RamblerNewsletter of the

Ottawa Valley MobileRadio Club

Incorporated

Dec 2017 Edition 55 Page 1

Meeting Dates

Wednesday Dec 20th600 PM

(In lieu of regular meeting)

KS on the Keys Restaurant1029 Dazeacute St Ottawa

Click here for map

Buffet Selection $3300inclusive per person

Presidents Ramblings

As most OVMRC membersknow there will be noregular Club meeting for

December instead the Club will behosting our Christmas Dinner onWednesday December 20th at KSon the Keys Restaurant We havealmost 50 members family andfriends signed up to attend Irsquom notsure we can accommodate anymore in reserved space at therestaurant

We had a good turnout for theNovember meeting Wordobviously got out that we werefeaturing a presentation byOVMRC member Marc BeacutelangerVE3BOE on his self designed andinstalled 56 foot self supporting tiltover tower It was almost standingroom only for late comers to theclass room at the Aviation Museumwhere we are assembling thesedays Part of the attraction wasOVMRC members picking up andpaying for their custom shirtsembroidered with their name callsign and the Club crest Severalmembers of the OARC alsoattended adding to the audienceNevertheless everybody seemed toenjoy the camaraderie with fellowhams until the formal meeting andMarcrsquos presentation could getunderway

I mentioned in the NovemberRambler that I had just completedworking the CQ WW SSB contestWell as of the time of this writingIrsquove now completed working theCQ WW (HF) CW contest (Nov25-26) on 80m through to 15m Asopposed the CQ WW SSB contest amonth earlier I didnrsquot make anycontacts on 10m it was dead everytime I checked In total I worked343 mostly DX contacts over thecontest period including PS0F onFernando de Noronha just off theeast coast of Brazil This contactwill add to my DXCC total

Well into the contest period for theARRL 160m (CW) contest on theDec 2ndash3 weekend I decided to giveoperating on the ldquoTop Bandrdquo a tryafter I was reminded the contestwas happening by an email fromRic VE3XL Although I donrsquothave a proper antenna for 160m Ilashed up a old large-inductancecoil from the junk box and appliedit to base load my 33 foot verticalthat I normally use for 40mCarefully picking the point on thecoil to tap I managed to obtain arespectable SWR Saturday evening(Dec 2nd) using only a flashlight toilluminate the dark the corner of theback yard where the vertical ismounted and bingo I was inbusiness to make a few contacts Iwas amazed that most stations Icalled (Continued on page 3)

Celebrating our 60th Anniversary Season of Continuous Service to Ottawa

Presidentrsquos Ramblings13Contest Calendar4Restaurant Gatherings4Cross Canada C4FM Weekly Net4OVMRC Repeater Nets42 Metre Nets4OVMRC HF Nets4Denis Rule VE3BF Canada 150 5OVMRC Net Activity Report6Meeting Minutes7-8Project Kits8Membership Form9

INSIDE

Page 2 Dec 2017OVMRC Executive and Officers

2017-2018President Norm Rashleigh VE3LCve3lcracca

Vice-President Barry AllisonVE3NAve3naracca

Treasurer Nicole Boivin VE3GIQ

ovmrctreasurergmailcomSecretary Frank Fullum VE2KOIve2koiracca

Standing CommitteeChairpersons

Amateur Radio Training ampAccredited ExaminerNorm Rashleigh VE3LCve3lcracca

MembershipTom Mercer VE3LJSva3ljsracca

Radio OperationsKen Evans VE3EKNve3ekngmailcomNewsletter EditorRobert Cherry VA3AODcw527ncfca

Newsletter ProductionBill Hall VA3WMHbmhallrogerscom

WebmasterDarin Cowan VE3OIJve3oijamsatorg

Repeater TrusteeNorm Rashleigh VE3LCve3lcraccaEvents ChairJohn McGowan VA3JYKjohnmcgowan1314gmailcom

SponsorsThe OVMRC acknowledges the fol-lowing organizations for their supportof our activitiesbull KENWOOD ELECTRONICS

CANADA INCMississauga ON

bull METAL PROSldquoThe Small Quantity Metal ShoprdquoOttawa ONWeb site wwwmetalproscom

RADIOWORLD TORONTOWeb site wwwradioworldca

OVMRC Life Members

Ernie Jury VE3EJJMaurice-Andreacute Vigneault VE3VIG

Ralph Cameron VE3BBMDoug Carswell VE3ATYDoreen Morgan VE3CGO

OVMRC RepeaterVE3TWO

147300 Mhz (+) 100 Hz toneFM amp Yaesu System Fusion Digital

Operation

OVMRC Call SignsVE3JW

VE3RAM

The Rambler is the official newsletter of theOttawa Valley Mobile Radio Club Incorpo-rated and is published 10 times a year(monthly except for July and August)Opinions expressed in the Rambler arethose of the authors and not necessarilythose of the OVMRC its officers or its mem-bers Permission is granted to republish thecontents in whole or in part providing thesource is acknowledged Commercial use ofthe contents is expressly prohibitedSubmit articles to the editor or by e-mailtoRobert Cherry VA3AODcw527ncfca

