Central Alberta Amateur Radio Club
VE6BLD
Welcome to the CAARC web site. I have been a Ham since 1978 and am active on most modes from HF to UHF Satellite communications.
Posts by VE6BLD
CAARC Participation in ARRL Field Day 2019
Jun 10th
Our Field Day will be held at the farm of Ray, VE6RSO, at 36279 Range Road 285 southwest of Penhold. From the intersection of the C&E Trail and Township Road 364, go west nearly 2 miles. Watch for where the main gravel road turns south to become Range Road 285. Follow this road south about 1 mile until you see the 36279 sign on the east side. Or put 52.100611, -113.980417 into your navigation system. When you get there follow the Field Day signs. Note: My Google Maps does not locate 36279 Range Road 285 correctly.
I want everyone who comes to this event to leave it with no new injuries or conditions. We will have a designated Safety Officer during all times that we are working to set up for Field Day, making Field Day QSOs and messages, and tearing down and tidying up the site. He will help us to remember to do things in such a way that we and the property we are using are kept safe. And if we, as amateurs, ever join an ICS effort, the Safety Officer function is always included as part of the Command group, although it may be one of many hats that one person wears when crews are small. The Safety Officer in Charge will have the power to stop activities that he deems unsafe. This power will be enforced!
We are working toward setting up 3 HF stations and 1 VHF/UHF station.
Our schedule will be (These times are Local):
13:00 hours Friday June 21 – Set up
18:00 hours Friday June 21 – ARRL Field Day Bulletins start
09:00 hours Saturday June 22 – Final set up and testing, capture Field Day bulletin if not already done.
11:00 hours Saturday June 22 – Pre-operations break – bring your own lunch, coffee provided
12:00 hours Saturday June 22 – Target for Field Day Operations to start. Note: We have outstanding invitations to outside groups, so it would be good to keep our radios working
17:30 hours Saturday June 22 – Field Day supper, donations gladly accepted, thanks to Ray for the hog roast – can we rotate operators to keep the radios working?
07:00 hours Sunday June 23 – bacon and egg breakfast, donations gladly accepted – can we rotate operators to keep the radios working?
09:00 hours Sunday June 23 – On-air operations continue. Note: We have outstanding invitations to outside groups so it would be good to keep our radios working
24 hours after start of on-air operations – shut down
Then tallying of score and tear down and clean up. Note – tear down can overlap with on-air operations for any item that is no longer useful, such as an 80-meter dipole after mid-morning.
Come on over! It would help me if I knew what times you could be there, please advise me of your intended hours if you can at va6sja@rac.ca or at my 306-321-4457 cellular phone. But you are still welcome if you can’t predict your hours. And please advise me of the meals you will attend so we can buy the right amount.
John, VA6SJA, CAARC Field Day Chairman
Map to Field Day Location
Click the blue link below to get directions to CAARC Field Day location. Then choose your starting location at the flashing curser in the upper left corner to get driving directions
The 49th Annual Red Deer Amateur Radio Picnic and Hamfest
May 26th
The 49th Annual Red Deer Amateur Radio Picnic and Hamfest (click link below for details)
http://www.caarc.ca/40th-annual-red-deer-picnic-and-hamfest
will be held on June 14, 15, and 16 , 2019.
2019 Red Deer Picnic and Hamfest Volunteers Needed
Apr 20th
The Red Deer Picnic and Hamfest is fast approaching. We need lots of club members to help out with various tasks before and during the weekend
Simply click this link to go to the form and click submit at the bottom.
Astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL, SK
Apr 16th
Amateur Radio in Space Pioneer Astronaut Owen Garriott, W5LFL, SK
04/15/2019
The US astronaut who pioneered the use of Amateur Radio to make contacts from space — Owen K. Garriott, W5LFL — died April 15 at his home in Huntsville, Alabama. He was 88. Garriott’s ham radio activity ushered in the formal establishment of Amateur Radio in space, first as SAREX — the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment, and later as ARISS — Amateur Radio on the International Space Station.
“Owen Garriott was a good friend and an incredible astronaut,” fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin tweeted. “I have a great sadness as I learn of his passing today. Godspeed Owen.”
An Oklahoma native, Garriott — an electrical engineer — spent 2 months aboard the Skylab space station in 1973 and 10 days aboard Spacelab-1 during a 1983 Space Shuttle Columbia mission. It was during the latter mission that Garriott thrilled radio amateurs around the world by making the first contacts from space. Thousands of hams listened on 2-meter FM, hoping to hear him or to make a contact. Garriott ended up working stations around the globe, among them such notables as the late King Hussein, JY1, of Jordan, and the late US Senator Barry Goldwater, K7UGA. He also made the first CW contact from space. Garriott called hamming from space “a pleasant pastime.”
