Quarter Century Amateur Radio Club

         VE6QCR 146.640 Stony Plain--VE6BOX 146.730 Athabasca--VE6PP 146.820 Whitecourt--VE6SS 146.880 Pigeon Lake--VA6RJK 146.790 Eagle Hill / Willingdon

All have 100Hz tone and offsets are all -600 KHz

CLUB INFORMATION

Weekly Newsletter and Swap & Shop Listing

4/24/2024 by Paul, VE6UFO

NEWSLETTER FORMAT

              NEWER CONTENT APPEARS DIRECTLY BELOW AND ITEMS AFTER THE SWAP & SHOP LISTINGS ARE OLDER. IF THIS NEWSLETTER IS NEW TO YOU PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING

QCARC'S EXPENSES ARE PAID FOR BY DUES, CASH DONATIONS AND THE SALE OF DONATED ITEMS

IF YOU HAVE ITEMS TO DONATE FOR THE CLUB TO SELL CONTACT VE6UFO 780-232-7012 or mail@qcarc.net

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO THE LIST TO RECEIVE THIS NEWSLETTER WEEKLY, PLEASE EMAIL TO mail@qcarc.net

SHOW AND TELL!

SHARE PICTURES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF YOUR HANDYWORK TO HELP INSPIRE OTHER HAMS TO DO SOME BUILDING. PLEASE COMPOSE YOUR ARTICLES TOGETHER WITH PICTURES IN PDF FORMAT AND EMAIL THEM TO mail@qcarc.net

    CLICK   HERE TO CHECK OUT ALL THE PREVIOUS ITEMS ON THE SHOW AND TELL PAGE AND WATCH FOR NOTIFICATONS WHEN THERE ARE NEW ITEMS POSTED

WHAT'S YOUR CLUB UP TO?

IF YOUR CLUB HAS EVENTS OR NEWS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE HERE,  EMAIL mail@qcarc.net

QCARC TOWER & TECHNICAL TEAM - HAMS HELPING HAMS! mail@qcarc.net

We are dedicated to helping out any ham or their family that needs assistance with station takedowns and dispersal or the setup of new stations.  We can also assist hams get back into the hobby after being away from it for a length of time. Also, in many cases we may be able to help track down the source of interferrence or perform minor equipment repairs.

SARA CLUB MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
PLEASE SUPPORT THE SOUTHERN ALBERTA REPEATER ASSOCIATION. SARA IS DEDICATED TO PROVIDING THE AMATEUR COMMUNITY IN ALBERTA WITH A RELIABLE NETWORK OF LINKED REPEATERS.  MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION AT www.saralink.ca

The current edition of the Surrey Amateur Radio Club Newsletter is available at The Communicator Digital Edition: The March - April 2024 SARC Communicator is now available (ve7sar.blogspot.com)

NOTICE - WEB DOMAIN CHANGE

The Northern Alberta Radio Club web domain has changed from narc.net  to tnarc.ca.  Please update your records accordingly. 

The Northern Alberta Radio Club event volunteering registration page is at The Northern Alberta Radio Club - Volunteer (tnarc.ca)

NEW! HF Propagation map in real time. HF Propagation Map (dxview.org)

CONTEST CALENDAR
WA7BNM Contest Calendar: 12-Month Calendar

EDMONTON AREA 5 DAY WX FORECAST

Wednesday 4/24  Mix of sun and cloud  High 18 Low 2

Thursday 4/25  Mix of sun and cloud High 14 Low  2

Friday 4/26  Cloudy High 11 Low -1

Saturday 4/27  Sunny High 19 Low 6

Sunday 4/28 Mix of sun and cloud High 18 Low 4

                                                                                                                                   APRIL BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES, ETC.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

                                                                          If you or an amateur you know is celebrating something let me know and I will list it here….   mail@qcarc.net

FUNNY OF THE WEEK

 
Sometimes when you cry, nobody sees your tears. Sometimes when you're happy nobody sees your smile. But fart just once....

