ing here that will affect ham radio in the not-so-distant future," he said Alex Mendelsohn, AI2Q, was the Saturday evening banquet speaker. He discussed the occasionally forgotten fact that Ama-teur Radio is still a source of inspiration for engineers and technicians throughout the communications industry. Many key indi-viduals in industry today trace their techni-cal and engineering roots to early involve-ment in Amateur Radio, he pointed out. ROHN FILES FOR CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY R o h n I n d u s t r i e s <http://www.rohnnet.com/> filed a volun-tary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy September 16 in the US Bankruptcy Court

for the Southern District of Indiana. The best-known manufacturer of tower and tower hardware for the Amateur Radio community, the Peoria, Illinois-based com-pany manufactures towers, antenna sup-port structures and "infrastructure equip-ment" for the telecommunications industry. In business since 1948, the firm also makes security fencing and provides de-sign and construction services. "Our immediate goal is to stabilize the company's financial situation and utilize the Chapter 11 process to enable the company to conduct normal business operations as the company works to com-plete a sale transaction," Rohn Industries President Horace Ward said in announc-ing the company's bankruptcy filing. Rohn says it's now in discussions with an unre-lated third party regarding a proposed asset sale while it continues to conduct business as usual. Reputed "oldest ham in the US" turns 103: The man believed to be the oldest Ama-teur Radio operator in the US--Byrl "Tex" Burdick, W5BQU, of El Paso--turned 103 on September 25. First licensed in the fall of 1930, Burdick is on the air every day--most recently on 15 meters (look for him on or about 21.314 MHz), and he enjoys ragchewing. Burdick is an ARRL member and a routine QSLer. Shooting for the moon yields first-ever US-Czech Republic EME QSO on 24-GHz: Amateur Radio moonbounce (Earth-Moon-Earth, or EME) and microwave history was made September 24 at 1400 UTC when Josef Sveceny, OK1UWA, and Al Ward, W5LUA, completed the first-ever 24-GHz EME QSO between the Czech Republic and the US. "This was Josef's first 24-GHz EME QSO, and he was my third initial on 24 GHz," said Ward. ARRL "LOGBOOK OF THE WORLD" GOES LIVE The long-awaited QSL-cardless ARRL

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awards and contact credit system "Logbook of the World" (LoTW) officially opened for business this week. Within its first five days of operation, the system--which is open to all--already had attracted more than 1000 requests for a digital cer-tificate, the essential pass key to LoTW. "Although Logbook of the World is a tre-mendous resource for hams chasing DXCC, VHF/UHF Century Club (VUCC), Worked All States (WAS) and other awards, we hope it will appeal to hams who are not currently active in these awards programs," said ARRL Chief Oper-ating Officer Mark Wilson, K1RO. "The proliferation of logging software has stimu-lated activity and interest in contesting, and submitting log data and verifying award credits online is a logical next step." ARRL HONORS AMATEUR RADIO TODAY PRODUCTION TEAM The ARRL has honored the individuals responsible for bringing the Amateur Ra-dio Today CD presentation - narrated by Walter Cronkite, KB2GSD - from concept to reality. The formal recognition came over the September 6-7 weekend during the ARRL Southwestern Division Conven-tion in Long Beach, California. Receiving ARRL Special Service awards for their contributions to the Amateur Ra-dio public relations effort were director Dave Bell, W6AQ, scriptwriter Alan Kaul, W6RCL, editor Keith Glispie, WA6TFD, and Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, who assisted in producing Amateur Radio Today along with Bell, Kaul and Bill Baker, W1BKR. The video presentation has been widely distributed--including to all 535 members of the US Congress. ARRL Southwestern Division Director Art Goddard, W6XD, presented the plaques to the team mem-bers on hand at the convention. Former CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite, KB2GSD, narrated Amateur Radio Today, which runs approximately six minutes. Designed for presentation to non-hams and civic clubs, Amateur Radio Today focuses on Amateur Radio's role in emergency communications, in-

