SCARCS

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 19                                 February 2012

JANUARY

The Club repeater has been down throughout January.  The nets are still conducted every Tuesday mornings and evenings using the simplex frequency 146.49 mHz.  The people in Sechelt can use the old repeater in Sechelt on 147.22 mHz with no tone.

The Club is still working with the BC Coordination Council on resolving the repeater interference issue.  A new frequency may be tried in the near future.

Barry (VE7YEE) has provided a list of work to be done at the Mason Road site.  See below:

MASON ROAD SITE                          

HF coax need replacing. HF antenna need to be scanned for SWR and bandwidth for 80-40-20-10 metres. Pactor and voice operation on HF to be tested upon completion of HF antenna upgrade.

VHF coax need replacing. VHF antenna need to be scanned for SWR and bandwidth for 2 metres, antenna may have to be relocated below the UHF antenna. 

UHF coax wiring need replacing. UHF antenna need to be scanned for SWR and bandwidth for 70cm. antenna may have to be relocated to the top of the tower.

PL259 connectors to be cleaned and if necessary replaced before installation. Also for any N-type connectors

Internet connection to be checked and utilized for WL2K or possibly 

      EchoLink.

 Test of Mason Rd. site using portable generators for power.

   

2012 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

There is no date set for the Annual General Meeting yet.  However, Bill Rimmer (VE7WLL) has decided not to run as President for the coming year for personal reasons.  We have a couple of months to find a new President to lead the Club for 2012.

CLUB PROJECTS:

1. Sunshine Coast Emergency Drill: The SCRD is having regular meetings about the upcoming emergency drill.  The date has been set to March 14, 2012.  Stay tuned for details.
2. Mason Road Site:  See above list
3. Selma Park Site:  There is a possibility that our equipment will have to be pulled out of there.  No date has been set for the dismantling of our equipment.
4. Field Road Site:  The new HF antenna was installed.  No further work is planned for this site.

MEETINGS IN      February & March:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons:

February  11 & 25

March 10 & 24

Mosaic Cafe in Davis Bay:

February  4 & 18

March 3, 17 & 31

The next business meeting is scheduled for February 18, 2012 at Davis Bay

73

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 18                                 January 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

I have missed the last 2 Saturday coffee meetings due to other family commitments during the Holiday Season.  I hope all of you had a great Christmas with family and friends.  Hopefully,  Santa knocked at your door and left some new electronics to keep you busy in 2012.  Unfortunately, he flew right over my place without stopping or even leaving a scent.  So needless to say, I will have to contend with the VHF band for the time being.  

DECEMBER

The Club conducted another trial on the Nanaimo repeater in December.  Unfortunately, there we are still interfering with the Chilliwack repeater.  Hopefully, we can get a VHF repeater to provide good communication along this Coast in 2012.  We have to be patient and trust that the Coordination Council will come up with a frequency we can use.  

CLUB PROJECTS:

1. Sunshine Coast Emergency Drill: The SCRD is having regular meetings about the upcoming emergency drill.  More details to come as they become available for our members.
2. Mason Road Site:  More antenna and cabling work is required at that location.  
3. Selma Park Site:  There is a possibility that our equipment will have to be pulled out of there.  No date has been set for the dismantling of our equipment.
4. Field Road Site:  A new HF antenna will be installed at that site in November.

MEETINGS IN     January, February & March:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons:

January 14 & 28

February  11 & 25

March 10 & 24

Mosaic Cafe in Davis Bay:

January 7 & 21

February  4 & 18

March 3, 17 & 31

The next business meeting is scheduled for January 21, 2012 at Sechelt 

73

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 17                                  December 2011

NOVEMBER

The Club repeater located in Nanaimo was still down throughout November at the request of the BC Coordination Council with the promise that they would do all they could to find a solution for the Sunshine Coast Repeater.  The old repeater was put in operation at the Mason Road site.  It can easily be accessed by the Sechelt Club members.

NANAIMO REPEATER

A trial is being planned in December for the Nanaimo repeater.  One of our club member will be in the Lower Mainland during the period of the trial and will monitor interference issues with the Chilliwack repeater.  Bill Fletcher will advise the members when the repeater is turned on so we can help with the trial.

SECHELT COFFEE MEETINGS

The new venue for the Sechelt Coffee meetings is at the Mosaic Cafe in Davis Bay.

CLUB PROJECTS:

1. Sunshine Coast Emergency Drill: The SCRD is having regular meetings about the upcoming emergency drill.  More details to come as they become available for our members.
2. Mason Road Site:  More antenna and cabling work is required at that location.  
3. Selma Park Site:  There is a possibility that our equipment will have to be pulled out of there.  No date has been set for the dismantling of our equipment.
4. Field Road Site:  A new HF antenna will be installed at that site in November.

MEETINGS IN    December & January:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons:

December 3, 17 & 31

January 14 & 28

Mosaic Cafe in Davis Bay:

New Location

December 10 & 24

January 7 & 21

                                                         

The next business meeting is scheduled for January 21, 2012 at Sechelt 

73

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 16                                  November 2011

OCTOBER

The Club repeater located in Nanaimo has been shut down by a request of the BC Coordination Council with the promise that they would do all they could to find a solution for the Sunshine Coast Repeater.  So far after one month, no one from the Club has heard from anyone at the BC Coordination Council.

A letter was send by our President Bill Rimmer (VE7WLL) to the BC Coordination Council proposing some alternatives.  Hopefully this problem of interference will be resolved in the shortest delay.

SECHELT COFFEE MEETINGS

The Village Restaurant is found to be very noisy to hold meetings.  Last Saturday we used another corner of the Restaurant and it proved reasonable.  In the meantime, the Mosaic Cafe is reopened with new owners and they are open early in the morning. (Food for thought)

CLUB PROJECTS:

1. Sunshine Coast Emergency Drill: The SCRD has held their first meeting to design a drill that would simulate a real emergency involving the whole Coast.  Hopefully we will have a functioning repeater by that time.
2. Mason Road Site:  More antenna and cabling work is required at that location.  
3. Selma Park Site:  There is a possibility that our equipment will have to be pulled out of there.  No date has been set for the dismantling of our equipment.
4. Field Road Site:  A new HF antenna will be installed at that site in November.

MEETINGS IN    November, December & January:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons:

November  19

December 3, 17 & 31

January 14 & 28

Village Restaurant Sechelt:

New Location

November 12 & 26

December 10 & 24

January 7 & 21

                                                         

The next business meeting is scheduled for November 26, 2011 at Sechelt 

73

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 15                                  October 2011

SEPTEMBER

Well, it has been a long wait, but the Club repeater is back in NANAIMO on Cottle Hill.  So far communications have been much improved on the Coast here.  Those who have used the repeater can finally attest that the new repeater location is ideal for the Sunshine Coast.