DID YOU KNOW?

A study in 2018 found that wearing a necktie can reduce blood flow to the brain by up to 7.5 percent, which can make you feel dizzy, nauseous and cause headaches.     

IF YOU HAVE ANY ITEMS OF INTEREST LIKE PICTURES, A PERSONAL STORY OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD TO THIS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER, EMAIL mail@qcarc.net

73, Stay well and be safe. Have a good week!!

To list something here, please email Paul, VE6UFO at mail@qcarc.net or call/text 780-232-7012

ANOTHER GREAT BUY AND SELL RESOURCE IS HAMSHACK.CA

FREE!!

AL VE6OA IN EDMONTON HAS A TELETYPE MACHINE IN GREAT SHAPE THAT HE USED TO USE FOR RTTY. HE CAN'T TAKE IT TO HIS NEW PLACE AND HE DOESN'T WANT TO SEE IT GET SCRAPPED SO IT IS FREE FOR ANYONE THAT WILL TAKE IT AND MAKE USE OF IT. IF INTERESTED CALL AL AT 780-908-8580

NEW!!  WANTED BY MITCH VE6OH  mitch@andor.net

Mitch is looking for a lightweight 5th wheel RV trailer about 22-24 feet that is light enough to be towed with a 1990's vintage Ford F150 with a 5.8 litre EFI engine

NEW!!  WANTED BY AARON VA6ATC  aaron.t.conner@gmail.com

Aaron is looking for a bolt kit for a Delhi DMX series tower

FOR SALE BY TIES VE6TG IN EDMONTON tnidek@shaw.ca

Ties is downsizing and has the following items for sale:

Delhi Medium duty 48 foot tower $300.00

Cushcraft A4 Triband HF Beam antenna $300.00

11 Element 2 meter Beam antenna $100.00

Alfa Spid rotator with controller and 6 button mouse and cable. $700.00 OBO

Note: The tower and antennas are currently still standing. Arrangements can be made with the QCARC tower crew to take the items down for the buyer.

ICOM IC-737A HF rig comes with ICOM PS15 20 amp power supply $850.00 OBO

Motorola Radius CR1225 VHF repeater package complete with Sinclair Reslok 6 can duplexer. Currently tuned for 147.015 +600 offset.  $500.00

GW Model CRG-450 Signal Generator $50.00

Heathkit HM2102 VHF SWR Meter $50.00

Heath programmable frequency counter $50.00

UPDATED!! FOR SALE BY AL VE6OA IN EDMONTON algirard@telus.net

12 element 2 metre beam. $100.00

AEA Isopole 2 metre vertical antenna. $100.00

Davis Vantage Vue Solar-powered wireless weather station with data logger. Updates every five minutes using the free Davis weatherlink software. Records temp, wind, humidity, rain, dew point and pressure. $350.00  Here is a link to more info and pictures Davis Instruments

The house where the items are located in Blue Quill will be for sale in the spring.   There are   PICTURES HERE    of the house.

WANTED BY ARNOLD VE7IDK IN VERNON   ve7idk@telus.net

Arnold is looking for a pair of 9006 vaccuum tubes and he is also looking for tube type test equipment.

FOR SALE BY CAL VE6CLG IN PARKLAND COUNTY cal.gardner60@gmail.com  or 780-974-7511

Buckmaster 7 band OCF dipole, 300w model, covers 75/80, 40, 20, 17, 12, 10 & 6 meter bands. $175.00

Heil Pro7 headset for ICOM radios, includes ear pads and trigger type PTT switch. Not a lot of hours. Great condition. $225.00

ICOM SM-30 desk mic. Very good condition. $125.00

Open to offers on all.

WANTED BY ANDY VE6KP IN WETASKIWIN canadianmarconi@gmail.com

Andy is looking for an STK2048 II  audio chip. If you have any of these that you can sell to Andy, please let him know.

