Youth On The Air Comes to Canada!

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The next Youth on the Air Camp for the Americas is being held from July 16-21, 2023 at Carleton University in Ottawa. A team of RAC volunteers will serve as the local host for this event. The main organizers are Roger Egan, VA3EGY, and Harrie Jones, VE3HYS.

The next Youth on the Air Camp for the Americas is being held from July 16-21, 2023 at Carleton University in Ottawa.

A team of RAC volunteers will serve as the local host for this event. The main organizers are Roger Egan, VA3EGY, and Harrie Jones, VE3HYS.

Youth On The Air (YOTA) is a program for and by young Amateur Radio operators in the Americas, closely modelled after the Youngsters On The Air program in Region 1 (Europe, Africa and Middle East) of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). The goal of the program is to build skills and foster lasting friendships and mentors with younger Amateurs.

Youth On The Air Camp is for Amateur Radio operators between the ages of 15 to 25. 

For more information please visit: https://www.rac.ca/youth-on-the-air/

RAC Canada Day Contest 2023

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Each year on July 1, the anniversary of Canada’s Confederation, Radio Amateurs of Canada sponsors the Canada Day Contest and Amateurs all over the world are invited to Canada’s Birthday Party on the air.

Contest Period: 0000 UTC to 2359 UTC on Saturday, July 1.
Bands and Modes: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6 and 2 metres, CW and phone (SSB, FM, AM, etc.)
Suggested frequencies: CW – 25 kHz up from the band edge and for SSB – 1850, 3775, 7075*, 7225, 14175, 21250 and 28500 kHz. Check for CW activity on the half-hour.

For more information: English | French

Field Day 2023: Weekend of June 24-25

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The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) / Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) Field Day is held annually during the fourth full weekend in June. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, June 24 and Sunday, June 25, beginning at 1800 UTC Saturday and running through 2059 UTC Sunday.

Sponsored by the ARRL and RAC (but organized primarily by the ARRL), Field Day is open to all Amateur Radio operators covered by these two International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) member organizations.

The ARRL Field Day webpage includes complete rules and entry forms, as well as any updated information as it becomes available.

Weather Spotter Workshops and Q&A Event: May and June

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RAC Event: Weather Spotter Workshop “Beyond CanWarn” and Q&A Event

Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC), the national association for Amateur Radio in Canada, is pleased to present two upcoming “Beyond CanWarn” Weather Spotter Workshops for Amateurs and non-Amateurs. In addition, a special “Beyond CanWarn” Q&A Live Event will also be held to close off this year’s training session.

Please visit the CanWarn webpage to register now: https://www.rac.ca/canwarn/

Weather Spotter Workshops: May 18 and June 14

The Weather Spotter Workshops events will be hosted by RAC Community Services Officer Jason Tremblay, VE3JXT, and will once again feature special guest Warning Preparedness Meteorologist Geoff Coulson as described below.

Both events will be held online via Zoom and are identical so you can just pick the one that works best for you. Please see the Registration section below for more information. They are available to everyone: Amateurs and non-Amateurs.

In these special events, Geoff Coulson, Warning Preparedness Meteorologist, will discuss topics including the basics of thunderstorm formation, the types of damage severe thunderstorms can produce and what to look for in the sky. Winter severe weather will be touched on as well.

Safety tips for you and your family and how to report weather to Environment and Climate Change Canada will be covered in these training sessions.

The training also provides ways that storm reports can be provided to Environment and Climate Change Canada and several safety tips to keep storm spotters safe.

Dates: Thursday, May 18 and Wednesday, June 14

Time: 7 pm Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Cost: There is no fee for this event.

Please visit the CanWarn webpage to register now: https://www.rac.ca/canwarn/

Q&A Live Event: June 28

In this special online live, zoom event, Geoff Coulson, Warning Preparedness Meteorologist, and Jason Tremblay, RAC Community Services Officer, will discuss a number of topics including:

  • the current climate crisis
  • El Niño effects for this year
  • the adaptation of CanWarn and Beyond CanWarn training programs

Following the presentation there will be a Question and Answer session with the participants.

