RAC Ontario Sections Bulletin for November 11, 2023
Official Bulletin Station for Radio Amateurs of Canada with this week’s bulletin.
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS
1. Special Calls to look out for:
Call: Sponsor: From: To: Reason:
VE9XMAS1 VE9MY 2023-12-13 2023-12-25 12 days of Christmas
VE9XMAS2 VE9GLF 2023-12-13 2023-12-25 12 Days of Christmas
VA7YOTA VA7ASI 2023-12-01 2025-10-31 Youth On The Air Month
VE3YOUTH VE3FCT 2023-12-01 2023-12-31 December YOTA Month
VA3AUPHYS VA3MOF 2023-11-17 2023-11-17 Algoma University Physics Field Day
XL3A VA3RVK 2023-10-28 2023-11-26 150th anniversary of the RCMP
VC9A VE9CZ 2023-10-28 2023-11-26 CQ WW DX Contest
–IC Website
2. Fire Destroys Key Beacon on Maderia Island
A wildfire destroyed one of the newest installations to the Northern California DX
Foundation’s International Beacon Project. A blaze in October destroyed radio beacon
CS3B on the Portuguese island of Madeira off Africa’s northwest coast. The CW beacon
had been in operation barely a month when fire swept through, destroying the building,
the radio inside and the antenna. Replacement is expected to take some time.
The HF beacon was one of several operating on 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m and 10m and was
viewed as an important resource for testing HF propagation between North America and
Europe. The various beacons operate by transmitting once on each of these bands every
three minutes, around the clock.
No timetable was disclosed for the beacon’s return to service.
— amateur radio newsline (Fri Nov 10, 2023)
ONTARIO SECTION NEWS
ITEMS OF INTEREST
3. The Quarter Century Wireless Association celebrates their 76th anniversary on December 5, 2023.
QCWA members in the US and its territories will be able to activate W2MM for this event,
which will run for 7 days beginning on the first weekend of December.
At the end of December, all of the stations that worked W2MM will be able to download a
commemorative certificate. Louis Maggio, NO2C, is providing this service on a volunteer
basis, so please expect a 2- to 3-month lead time for certificates.
Contact QCWA Activities Manager John Kludt, K7SYS, at [email protected]
for more information and scheduling.
The QCWA was founded in 1947 to provide an organization for the hobby’s pioneers.
QCWA promotes friendship and cooperation among amateur radio operators licensed at
least a quarter century ago and who remain licensed today.
— arrl news
4. The First WAS Certificate Awarded for 33-Centimeter Band
On November 4, 2023, Al Ward’s, W5LUA, 38-year quest to contact all 50 states on the
33-centimeter band ended when he received the first-ever Worked All States certificate
for (902 – 928 MHz). Ward started collecting states on the band shortly after it was opened in 1985.
“I am extremely grateful to Peter Van Horne, KA6U, for his EME [Earth-moon-Earth] efforts.
I was able to work Wisconsin for my last state on the 33-centimeter band on October 21.
At the end of September, I was sitting at 32 states confirmed with cards and/or the
Logbook of The World, when Van Horne went on a 25-state expedition providing my last 18 states,” |
said Ward. In recent expeditions, Brian McCarthy, NX9O, and Jason Baack, N1AV, also provided
several states that were needed.
Ward’s station consists of a 5-meter dish with 400 W of power obtained from two 300 W
Motorola amplifiers in parallel. His feed is a dual polarity patch feed.
Other stations on the hunt for the 33-centimeter WAS certificate that are nearing completion
include AC0RA, K0DAS, and N1AV.
— arrl news
This concludes this week’s bulletin.
Bulletin sent from Official Bulletin Manager VA3PC
RAC Ontario Sections Bulletin for November 11, 2023