cluding Amateur Radio's role in the Sep-tember 11, 2001, response. The League also honored Bell--a Holly-wood TV producer and past chairman of the ARRL Public Relations Committee--with a Lifetime Achievement Award. At its July meeting, the ARRL Board of Directors cited Bell's "many significant contributions" to the ARRL, his role as chairman of the Public Relations Committee and his work in the production of films and videos pro-moting Amateur Radio. His film and video repertoire includes The Ham's Wide World, Moving Up to Amateur Radio, This is Ham Radio, The New World of Amateur Radio and Ham Radio Olympics. W1AW 160-meter transmission to QSY Starting Monday, September 29, W1AW will shift its 160-meter code practice and bulletin transmission frequency from 1818 kHz to 1817.5 kHz, starting with the 4 PM EDT (2000 UTC) code practice run. The change not only brings W1AW's Top Band frequency in line with those the station uses on other bands, it also should help to eliminate possible interference from broadcast station harmonics and birdies--something that's more likely on an integer (ie, whole number) frequency. W1AW has been conducting code practice and bulle-tin transmissions on 1818 kHz since 1982. Prior to that, W1AW transmitted both CW and phone bulletins on 1835 kHz. The 2003 DX Magazine "most wanted" survey under way: The 2003 DX Magazine "most wanted" survey is under way. The deadline to re-spond is October 15. The survey helps DXpeditioners decide where to go next. DX Magazine Publisher Carl Smith, N4AA, says not all DXCC entities are listed--just the most likely ones. Respondents are asked to select entities they do not have confirmed for DXCC. There's an opportu-nity to comment, where respondents may list needed countries not appearing on the list. The results will be released in early 2004.

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IARU ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL LOOKS TO THE FUTURE The focus was on the future when the International Amateur Radio Union Admin-istrative Council met September 6-7 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The council reviewed in detail the results of World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03) as they affected the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite services and con-gratulated and thanked all individuals and organizations contributing to the "satisfactory outcome." A compromise to move broadcasting from 7100 to 7200 kHz by early 2009 was a major result of WRC-03. In Amsterdam, the council began con-sidering the prospect of further progress on the 40-meter issue during the next World Radiocommunication Conference, tentatively set for 2007. "While considerable progress was made at WRC-03 toward fulfilling Amateur Service spectrum requirements at 7 MHz, the requirements were not fully satisfied and there may be an opportunity to revisit the issue at WRC-07," the IARU said. The IARU's stated goal is for a 300 kHz world-wide allocation at 7 MHz. Four hours of the meeting were devoted to strategic planning that scanned the hori-zon out to 2010. Among issues in the near term, the IARU plans to participate in In-ternational Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) study group sessions concerning the interfer-ence potential of high data rate telecom-munication systems using power lines--known in the US as Broadband over Power Line (BPL) or power line carrier (PLC) technology. Looking further ahead, discussion dealt with Amateur Radio-related topics that could come up at WRC-07. The WRC-07 agenda includes two items of interest to the Amateur Service--a review of alloca-tions between 4 and 10 MHz and a possi-ble secondary low-frequency amateur allocation in the vicinity of 136 kHz. In the aftermath of WRC-03, the council urged IARU member-societies to call to the attention of their administrations "the

desirability of adopting specific changes in their domestic regulations for the amateur and amateur-satellite services, so that they will be consistent with the revised Article 25 of the international Radio Regu-lations." In that vein, the IARU governing body called for the removal of Morse code as an examination requirement to operate on HF. The council reiterated its stance first taken in 2001 that Morse code proficiency "as a qualifying criterion for an HF ama-teur license is no longer relevant to the healthy future of Amateur Radio." "IARU policy is to support the removal of Morse code testing as a requirement for an amateur license to operate on frequen-cies below 30 MHz," the IARU Administra-tive Council resolved. At the same time, the council's resolution recognized Morse code as "an effective and efficient mode of communication used by many thousands of radio amateurs." It also took into ac-count ITU-Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) Recommendation M.1544, which sets down the minimum qualifications of radio amateurs. World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 left it up to individual countries to determine if they want amateur applicants desiring to operate below 30 MHz to first demonstrate Morse proficiency. The coun-cil also reviewed and updated a working document that describes the spectrum requirements for the Amateur and Ama-teur-Satellite services, particularly to re-flect the results of WRC-03.

