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Regina Amateur Radio
Association
GUYWIRE December 2005
Editor VE5SC sewert@sasktel.net
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The RARA WEBSITE can be found at www.sarl.ca/rara THIS IS THE NEW SITE - CHECK IT OUT The website contains RARA news, repeater lists as well as links to other amateur resources. Club meetings are held the 2nd Wednesday of each month, with the exception of July and August, at the Science Center. |
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online publication of the REGINA AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION is published
monthly except July and August and is distributed free of charge as a
service of RARA to all licensed hams in the Regina Area who have e-mail
addresses. Anyone NOT wishing to receive future copies should send an
e-mail to the editor and your name will be removed from the mailing list. |
NO REGULAR MEETING THIS MONTH Instead we are hosting our annual
Christmas Get-together on December 14th at Classic Buffet, 100 Albert
St. starting around 6 pm. All area hams and their families are welcome
to attend. There are presently around 30 people registered but the
Buffet could probably handle drop-ins. See you there.
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SERVICE The amateur radio community has been asked to provide communications for two events sponsored by the Running Room. The first is the "Resolution Run" which is to be held on January 1st (can you believe it!) at 10:00. The second is the "Hypothermic Half Marathon" to be held on February 19th at 10:00. The map for the "Resolution run is attached. There are a couple of changes to the map. The Start/Finish is the YMCA on 13th Avenue between Smith and McIntyre Streets. The runners will proceed west on 13th to Albert Street. When leaving Wascana Park the runners will proceed west on College Avenue to Albert Street. Approximately 10-12 radio operators are required to provide adequate coverage for this event. There are some walkers, so we should make ourselves available for about two (2) hours. Let me know if you are available. I will send out details for the half marathon at a later date. 73 -Terry (VE5TLW) Mark your calander for the 2006 Scouts Canada Klondike Hike. It will be held on Saturday, Feb 4, with the alternate date of Feb 11 (if too cold or stormy). We will need about 23 operators, so let Jim Sandercock (VE5CS) know your availability jsandercock@sasktel.net |
WEBSITE OF THE MONTH Another antenna site this
month. Simple antennas that you can
make for HF or VHF at little cost with amazing performance. www.moxonantennaproject.com/construction.htm or try www.moxonantennaproject.com/wb5cxc.htm (thanks to Bill VE5AAR)
DID YOU KNOW? The Canadian Red Cross has been
allocated frequencies slightly above
and below each of the HF bands, for use in emergencies. VE5TO SK Regina lost one of its long time
amateurs on November 9th when Ted Odling VE5TO passed away. Ted
was a member of our club for many years and was always ready to help
with Field Days and other club activities. Failing health limited
his participation in later years but he always maintained an active
interest in ham radio and requested that Guywire be sent to him so he
could keep up on all the ham news from Regina.
A message of condolence was sent on behalf of the club to Ted's family. |
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| MYSTERY
SIGNAL SOLVED The loud signal that was heard on
445.475 mHz and caused interference
to some UHF links north of Regina, turns out to be a City of Regina
transmitter located on top of City Hall (next to the 7.12
repeater). It is used in conjunction with a GPS system for
precision location of such things as manholes etc. A search
of Industry Canada documents showed that the city was not licenced to
use this frequency. Thanks to Dave Favreau of Industry Canada,
the city has moved its transmitter to its licenced frequency of
445.2875 mHz which, while still within our 440 mHz band, is not likely
to cause interference to existing amateur services.
It is important to remember that this band is a shared band, with geolocation transmitters being the primary licensees and radio amateurs may use it on a secondary basis. Throughout Canada there are 82 channels for geolocation services located within our 440 mHz band, with 16 of these licenced in Saskatchewan. Most amateur bands are exclusively amateur, but a look at Industry Canada records shows that the 20 meter band has 2 frequencies within it that are also assigned to commercial licensees. The 2 Meter band has 8 and the 6 Meter band has 3. It would be interesting to find out how these commercial allocations came to be located in exclusive amateur bands. |
TRANS
PACIFIC ON 137 KHZ The first confirmed trans-Pacific
reception of Canadian amateur LF
(2200m) signals occurred on the morning of October 4, 2005. The slow
speed (QRSS) CW signals of VA7LF were confirmed heard near Wellington,
New Zealand, at the Wellington Amateur Radio Club station at Quartz
Hill.
Signals from the ZM2E club station were heard in Canada as well but propagation was not of sufficient duration to enable a QSO to be completed. VA7LF was located on South Pender Island, British Columbia and operated by VE7TIL, VE7SL and VE7MM. The Quartz Hill station was manned by ZL2CA and ZL4OL. The present amateur radio LF world record two-way is shared by ZM2E and UA0LE, a distance of 10,311 km. The distance between VA7LF and ZM2E is approximately 11,700 km. Both stations were operated on 137 kHz using DFCW QRSS120. VA7LF was running approximately 1 watt erp while ZM2E was at the 5W erp level. Propagation conditions were generally poor during the three night test period. The next scheduled trans-Pacific tests will be in the spring of 2006. - Credit RAC
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| LAST
MONTHS PUZZLER Yagi antennas are commonly in use
in amateur work. Another antenna in use is called a Quagi.
What is it?
It is a type of VHF antenna that uses a quad driven element in conjunction with regular yagi type directors. |
THIS
MONTHS PUZZLER What is the maximum bandwidth
permitted for a station operating in the 420-450 mHz band?
Answer next month. |
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