Date: Wednesday, June 28

Time: 7 pm Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Cost: There is no fee for this event.

Please visit the CanWarn webpage to register now: https://www.rac.ca/canwarn/

Bryan Rawlings, VE3QN, inducted into Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame

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For immediate release:

On Saturday April 15, 2023, members of the Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club, the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club and the National Capital Chapter (70) of the Quarter Century Wireless Association – all of which Bryan Rawlings, VE3QN, is a member – held their first in-person gathering since the pandemic began in March 2020.

It was organized to formally induct Bryan into the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame and to recognize his outstanding contributions to Amateur Radio locally, nationally and internationally.

Radio Amateurs of Canada recognizes deserving Amateurs by appointments to the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame (CARHOF). The Constitution for the Hall specifies that the appointment as Member of the Hall is made for “outstanding achievement and excellence of the highest degree, for serious and sustained service to Amateur Radio in Canada, or to Amateur Radio at large”.

The Trustees of the Hall have interpreted the Constitution to mean that the person has performed significant service over many years to enhance the well-being of Amateur Radio. At the meeting Bryan received three awards:

1) RAC President Phil McBride, VA3QR, presented Bryan with the CARHOF plaque on behalf of Radio Amateurs of Canada and the CARHOF Board of Trustees.

2) Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club (OVMRC) President Barry Allison, VE3NA, presented Bryan with the award of “Life Membership” for his service to the Ottawa Amateur Radio community and his wonderful presentations to the OVMRC.

3) Quarter Century Wireless Association (QCWA) Chapter 70 President Dave Parks, VE3AV, and Awards Chair Pat Brewer, VE3KJQ, presented Bryan with his QCWA Century Club Certificate, which is awarded to QCWA members who have attained 100 in the sum of their age and years of membership in the QCWA organization.

The gathering was attended by Bryan’s wife Louise and by Christine Hsu from Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), who served as Chair of the Working Party 5A Preparatory Meetings at the World Radiocommunications Conference in 2015 and worked closely with Bryan in his role as RAC Special Advisor. Special thanks to Colin Guillas, VA3CSG, who provided the IBEW Local 586 Union meeting hall for the event.

Radio Amateurs of Canada, the CARHOF Board of Trustees and the members of the three Ottawa clubs who hosted the event sincerely congratulate Bryan on his induction into the Hall of Fame. A detailed account of his achievements is included in the March-April 2023 issue of The Canadian Amateur magazine.

Frank Davis, VO1HP
Chair, Board of Trustees
Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame

Phil A. McBride, VA3QR/VA3KPJ
RAC President and Chair

Bryan Rawlings, VE3QN, Inducted into Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame

Changes to the RAC Field Organization

Posted on by VA3DBJ
Changes to the RAC Field Organization Sections Effective January 1, 2023 –
New RAC bulletin logo November 2019

As previously reported, on May 25, 2022, the Board of Directors of Radio Amateurs of Canada approved changes to the RAC Field Organization which will take effect on January 1, 2023. 

The RAC Field Organization will be reorganized into the following Sections effective January 1, 2023:

•        Newfoundland and Labrador (NL)

•        Nova Scotia (NS)

•        Prince Edward Island (PE)

•        New Brunswick (NB) – the Maritime Section (MAR) will be abolished.

•        Quebec (QC)

•        Ontario East (ONE)

•        Golden Horseshoe (GH) – currently called Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

•        Ontario South (ONS)

•        Ontario North (ONN)

•        Manitoba (MB)

•        Saskatchewan (SK)

•        Alberta (AB)

•        British Columbia (BC)

•        Territories (TER) – Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut will be combined into one section.

There will be unintended consequences to contesters and, in particular, to Field Day and three of the American Radio Relay League’s Contests: the Sweepstakes CW, Sweepstakes SSB and the ARRL 160m contests. These changes do not affect any other ARRL contests or any other contests.