We thank Don (VE7DNK) and Bill (VE7BFX) for taking the repeater over and working with the Island Communication technician to get the repeater up and running.  The first weekend of operation required a lot of adjustments to get the repeater to work properly.  

Unfortunately, the repeater is now interfering with a repeater in Chilliwack using the same frequency.  We are lead to believe that the Sunshine Coast repeater blanks out the Chilliwack repeater.  Don (VE7DNK) will take a yagi antenna over as soon as possible to replace the double folded dipole now being used.  This will direct the repeater signal up the Coast and blank out the lower mainland.  Hopefully this issue will be resolved in early October.

Al and Bill have searched the internet for a possible frequency change for our repeater.  Hopefully this will be discussed within the club to find a more permanent solution to the repeater interference issue.

CHANGE OF VENUE FOR SATURDAY MORNING COFFEE

We had our first meeting at the Village Restaurant.  Eight members showed up on Saturday and it looks like the Village Restaurant is a good place for our meeting.  It is a rather busy place but we will get used to it.  There was no problem hearing each other during the discussions.

CLUB PROJECTS:

1. Sunshine Coast Emergency Drill: The SCRD is preparing for a major drill.  The Club will participate in this exercise and members are asked to contact Don (VE7DNK) to find out how they can help.  The date and radio communications requirements will be determined soon.
2. Mason Road Site:  More antenna and cabling work is required at that location.  
3. Selma Park Site:  There is a possibility that our equipment will have to be pulled out of there.

MEETINGS IN   October, November & December:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons:

October 8 & 22

November 5 & 19

December 3, 17 & 31

Village Restaurant Sechelt:

New LocationOctober 1, 15 & 29

November 12 & 26

December 10 & 24

                                                         

The next business meeting is scheduled for October 29, 2011 at Sechelt 

73

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 14                                   September 2011

MEMBERS’ 

Here we are in September already,  the summer has come and gone in a flash.  Those who have ventured away from the Coast for part of the summer have returned to the Coast.  As for myself (VE7TBP), I had an excellent trip in Europe biking along the Inn and Danube rivers with 2 friends.  We visited, Salzburg, Munich, Mulhdorf, Passau, Vienna and Bratislava.  Biking along the rivers in Europe is very popular because one avoid hills and there are so many small hamlets to accommodate tourists.  I wish the timing had been different because I spent the remainder of the summer tending my garden upon my return.  It was completely overtaken by weeds.  I understand the weather was extremely wet in late June early July here.

Ron (VA7GRK) is also back on the Coast after traveling all the way to Newfoundland and back.  Ron said he only had a day or two of rainy weather through the summer.  So anywhere but the West (Wet) Coast was the place to be in June and July.  

I have not talked to Bob (VA7RAS) but not having heard from him all summer, one must assume he was outside our area.  It was nice to hear him back on the net last Tuesday night.  

While some of us travelled, Bill Fletcher (VE7BFX)worked at improving his antennas.  Bill built a new mast to accommodate his VHF antenna and a new HF antenna.  He gets much improved communications on HF now.  Great work Bill.  If any of you want to see how things are done, masts, cable runs, grounding and lightning protection talk to Bill.  It is next to perfection in my humble opinion.

So now is the time to polish the rusty antennas and get back to HF, VHF or whatever frequency you like to use in communicating with other amateurs.

SUMMER’S HAPPENINGS (CLUB)

Speaking of communications, the latest Tuesday mornings nets have been horrible.  Signals to and fro the Field Road offices are very scratchy and inaudible.  Don Pendergast (VE7DNK) and Barry Yee (VE7YEE) will continue to troubleshoot the problem there.  Harry Almond (VE7HAR) will lend a hand next Tuesday with his antenna analyzer.  It looks like the club’s repeater will finally find its final home in September.  The work Don Pendergast (VE7DNK) and Bill Elsner of the SCRD were doing with the Nanaimo Regional District came to a halt late in the summer when it was discovered that the equipment at the proposed location would require excessive rework which we could not provide.  Island Communications of Nanaimo offered to install our repeater on their site on Cottle Hill in Nanaimo.  Don (VE7DNK) with the help of ham friends on Vancouver Island have found a double folded dipole antenna which the Nanaimo Club has gratefully offered to us.  So the installation of the antenna and cable is in the works.  Once completed, the repeater will be moved there.

Not much else has happened on the other sites.  It looks like the VHF repeater is our No. 1 priority right now.  Once that is done, we can do improvement work at the Field Road offices, the Mason Road site and the Selma Park site.

MOSAIC CAFE

We were told this last Saturday that our September 17th meeting will be our last one at that location.  Wendy is pulling the plug on her Mosaic Cafe at the end of the month.  Therefore, the October 1st meeting will be held at another location in Sechelt.  Al will be talking to the Village Restaurant and report at the next meeting.

MEETINGS IN   September, October, November & December:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons:September 10 & 24

                                         October 8 & 22

                                         November 5 & 19

                                         December 3, 17 & 31

Mosaic Cafe, Davis Bay:September 17

New Location:               October 1, 15 & 29

                                         November 12 & 26

                                         December 10 & 24

The next business meeting is scheduled for September 17, 2011 at Davis Bay 

73

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 13                                   June & July 2011

This edition will be for 2 months as I will biking along the Danube from June 22 to July 13.  Should there be any news to report upon my return, I will publish them as number 13.5

LAST MONTH

Don Pendergast (VE7DNK) continues to work with Bill Elsner of the SCRD to secure a new location in Nanaimo for the Club repeater.  Hopefully, we will get confirmation sometimes by the third week of June.

Barry worked on the Vertex repeater and made it work as it should.  More information under the repeater section.

Don, Barry and Ron attended the BC Area Frequency Coordination Council.  

REPEATER IMPROVEMENTS

GIBSONS

Contrary to last month’s report, the Vertex 7000 repeater is back in operation since Saturday May 28.  Barry Yee (VE7YEE) has done an excellent job researching the problem.  He was finally able to contact someone who had interfaced the Vertex Repeater with the NHRC-5 Controller which we are using.  It seems the connections were installed wrong originally.  He was able to rewire the controller according to this US individual.

The repeater is now working as it should, the audio is excellent and all is working properly: Identification, courtesy tone, transmit tail, etc.

During the Tuesday evening net, everyone who checked in noticed the difference.  We are now confident that this machine can be moved to the new location in Nanaimo when approval is received and give the Club an excellent performance.

