GUYWIRE
SEPTEMBER 2006
Editor VE5SC sewert@sasktel.net
The 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.
The RARA WEBSITE can be found at
www.sarl.ca/rara
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.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEXT MEETING SEPT. 13th 7:30 PM SCIENCE CENTER
IMAX Boardroom Use IMAX entrance
PRESIDENTS REPORT
Welcome Back from Summer.
I hope that you all enjoyed the summer.
As we approach the fall and winter it is time to plan our meetings and
programs. Please email me your ideas so that we can add as much amateur
radio contents into our meetings and possibly develop some new programs
or resurrect some older programs. VE5SX@accesscomm.ca
If you find someone asking questions about your hobby they could
possibly be very interested in learning how to become an amateur radio
operator.
If you have any names of interested persons, please forward them to
Alan Tidbal VE5LAT VE5RARA@gmail.com , or Darrell VE5SX@accesscomm.ca
Burnside site needs some maintenance as you are no doubt aware. The
Burnside champion Bruce VE5RC has some other priorities to deal with
and can not spend the time in coordinating and helping with the
maintenance of this site. Is there anyone that would be willing to
coordinate a day and ask volunteers to help paint the building, someone
that is interested in preserving this site for the next few years?
Our Club Room is becoming smaller each month. We share this room with
the astronomy club and we do not use the room at all other than for
storage. If we would like to have a club room we need to discuss and
implement the programming and event access to the club room very soon.
Possible programs for the fall will be J.O.T.A., Fall Flea Market,
Christmas Dinner, Resurrect Club Room.
Our monthly meeting will be a good place to discuss these topics.
See you there!
VE5SX
Darrell Dickson
VE5RC WINS THE DAVE GLASS AWARD
Bruce Rattray VE5RC was the winner of the Dave Glass Award. This was
presented at the Saskatchewan Hamfest in July. Bruce was cited for his
work in the QRP field. Details on the Dave Glass Award can be found at
www.sarl.ca/ve5aa/index.html Also at the Hamfest, it was announced that
the Regina Amateur Radio Association was the winner of the Field Day
trophy. VE5SC accepted the trophy on behalf of RARA.
ARES NEWS
September 17 is the Terry Fox Run. If you can help, contact Rick VE5RJR.
November 12 is the date for the Santa Claus Parade. Bill
VE5EE is co-ordinating this event.
REPEATER NEWS
There is a new repeater in Regina. VE5CRA is operating on 147.30 + and
is sponsored by Saskatchewan EMO.
There is a new UHF repeater in operation in Saskatoon that is a WIN
System Affiliate. This UHF repeater is dedicated for use with the RAC
Youth Education Program at Walter Murray Collegiate Institute. It is
open to all sorts of experimental traffic, when not used for
emergency use, general use and typical repeater operation and
experimentation, it is connected to IRLP Reflector 9453 (WINSYSTEM).
Most of the time it is connected to the WIN System - check out
http://www.winsystem.org for further details about this organization.
The repeater frequency is 443.200 + and the repeater callsign is
VE5FUN, IRLP node 1667.
PROPOSED BAND AT 500 KHZ
Over the past few months, news has reported moves by amateurs to secure
an allocation in the vicinity of 500 kHz, the old maritime Morse Code
distress channel. Of course, 500 kHz was replaced by the Global
Maritime Distress and Safety System, or GMDSS, in February 1999. Ships
are no longer required to monitor or use 500 kHz for distress calls.
The ARRL, the RSGB and now the Irish amateur radio society have
submitted proposals to their radio regulators for a small amateur
allocation in the region of 500 kHz. The UK radio regulator has
indicated that they are considering the issue.
However, many former Merchant Navy Radio Officers are strongly opposed
to amateur operation on 500 kHz. Their view is that 500 kHz must be
preserved as a museum or historic frequency. The UK and the German
Radio Officer associations have published papers to this effect. At the
moment, the international radio regulations still designate the band
495-505 kHz exclusively for distress and safety use. This status can
only be changed by a world radio conference.
Interestingly, there are still some coast radio stations monitoring 500
kHz. Chinese and Indonesian stations maintain a distress and calling
watch on 500. So, in summary, there may be scope for a small
experimental Amateur allocation either above or below 500 kHz, but this
could be some time off yet.
credit VK4DU Wireless Institute of Australia
MONTENEGRO IS NEWEST ARRL DXCC TNTITY
A new ARRL DXCC entity has come into being! As expected, the United
Nations admitted the Republic of Montenegro as its 192nd member June
28, and that action automatically makes the tiny Balkan nation the
336th current DXCC entity.
"According to the ARRL DXCC List criteria, entities on the UN list of
member-states qualify as political entities," said ARRL Membership
Services Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG. "Therefore, effective June 28, 2006
(UTC), ARRL has added The Republic of Montenegro to the DXCC List.
Claims for DXCC credit will be accepted immediately."
Current Montenegrin radio amateurs reportedly may continue using their
YU/YT/YZ/4O/4N-prefix call signs until the International
Telecommunication Union designates a new call sign block for the new
country.
credit RAC
KOREA: SAMSUNG EXPLORES WORLDWIDE ANTENNA
The GB2RS reports that South Korean electronics giant Samsung is
looking at the possibility of using the ionosphere as a medium for long
distance communication. This, without the need for launching expensive
satellites.
Rather than bouncing signals off the ionosphere as amateurs
do, Samsung scientists are considering turning the ionosphere into a
giant antenna. According to a recent patent the company filed, this
could be achieved by launching UHF signals behind a 1GHz carrier signal
to create an alternating current in the ionosphere. The alternating
current could then be modulated at a particular frequency to create an
antenna of global proportions. (GB2RS, Samsung)
JAMES VAN ALLEN DIES
James Van Allen, pioneering astrophysicist, has died at the
age of 91. His most widely known contribution was the 1958 discovery of
radiation belts surrounding Earth, now called the Van Allen belts. He
also is credited with the discovery of one of Saturn's moons in 1979.
Van Allen was undoubtedly one of the greatest and most accomplished
American space scientists of our time. -CGC
WEBSITE OF THE MONTH
Here is a website that gives many modifications to popular ham
equipment to increase its versatility or improve performance. Go to:
www.mod.dk
R.A.R.A. Membership Application 2006 – 2007
(Please write clearly and enter Y or N in boxes as required)
Name: _____________________________________________
Call Sign: ______________ Current RAC membership
Mailing Address: _____________________________________
_____________________________________
e-mail Address: _____________________________________
Renewal or New Membership
Single Membership ($30) ____ Family membership ($35) ____
I have enclosed $____ for ____ membership(s) indicated above. Please
include this application with your fee to club treasurer Allan Tidball
or mail cheque to Regina Amateur Radio Association
(VE5LAT) Box 153 Station Main
Regina, Sask. S4P 2Z6