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West Island Amateur Radio Club Bulletin
November 2013 Edition
Upcoming Meeting – November 18th 2013This month’s topic
“ Introduction to DMR Radio ”Presentation given by Claude Everton, VE2YI
President’s Message and Reportby Malcolm Harper, VE2DDZ ([email protected])
This fall is flying by. We are already feeling winter in the air
Linux in the shackThank-you Paul VE2OFH and Marc-André VE2EVN for October's presentation on linux. The survey of current ham radio applications available under linux was much appreciated. Marc-André has provided with links to most of that software elsewhere in the newsletter. Thanks Marc-André.
Group SOTAA large group of us went to Rigaud for a Summits on the Air activation Saturday, November 9. You can read a short article about the outing elsewhere in the newsletter. A great time was had by all.
Christmas DinnerI hope to see everyone at the WIARC Christmas dinner. It will be at the usual Casa Grecque location, Tuesday, December 10 7:00 pm .
November meetingOur main speaker for November will be Claude VE2YI. With the help of Stan VE2QXP and Cliff VE2YU, Claude will introduce us to the new DMR radios. DMR is the newest digital protocol in amateur radio with equipment produced bya number of manufacturers. Some more information is available on dmr-marc.net.
November 18, 2013 Meeting Agenda
Group SOTA activation report Flash Talk - Gilles VE2TZT SIGs Other business Break (coffee, cookies, ragchew) DMR and MOTOTRBO - Claude VE2YI
See you on the 18th.
73,Malcolm VE2DDZ
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What HappenedMinutes of the October 2013 WIARC meeting
by Keith Glashan, VE2MTL ([email protected])
What happenedMinutes of the WIARC
Meeting October 21, 2013By Keith Glashan VE2MTL
The meeting began at 19:44.Malcolm VE2DDZ presided andwelcomed 23 attendees. There wasthe usual roll call with call signs. Thedetails of the meeting follow.
1. Charles VE2RFI: CharlesVE2RFI was unable to attend tonight.However, you might take note of the‘50/50 Draw’ section at the end ofthese minutes.
2. Roly VE2AGR/SK: LarryVE2DO spoke about Roly whopassed away recently. In particular, hetalked about his dedication to CW,especially during his longinvolvement with the Westminsterschool. Then, Larry took the ‘key’and conducted the SK ceremony inRoly’s honour.
3. Radio Talk 2013: TerryVE2WTQ who gave a short word onthe results of Radio Talk 2013. Allsix speakers were well prepared andwell received, as were the exhibitors.He did note that the publishing of theevent did go out, because there wereattendees from Quebec City andOttawa. Oh yes, the food was ‘to diefor’. Fortunately, nobody did! Terrythen showed a slide show of the eventthat was prepared by MorrieVE2BWS. Morrie will be posting it‘on-line’ soon.
4. Raspberry Pi: MalcolmVE2DDZ mentioned that a few of themembers have been getting togetherto study the Raspberry Pi computer,its capabilities, and its possibilities.Although it is not a Club sponsoredactivity, so far the Pi owners involvedare all WIARC members.
5. SOTA: Malcolm VE2DDZannounced that there are plans for aSOTA activity in the near future
which will be revisiting Mont Rigaud.It’s close to home and easy to climb.Visitors, and all who are interested arewelcome.
6. First Aid: Dan VA2KEY mentionedthat he had made tentative arrangementsfor some first aid training to be given bya qualified instructor over a week-end inNovember. Suddenly, there was somediscussion as to whether a 4 hour coursewas adequate to meet the needs of somemembers. Stay tuned.
7. Flash Talk: Keith VE2XL gave a‘Five Minute’ talk with a slide showaccompaniment. He demonstrated howhe used an electric drill, a couple ofBlack and Decker work-mates, and somehome-made head and tail stocks to cleanup some long shafts used in his verticalantennas. Nicely done, Keith, andthanks.
8. AGM 2013: Malcolm VE2DDZannounced that the Club AGM andelections are scheduled for December16 th during the regular Decembermeeting.
9. Christmas Dinner: It was decidedthat this year we would hold ourChristmas get-together on TuesdayDecember 10 th at the usual Casa Grequeon Gouin Blvd. A confirmation noticewill be forthcoming.