THANKS Barry

SELMA PARK

The UHF repeater is in operation.  No decision made on the future location of this repeater until the Nanaimo site visit.

MASON ROAD STATION

The Mason Road station will be used as a secondary station in case of an emergency.  All equipment will be maintained in good working order. The internet connection has been restored and the packet system is in operation.  The HF Pactor system has been moved from Field Road to mason.  Don (VE7DNK) and Barry (VE7YEE) are still working to make it operational.

In the near future, a man lift will be rented to change the coax from the tower to the stations.  Some cabling are no longer giving satisfactory results.

FIELD ROAD STATION (SCRD Offices) 

The communication problems should be eliminated once the repeater has been moved to Nanaimo.

MEETINGS IN   June, July & August:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons:

June 4 & 18

July 2, 16 & 30

August 13 & 27

Mosaic Cafe, Davis Bay:

June 11 & 25

July 9  & 23

August 6 & 20

The next business meeting is scheduled for June 25, 2011 at Davis Bay 

73

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 12                                       May 2011

LAST MONTH

Don Pendergast (VE7DNK) continues to work with Bill Elsner of the SCRD to secure a new location in Nanaimo for the Club repeater.  Hopefully, we will get confirmation sometimes in May.

AGM

The AGM was held on April 2.  All last year’s executives were reelected.

SECHELT MEETINGS

We will continue to have our Saturday morning meetings at the Mosaic Cafe until further notice.  The owner has gratefully opened the Cafe at 10:00 am to accommodate us.  Thank Wendy whenever you pay your bill.

REPEATER IMPROVEMENTS

GIBSONS

The repeater’s performance has gone down quite substantially.  The C9 antenna was changed to a YAGI pointing towards Sechelt.  Besides not sounding great, the repeater programming has been altered.  There is no courtesy tone and the transmit hang-up timer is very long.

SELMA PARK

The UHF repeater is in operation.  No decision made on the future location of this repeater until the Nanaimo site visit.

MASON ROAD STATION

The Mason Road station will be used as a secondary station in case of an emergency.  All equipment will be maintained in good working order. The internet connection has been restored and the packet system is in operation.

FIELD ROAD STATION (SCRD Offices) 

The communication problems should be eliminated once the repeater has been moved to Nanaimo.

MEETINGS IN  May & June:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons:May 7 & 21

June 4 & 18

Mosaic Cafe, Davis Bay: May 14 & 28

June 11 & 25

The next business meeting is scheduled for June 25, 2011 at Davis Bay 

73

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 11                                       April 2011

LAST MONTH

Don Pendergast (VE7DNK) participated in the provincial emergency net which is held every 3rd Wednesday of each month.  Don was able to discuss our difficulties with our poor repeater performance on the Coast.  Subsequently, a few emails were exchanged and a possible Nanaimo location has been found.  A preliminary visit to Nanaimo will be required to ensure the location will meet our requirements.  

AGM

The AGM was postponed until April 2.  Bill Rimmer asked the members present at the March 19 meeting to consider taking a position as executive of the Club.  

SECHELT MEETINGS

We will continue to have our meetings at the Mosaic Cafe     until further notice.  The owner has gratefully opened the Cafe at 10:00 am to accommodate us.  Thank Wendy whenever you pay your bill.

REPEATER IMPROVEMENTS

GIBSONS

The Gibsons location may be history in the near future.  No site improvement have been planned at this time.

SELMA PARK

The UHF repeater is in operation.  No decision made on the future location of this repeater until the Nanaimo site visit.

MASON ROAD STATION (no change in March at that location)

The Mason Road station will be used as a secondary station in case of an emergency.  All equipment will be maintained in good working order.  We may require volunteers to man that station during the Tuesday morning nets, once the repairs have been completed.

FIELD ROAD STATION (SCRD Offices) 

The communication problems should be eliminated once the repeater has been moved to Nanaimo.

MEETINGS IN  April & May:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons:April 9 & 23

May 7 & 21

Mosaic Cafe, Davis Bay(or a new location):   April 2 , 16 & 30

May 14 & 28

Business meeting:   The AGM that was supposed to be held on March 19, 2011 was postponed until April 2, 2011 at the Mosaic Cafe in Davis Bay.

The next business meeting is scheduled for April 30, 2011 at Davis Bay or at the new location.

All the best to all.

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 10                                       March 2011

LAST MONTH

The UHF repeater in Sechelt is running well. If you live in Sechelt or drive through you

can talk to whoever monitors that repeater. The frequency is 442.650 MHz +5 MHz with

a tone of 123 Hz.

The antennas at the Mason Road location were tested and it has become evident that

some cabling will have to be replaced. The work will be delayed until we have some

warmer temperatures.

The SCRD technical personnel will reconnect the internet to the packet radio computer

as soon as they can. Packet radio will be available at the Mason Road location.

SECHELT MEETINGS

We were informed that the Mosaic Cafe in Davis Bay will not open until 10:30 am. in the

near future. The Club must consider an alternate location for the Saturday Coffee

Meetings. The Straight Coffee in Wilson Creek is being considered. Other locations in

Sechelt should also be explored.

Members who participate in these meetings and have a suggestion for a new location

should email Barry Yee: 

eeyyrrab@telus.net

REPEATER IMPROVEMENTS

GIBSONS

The VHF repeater in Gibsons has performed relatively well in February. Don (VE7DNK)

installed a new filter at the RX input of the repeater. The audio quality has been much

improved.

SELMA PARK

As mentioned above the repeater is in operation. Linking to Gibsons is still required.

SCARCS BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

VOLUME 2, NUMBER 10 March 2011

MASON ROAD STATION (no change in February at that location)

The Mason Road station is equipped with an HF, VHF, UHF and packet system. Some

antenna work is required to make that station operational and available in case of an

emergency. We are awaiting the availability of a man lift to perform that work.

FIELD ROAD STATION (SCRD Offices)

The communication problems continue at the Field Road location. The Tuesday

morning nets on Simplex and using the repeater are quite poor except for the Sechelt

people who continue to have good signals. Signals from Gibsons are very poor.

MEETINGS IN March & April:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons: March 12 & 26

April 9 & 23

Mosaic Cafe, Davis Bay(or a new location): March 5 & 19

April 2 , 16 & 30

Business meeting: The next business meeting is scheduled for March

19, 2011 at Davis Bay or at the new location.

All the best to all.

