GUYWIRE

MARCH 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.

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NEXT MEETING WEDNESDAY MARCH 14TH 7:30 PM
at the Science Centre - Imax Board Room top floor
Coffee will be served. Visitors welcome.

PRESIDENT REPORT

Over the past year the executive have been brainstorming a lot of ideas to put extra value into belonging to the Regina Amateur Radio Association.

One of the ideas is to hold a transmitter hunt. At our next meeting we will present some information to discuss . We will confirm a date for the first Transmitter hunt in Regina for 2007. As the project unfolds we will post the information on our website for all amateurs to plan to take part.

I encourage you to attend the regular monthly meeting and bring your ideas for the hunt. Some of you have enjoyed these in the past and it has been awhile since we have done them as a club effort. If the first one works for us, we could consider holding a few more throughout the summer and into the fall.

This spring or early summer we plan to complete the painting of Burnside and hopefully prolong the life of the structure with a few needed repairs.

Our remote base project is currently being studied and we hope to have a report very soon with some costs and a couple of scenarios to discuss and possible adopt.

Our club has made some very good financial decisions this past year and with those we may be able to purchase some equipment to help with the new programs that we are discussing.

Our club website has been developing along very well. The content is being loaded in as it is updated. Don’t forget to book mark the site.

Don’t forget that we now have a new section to our meeting after the new business for General interest topics. Great time for rag chew. See you at the meeting. 73's VE5SX

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

Bill Wood, VE5EE, the nominations chairman is looking for people who would like to help the club by letting their names stand for various positions for the upcoming year. Elections will be held at the Annual General Meeting in April. If you would like to take part, please call Bill.


MOOSE JAW FLEA MARKET

The annual Moose Jaw Flea Market will be held April 14th
at the Church of Our Lady, 566 Vaughn St. W.
Breakfast at 8:00 AM Gates open at 9:00 AM Admission $2.00 Tables $5.00 Talk-in frequencies 146.94 and 146.52 For further information contact VE5TRF ve5trf@sasktel.net


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 Guest Speaker David Klatt VE5GN Home Brew contest DX Forum CW Contest Flea Market Search and Rescue Display Annual General Meetings for ARES and SARL Flea Market and display tables free. To book a table, contact Val VE5ACJ at ve5acj@rac.ca Talk in frequencies 146.94 and 147.06

NEW U.S. HAMBANDS

As most of you know, the U.S. has radically changed the partitioning of its ham bands. To find out the new frequency limits and which classes are allowed to operate where, there is a full color chart at:

http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/Hambands_color.pdf

IRLP NEWS

We are continuing to have propogation problems on the UHF
link connecting the repeater to the IRLP node. The repeater and the node are operating normally but about 10% of the time the UHF link becomes noisy or fails to work altogether. Plans are underway to erect another antenna on the T.C. Douglas building to correct this problem. This will be done when the weather improves.

RESEARCH PERMITS FOR 500 KHZ BAND

Amateur Radio Full licensees in the UK may obtain special research permits to experiment in the vicinity of 501 to 504 kHz, the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) reports. Telecoms regulator Ofcom will grant a limited number of Amateur Radio Full licensees permission to operate between 501 and 504 kHz for 12 months, starting March 1, 2007. The RSGB says special research permits under a Notice of Variation may be available to Full Amateur Radio licensees on a case-by-case basis to applicants who can demonstrate a genuine interest in LF experimentation and provide adequate supporting documentation. The RSGB says Ofcom will take applicants' prior low-frequency (LF) experience into consideration in an effort to minimize potential interference and will monitor interference reports and limit the number of special research permits if necessary. In any case, Ofcom will not permit ERP levels greater than -10 dBW (0.1 W). -credit RSGB

CUSHCRAFT SOLD

Cushcraft, the well known US makers of Amateur Radio
HF VHF and UHF antennas,have been bought by the United Kingdom based Laird Group PLC.

A press release quotes Martin Rapp, CEO of Laird
Technologies as saying “The combination of the two companies uniquely positions Laird Technologies to grow the combined business in emerging markets of RFID and WiMax.” There is no mention in the statement of plans for the Amateur Radio Antenna division.

-credit QRZ

WEBSITE OF THE MONTH

Want to find the e-mail address of other Canadian Hams or their webpages? Try:

http://www.dmnet.ca

PUZZLER RETURNS

This months puzzler: What was the first proposed use for Herztian waves? Answer next month.


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