FOR SALE BY STEVE VE6SRL IN DEWBERRY      ICOM IC-735 with matching autotuner and power supply. Asking $975.00

Will ship at buyer's expense or can drop off in the Vermillion or Lloydminster area. For further details srlamden@hotmail.com   call 780-847-3530  or text 780-808-9010

WANTED BY BLAIR VE6AGH IN LETHBRIDGE  - ve6agh@yahoo.ca 403-327-8207

As usual Blair is looking for military radios of any kind but below is a list of some specific items.

19 SET- THIS IS NEEDED FOR THE VERMILLION LEGION

Military Sets:

Marconi CP-24 or CP-44 Aircraft Transmitter

Antenna for CP-34

WS-58

Command Set Racks

Let him know what you have.

WANTED BY MAURICE VA6MA 10 inch tubular tower sections, at least 5 or more. Contact Maurice at   780-288-9697

FOR SALE BY QCARC ON BEHALF OF A CLUB MEMBER If you are interested contact Paul VE6UFO mail@qcarc.net or call / text 780-232-7012

Cushcraft 10m monoband yagi with a 30 foot tubular guyed tower - no rotator $200.00

Cushcraft 15m monoband yagi with a 40 foot tubular guyed tower - no rotator $200.00

FOR SALE BY BILL VA6RQ IN RIBSTONE  If you are interested in Bill's items email him at  va6rq@rac.ca

Yeasu FT767GX with 2m  and 70cm modules. $500.00

Used SCS Pactor Modem PTCII-EX with P3 licence. Comes with cables for the Yaesu FT857 (Computer to Radio for CAT control and Radio to TNC) $700.00 O.B.O.                                                     

New in Box Hygain VB-64DX 4 Element 6M Beam ant for $325.00 Radio World price - $411.00

FOR SALE BY PAUL VE6UFO IN STONY PLAIN mail@qcarc.net or text 780-232-7012

Valor PHF160B mobile 160 metre HF antenna $75.00

BELOW IS OLDER CONTENT THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY SEEN IF THIS IS NOT YOUR FIRST TIME READING THIS NEWSLETTER

The new VE6OG WEAK SIGNAL PROPAGATION REPORTING beacon went into service on Saturday 11/26/2022. It is part of the HB9VQQ INTERNATIONAL WSPR BEACON PROJECT and it is located in DO23ts about 60km Northwest of Edmonton, AB. The screenshot below shows typical North American coverage in addition to signals travelling over the Arctic Circle into Europe. There have also been spots into Asia, Africa and Oceania. The 200mw ZachTek transmitter and Diamond CP6 vertical antenna (formerly used by Kathy VE6HI, SK) are sending signals 3 times per hour on the 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metre bands. You can do a search for VE6OG here   and view the map of signal paths in real time or a table of spots. Thanks to the Abbott family and the QCARC for their assistance with this project. Les was an avid WSPR user and he would be proud of this legacy.

There is a VARA FM WIDE Winlink RMS, VE6HM-11 on 145.090 MHz at the VE6HM repeater site in east Edmonton. There also is a digipeater, VE6MM-1 north of Edmonton available on that frequency that can be used to connect to VE6HM-11 if needed.

The results of the survey conducted by RAC on callsign policy are now available – https://www.rac.ca/regulatory-advocacy/

OTHER CLUBS  AROUND THE WESTERN PROVINCES
SOUTHERN ALBERTA REPEATER ASSOCIATION (saralink.ca)

SASK ALTA RADIO CLUB Sask Alta Radio Club (saskaltarc.ca)

NORTHERN ALBERTA RADIO CLUB The Northern Alberta Radio Club (narc.net)

NORTH CENTRAL ALBERTA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB North Central Alberta Amateur Radio Club - (ncaarc.ca)

AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY SERVICES EDMONTON ARES Edmonton and Area – Amateur Radio Emergency Service