SCARCS BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

VOLUME 2, NUMBER 10 March 2011

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 9                                       February 2011

JANUARY

The UHFrepeater is finally up and running.  The antenna was installed in January and hoisted up atop the club’s 50 foot crank-up tower.  If you live in Sechelt or drive through you can talk to whoever monitors that repeater.  The frequency is 442.650 MHz +5 MHz with a tone of 123 Hz.

We have tried to link the repeater to the Gibsons VHF repeater but  we were not successful in doing it.  We will continue to work at both ends to make the link work since it would be an advantage for club members from both Sechelt and Gibsons to communicate easily and have more people participate in weekly nets.

BUSINESS MEETING

During the January 22nd business meeting it became clear that the club needs to put together a coast wide communication plan. What should the club concentrate on to help members expand their individual communication capabilities?  Here are some questions from this writer about what the executive ought to discuss in the development of the plan considering the club limited financing:
1. Should the Sechelt coffee clash be moved to Mason Road so members can work on radio projects and make that location the Club center where members can use equipment?

1. Some members have asked about an IRLP node so they can communicate via internet using their VHF radios?
2. The club has pushed for Packet radio expansion within club members?

Send your ideas via the contact page of the web site and I will publish the requests so all can see what the members’ wishes are.

REPEATER IMPROVEMENTS

GIBSONS

The VHF repeater in Gibsons has performed well in January.  Some testing was done in mid-January and we have seen some performance improvements.  The net on the 18th of January worked very well for people in Sechelt.

SELMA PARK

As mentioned above the repeater is in operation.  Linking to Gibsons is still required

MASON ROAD STATION (no change in January at that location)

The Mason Road station is equipped with an HF, VHF, UHF and packet system.  Some antenna work is required to make that station operational and available in case of an emergency.  We are awaiting the availability of a man lift to perform that work.

FIELD ROAD STATION (SCRD Offices) 

The HF nets from the Field Road location has continued in January with very little participation from the Gibsons locations.  The club will continue to work with the SCRD personnel to improve radio communications there.  

PACKET RADIO 

Barry has sent a few emails to many members on different Packet Radio Systems and how the whole systems are put together.  More discussions will take place in 2011.

MEETINGS IN January & February:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons: January  29

                                                        February  12  & 26

Mosaic Cafe, Davis Bay: Febuary 5  & 19

Business meeting:   The next business meeting is scheduled for February 19, 2011 at Davis Bay.

All the best to all.

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 8                                       January 2011

                   HAPPY

                     NEW

YEAR

2010

I will take the opportunity to review the 2010 Club activities.  First of all, the Club would like to welcome the new members who joined our Club last year: Bill (VE7BFX), Al (VE7KDY), Sieg (VE7LEH), and Stephanie (VA7SLR).  They bring new ideas, possible projects we can get involved in, and new avenues of Amateur Communications.  It certainly makes the Saturday mornings’ discussions most interesting.  It is an excellent way to keep members interested in meeting each other on such a frequent basis.

On the other side of the coin, we regret the passing away of Francis (VE7JS), a long time member and supporter of the Club.

We cannot forget to thank our Club executive members who ensure the Club is functioning smoothly.  I appreciate the fact that the Club functions with minimal bureaucracy and all the people who show up at the business meetings have a voice in the way the Club moves.

In June, Bob (VE7ALT) retired as publisher of the Club Newsletter.  Bob has done an excellent job publishing the News Bulletin for 106 consecutive months.  It was always a very informative bulletin that everyone appreciated receiving.  Thanks again Bob for a job well done.

Early last year, members expressed the desire to start a web site for the Club.  Sieg made an excellent inquiry and report on possibilities existing on the Coast with someone who could help provide a web site on behalf of the Club.  Having an outside provider maintain the Club website would have been somewhat complicated and cumbersome.  I volunteered to build and manage the web site for the club.  The traffic has been very steady with some slight increase over the last few months indicating that the members use the web site for news and ongoing events.  I feel the primary purpose of the web site is to provide information to our Club members and improve their participation.  As a secondary benefit, new Ham operators on the Coast can search and find our club and contacts through the web site.  It is one way to help the Club maintain or increase its membership.

In 2010, our net controllers Ron (VA7GRK) and Bob (VA7RAS) have had their hands full dealing with poor repeater performance.  The necessity to conduct a simplex net and repeat the same net shortly after using the Gibsons repeater has made their job difficult.  We thank them for their patience.  

The Club conducted an Emergency Communications Test on October 18.  Harry (VE7HAR) must be thanked for providing the members with their assignments and providing radio relay support with the Emergency vehicle during the test.  The test report will be submitted to RAC showing the Club having collected 70 points.   It was an excellent learning activity for all those who participated.  Everyone expressed the desire to repeat the test once our repeater improvements have been completed.  It will be essential to involve other emergency organizations during the next test if we want to make the test a true simulation.

Over the holidays, I had a chance to talk to Chris Edmonds (VE7VNF).  Chris was the past president of the Club when he was in Grade 10.  Chris remembers that the Club used someone else’s repeater on the island to conduct the Club’s net.  There were discussions at that time to locate our own repeater on Mount Elphinstone, but the fear of vandalism always discourage Club members to try that option.  Chris tells me he used to be on the radio every morning with friends in the Lower Mainland for a couple of hours.  Now he says he hardly uses his radio.  He is a very good friend of Dave Cameron, the inventor of the IRLP system.  He said Dave is pretty well the only person left at the UBC Amateur Radio Club.  From what he says, the interests in Radio Clubs are dwindling.  Kids have their cellphones, iPods, etc and many other gadgets that can be used to communicate with friends today.  What will Ham Radio Clubs look like in 10 years????  Food for thought!!!

Our repeater is not using much electricity these days either!!!

So talking about our repeater(s).  The very best location for our repeater is on Vancouver Island between Nanaimo and Duncan.  Our repeater used to be located there along with other SCRD repeaters.  Unfortunately, as everyone knows our repeater had to be repatriated to the Coast.  It has been a very unrewarding experience for Don (VE7DNK), Barry (VE7YEE), and Ron (VA7GRK) to try to find locations and ways to link repeaters along this Coast for the past 2 years.  They really deserve our appreciation for  their time and patience dealing with this issue.  At this time, we have only one VHF repeater and one UHF repeater available.  The other 2 VHF repeaters which the Club owns have been damaged by lightning.  If we are to have reliable communications along this Coast, we need more repeaters and a second VHF frequency.  Hopefully, 2011 will be the year we can reliably communicate with each other using our VHF radios.

Finally, we must thank all our members who participated in the Christmas Lunch.  It certainly was a welcome event for our wives who do not have much opportunity to talk to each other.  Maybe we can show them to use our radios to talk to each other!!