Ottawa Valley MobileRadio Club IncorporatedPO Box 41145Ottawa ON K1G 5K9

wwwovmrconca

Visit the OVMRC Storeat

httpwwwcafepresscaovmrc

OVMRC Affiliations

Dec 2017 Page 3

respondedconsidering that I was only runningabout 50 watts with what should bea very inefficient antenna for theband With a few hours ofoperating until midnight and thenfor about an hour and a half earlySunday morning before the suncame up I was able to manage 130contacts over 36 ARRL sections Ialso worked ZF9CW in the CaymanIslands Now to await for the nextldquoTop Bandrdquo contest

Base loading of my 33 footvertical for 160 m

33 foot vertical in corner ofback yard

The Amateur Radio course is nowconcluded and two exam sessionswere scheduled on Dec 4th and Dec11 So far I can reportcongratulations to JacquesVA3JBI Anton VE3NZL JohnVE3JHP and Ken VE3KWT TonyVE3ESB Roger VA3EGY andDavid VA3NIE Tig VE3FWSBenjamin VE3BXY GopalVA3GAK Chuck VE3WCZSylvain VE3SGG Alan VE3KAEAdam VA3PEE and AndreVA3CHH Mike VE3CUDChristina VE3CUQ MarcellusVE3MSL and Joanne VA3LEKIn addition 4 others weresuccessful with the Basic exam buthave not selected their call sign yetand several others have deferredtaking the test until the new yearOur graduation list will be updatedin the next issue of the Rambler

Irsquom not sure how many OVMRCmembers have been going for the

RAC ldquoCanada 150rdquo Certificatewpraccarac150 awarded formaking contacts with at least 4 anda maximum of 14 provincial orterritorial RAC stations Stationoperations have been scheduledthroughout the Canada 150Celebrations year and your chanceto score for this award willconclude at the end of 2017 Thelast good chance of contactingstations with the RAC suffix will bethe RAC winter contest December30th see wpraccarac-canada-winter-contest-rules In this issueI want to recognize OVMRCmember Denis Rule VE3BF for hisachievement in working all 14Canadian provinces and territoriesthroughout the year Bravo DenisIrsquove only worked 6 so far and 5 ofthose were during the Canada Daycontest July 1st Irsquove included acopy of Denisrsquos Canada 150Certificate and a photo of his 14ldquoRACrdquo QSL cards

As of this writing we are scheduledto have our January 17th meeting atthe Aviation Museum However inJanuary we will be havingdiscussions with the folks at theMuseum of Science andTechnology Museum to resume ouroperations there Hopefully inJanuary we will have more to reporton our venue for the rest of theseason

Thatrsquos all for this month

See you at the OVMRC ChristmasDinner

Have a good Holiday Season andGood DX in 2018

73 de NormVE3LCracca

(Continued from page 1)

Page 4 Dec 2017

Contest CalendarFor all contest information gotohornucopiacomcontestcal

Dec 9 ndash 10 mdash ARRL 10 Metre Contestarrlorg10-meter

Dec 30 mdash RAC Winter Contestwpraccarac-canada-winter-contest-rules

Jan 20-22 mdash ARRL January VHF Contestarrlorgjanuary-vhf

OVMRC Repeater VE3TWO 147300 MHz +600 kHz 100 Hz Tone and Yaesu C4FM Digital Voice

VE3TWO Scheduled Nets

bull Wednesday Evenings 9 PM Across Canada NetC4FM Digital Voice facilitated by Denis VE3BF

bull Thursday Evenings 8 PM Club Net on FMconducted by Ken VE3EKN

bull Sunday Evenings 8 PM Ottawa C4FM DigitalVoice Round Table Net

Other Local 2 Metre RepeaterNets (all check-ins welcome)bull Rubber Boot Net VE3MPC 147150 + work daymornings at 730 AM conducted by Mike VA3TJP

bull Phoenix Net VE3MPC 147150 +(now with100 Hz tone) Tuesday evenings at 8 PM conductedby Pete VE3XEM

bull QCWA Chapter 70 Net VE3MPC 147150 +(now with 100 Hz tone) Monday evening at 730 PMconducted by John VE3ZOV

bull Capital City FM Net VE2CRA 146940 Mhz ndash(100 Hz tone) Monday evenings at 8 PM

bull Champlain Mini Net VE3STP 147060 ndash (1148Hz tone) every evening at 645 PM

