OSCARC Newsletter
for August 2010
The regular monthly meeting
was called to order at 1945EDT, Aug/03, 2010.
Members Present: Bill VA3WTT
(treasurer), Alex VA3XLO, Dave VA3ETE, Jean VE3WAD, Tim VE3IXN, John
VA3JE (minute taker), Ward VE3WGK (president), Jay VE3EMP, Ian VE3IJS,
Bill VA3PPC, David VE3RER, Jeff VE3PRX (secretary)
Regrets: Neil VE3NGS, Peter
VE3EYI Visitors: nil
The Minutes of last meeting were presented
by the Secretary. There were no errors or omissions.
Motion to approve by Jeff PRX, seconded by Jay EMP. Carried.
On-going business:
-There was further discussion
regarding the shack antenna tuner.
-John JE reported that the U of T microsat
has been launched. No word yet on frequencies.
-The shack PA system is working for one
radio. Jay EMP said he had an audio mixer which could be used
to combine other sources.
-Peter EYI emailed that he has, after
several attempts, had no success in getting the Club listed with World
Radio On-Line.
-David RER reported that VE3OSC won our
class in the Ontario QSO Party. Yea us!
-There are no immediate plans to enter
future contests. Suggestions are welcome.
-Ward WGK suggested that the call letter
licence plate in the shack belonging to Stan Treeby VE3HT (SK)
be framed and left on permanent display. All agreed to the proposal.
Jean WAD made a motion, seconded by John JE, that the Club make a donation
in Stan’s name to the Ontario Federation for Cerebral Palsy.
Motion carried
From the floor:
-John summarized the Club’s participation
in Field Day and Canada Day. Here is his report:
Ward, Jean,
Tim and I got a late start Friday evening at 7PM. Fortunately we were
able to set up one tent and one antenna by about 9 PM with darkness
closing in and the rain starting. We were back on the scene by 8:00
AM and set up the radios but the rain did not let up all weekend and
we were not able to setup the second tent althoughWard was able to set up a second antenna in the downpour Sunday morning.
We operated from 2PM to Midnight Saturday fighting lots of natural radio
noise (thunder storms in the area).We were back at it Sunday Morning by 7:30 and operated till the end
of the contest at 2PM. Fortunately the rain let up about noon
Sunday which enabled us to pack up the tent and equipment at the end
of the contest and leave OSC by about 5 PM.Results: We had 168 QSOs on four bands…80, 40, 20 and 15 M.
73 CW QSOs and 95 Phone QSOs for a claimed score of 470 Pts.
Not as many points as last year but considering the band and weather
conditions not a bad FD effort. We had Ward, Jean, Tim, Peter,
Ori, Ian and me operating or lending support for the FD.We did not have many volunteers able to make the CD contest but we did
manage a fairly good score. The contest period was from 8 PM June 30
to 8PM July 1. We had only three operators with Jean helping out on
Thursday explaining to the visitors what was going on.
David was
operating from 8PM Wednesday night till about midnight. ( He was the
only volunteer overnight Wednesday.) I came in at 7:30 Thursday morning
and continued the contest to be joined by David and Jean at about 10
AM Ward joined us in the afternoon. We operated until the end of the
contest at 8 PM. David, Ward and I were the only volunteers in the building
after 6PM Thursday until we packed up at about 9PM.Here’s a computer generated summary of Canada Day RAC Score Summary
SheetStart Date : 2010-07-01, Callsign Used : VE3OSC Operator(s)
: VE3RER,VA3JEOperator Category : MULTI-ONE, Band : ALL, Power : LOW,
Mode : MIXEDDefault Exchange : ON, Grid square : FN03HR, Software
: N1MM Logger V10.6.5Band Mode QSOs Pts Sec
3.5 CW 27 176 4
3.5 LSB 20 188 3
7 CW 27 128 3
7 LSB 32 186 3
14 CW 84 528 9
14 USB 63 502 10
21 CW 22 170 5
21 USB 7 38 1
28 USB 13 42 1
50 CW 2 20 1
Total Both 297 1978 40
Score : 79,120
Member input: – nil
President’s report:
-Ward WGK reported that the satellite
controller is broken. The necessary part is available from Yaesu
for about $18. He will follow up.
-He also mentioned that Elections
will be held at the September meeting. Please don’t
avoid attending the meeting because of this. The Club will
only survive if all members pitch in and help.
Secretary’s Report:
nil
Treasurer’s Report: Bill WTT reported
once again that the Club still has a positive balance. Contact
him if you need more detail.
Future Presentations:
September/03:
Aron VA3UMA on his portable military HF rig and Direct Digital Synthesizer..
??? = Neil VE3NGS reminiscences of the
original VE3OSC
??? = Ori XW on trains and train communications
generally and radio in the 20’s and 30’s
??? = Ian IJS Update on DSTAR and possibly
Echolink in Fall
??? = John Hansen on EMC (Electromagnetic
Compatibility)
(We need people willing
to do a presentation at any future meeting. It
can be long or short. If you don’t think you can fill a slot
on your own we can combine two shorter topics. All suggestions
and offers to present gratefully received. Contact Peter ve3eyi@gmail.com. )
Station Activity:
-nil
Floobie Dust and interesting URLs:
-nil
Break: called at
2045 for recharging and eyeball QSOs.
Presentation(s):
Starting at 2117 Ward WGK finally was
able to give his presentation on CanWarn, Environment Canada’s
severe weather spotter program. Ward has been very involved for
many years and encouraged anyone who wanted to get involved to contact
him.
After Ward’s presentation Jay EMP,
seconded by Dave ETE, moved the meeting be adjourned at 2200.
Carried
The OSCARC meets at 1930 local
on the first Tuesday of the month, unless it is a holiday, in which
case the second Tuesday. Check in with Security from the lower
parking lot down the hill on the south end of the building. Keep
an ear on VE3TWR 145.410/r on the drive in. Visitors are welcome.
Our website is www.oscarc.com
73
/p