10. Break Time Cookies: Break timesnacks were provided by Bob VE2AXO.Thank you, Bob. According to thevolunteer sheet, Terry VE2WTQ will beproviding the treats next month.
11. After the Break: Our featurepresentation this evening was Linux inthe Ham Shack given by Paul VE2OFHand Marc-Andre VE2EVN. Theyexplained that we all have hadexperiences with Linux since it is used inall Android devices, smart phones, and inall sorts of electronic devices from TV’sto dish washers. We were reminded thatit is free and open for user mods. Thereis lots of Ham related software alreadyrunning on Linux. Although there aremany Windows applications, thosefunctions can be executed under Linuxusing Wine as an interface. Paul and
Marc-Andre touched on many subjectsincluding Logging software ‘CQR LOG’,DX cluster ‘XDX’, Radioprogramming/Config ‘CHIRP’, andAPRS with sound card‘SOUNDMODEM’. Marc-Andre gave ademo of Logging Software and Chirp.Thanks, fellas. Well researched andpresented.
Above a Pic of Paul VE2OFH givinghis presentation on Linux.
12. 50/50 Draw: Charles VE2RFI,knowing that he would not be able toattend, prepaid his 50/50 ticket with strictinstructions to donate any winnings to theclub. I am pleased to announce that hedid win, and we did carry out his wishes.Thanks Charles.
13. Door Prizes: This month, AndyVE2DNN again provided some ABRAcatalogue magazines as door prizes.Thanks Andy.
14. A Pun My Word: When twoegotists meet, it's an I for an I.
The meeting adjourned at 22:32. See youNovember 18th, 2013.
73, & good DX
de
Keith VE2MTL
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Malcolm VE2DDZ: Top SOTA Activatorby Daniel Montpetit, VA2KEY ([email protected])
SOTA has an award program recognizing achievement of program participants with trophies and certificates. (see http://www.sota.org.uk/Awards)
Our own Malcolm VE2DDZ was listed in a recent SOTA bulletin for the following achievements: Activator Certificate - 100 points Chaser Certificate - 100 points Mountain Hunter - Bronze Malcolm was also mentioned for CW on 14MHz: activity for October
As of early November Malcolm is the number four activator and number five chaser for all of VE2.
Amateur Radio Software for Linuxby Marc-André Gingras, VE2EVN ([email protected])
Here are links to the software demonstrated and mentioned by Marc-André VE2EVN at October's meeting.
Operating system: Linux Mint Debian 64bit (testing, rolling release) - http://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php
Logging software : CQRLog - http://www.cqrlog.com/about Radio control library: Hamlib - http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/hamlib/index.php?title=Main_Page Logbook of the World: Trustedqsl - http://www.arrl.org/logbook-of-the-world Satellite tracking program: Gpredict (uses hamlib) - http://gpredict.oz9aec.net/ PSK31: GPsk31 (GTK-based) - http://linkt.de/G-PSK31/ Digital modem: FLdigi: http://www.w1hkj.com/Fldigi.html
Wiki page - https://fedorahosted.org/fldigi/wiki DX-cluster: Xdx - http://packages.debian.org/unstable/hamradio/xdx Radio configuration tool: Chirp - http://chirp.danplanet.com/ Sound card packet radio modem: Soundmodem - http://packages.debian.org/jessie/soundmodem
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Wiki page - http://www.george-smart.co.uk/wiki/AX25_Soundmodem
Some Windows software will run on linux using WineWine: http://www.winehq.org/about/
Amateur radio programs that run well under Wine include Echolink, MMSSTV, MMTTY, DX Atlas, CW Skimmer, MMANA-GAL_Basic, HFTA.
Thanks Marc-André.
Mont-Rigaud 3rd Year Anniversary SOTA Activationby Malcolm Harper, VE2DDZ ([email protected])
In what is becoming an annual event thirteen of us went to montagne de Rigaud for a Summits on the Air (SOTA)activation on Saturday, November 9. The weather forecast was for cold with snow flurries in the afternoon, but wewent ahead anyway. The forecast was worse for Sunday.