“I managed to do it in my off-duty hours, and it was a pleasure to get involved in it and to talk with people who are as interested in space as the 100,000 hams on the ground seemed to be,” he said in an interview published in the February 1984 edition of QST. “So, it was just a pleasant experience, the hamming in particular, all the way around.”
Although Garriott had planned to operate on ham radio during his 10 days in space, no special provisions were made on board the spacecraft in terms of equipment — unlike the situation today on the International Space Station. Garriott simply used a hand-held transceiver with its antenna in the window of Spacelab-1. His first pass was down the US West Coast.
“[A]s I approached the US, I began to hear stations that were trying to reach me,” he told QST. “On my very first CQ, there were plenty of stations responding.” His first contact was with Lance Collister, WA1JXN, in Montana.
ARISS ARRL Representative Rosalie White, K1STO, met Garriott when he attended Hamvention, “both times, sitting next to him at Hamvention dinner banquets,” she recounted. “Once when he was a Special Achievement Award winner, and once with him and [his son] Richard when Richard won the 2009 Special Achievement Award. Owen was unassuming, very smart, kind, and up to date on the latest technology.” Garriott shared a Hamvention Special Achievement Award in 2002 with fellow Amateur Radio astronaut Tony England, W0ORE.
Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, was a private space traveler to the ISS, flown there by the Russian Federal Space Agency, and he also carried ham radio into space.
New Amateur Radio Packet Gear Awaits Unpacking, Installation on Space Station
Dec 10th
New Amateur Radio Packet Gear Awaits Unpacking, Installation on Space Station
12/18/2018New Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) packet equipment awaits unpacking and installation on board the station after arriving in November as part of the cargo transported via a Russian 71P Progress resupply vehicle. The new packet module for NA1SS will replace the current packet gear, which has been intermittent over the past year.
“With the arrival of Progress complete, the crew has to find free time unpack Progress, uninstall the intermittent module, and then set up and test the replacement packet module,” explained Dan Barstow, KA1ARD, senior education manager of the ISS National Laboratory (CASIS), an ARISS sponsor.
The ISS packet system was reported to have gone down in July 2017, although it unexpectedly came back to life the following summer. At the time of the failure, NASA ISS Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, said the revived system would fill the gap until the replacement packet module was launched and installed. The packet system operates on 145.825 MHz. ARISS hardware team members on the ground were able to locate a functional duplicate of the ISS packet module that has been in use on the ISS for 17 years. ARISS said the subsequent installation will depend on the crew’s busy schedule.
In an email to ARISS and other groups CASIS supports, Barstow pointed out that ARISS is an official back-up system for astronauts to talk with Mission Control in the unlikely failure of the station’s primary communication systems.
Bartow said that in 2017, hams relayed nearly 89,000 packet messages via the ISS — an average of 243 every day. The statistic so intrigued and amazed Barstow that he decided to get his Amateur Radio license and gear to join in the activity.
Satellite stalwart and ARISS supporter Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK, won the December 2018 QST Cover Plaque Award for his article, “Making Digital Contacts through the ISS.”
Current International Space Station (ISS) crew members Serena Auñón-Chancellor, KG5TMT, Alexander Gerst, KF5ONO, and cosmonaut Sergey Prokopyev are scheduled to return to Earth on December 20 on a Soyuz vehicle.
SSO-A mission with Amateur Radio satellites launched December 3
Dec 5th
From AMSAT.UK
Spaceflight’s SSO-A SmallSat Express mission, carrying many amateur radio satellites, launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 18:34 GMT on Monday, December 3.
Watch the launch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq8kS6UoOrQ
ESEO 437.000 MHz beacon received by Surrey Space Centre
64 small satellites from 17 countries were launched on this mission, some with amateur radio payloads. A full list of satellites, can be found at
https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/content/-/article/sso-a
Four microsatellites including ESEO, carrying an AMSAT-UK FUNcube-4 transponder, were deployed about 2 hours and 13 minutes after launch.
60 CubeSats including Jordan’s JY1SAT carrying a FUNcube-6 transponder and capable of transmitting Slow Scan Digital Video (SSDV) images deployed about 2 hours later.