CENTRAL ALBERTA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB CAARC « Central Alberta Amateur Radio Club

FORT SASKATCHEWAN AMATEUR RADIO CLUB www.fsarc.com

PEACE COUNTRY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB Peace Country Amateur Radio Club | VE6ARC

CALGARY AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION (caraham.org)

FOOTHILLS AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY Foothills Amateur Radio Society (fars.ca)

COLD LAKE AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY CLARS - HAM (clares.ca)

MEDICINE HAT AMATEUR RADIO CLUB (mharc.ca)

SOUTHERN ALBERTA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB Southern Alberta Amateur Radio Club (saarc.ca)

CALGARY COMMUNICATIONS CLUB https://ccc.myrac.ca/

QUARTER CENTURY WIRELESS ASSOCIATION WILD ROSE CHAPTER 151    http://nicholasjanzen.ca/qcwa-chapter151/index.html

BATTLE RIVER AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION VA6RQ@RAC.CA

NORTH OKANAGAN RADIO AMATEUR CLUB Home - NORAC

ORCHARD CITY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB | The Orchard City Amateur Radio Club (ocarc.ca)

YUKON AMATEUR RADIO ASSOCIATION YARA - Home Yukon Amateur Radio Association

A presentation about the new RAC Auxillary Communications Service is available at  https://www.rac.ca/auxiliary-communications-service-presentation/

THE ALBERTA PUBLIC SERVICE NET WEBSITE HAS A LOT OF GREAT INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING:

• General Net Information

• Several Alberta KiwiSDRs - Direct links, just click and go.  These help when reception conditions are poor

• Net Control Information

CHECK IT OUT AT http://www.apsn3700.net/

Winlink Wednesday UPDATE

Checkins to the Alberta and Eastern Canada Winlink Wednesday nets can be sent via Winlink to Bill VA6RQ and Bryan VY2OG together as one checkin.

Information on how to check in to the USA Winlink Wednesday is at Original Winlink Wednesday

The Alberta Weak Signal Net takes place every Sunday at 10:00AM and 8:00PM Mountain on 144.200 USB. Net control is Bob, VA6ZO in Red Deer.

The Okanagan SSB net is Tuesdays 7:30 PM Pacific on 144.200 USB. The Okanagan bunch also ragchews on Fridays at 7:00PM Pacific 144.200 USB

Silent Key - Les Abbott, VE6OG

We'll Miss you, Les!

Les Abbott, VE6OG of Edmonton passed away on October 9^th, 2022 at the age of 78 years. He was a member of QCARC since the Club's formation in 1985 and he served in many capacities including President, Vice President, webmaster and repeater custodian and always stayed involved even after being made a Lifetime Member in 2017. Les was first licenced as VE3GMU in 1969 and has held VE6OG since moving to Edmonton in 1976. Les loved working on radio equipment and if he couldn't repair it, probably nobody could. After cominhg to Edmonton, Les spent many years working for AGT/Telus. Les was a great guy and he helped a lot of people in the community and in the amateur community as well. There is an obituary at Foster & McGarvey - Edmonton Funeral Homes (fostermcgarvey.com) Sincere sympathies to the Abbott family from the QCARC.

QCARC ANNOUNCEMENTS
JOIN QCARC OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP BEFORE MARCH 31 AND TO BE ENTERED INTO THE DRAW FOR OUR 250.00  EARLY BIRD CASH PRIZE
QCARC Membership Form    Membership dues and donations can be e-transferred to mail@qcarc.net

THANKS VERY MUCH TO ALL THE MEMBERS WHO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT QCARC WITH MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS AND DONATIONS!!

When needed, QCARC helps amateurs or the famly of silent keys with tower work and station dispersals. We can sell your items for you at the flea markets or swap and shop. If you would rather not be bothered trying to sell items you can donate them to QCARC. If you need this type of assistance contact VE6UFO at 780-232-7012 or mail@qcarc.net

Another benefit of being a member is that you can purchase items at MRO Electronic Supply with your proof of QCARC membership. There is a 25.00  minimum.