As a very final comment, I cannot forget to thank Bill Elsner (VA7CIS) (Bill is the SCRD Emergency Coordinator) for hosting a Christmas breakfast for our members who conduct the Tuesday Morning Emergency Net.  It really showed the volunteers that someone cares about what they do.

DECEMBER

Pictures from the Christmas Lunch have been posted on the web site.  Close to 20 people showed up.  The food was excellent.  Unfortunately, the one long table format does not encourage members to talk to many different people.   

Work continued on the Selma Park repeater location in December.  The work should be completed in early January providing the weather cooperates.

REPEATER IMPROVEMENTS

GIBSONS

The VHF repeater in Gibsons has performed well in December.  Early in December, the power output was boosted to 30 watts in an attempt to have better coverage along the Coast.  During the last few nets, Oskar (VE7QOF) has been a lot more consistent in being able to communicate with the repeater.  

The repeater link was turned on (Dec. 31st) in anticipation of the UHF repeater at Selma Park being equipped with the new antenna.

SELMA PARK

The 50 foot crank-up tower is now bolted in place inside the fenced area at the SCRD water treatment facility.  The roof of the building was cut to allow for the tower to be raised.  The roof of the building was temporarily patched and the anchor bolts for the guy wires were cemented in the ground.  A good ground plate was installed to ensure lightning does not destroy what we have left.  The UHF repeater was moved from the Mason Road location to the new Selma Park location.  

What is left to do for January:

Install guy wires.

Install antenna and co-ax.

Inside work to secure repeater and power supply.

MASON ROAD STATION (no change in December at that location)

The Mason Road station is equipped with an HF, VHF, UHF and packet system.  Some antenna work is required to make that station operational and available in case of an emergency.  We are awaiting the availability of a man lift to perform that work.

FIELD ROAD STATION (SCRD Offices) 

The HF nets from the Field Road location has continued in December with very little participation from the Gibsons locations.  The club will continue to work with the SCRD personnel to improve radio communications there.

PACKET RADIO 

Barry has sent a few emails to many members on different Packet Radio Systems and how the whole systems are put together.  More discussions will take place in January.

WEB SITE

The spreadsheet below shows the number of time each page is visited during the last 7 months.  

MEETINGS IN January:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons: January 15 & 29

Mosaic Cafe, Davis Bay: January 8 & 22

Business meeting:   The next business meeting is scheduled for January 29, 2011 at Davis Bay.

All the best to all.

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 7                                       DECEMBER 2010

NEW CLUB LOGO

Stephanie Read (VA7SLR) designed the new club logo.  The members who took part in the November Meeting thanked Stephanie for the nice art work.  The logo is now used on the web site.  It could be used on baseball caps or other regalia for Club Members.

FRANCIS KONOPACEK

Francis’ (VE7JS) equipment was donated to the club.  Some of the equipment need to be tested.  The Club has not yet decided on how it could be best used.  Inquiries should be directed to Bill Rimmer (VE7WLL) or Don Pendergast (VE7DNK).

NEW MEMBER

The club is pleased to welcome a new member.  Al Keddy (VE7KDY) passed both his Basic and Advanced during the same session.  Al is an Electrical Engineer and is very much interested in higher frequency communications.  Al also has in depth knowledge of computers.  He has been a regular participant of the Club’s coffee meetings on Saturdays.

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

The annual Christmas Lunch will take place at SAFFRON RESTAURANT in Sechelt on December 12th, 2010 starting at 11:30

Please contact Barry Yee (VE7YEE) or Marc Beaupre (VE7TBP) re, your menu choices.

REPEATER IMPROVEMENTS

GIBSONS

The VHF repeater in Gibsons has performed well in November.  However, when we compare its performance to Simplex mode during the regular Tuesday nets, we find that  we reach more Sechelt members on Simplex than we do when we use the repeater.  The Gibsons net controller Bob (VA7RAS) is using 50 watts on Simplex and his coverage is excellent.  Many Sechelt and Halfmoon Bay members hear the Simplex signal from Gibsons, but cannot hear the repeater transmission.  The repeater transmitter output is adjusted to 20 watts.  It is marginal due to the geography of the Coast.  During the last business meeting it was proposed that the repeater transmitter output be adjusted to 35 watts while it is at that Gibsons location.  The tentative date for the adjustment by Barry (VE7YEE) is Saturday December 4th.

SELMA PARK

The 50 foot crank-up tower is now bolted in place inside the fenced area at the SCRD water treatment facility.  The roof of the building was cut to allow for the tower to be raised.  The next activities required to secure the tower and get that location ready for the repeater are as follows: 

repair the building roof, 

install anchor points,

install guy wires,

Install antenna and co-ax

Inside work to secure repeater and power supply.

MASON ROAD STATION (no change in November at that location)

The Mason Road station is equipped with an HF, VHF, UHF and packet system.  Some antenna work is required to make that station operational and available in case of an emergency.  We are awaiting the availability of a man lift to perform that work.

FIELD ROAD STATION (SCRD Offices) 

The HF nets from the Field Road location has continued in November with very little participation from the Gibsons locations.

Some repair work was done to the transmission cabling of the VHF system.  Hopefully, that location will provide adequate communications capability during an emergency.   The club will continue to work with the SCRD personnel to improve radio communiacations there.

PACKET RADIO (No discussion on the subject in November)

A committee was formed to come up with a proposal to expand the use of Packet Radio amongst the members.  The committee members are Barry, Don, Ron and Marc.  The committee will also come up with ways to train members who wish to use the system.  Furthermore, the possibility of adding a packet repeater on the Coast will be discussed.  Members who would like to participate in this projects should contact the committee members. 

WEB SITE

The spreadsheet below shows the number of time each page is visited during the last 6 months.  November has seen a nice increase to the number of visits to the web site.  Again, we hope that the site fulfills the needs of the members in providing the information they require from the Club.  Anyone wishing to contribute is most welcome.

MEETINGS IN DECEMBER:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons: December 4 & 18

Mosaic Cafe, Davis Bay: December 11 

Business meeting: There will not be any business meeting in December.  The next business meeting is scheduled for January 29, 2011 at Davis Bay.

All the best to all.

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 6                                        NOVEMBER 2010

Club members had a busy October.  The repeater was moved to a new location in Gibsons.  The emergency communications practice was conducted on the 18th with mixed results.  Both of these activities have been reported on the web site under the “Notice to Members” page.  For those members who do not have internet access, here is a brief report of both activities:

The antenna tower in Gibsons was raised another 20’.  The Yagi antenna is about 70’ above ground and the (whip) omnidirectional antenna is about 90’.  The repeater has performed very well for the Gibsons members; however, it is still marginal for the Sechelt and Halfmoon Bay members.  The repeater itself has lost the controller programming during the move and many attempts to restore the program have failed.  The repeater had no identification, courtesy tones or transmit delay.