Informal Amateur RadioRestaurant Gatherings(All are welcome)bull QCWA Chapter 70 breakfast gathering everyTuesday morning at 730 to 10 am SummerhaysGrill 1972 Baseline Rd Nepean

bull Orleans Coffee gathering every Friday morningat 9 AM McDonalds 2643 St Joseph Blvd Orleans

bull QRP Group Dinner meeting 2nd Wednesdayevery month 5 PM Newport Restaurant 322Churchill Ave N Ottawa

bull Phoenix Net monthly Breakfast gathering usuallythe second Saturday every month at 9 AM T-BasilRestaurant 2440 St Joseph Blvd Orleans (get onPete VE3XEMrsquos mailing list for monthly reminder)

OVMRC HF Netsbull Pot Hole SSB Net 3760 kHz every Sundaymorning at 10 AM conducted by Ernie VE3EJJ orGlenn VE3XRA

bull Pot Lid Slow Speed CW Net 3620 kHz everySunday morning at 11 AM conducted by RogerVE3XRR

Dec 2017 Page 5

Denis Rule VE3BFAchieves Clean Sweepon RAC Canada 150 AwardWe congratulate OVMRC Member Denis VE3BF onhis Clean Sweep on the Radio Amateurs of CanadaCanada 150 Award program Denis has worked all14 ldquoRACrdquo stations activated over the course of theyear in each of the Canadian Provinces andTerritories Only a small number of folks world-widehave achieved top level ldquo8rdquo standing for this awardThe Canada 150 award can also be obtained at lesserlevels by working 4 6 789 11 12 amp 13 RACstations The Canada 150 Award was created by RACto celebrate the 150th anniversary year of Canadasince confederation in 1867 Qualifying for theaward certificate carries on until the end of the yearwith the last big chance of working the activatedRAC stations being the Radio Amateurs of CanadaWinter Contest on Dec 30th wpraccarac-canada-winter-contest-rules For more information on theRAC Canada 150 Award go to wpraccarac150

Herersquos a photo of RAC Canada 150 AwardCertificate issued to Denis for hisachievement

Herersquos a photo of the 14QSL cards confirmingcontacts made by DenisVE3BF with each of theRAC stations activatedfrom time to time during2017 by different amateursacross the country

Page 6 Dec 2017

Dec 2017 Page 7

Meeting MinutesDate Time Wednesday November 15 2017 1930Location Canada Aviation and Space Museum

1 Call to orderThe President Norm Rashleigh VE3LC called themeeting to order at 1930 There were 39 in atten-dance

2 Approval of minutesMOTION Moved by Ron Smith VE3LBU and second-ed by Tim Bailey VE3TXB that the minutes of the pre-vious meeting held Wednesday October 18 2017 beapprovedVOTE All in favourCARRIED

3 GreetingsGuests and visiting amateurs

Margaret Tidman VA3VXNTyler Tidman VA3DGNYaroslav Doroshenko VA3ZYD

Heidi and Denis Vermette

4 Announcements and events- Norm Rashleigh VE3LC will be holding an exam

session Monday December 11 1900 hrs If youare interested in upgrading your qualificationscontact Norm Rashleigh VE3LCracca

- Diane Bruce VA3DB of the OARC is looking forindividuals interested in learning Morse Code Ifyou are interested contact Peter CarssVA3XEMracca

- Tyler Tidman VA3XVN is looking for amateur ra-dio operators to participate in the annual Rally ofthe Tall Pines held in Bancroft November 24-25For information contact Taylor TidmanVA3DGNracca

5 Upcoming contestsARRL Sweepstakes Contest SSB Nov 18 - 20CQ World Wide DX Contest CW Nov 25 ndash 26ARRL 10-Merer Contest CW SSB Dec 9 ndash 10RAC Winter Contest Dec 30For detailed information on upcoming contests seethe WA7BNM Contest Calendar athornucopiacomcontestcal

6 Interesting radio contacts in the lastmonth

Ron Smith VE3LBU contact to Madagascar on 20 me-tres 100 WNorm Rashleigh VE3LC contact to Australia on 40metres 30 W

7 Executive and Chair reports71 Club projects ndash Barry Allison VE3NA

Club 60th anniversary shirts

The Clubrsquos 60th anniversary shirts were availablefor pickup at the beginning of the meeting Mostof the shirts were picked up by members presentSlim-Jim 2-metre portable antennaBarry reported that kits for the slim-jim 2-metreportable antenna will be available for pickup atthe Clubrsquos January meetingVE3KL shortened 20-metre wire antennaBarry reported that kits for the 20-metre wireantenna will be available for pickup at the Club`sJanuary meeting

72 Christmas gathering Wednesday December 20 -Norm Rashleigh VE3LC

Norm passed around a signup sheet in case anymembers wanting to attend had not yet signedup If you have not signed up you can contactNorm VE3LCracca