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The Last Word …. Answers on a Postcard - Page 5. This is the base of a large insulated tower used for medium wave broad-casting. Right in the centre of the photo you can see the lightning spark gap between the tower and earth. 73 Rosemary, G0NDB

Classified Ads

NOTICE: NARC pins, crests, and stickers are available from

Paul VE6PDD at coffee or meetings. Pins & crests are

$3.00 each, and stickers are - $1.00 each.

FOR SALE: (Inserted Apr 03) 1- Shial Model P312 13.8V 3 Amp Regulated power supply -- $35.00. 1- PS-30 Kenwood 13.8V Dual Amp output 20A & 5A power sup-ply c/w DC out put cable and connector for TS 430S, 120S, 130S or 180S. With manual -- $140.00. 1- Cast Aluminum Foot Switch wired for FT 990 -- $35.00. Contact Bruce at 458-7055 or ve6bac@rac.ca FOR SALE: (Inserted June 02) Cushcraft 6 meter vertical an-tenna about 24 ft. high - new condition $90.00. Sinclair 210C HF antenna, 10 ft. high with 2 dipoles - $200.00 OBO. Phone Martin 483-1406 or at ve6ge@rac.ca. WANTED: Kantronics TNC – either a Model KPC-3 or KPC-3+. State price and condition to Walther VE6LW at (780) 454-6279.

FOR SALE: (Inserted Jan 03) Hy-Gain Tri-band beam - needs new bolts - $150. MFJ 6 position PL259 antenna switch - $35. CDE-45-II rotator and control unit, with 150ft of cable - $250. For an estate, contact David, VE6DXX on 922 0880 or at ve6dxx@narc.net WANTED: (Inserted Mar 03) New Ham/Student seeks used 2m VHF Handheld Transceiver at reasonable price. Phone Mark, VE6PCT at 434-0371 or 433-9173. FOR SALE: (Inserted Oct 03) Tail twister T2X rotator c/w con-trol head and cable. $390. Cushcraft A4S triband beam w/o boom $190. Antenna farm on 3 acres with 1400 sq. ft. ham shack south east of Spruce Grove. Phone Ken VE6TX @ (780) 963-9160. FOR SALE: (Inserted May 03) ICOM T8A tri-band HT. Operates on 50/144/430 MHz. Package includes the MH-BP-200M Ni-MH battery pack, the BC119 desk-top charger unit and BC-123A power unit, the BC-110A wall trickle charger, the CP-12L car charger and the HM54 speaker Mike. $250 or Offer. Phone David, VE6DXX on 922 0880.

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Repeater Fast Access Codes *19 VE6 ICM Alex MacDougall *13 VE6GNF Glen Fitch *57 VE6 KNG Marquita Cairns *31 VE6 LAB Len Black *3 VE6 LIZ Nick Sadoway *32 VE6 LW Walter Loff *45 VE6 MAN Al Kostyk *69 VE6 MKJ Malcolm Jameson *37 VE6 MY Mike Eliuk *20 VE6 NP Curt Hart *16 VE6 RLG Ronald Gordon *106 VE6 SKT John Henriksen *22 VE6 XV Bill Meek *57 VE6 JAC John Cairns For information on or changes to speed dial, call Dave VE6DJL @ 472-8948. General Access Codes **3 Resets timer on Autopatch 26* Redial (this is not a misprint) 4440* Link up UHF to VHF 4441* Link down

Emergency Access Codes Note: no * required on emergency numbers) 91 City Police Department 92 RCMP K Division 93 City Fire Department 911 City of Edmonton Emergency Personal Access Codes *12 VE6 ABC Bill Gillespie *14 VE6BLO Elmer Lodmell *70 VE6 ADV Tom Forman *74 VE6 AMY Hubert Johnson *80 VE6 VP Ben Poitras *79 VE6 BIW John Marles *34 VE6 BKW Jim Munsey *47 VE6 BOY Spence Jamison *78 VE6 BRM Bernie DeVos *48 VE6 CRO Carl Olson *59 VE6DXX David Evans *82 VE6 EWA Ed Andrews *42 VE6 GE Martin Matheson