EMO worker tries to drum up enthusiasm for ham radio
Oct 14th
EMO worker tries to drum up enthusiasm for ham radio
In an emergency, ham radio is an essential form of communication, Mike Johnson says
A free workshop about ham radios will be held in Sackville on Oct. 22. (Nicole Williams/CBC)
A ham radio probably isn’t the first form of communication a person thinks about in an emergency, but sometimes, it’s the only one that works.
Ham radios can use wireless transmission to send messages to battery-operated radios.
And they can be useful when large storms knock out telecommunications, says Mike Johnson, the Cumberland Regional Emergency Management co-ordinator.
He is partnering up with EOS Eco-Energy and the West Cumb Amateur Radio Club to hold a free workshop in Sackville to try get more people interested in ham radios.
Different technology
Johnson, who is also a member of the WestCumb club in Amherst, N.S., said that when we lose essential communications such as cellphones, landlines and the Internet — a ham radio can come to the rescue. Hurricane Michael, which struck Florida this week, devastated normal channels of communications.
Storms that knock out telecommunications for long periods of time create more problems for co-ordinated emergency response, he said.
He said he’s already seen how ham radios could help in New Brunswick.
In January 2017, a massive ice storm knocked out power to thousands in the northeast for days.
Operators dwindling
“It became very difficult,” said Johnson.
Today, ham radios are considered a hobby more than a necessity, and not many people know how they work.
“Our numbers are dwindling,” Johnson said of the amateur radio clubs.
But younger members are needed, especially since the clubs’ services may be needed even more as the climate changes.
“We still use Morse code to this day,” he said.
Requires a test
Johnson said there are a few steps to becoming a ham radio operator.
“You need to study, take the test, once you pass it’s a one-time cost,” he said. “It’s good for life.”
After that, it’s just buying the equipment to use. Equipment for amateur radio costs between $300 and $5,000.
The workshop will be held at the Sackville Royal Canadian Legion on Monday, Oct. 22, at 6:30 p.m.
SABRE-27 High Altitude Balloon
Sep 17th
Hi
The weather is looking promising so we’re going to give it another try this Saturday, September 29.
Please pass this on to anyone you think may be interested.
73, Bruce – VE5BNC
Unfortunately we’ve had to postpone the flight due to terrible weather. (near freezing, 40km winds and a mix of snow and rain).
I’ll re-send an announcement when we have it rescheduled.
Thanks
Bruce
Hi Bob
The Saskatoon Amateur Radio Club is planning on flying a VHF voice repeater on our next flight on September 22. Please pass this on to anyone you think will be interested. More >
Jack Humphries VE6JRH/VA6IX Silent Key
Apr 15th
It is with sadness we announce the passing of Jack Humphries VE6JRH/VA6IX from Olds. Jack received his Amateur Radio license in June 2001 and had been very active on the bands ever since. Jack was very instrumental in helping many hams obtain their licenses and he made many friends on HF and VHF. Jack worked many stations around the world on various bands and was always listening and ready to engage everyone in a meaningful conversation. He will certainly be missed.
Jack’s funeral service will be held on Friday April 20th at 11:00 A.M. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3802 57 Ave. Olds.
The following is from a profile of Jack, written on the CAARC web site October 30, 2003.
I grew up on a farm southwest of Drumheller, Alberta, just south of the Horse Shoe Canyon. I came down with Diabetes Mellitus in 1947, which certainly changed my way of life.
My father took ill in 1950 and my work load at age eight got considerably heavier, with lots of chores to do. Dad then suffered a stroke in 1952 and work around the farm got a lot harder. I started driving truck and hauling grain when I was ten years old. Dad passed away in 1953 when I was eleven. I had a younger brother and two younger sisters.
I met my XYL in Calgary during 1960 and we went our separate ways until we married in 1965. We lived in Calgary, on 42nd Street SW, had two children, a boy and a girl. We subsequently moved to Olds, Alberta in 1969. We bought a shoe store in 1974 and sold it during the devastating inflationary early eighties. I presently work in Life Insurance and Mutual Funds as an independent broker.
Please click this link to read the complete profile of Jack.
Dov/4Z4DX announces special event stations
Dec 2nd
From Earl Rubin
4X, Israel:
Dov/4Z4DX announces that special event stations will be operating from several HOCOTA
locations between Dec. 22 and 24. QSOs will count towards a special award as well. QSL only by EQSL.CC and LOTW
4X2XMAS-Tabor mountain,
4X3XMAS-Caeserea,
4X4XMAS-Nazareth,
4X6XMAS-Arbel,
4X7XMAS-catholic church Beer Sheva,
4X9XMAS-Nitzana .and
4X0XMAS- Shivta
For more info please check QRZ.COM