QCARC SELLS DONATED ITEMS AT FLEA MARKETS TO RAISE MONEY TO OPERATE OUR REPEATERS AND KEEP MEMBERSHIP DUES LOW.  IF YOU HAVE ITEMS TO DONATE PLEASE ARRANGE PICKUP WITH PAUL VE6UFO AT mail@qcarc.net OR 780-232-7012. THANKS VERY MUCH TO ANYONE WHO HAS RECENTLY DONATED ITEMS TO THE CLUB.

QCARC has 2 ISED accredited examiners:
Ernie VA6EJR va6ejr@gmail.com 
Mitch VE6OH ve6oh@rac.ca

QCARC weekly 2 meter net Wednesday 8:30PM on VE6QCR and VE6PP repeaters. After the net, stations are encouraged to stick around for a fun round table ragchew QSO session.

Do you know of a new ham or a ham getting back into radio after years away from the hobby that needs equipment and/or help getting a station set up? We can help!!! mail@qcarc.net

RAC NEWS

Stephen Lee VA6SGL is the RAC Director for AB NT NU.

If you are not a RAC member, please consider joining as RAC helps protect and advance amateur radio in Canada and around the world. RAC members who are also members of RAC affiliated clubs such as QCARC get special insurance coverage. Details of this coverage are found at https://www.rac.ca/insurance/

MISC. AMATEUR RADIO RESOURCES

The movement of the International Space Station can be tracked in real time at Live Space Station Tracking Map | Spot The Station | NASA

Here is a link to a page on the WCAR website about understanding propogation: https://www.wcar.ca/education/up/

Don VE7DXE in Victoria, BC has established www.hamshack.ca which is a great site with a fully functional buy and sell feature and other new resources being added all the time. Check it out often!!

The Surrey Amateur Radio Club has a great newsletter and the latest edition can be found at  www.ve7sar.net 

If you are trying to learn Morse code or increase your speed, there is a great YouTube resource. Search for HamradioQRP which will get you to the site. These videos are a terrific help.

Another good resource including solar conditions is https://www.wm7d.net

Here is a link to the RAC Canadian Amateur Radio Band Plan chart Canadian Amateur Radio Band Plans (rac.ca)

Know someone interested in becoming a radio amateur? Resources for home learning include Hamstudy Basic available through Amazon, and Coax Publications for Basic and Advanced study manuals https://www.coaxpublications.ca/ Further, Cold Lake Amateur Radio Society (CLARS) hosts a training website http://www.clares.ca/va6hal%20training.html for Basic and Advanced.  RAC  also has  an Advanced course available at  no cost for  members  that  have a  Gold  Leaf  Membership.

MISC. TECH INFORMATION

A garden hose reel works well for hanging up those rolls of spare coax. They can be found at garage sales for a buck or two.

"QUICK DISCONNECT" mounts are available to easily change resonators for your HF mobile antennas. There are also some good multi-band mobile antennas out there.

Rough running gas powered generator? This problem is often caused by gas with ethanol added. Small engines don't like it so run straight gas or add fuel stabilizer to the tank.

When re-assembling a used yagi or vertical antenna made of aluminum make sure to remove any oxidation at the joints using a ScotchBrite pad or equivalent and use new stainless steel hardware.

Always keep your signal and audio cables as far away from the power cords as possible. If you have them all bunched together, you will have problems one day.

A way to check a long run of coax for loss is to use a dummy load and wattmeter at the radio and at the antenna end of the coax and compare the output readings. If the loss is very low the 2 readings will be very close to the same on either end.

Lay down those radials the easy way! Using a lawn edger for putting down radials!

Do not set an external tuner directly on top of your HF rig or you could have distorted TX audio on some bands. Make a 2 inch separator out of non-conductive material.

