RAC Ontario Sections Bulletin for March 25, 2023
Official Bulletin Station for Radio Amateurs of Canada with this week’s bulletin.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. Austria restricts 23cm band operation
Austria has become the latest country to impose restrictions on Amateur Radio operation in the
23 cm band (1240-1300 MHz) to protect ground-based receivers for the Galileo RNSS satellite
constellation.
The 23cm band was kept, but the performance was severely limited
-only 10W allowed (previously max. 200W was allowed)
-repeaters with more than 16kHz bandwidth must cease operation by December 31, 2024.
Please note the new conditions.
— Kurt OE1KBC
ONTARIO SECTION NEWS
ITEMS OF INTEREST
2. 2nd running of the Quebec QSO Party – Sunday April 16, 2023
Mark your agenda for the Québec QSO Party on Sunday April 16th. Come from your home
station or as a group to meet the continent on the HF bands for the second edition of this event.
Kill two birds with one stone and also participate to the Ontario QSO Party. You can submit the
same Cabrillo file for both contests, the exchange fields being compatible.
After numerous requests to allow the digital modes, these will be allowed in 2023 as an experiment.
All digital modes are allowed as long as they allow the full exchange to happen (this excludes FT4/8)
Subscribe to the email reflector at [email protected] to announce your presence and favorite mode (VaraC, JT8, etc)
This year there is no conflict with Easter so you can be present behind the microphone or key with
hopefully, some chocolate left overs. The HF propagation is excellent with frequency openings up to
10m so make use of it!
Info: https://wp1.quebecqsoparty.org/
— Georges-André Chaudron, VE2VAB, Quebec QSO Party Coordinator
3. Amateur Radio Included in FEMA Guide for National Emergency Preparedness
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has released a final version (March 2023)
of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Information and Communications Technology
(ICT) Functional Guidance. The guidance, which provides a framework for communications resources within incident management, officially includes support from amateur radio operators.
The expanded Communications Unit (COMU) structure now includes the Auxiliary Communicator
(AUXC) role, which covers personnel from services that provide communications support to emergency
management, public safety, and other government agencies. This includes amateur radio.
— The NIMS ICT guide (PDF) is available at
https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_ict-functional-guidance.pdf.
4. Space Weather Update: Coronal hole faces Earth, G2 geomagnetic storm watch
The NOAA SWPC has issued a moderate G2 geomagnetic storm watch for Friday (24 March) due to
the anticipated arrival of a southern hemisphere coronal hole solar wind stream.
https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/news/view/493/20230322-coronal-hole-faces-earth-g2-geomagnetic-storm-watch.html
— this week in amateur radio news
This concludes this week’s bulletin.
Bulletin sent from Official Bulletin Manager VA3PC
RAC Ontario Sections Bulletin for March 25, 2023
