GUYWIRE

JUNE 2007

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 June 13th 7:30 PM
at the Science Centre - Imax Board Room top floor
Coffee will be served. Visitors welcome.
This is the last meeting before the summer break.
Field Day will be the main topic.

ARES REPORT - VE5TLW

Spring is here (I hope), so it is time for the annual "Spruce Up the
Truck" time. Its
time to sweep, dust and change the oil in the truck and generators. Let's meet at 1212J Winnipeg Street (enter the alley west of PrintWest on 8th Avenue), at 19:30 on June 19th. I will have all the supplies necessary. Please let me know if you can attend.

We have a request from the Regina Canada Committee to provide
communications
at the Canada Day festivities on July 1st in Wascana Park. They are
requesting the
truck (for a command post) and both tents. The tents will be used for
first aide and
a lost child shelter.

We can setup the tents and truck about 09:00 and the tear-down may occur
as late
as 22:30. We asked to man the truck and the tents. The organizers will
have most
of the comms provided by their own members with FRS/GMRS radios, with the command post acting as a base station for them. We would use our our system for the sensitive messages, such as lost child and first aide information.

I will provide details later as to where we will meet, the location of
the command
post and tents.

Please let me know if you can volunteer some time for this event. It
will be an excellent
opportunity to show the public how amateur radio is involved in the
community.

SGI has once again asked us to provide communications for their annual
Charity
Road Race. The event takes place on Sunday, June 17th, in front of the
SGI Head
Office at Lorne Street & 11th Avenue.

The event starts with the wheelchair participants departing at 08:25. We
should
assemble at the SGI HO at 07:45 for the pre-event briefing and assigned
locations.
Please let me know if you are available. Also let me know if you have a
preferred
location on the route.

Other Activities:
SGI Run June 17th
Echo Valley Challenge June 23rd. VE5EE
1Km Swim T. Qu'Appelle July 6th (tentative)

FIELD DAY - BURNSIDE - JUNE 23-24TH

The year has gone by very quickly which means our annual Field Day event is just around the corner - so think about when you'll be able to come out for part of or the whole weekend and help operate VE5NN at the club's Burnside site - usually, antennas are erected beginning Friday at noon with the operation starting on Saturday at noon and running until Sunday noon - then the tear down - let's all hope for good wx
- 73 Bruce. VE5RC

SASKATCHEWAN HAMFEST

The Saskatchewan Hamfest will be held this year at Moose Jaw
on July 7th from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM at the Western Development Museum. Admission free to SARL members, others $7.00

IRLP REPORT

The Regiina IRLP node continues to be inaccessible due to problems with the UHF link. The IRLP node has been functioning all the while as has the repeater, but the problem lies with linking the two together. All
linking radios
have been checked out and are working, new antennas have been installed but we still have a situation where we have a one-way path. Testing
continues.

SPECIAL AUTHORIZATIONS TO CEASE

Since 2001, at the request of RAC, Industry Canada has granted a number of special authorizations to some Canadian radio amateurs to conduct
experiments
in the band 135.7 – 137.8 kHz and at 5 MHz.

These experiments have had, as one objective, the provision of data that
would
support the objectives of RAC and the IARU for possible new allocations to the Amateur Service at these frequencies.

In accordance with the agreement between RAC and Industry Canada, all the special authorizations to Canadian radio amateurs will be terminated and transmissions must cease as of 30 June, 2007.

Further special authorizations will depend on the outcomes of WRC-2007, scheduled for 22 October - 16 November, at which, on the initiative of
Canada,
a new, worldwide, secondary allocation to the Amateur Service at 135.7 – 137.8 kHz is on the agenda. A secondary allocation near 5 MHz may also arise at WRC-2007 as a consideration in the review of radio services in the band 4 – 10 MHz.

Per the agreement for special authorizations, each experimenter is
required to prepare
a summary report of his experiments, which may be in the form of an
article for TCA

-RAC



THE SCARBOROUGH REEF DX-PEDITION

Ham radio operators travel worldwide to briefly put exotic locations on-the-air for DX (distant station) hunters. The first photos of the recent Scarborough reef ham radio DX-expedition have arrived. The operators stayed for days on incredibly small rock outcroppings surrounded by water. Check the photos - you won't believe your eyes - this is true dedication to the radio sport!

http://www.scarboroughreef.com/4rocks.html


RADIO-ACTIVE SUNSPOT:

A new sunspot is growing near the sun's eastern limb, and it is
crackling with
solar flares. Yesterday, one of the flares,a C1-class explosion,
unleashed a
radio burst heard in loudspeakers of shortwave radios across the United
States.
Ham radio operators may wish to point their antennas at the sun in the days ahead in case this activity continues. Visit http://spaceweather.com to hear the sounds of this "radio-active" sunspot.
- VE5ZG

VE5RAC CALLSIGN

The callsign VE5RAC is available to be used by ARES/NTS stations for the
Canada
Day contest. I have an email which outlines the rules/regulations by
which the callsign
can be used for this contest. If anyone, in any area is interested in
operating the
Canada Day contest, let me know and I will forward the email to you from
Bob Cooke,
the RAC VP of Field Services, the call can be used in different areas of
the province
simultaneousley as long as the mode and band is different at the give
time...ie) if
someone in Moose Jaw wanted to operate cw on 80m (as an example) another station in say Prince Albert could be using the callsign and operating
phone at the
same time. Logs must be kept (as detailed in the email from Field
Services VP).

Please ask around in your area to see if anyone is interested in
operating this callsign
for Canada Day and get back to me before May 14, I can forward the rules
to anyone
interested right away. Thanks for your interest.

73 de VE5JML
Joan SM for Saskatchewan

ARISS MILESTONE: 300TH CONTACT

On Thursday, May 31, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) made its 300th contact since its inception back in December 2000. This milestone QSO was to the NASA Teacher Conference in Houston, Texas. The first contact was on December 21, 2000 to Burbank School in Burbank, Illinois. -QRZ

LAST MONTHS PUZZLER
What is an Interferometer?

ANSWER: An interferometer is a radio direction finding device. It works by combining out of phase signals from two antennas to produce a sharp null.

THIS MONTHS PUZZLER

If you contacted a station who had a prefix of HB0, what country would
they be in?

Answer next week.


R.A.R.A. Membership Application 2007– 2008
(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