Included in the group were ten hams: Alex VA2FPV, DanVA2KEY, Sheldon VA2SH, Andy VE2DNN, MalcolmVE2DDZ, Eamon VE2EGN, Marc-André VE2EVN,Harrison VE2HKW, George VE2NGH, and TerryVE2WTQ.
The other three participants were Harrison's mother andAlex's girlfriend and daughter.
Alex, Harrison, and George made their first SOTAactivations Saturday. Judging by the big smiles when wegot back to the cars and at lunch, a great time was had byall.
Bram VE2XCS was watching out for us on 2 meters all day long. He passed messages while we were meetingup for the car pool out to Rigaud and all along the way. Thanks Bram. Many thanks go to the all chasers local,remote, and DX who looked for us on the bands many times.
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In various logs I saw Stan VE2QXP, Marco VE2XXI, Charles VE2RFI, Ken VE2KLF, Vern VE2MBS, BramVE2XCS, François VE2AAY, Grafton VE2KES, Keith VE2MTL, and Samuel VE2LJV. Jean VE2JCW, whointroduced us to SOTA at Rigaud two years ago and who returned with us for our group activation last yearwasn't able to join us this year. He did chase many of us on HF and on VHF from St Jerome. Thanks Jean!
Jean-François VA2VL had promised to look for us on VHF from the summit in the Greater Adirondacks (W2/GA-038) he was activating on Saturday. When he came through on 2 meters, many of us queued at the radio so wecould get a summit to summit contact with him.
I lost count of all the rigs and antennas. I know we had two HF set ups and three or four VHF/UHF beams goingat once. We operated for about two hours then packed up and headed down the trail.
We went to Willow's Place Inn in Hudson (for the third year in a row) for a late lunch. Marco VE2XXI joined usthere. Much of the talk over lunch and on the Sunday night net was "when are we going to do this again?".
Some photos are on Flickr - http://flic.kr/s/aHsjMfznUc
Alex has posted a short video - http://youtu.be/wHDLE4KwhPg
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Free Flea Market TablesFlea-market tables available free to members. Membersare reminded that there are always tables available at theregular monthly meetings. This practice was very popularyears ago. Lately, it seems to have fallen out of practice.
So, if you wish to sell something, or clean out yourbasement, or do your spring cleaning early, you don't
have to wait for the next Hamfest. Just bring those junk
boxes, antenna parts, and old rigs to the next WIARCmeeting and set up your table at the back of the hall. It's
free. It's fun. It's win-win.
$$$ Swap Shop $$$To advertise items for sale, send details to Bram
VE2XCS, the newsletter editor at [email protected].
He will gladly include them in the next bulletin. Pleaseremember to include all pertinent information relating to
the item you wish to sell.
Footnotes About Us
The West Island Amateur Radio Club was founded in 1972Mailing Address - P.O. Box 884 Pointe-Claire, Quebec H9R 4Z6 E-mail: [email protected]
Executives: President : Malcolm Harper, VE2DDZ
Vice-president : Charles Robitaille, VE2RFI
Directors: Editor : Bram Paterson, VE2XCS QSL Manager : Bob Loranger, VE2AXO
Accredited Examiners:Larry Dobby, [email protected]
Treasurer : Dan Montpetit, VA2KEY
Secretary : Keith Glashan, VE2MTL
Webmaster : Wayne Hodgins, VE2WRH Immediate Past : Ken Fraser, VE2KLF
President (IPP)
Stuart Truba, [email protected]
Articles and comments are always welcomed; please submit them before the first Monday of the monthfor publication in that month’s edition to the editor’s attention, [email protected]
Website: http://www.wiarc.ca
Repeaters: VE2RWI VHF - 146.910 MHz (-) VE2RWI UHF - 443.050 MHz (+) (141.3 Hz CTCSS tone transmitted by both repeaters).
Monthly MeetingsHeld the 3rd Monday of every month, except July & August at: Lakeside Heights Baptist Church,
275 Braebrook, Pointe-Claire (West Island part of Montreal). Visitors are always welcomed.
WIARC NETS on the 146.91 VE2RWI RepeaterInformation Net each Sunday evening at 8PM running for approximately an hour.
All are welcome to participate.
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