The members who took part in the Emergency Communications exercise learned a lot about difficulties communicating during emergency situations.  The Field Road Emergency Centre experienced some problems with interference while working on 2 frequencies.  Thanks to the Search and Rescue people, who stationed their Emergency vehicle up the mountain by Dakota Ridge.  They were able to relay some of the messages originating from Gibsons.  A total of 11 messages were received during the exercise.  

Thanks to all who participated.  It was felt that the learning experience was valuable.  The Club will plan another such exercise once the deficiencies have been addressed.

REPEATER IMPROVEMENTS

The repeater move in Gibsons has been a boost to motivate the members to continue searching for a permanent solution to provide all club members with a reliable repeater.  Thanks to all members for their patience in continuing to contribute to the Tuesdays’ nets.  Barry (VE7YEE) will try to reprogram the repeater during the first week of November.  Don (VE7DNK), Ron (VA7GRK) and Marc (VE7TBP) will work at erecting the 50 foot crank up tower at the Selma Park location.  The Selma Park location is an unused building the SCRD owns as part of their water treatment system.  It is felt to be a better location than the Gibsons location for several reasons: more centrally located, higher elevation and less vegetation.  There is a cellphone tower located close to that location, therefore, it should give our repeater a better chance.  Hopefully, the weather will cooperate in November to get the work completed.  Should the Selma Park location be satisfactory to serve the Sunshine Coast, the UHF repeater will be moved to that location as well and both repeaters could be linked.  

MASON ROAD STATION (no change in October at that location)

The Mason Road station is equipped with an HF, VHF, UHF and packet system.  Some antenna work is required to make that station operational and available in case of an emergency.  We are awaiting the availability of a man lift to perform that work.

FIELD ROAD STATION (SCRD Offices) 

The field road station has participated on the Tuesday Morning HF nets on 3.735 Mhz.  In October, we were in communication with Bill (VE7WLL) in Gibsons.  Thanks Bill for participating.  The Field Road Station can now communicate on HF from Gibsons to Pender Harbour.

As mentioned in the report of the Emergency Communications Exercise, the Field Road Station cannot effectively communicating on 2 frequencies at the same time.  Some coax cables require changing.  However, this will not solve the problem.  

Once Field Road has good communications with the Club repeater, it will not be necessary to communicate on multiple frequencies.

PACKET RADIO

A committee was formed to come up with a proposal to expand the use of Packet Radio amongst the members.  The committee members are Barry, Don, Ron and Marc.  The committee will also come up with ways to train members who wish to use the system.  Furthermore, the possibility of adding a packet repeater on the Coast will be discussed.  Members who would like to participate in this projects should contact the committee members. 

CHRISTMAS LUNCH

Barry (VE7YEE) has volunteered to organize the Christmas Lunch.  Any suggestions should be forwarded to him.  The date and location will be published on the web site once the arrangements are finalized.

WEB SITE

The spreadsheet below shows the number of time each page is visited during the last 3 months.

MEETINGS IN NOVEMBER:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons: November 6 & 20

Mosaic Cafe, Davis Bay: November 13 & 27

Business meeting: November 27.

All the best to all.

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                 VOLUME 2,  NUMBER 5                                        OCTOBER 2010

Members were back in full force at the September 18th meeting in Davis Bay.  The results of some discussions are explained under the bullets below.  However, the main item of discussion was concerned with a planned emergency exercise to be executed on October 18th.  No conclusion was reached during the business meeting other than that the Club was willing to give full participation to the exercise.  Further discussions will take place at subsequent Saturday meetings to ensure the success of the exercise.

The Club is an integral part of the Sunshine Coast Emergency Program to help provide better communications in the event that other means of communication would become disabled during a disaster.  Club members would be expected to either provide local communications from their radio equipment wether they would be mobile or fixed at home.  Some Club members would also be asked to help man the different radio centers on the Coast (Field Road SCRD Offices, St-Mary’s Hospital, Sechelt Senior Center, Mason Road Offices and Possible other temporary emergency centers).

The Club has received funding from the SCRD in the past to provide adequate repeater reliability for efficient communications within the SCRD territory using either HF, VHF or UHF under the frequencies that are dedicated to Amateur Radio.  

It is not the intention of this writer to enumerate or discuss the communication capabilities of the SCRD, Search and Rescue, Fire Departments,  Coast Guards, Police or Health Authorities.  All these organizations are part and parcel of any emergency and they seem to function adequately whenever one arises.  They have dealt with their communication needs independent of the Amateur Radio Club System.  

At what level of emergency would the Radio Amateur people be called upon to lend a hand?  The Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club has a very limited number of VOLUNTEER operators that could sustain continuous communications along the Coast for an extended period of time.  Manning the different locations alone for only 8 hours per day would be very taxing to the club members and the resources would be very quickly exhausted.  Therefore, we should be very realist when offering to provide help in case of an emergency.  

As a starter, the Club should provide the SCRD Emergency coordinator a list of VOLUNTEER operators with their qualifications, trained at which locations, their home location, radio equipment, phone number, etc.  This information would enable the SCRD Emergency Coordinator to call upon volunteers whenever an emergency would require the help of Amateur Communications.  When planning an emergency exercise, he would have the information necessary to test the response of the Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club and later assess if the response is adequate for his needs.  The results would be discussed with Club Executives.  Required improvements could be brought forward at Club meetings.

Stay tuned, October could prove to be an exiting month as we could be tested for an emergency exercise on the 18th.  A spreadsheet will be prepared for members who wish to Volunteer.

Our next business meeting will take place on October 16th at the Mosaic Cafe in Davis Bay.

REPEATER IMPROVEMENTS

The repeater in Gibsons has performed relatively well recently.  Unfortunately, it is still marginal for some Sechelt and Halfmoon Bay Amateurs.  It looks like the Club has given up waiting for the SCRD to cut the tree branches that are affecting the repeater performance.  An offer was made to have the repeater relocated in the Gibsons area.  A new antenna tower was constructed and the Club’s Yagi antenna was installed.  The relocation issue was discussed at the Club’s meeting and it was decided to conduct testing at the new location prior to the move.  On Tuesday September 28, the morning net from the Field Road location showed that good communications existed between the new possible repeater location and all the emergency centers (Seniors Center in Sechelt, St-Mary’s Hospital and the Field Road location).  The 19:00 net was conducted from the new location.  All participants had excellent voice recognition with only 2 exceptions.