73 Update on Science and Tech museum ndash NormRashleigh VE3LC

Norm attended a pre-opening event there recent-ly The museum has undergone a completemakeover Popular attractions such as the CrazyKitchen Trains and Auditorium still remain Thereare still no definite plans for the Clubrsquos to returnto the Museum of Science and Tech

74 Net operations ndash Ken Evans VE3EKNKen reported that the Clubrsquos 2-metre net ranthrough the summer months with help from Ni-cole Boivin VE3GIQ and Jeremy Jones VA3ZTFCheck-in information is posted to the Rambler asa point of interest OVMRC 2-metre net is heldevery Thursday evening at 2000 on the VE3TWOrepeater 147300 MHzActivity on the pot-hole net is picking up with asmany as 10 check-ins The pot-hole net is heldevery Sunday morning at 1000 on 3760 kHzComments and suggestions regarding the Clubrsquosnet operations can be sent to Ken Evans VE3EKNErnie Jury VE3EJJ or Norm Rashleigh VE3LC

75 Treasurer report ndash Nicole Boivin VE3GIQNicole reported that the Club has net assetstotalling $ 30000 There is close to $ 4000outstanding (expenses) to cover the purchase ofsupplies for projects in progress mugs andshirts These expenses will be recovered in theshort-term as project kits mugs and shirts aresold to members and payment is received

76 Update on comments letter sent to IndustryCanada ndash Norm Rashleigh VE3LC

Norm reported that the comments letter sent toIndustry Canada on behalf of the OVMRC hasbeen received and also that all commentsreceived have been published in the CanadaGazette Even thought comments have beenreceived it may be a year or more before anydecisions are released and become regulationsOriginal notice published August 26 2017

icgccaeicsitesmt-gstnsfengsf11254html

Comments received published November 62017

icgccaeicsitesmt-gstnsfengsf11346html

Page 8 Dec 2017

8 Clothesline multi-band antenna ndashVE3LC

Norm presented an idea of setting up or convertinga clothesline as a multi-band HF antenna If yoursquoreinterested in trying this see the article in QSTmagazine July 1998 by Robert Victor VA2ERY (SK)

w1npporgevents20102010-f~1antennaswire980705~1PDF

9 City-wide hidden transmitter event ndashVE3LC

Norm presented an idea for discussion would therebe any interest in a city-wide hidden transmitterevent The basic idea would be to hide one of theClubrsquos fox-hunt transmitters at an undisclosedlocation and to power it from mains power for aperiod of perhaps a week or two Participants wouldattemp to determine the approximate location of thetransmitter using any method of their choice Therewas a discussion with many members showinginterest Norm will followup on this at a futuremeeting

10 Feature presentationClub member Marc Beacutelanger VE3BOE gave a presen-tation on the Design and Construction of his Tilt-OverTower

11 Prizes and drawsPrizes were won by many lucky individuals

The winner of this monthrsquos 5050 draw was PeterCarss VE3XEM

12 Next meetingThere will be no General Meeting of the OVMRC inDecember in favour of a Christmas dinner gatheringplanned for Wednesday December 20 at 6 PM

LocationKS on the Keys 1029 Dazeacute St Ottawa ON K1V 2G3

Next meeting will be Wednesday January 17 2018at 1930

13 AdjournmentThe meeting was adjourned at 2200

Minutes recorded by Frank Fullum VE2KOI OVMRC Sec-retary

OVMRC Project KitsBarry VE3NA reports that the ldquoSlim-Jimrdquo2M antenna kits are now ready for those thatsigned up for them Barry will have the kitsavailable for pickup at the Christmas Dinneron December 20th the cost will be $25otherwise folks that signed up for the kit canarrange pickup from Barry by emailve3naracca The instructions for thisantenna kit are now posted on the OVMRCweb site at ovmrconca201712slim-jim-antenna-project Barry thanks Marc BeacutelangerVE3BOE for his help preparing the documentfor this kit

Barry is in charge of delivering to the Clubmembers the shortened 20m dipole kitdesigned by Professor Dave Conn VE3KLPackaging the parts and preparing the assemblydocumentation for this kit are well underway andBarry should have the kits available at the JanuaryClub meeting The Club will be charging $37 eachfor this antenna kit to cover the cost of parts

Barry shared this photo to show the parts andmaterial coming together

On behalf of all OVMRC members thanks Barry fora great effort

- Norm VE3LC

Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club Incorporated PO Box 41145 Ottawa ON K1G 5K9

MEMBERSHIP FORM The membership year starts 1 September and runs until 31 August of the following year Regular membership is open to licensed amateurs Associate membership is open to all unlicensed radio enthusiasts Membership includes a digital subscription to the club newsletter the OVMRC Rambler

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