What it Means for Contesting….

In his column “The Sports Page: The Canadian Contest Scene” in the September-October 2022 issue of The Canadian Amateur magazine, Tom Haavisto, VE3CX, discussed the impact of the changes to the RAC Field Organization on contesting.

Tom Haavisto, VE3CX –

“As previously reported, on May 25 the Board of Directors of Radio Amateurs of Canada approved changes to the “RAC Field Organization” which will take effect on January 1, 2023. There will be unintended consequences to contesters and, in particular, to Field Day and three of the American Radio Relay League’s Contests: the Sweepstakes CW, Sweepstakes SSB and the ARRL 160m contests. These changes do not affect any other ARRL contests or any other contests. The following column was prepared with input from several of the RAC volunteers who are working behind the scenes on your behalf.

The RAC Field Organization is divided into “Sections” that cover defined geographic areas, usually a province. Every issue of The Canadian Amateur magazine has a “Section News” column in which Section Reports  briefly describe the important role that volunteer Amateurs provide to their communities across Canada. There is absolutely no better way to visualize the commitment and dedication of these hard working volunteers than to read the reports and articles submitted to the Public Service / Auxiliary Communication Service column and the Section News
(see pages 43-52).

For reasons of tradition, those four ARRL events have always used the Sections of the Field Organizations in Canada and the United States in the exchange as well as for multipliers. Sweepstakes (SS) is the oldest of the four and began as a competition in passing formal messages back in the 1930s when handling “Radiograms” was a very large part of Amateur Radio.

As time went on, the Sweepstakes CW and Sweepstakes SSB became less like message handling events and more like the contests that we know and love today. This is where the quirky rules of Sweepstakes came from – they are based on this history of message handling.

In both Canada and the United States, changes in the Field Organizations were always made for their own internal reasons, independent of contests.

Over the years, the ARRL’s Contest Management Team have adjusted their contest rules to follow changes as they are made. The ARRL has already indicated that they will adjust the rules of Field Day, SS CW, SS SSB and the ARRL 160m contest to mirror the decisions of the RAC Board.” – continued at the link provided below:

Restructuring of the Field Organization – Radio Amateurs of Canada (rac.ca)

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

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Amateur Radio Operators Invited to participate in Asteroid Bounce Experiment

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ARRL – The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) will be conducting a research campaign/experiment on December 27, 2022, with transmissions between 1100 – 2300 UTC (0200 – 1400 AKST).

This experiment will reflect HAARP transmissions off of Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) 2010 XC15, and the echo will be received by the Owens Valley Radio Observatory Long Wavelength Array (OVRO-LWA) at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and by the University of New Mexico’s Long Wavelength Array (UNM-LWA). The target asteroid will be roughly two lunar distances away from Earth at the time of transmission. Characterizing the interior structure and composition of NEAs is critical for advancing the understanding of solar system evolution and aiding in planetary defense.

Actual transmit times are highly variable based on real-time ionospheric conditions and all information is subject to change. Currently, the Asteroid Bounce (2010 XC15) experiment will take place Dec. 27, 2022, from 1100 UTC to 2300 UTC; 9.6 MHz, LFM (linear FM), 0.5 Hz WRF (waveform repetition frequency), 30 kHz bandwidth. Reports recording echo are encouraged; demodulated recordings in .wav or .mp3 are recommended.

For real-time ionospheric conditions in Gakona, please consult ionograms from the HAARP Diagnostic Suite at https://haarp.gi.alaska.edu/diagnostic-suite.

Amateur radio and radio astronomy enthusiasts are invited to listen to the transmissions/echoes and submit reception reports to the HAARP facility at [email protected] and request a QSL card by mailing a report to:

HAARP
P.O. Box 271
Gakona AK 99586
USA

RAC Online Basic Amateur Radio Course: Spring 2023

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Registration for Spring 2023 RAC Basic Course is now underway!

https://www.rac.ca/basic-radio-course-spring-2023/

For immediate release:

Radio Amateurs of Canada is once again offering an online Amateur Radio course so that individuals from all across Canada can obtain their Amateur Radio Operator Certificate with Basic Qualification.