If the fan on your power supply or rig comes on a lot, add a small external fan on the back of the unit to help keep things cooler.

Have you ever gotten into your vehicle to find that your battery was dead because you forgot to turn off your mobile radios? Modern rigs have a programmable Auto Power Off (APO) that you can use to make the radio turn itself off after a pre-set period of inactivity.

On vehicles with roof racks, a tiltover mount for your HF mobile antenna can be easily made by attaching the L part of a mirror mount antenna bracket to the roof rack with a single bolt just tight enough that the mount will move by hand 90 degrees as required. For pickup trucks, you can mount the bracket to a pole in the box or on the bumper or trailer hitch. Ensure proper grounding.

To make it easy to see what you are doing when trying to work with connections at the back of all the various pieces of gear on your operating desk, mount a mirror on the wall behind the equipment. I saw this years ago when visiting the station of Dave VE6KD. Great idea, Dave!!

Here is a link to plans for an inexpensive and easy to build 5 band HF Vertical Antenna N5VEG 5 Band HF Vertical "Wonderstick" Antenna (hamuniverse.com)

Directional Finding (Bunny Hunting) Techniques and plans for building a high gain cubical 2 meter quad antenna and sniffer
http://www.qcarc.net/VE6OB%20Bunny%20Hunting%20Article.pdf 

Here is a link to plans for an easy to build HF multi band fan dipole MULTI BAND HF FAN DIPOLE ANTENNA DESIGN (hamuniverse.com)

When building a station, it is important to determine the correct coax to use. Transmission line losses must be kept at a minimum to achieve optimum performance.  

Here is a link to some coax loss charts.  https://www.w4rp.com/ref/coax.html
If you are re-using coax make sure there is good continuity and check it with a wattmeter and dummy load - MOST USED FLEA MARKET COAX IS GOOD FOR THE SELLER, NOT THE BUYER!!

Here is a link to a handy dipole antenna length calculator and various other resources:
Dipole Antenna Length Calculator (everythingrf.com)

Need to find the grid square for your QTH? Try this: Amateur Radio Ham Radio Maidenhead Grid Square Locator Map (levinecentral.com)

Here is a listing of some of the nets and other gatherings that take place regularly:

Daily

There is a lot of activity on the 2 meter simplex frequency 146.490 in Edmonton.

Various 40 and 80 meter ragchew groups take place all morning long from about 7:00AM until 10 or later. Look around the bands for an opportunity to join in on an interesting QSO.

Saskatchewan weather net 8:00AM Sask time 3.753 MHz

Aurora Net 2300 UTC   7.100 MHz

Saskatchewan Net 0100 UTC 3.735 MHz

Alberta Public Service Net 0130 UTC 3.700 MHz

BC Net 0130 UTC 3.729 MHz

160 meter ragchews take place 9:00 PM or later usually on frequencies above 1.890 MHz.

Weekly

Alberta ARES Net Sunday 9:00AM mountain time 3.750 MHz

The Alberta Week Signal Net Sunday 10:00AM and 8:00 PM 144.200 MHz USB

Trans Canada Net Sunday 2:00PM 18:00 UTC 14.140 MHz

Sunday 6PM VE6KM B linked to ref001C is the international DSTAR Net

Sunday Evening Aurora Net 9:30PM Central time 7.100 MHz

Monday 8:00PM on VE6KM B linked to reflector REF016B is the Alberta DSTAR Net

Monday Amateur Radio Information Net 3.729 MHZ right after the BC net about 0230 UTC

NARC weekly 2 meter net Tuesday 7:30PM on VE6HM repeater 147.060 -600

IRLP Trans Canada net Wednesday 9:00AM on VE6HM repeater 147.060 -600

Winlink Wednesday please check out www.wcar.ca  for information

Friday 7:00PM on VE6KM B linked to ref001C Canadian Dstar Net