Quarter Century Amateur Radio Club

         VE6QCR 146.640 Stony Plain--VE6BOX 146.730 Athabasca--VE6PP 146.820 Whitecourt--VE6SS 146.880 Pigeon Lake All have 100Hz tone and offsets are all -600 KHz 

Weekly Newsletter and Swap & Shop Listing 7/21/2021 by Paul, VE6UFO

NEWSLETTER FORMAT

Things have cooled off around here and now we have a lot of smoke. Not much sun but it is still dry and there are some damaged crops in the area due to dry conditions.

IF YOU HAVE ANY ITEMS OF INTEREST THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD TO THIS WEEKLY NEWSLETTER, EMAIL mail@qcarc.net 73, Stay well and be safe. Have a good week!!
Paul VE6UFO, QCARC Secretary Treasurer and Net Manager

The QCARC annual membership dues are still only 10.00 per year. QCARC Membership Form

CONTEST CALENDAR FOR THE COMING WEEK

RSGB IOTA Contest 1200Z, Jul 24 1200Z, Jul 25 https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2020/riota.shtml

Wednesday 7/21 Mainly cloudy and smoky Low 12 High 20

Thursday 7/22 Sunny Low 11 High 19

Friday 7/23 Sunny Low 12 High 22

Saturday 7/24 Sunny Low 11 High 23

Sunday 7/25 Mix of sun and cloud Low 12 High 23

JULY BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES, ETC.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

If you or an amateur you know is celebrating something let me know and I will list it here….
Tom Harnum VA6WT

FUNNY OF THE WEEK                                                                                                                                                 
Two guys were chatting and one told the other "I had an uncle that was a conductor".

"Oh, did he work for the railroad?"  "No. He was hit by lightning!"

Ten years ago today, NASA's space shuttle program completed its 135th and final mission when the shuttle Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the program's 30 year history, its five orbiters - Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour carried more than 350 people into space and flew more than 800 million kilometers and shuttle crews conducted important research, serviced the Hubble Space Telescope and helped in the construction of the International Space Station. NASA ended the shuttle program to focus on a deep space exploration program that could one day send astronauts to Mars.

For sale by John, VE6JDD: Zero-Five 43 foot vertical antenna with all the hardware $200.00 Also a balun for it made by Balun Design $60.00 email ve6jdd@shaw.ca or call 780-907-8599

Wanted: Ceramic cartridges and needles for older Garrard 2025 turntables -  Astatic 133D and 140D cartridges, N50SD & N60SD needles. Contact Evan VE6BIC 780-902-3353 - TEXTING PREFERRED.

Mitch, VE6OH is looking for a good used 4X4 truck preferably diesel with trailer towing package and an RV around 25 ft. Contact Mitch at 780-446-8958 or email ve6oh@rac.ca

UPDATED  Wanted by Blair, VE6AGH the following items:

An RCAF WWII transmitter model AT-12. It's Air Force blue, about 18 inches high, 9 inches wide and 14 inches deep and has handles on the top and front. 

Marconi CP 34 or CP 44 HF portable  and also a Marconi CSR-5 receiver.                                                                       
Blair can be contacted at 403-327-8207 or ve6agh@yahoo.ca

Wanted by Ric, VE7CUP 2 or 3 position remote antenna switches, working or not. Ric is also in search of any aluminum tubing, round or square 1/2" to 3" . If you can help Ric out with any of these items, please email ricmartin@telus.net

For Sale by Bill VA6RQ

New in Box AR270B 2M/70cm Ringo Vert Ant 5.5-7.5db for $275 Radio World price - $333

New in Box Hygain LJ-204BA 4Elm 20M monoband ant for  $675 Radio World price - $772

New in Box Hygain VB-64DX 4Elm 6M Beam ant for $195 Radio World price - $225

New in Boxes (2) Cushcraft A148-10S 2m 10El yagi ants $195 each Radio World price -$259  if you buy both it comes with a used co-phasing harness

USED CDE CD-45 light duty Rotator (good condition) $100

USED Hygain Ham III med duty rotator well used (new bearings) $100

If you are interested in Bill’s items please email him at   va6rq@rac.ca

FOR SALE BY DAVID VA6DJ - ITEMS CAN BE PICKED UP OR SHIPPED OUT OF LLOYDMINSTER AT BUYER'S EXPENSE.   PHONE/TEXT 306-304-1356 OR EMAIL djames2000@hotmail.com
Open to reasonable offers.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Edmonton Area 2M SSB net is on 144.200 USB Sundays at 10:00am and 8:00 PM 

Winlink Wednesday emails can be sent via Winlink to Alex, VA6MCP. Instructions on how to do this are on the website www.wcar.ca

AR100 Hamfest - The celebration of 100 years of amateur radio in Alberta. THIS EVENT HAS BEEN DELAYED UNTIL AT LEAST 2022.  When there is a new date further information will follow.

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

Ernest Clintberg VE6EC is the RAC Director for AB NT NU and Stephen Lee VA6SGL is the Alberta Deputy Director for RAC. 

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 Whitecourt group’s website www.wcar.ca is maintained by Alex VA6MCP. This website includes solar conditions, information on Winlink Wednesday and many other resources. The Whitecourt group has done a lot to promote amateur radio and QCARC commends them for that.

Here is a link to a page 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 new 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.

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)

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

Edmonton Area 2 meter SSB 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