The course will again be conducted with the assistance of the Annapolis Valley Amateur Radio Club (AVARC) of Nova Scotia.

This course prepares students for the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) Basic Qualification Level Operator Certificate exam to operate on allocated Amateur Radio frequencies.

Schedule and Cost:

Date: The course will be held on Thursdays and Sundays, commencing on Thursday, January 26 and ending in early April.

Time: Classes will be held on Thursday evenings from 6 pm to 9 pm (1800 – 2100) Eastern Time  and Sunday afternoons 1 pm to 4 pm (1300 – 1600) Eastern Time.

Cost: The registration fee for the course is $50 plus GST/HST. The cost of the Basic Study Guide is extra and an order link will be provided upon completion of payment.

Instruction: 

The course instructor is Al Penney, VO1NO. Al was first licensed in 1977 and has been active in many areas of Amateur Radio including contesting, DXing, VHF/UHF weak signal, satellites, emergency communications and DXpeditioning. 

He has served as the President of six different Amateur Radio clubs in both Canada and the United States and currently chairs the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 2 Band Planning Committee. Al has taught the Basic Qualification Amateur Radio Course since 1994.

Requirements:

Course material pertaining to all topics covered in the course syllabus will be provided to all registered students. Students must have a copy of the Canadian Amateur Radio Basic Qualification Study Guide provided by Coax Publications. For more information please visit the RAC Study Guideswebpage. It is essential that all students have the necessary equipment and bandwidth capable of taking the course – at least a tablet or PC and a DSL broadband connection – which will be conducted using the Zoom conference platform.

You do not need your own account on Zoom to take part in this course, but you may have to download a Zoom applet to participate.

Students will receive instructions on how to log on to the online sessions once they have registered for the course. Classes will be recorded, so occasional absences are not a problem.

Complete information about the course and a downloadable copy of the course syllabus are available at:

https://www.rac.ca/basic-radio-course-spring-2022/

Registration: 

If you would like to take part in this course please register now by completing the registration form provided on the RAC website at:

https://www.rac.ca/basic-radio-course-spring-2023/

Other Amateur Radio Courses:

Amateur Radio Basic and Advanced Qualification courses are also now being provided both online and in person by Canadian Amateur Radio Clubs and organizations. Please visit the Amateur Radio Courses webpage for more information at the link provided below.

Amateur Radio Courses

Phil McBride, VA3QR
RAC President

RAC Canada Winter Contest 2022

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In December each year, Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) sponsors the Canada Winter Contest. Amateurs all over the world are invited to participate.

Contest Period: 0000 UTC to 2359 UTC on
December 17, 2022.

Bands and Modes: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6 and 2 metres, CW and
phone (SSB, FM, AM, etc.)

Suggested frequencies: CW – 25 kHz up from the band edge and for
SSB – 1850, 3775, 7075*, 7225, 14175, 21250 and 28500 kHz. Check for
CW activity on the half-hour.

*Note: For 7075 kHz please watch for conflicts in the band plan where
there are overlaps with other modes of operation.

Exchange: Stations in Canada send RS(T) and province or territory.
VEØs and stations outside Canada send RS(T) and a serial number.

QSOs: Contacts with stations in Canada or VEØs are worth 10 points.
Contacts with stations outside Canada are worth 2 points. Contacts with
RAC official stations are worth 20 points.

RAC official stations are: VA2RAC, VA3RAC, VE1RAC, VE4RAC, VE5RAC,
VE6RAC, VE7RAC, VE8RAC, VE9RAC, VO1RAC, VO2RAC, VY0RAC, VY1RAC
and VY2RAC.

For more information, please click here.