It is planned to add another 20 feet to the height of the tower.  This would make the antenna about 75 feet above ground level and it would clear the surrounding vegetation.

Don (VE7DNK) is awaiting an answer from Dave Cameron who has proposed that he would ask a friend of his if we could install our repeater on Vancouver Island.

Don also reported that the Selma Park location was not adequate to house repeater equipment.  Pigeons are allowed to roam around the building and leave their droppings on everything that is in that building including repeaters.

MASON ROAD STATION (no change in Sep[tember at that location)

The Mason Road station is equipped with an HF, VHF, UHF and packet system.  Some antenna work is required to make that station operational and available in case of an emergency.  We are awaiting the availability of a man lift to perform that work.

FIELD ROAD STATION (SCRD Offices) 

The field road station has participated on the Tuesday Morning HF nets on 3.735 Mhz.  The reception is excellent there.  It would be nice to have an HF station from the Gibsons area participate in this net.  It would indicate whether we could use the HF system in case of an emergency.

Once the Field Road station gets good communications from the Gibsons Repeater, it could become an efficient site.  Gibsons Amateur us the Repeater while the Sechelt Amateur can communicate well there on Simplex.

GIBSONS FIRE HALL

Bob (VE7ALT) has informed the Club that he had removed the packet radio equipment at that location.  The equipment did not work.  

WEB SITE

The spreadsheet below shows the number of time each page is visited during the last 3 months.

MEETINGS IN OCTOBER:

Tim Horton’s Gibsons: October 9 & 23

Mosaic Cafe, Davis Bay: October 2, 16, 30

Business meeting: October 16.

All the best to all.

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                                Volume 2,  Number 4                                         SEPTEMBER 2010

Hoping everyone had a nice summer.  Here we are in September already and the members will be having the monthly business meeting on September 18, 2010 at the Mosaic Cafe in Davis Bay at 10:15 am.  The Saturdays coffee meetings were well attended all summer.  Our Net Controller Ron (VA7GRK) is back from his travel and is conducting the Tuesdays’ nets at 09:30 and 19:00.  Thanks to Bob(VA7RAS) for doing the Tuesday evenings nets during Ron’s absence.  Marc(VE7TBP) trained with Don(VE7DNK) at the Field Road station(VE7SCE) conducting the Tuesday mornings nets.

August was relatively quiet on the different projects the club members are working on.  Don (VE7DNK) is planning to do some work on the UHF repeater at Selma Park.  He mentioned that during a recent visit to the site, the roof of the building had been blown away.  He is planning to install a tarp to seal the building.

REPEATER IMPROVEMENTS

The repeater in Gibsons is performing relatively well at least for the Gibsons Amateurs.  Unfortunately, it is marginal for the Sechelt and Halfmoon Bay Amateurs.  

It appears, the SCRD is now willing to have the tree branches interfering or close to the repeater antenna cut.  These tree branches are very close to the antenna and affect the performance of the repeater.

MASON ROAD STATION (no change in August at that location)

Don (VE7DNK) also did a lot of work on the Mason Road installation over the past 2 weeks.  The Mason Road station is equipped with an HF, VHF, UHF and packet system.  Some antenna work is required to make that station operational and available in case of an emergency.

FIELD ROAD STATION (SCRD Offices) No changes in August at that location)

The field road station has participated on the Tuesday Morning HF nets on 3.735 Mhz.  The reception is excellent there.  It would be nice to have an HF station from the Gibsons area participate in this net.  It would indicate whether we could use the HF system in case of an emergency.

On the VHF side, that location does not seem ideal to communicate with all areas of the Coast.    From many areas of the Coast the signals are very weak at the Field Road station.

WEB SITE

The spreadsheet below shows the number of time each page is visited during the last 3 months.

 IN  AN  EMERGENCY:

     Until the  repeaters  are linked all local amateur radio emergency communications should continue to  take place on simplex frequency 146.490.

All the best to all.

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                                Volume 2,  Number 3                                         AUGUST 2010

REPEATER IMPROVEMENTS

On Friday, July 30th, Don (VE7DNK), Barry (VE7YEE) and Marc (VE7TBP) changed the duplexer on the Gibsons' Repeater and linked the UHF to the repeater.  A filter was also installed on the input to the repeater.  There was still some static coming from the repeater.  On July 31st, the link was turned off.  We can see some improvements to the repeater performance.  The full check will be completed on the Tuesday August 3rd morning and evening nets.

MASON ROAD STATION

Don (VE7DNK) also did a lot of work on the Mason Road installation over the past 2 weeks.  The Mason Road station is equipped with an HF, VHF, UHF and packet system.  Some antenna work is required to make that station operational and available in case of an emergency.

FIELD ROAD STATION (SCRD Offices)

The field road station has participated on the Tuesday Morning HF nets on 3.735 Mhz.  The reception is excellent there.  It would be nice to have an HF station from the Gibsons area participate in this net.  It would indicate whether we could use the HF system in case of an emergency.

On the VHF side, that location does not seem ideal to communicate with all areas of the Coast.    From many areas of the Coast the signals are very weak at the Field Road station.

COFFEE MEETINGS

On July 31st, we had a full house at Tim Hortons for coffee.  It is nice to see that participation does not decrease during the peak vacation period.  Let's keep this up.

WEB SITE

The traffic is increasing on our web site which is nice to see.  Hopefully, it will serve as the information source for our members.  Any comments or suggestions for improvements are always welcome.  The spreadsheet below shows the number of time each page is visited during July.

All the best to all.

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                                Volume 2,  Number 2                                           July 2010

REPEATER IMPROVEMENTS

This is a work in progress with Don (VE7DNK) and Barry (VE7YEE). The latest new antenna, a C9 is giving better results.  However, Don thinks he would like to install the 440 repeater and use its duplexer.  The present duplexer would be sent to Dave Cameron (VE7LTD) for further tuning.  Don has installed  the lightning arresters at the Gibsons site.

NEW NET

Bob Leduc (VE7ALT) has suggested that we run a new net on Tuesday mornings at 09:15 on HF.  The frequency to be used is 3.735 Mhz.  Bob will be conducting this net.

FIELD DAY

The club did not participate in the ARRL Field Day on June 26 and June 27.  Some club members have conducted a net at 12:00 to 14:00 Saturday June 26.  The purpose of the exercise was to see if the whole Sunshine Coast could be linked using HF during an Emergency Situation.  

The net was very successful, Bob (VE7ALT) conducted the net and was able to get in touch with the following members: Bill Rimmer (VE7WLL) in Gibsons, Harry Almond (VE7HAR) in Roberts Creek, Ted Taylor (VA7MGK) in Pender harbour and Jim Wilkinson (VE7CGP) in Sechelt.  Thanks to Bob for having Joan (VE7JYW) and Marc (VE7TBP) at his place for the event.

CLUB BUSINESS MEETING

The Club had a very informal meeting Saturday morning June 26th.  It was decided not to call a business meeting during the months of July and August.  The next meeting is scheduled for September 18, at the Mosaic Cafe in Davis Bay.

FIELD ROAD STATION

Don will talk to Bill Elsner about doing some work to improve the SWR of the VHF station (VE7SCE).  The SWR is now at 2.5 and the reception is very poor.  One can stand in the SCRD parking lot and do a better job with a handheld.  Don also thinks there is a lot of electrical interference in that area.

MASON ROAD STATION

Bob reported that the HF station on Mason Road did not work.  Don will talk to Bill Elsner about getting that station in good working order.

WEB SITE

Marc (VE7TBP) reported that the new web site got 64 hits since June 11 when a page counter was installed. 

HAVE A GREAT SUMMER

SCARCS  BULLETIN

Sun Coast Amateur Radio Club Society

                                Volume 2,  Number 1                                            June 2010

THANKS TO BOB

Thanks to Bob Leduc (VE7ALT) for publishing the Club News Bulletin for 106 consecutive months.  It shows real dedication to the Ham Club of the Sunshine Coast.  Bob is still very active in the club activities and is a great resource for all Ham Radio matters.

NEWS BULLETIN

Since this web site is in its infancy, it is difficult to see yet if it will serve its purpose to inform the members of the ongoings of the Club.  Some club members do not have internet access, so it will be our intention to continue mailing them the news bulletin on a monthly basis.  Once we know all members have access to the web site, we may decide to discontinue the News Bulletin.

REPEATER IMPROVEMENTS

At the Saturday morning business meeting, Bill Rimmer (VE7WLL) thanked Don (VE7DNK) and his crew (Barry,Bob and Marc) for the installation of the new antenna at the Gibsons Repeater site.  The new antenna is a C9 vertical antenna with a gain of 8.5 db at 146 Mhz and 11.5 db on 440 Mhz.  Further work of trimming large tree branches will be undertaken by the SCRD in the near future.  We feel the proximity of the tree branches influence the performance of the repeater.

Preliminary results are encouraging.  The next few Nets will tell us if more needs to be done to the performance of the repeater.

Don and crew will install lightning arresters in the near future.

CANADA DAY

Barry received an email from the organizers of the Canada Day celebrations in Sechelt asking if the Club was interested in setting up a booth at Halkett Park.  The Club will decline the invitation.

FIELD DAY

The International Radio Field Day is scheduled for June 26 and June 27.  There was a long discussion on how the club can use the occasion to promote its interests.  There was no enthusiasm to set up such an event.  The past field day events represented a lot of work from a few members and very little interest was generated.  Some members do not like field day due to the nature of the beast.  The air waves are cluttered and people are there for the sheer number of contact; therefore there is no possibility to have decent communication during such an event.

Not all members are familiar with HF radio communications and do not have the equipment to communicate with HF.  Bob (VE7ALT) suggested that we use that day to test everyone's HF communication equipment on the emergency 80 meters frequency of 37.35 Mhz on Saturday June 26, 2010 between 12:00 (noon) and 14:00 

Some club members have volunteered opening up their communication centers to members who would like to see first hand the use of HF equipment.

So far we have 2 volunteers who have offered: Bob Leduc (VE7ALT) and Harry Almond (VE7HAR).  Please contact them should you wish to participate in the club modified Field Day.

TREASURER'S REPORT

Joan (VE7JYW) reported that there were already 18 paid up members.  She also reported that she was working with the Sunshine Coast Credit Union on account issues.

NEW MEMBER

Bob has talked to a prospective member who will be moving to the Coast shortly.

NEW REPEATER

There was a discussion on the possibility of installing the 440 Mhz repeater at the Gibsons location.  We have the equipment to hook up both repeaters to the new antenna.  Bill (VE7WLL) expressed the concern that we need to keep the 2 meters repeater performance at its peak.  The new repeater should not impact its performance.

Volume 1,  Number 106                                      May 2010

NEXT CLUB BUSINESS MEETING

    The next club meeting will be held  on  May 29  2010 at the Mosaic Market..

1

CLUB WEBSITE

Thanks to good work by Mark (VE7TBP) the club now has a website.  You can access the website using the following URL:

www.ve7rxz.ca

Mark welcomes contributions and these may be sent by email to: mbeaupre1@gmail.com.

BULLETIN

This will be the last edition of the Bulletin.  In it's stead,  vital information will  be on the club website

Thanks to all received and read the past 106 editions.  

TUESDAY MORNING NET

Attempting to run an emergency net on Tuesday mornings from the Sr. Center in Sechelt  has become a frustrating experience.  Propagation from the Center is at best poor.  It was suggested by  VE7DNK that the net be moved to the Field Rd site.  This is an excellent idea.  The net is to be operated on the simplex  frequency of 146.490 and the working  club repeater.  VE7ALT will continue to visit the Sr. Center station on Tuesday mornings to test equipment and send out a test packet message.

FOR SALE

TS-140 HF Transceiver complete with manual and original box...good working order....offers

Contact: ve7jyw@dccnet.com  or 604 885 -5163 or 604 885-9491

SATURDAY COFFEE MEETINGS

2010

Club coffee meetings are schedule for each Saturday of the year.  These meetings are held at 1000 on alternate Saturdays at Tim Hortons  in Gibsons and at the Mosaic Market at Davis Bay.  The last Mosaic Market meeting of each month is a club business meeting.  All are welcome.

This year's schedule of meetings is as follows:

Tim Hortons ... March 13, 27. 

                        April 10, 24.

                       May 8, 22. 

         June 5, 19.

         July 3, 17, 31.

         August 14, 28.

         September 11, 25.

         October 9, 23. 

         November 6, 20.

         December 4, 18

Mosaic Market ...March 20. 

                           April 3, 17,.

                           May 1, 15, 29. 

             June 12, 26.

July 10, 24.

             August 7, 21.

             September 4, 18.

October 2, 16, 30. 

             November 13, 27. 

             December 11.

 IN  AN  EMERGENCY:

     Until the  repeaters  are linked all local amateur radio emergency communications should continue to  take place on simplex frequency 146.490.

…73…Bob