SARC Bulletin for February 5, 2025
Issued during the first and third week of each month, this bulletin provides a quick reference for SARC activities, resources and links for the following weeks. If you have relevant information that you would like to be included, please respond.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Parks-on-the-Air (POTA) Brochure Available
Those of us who do POTA are frequently approached by passers-by enquiring what we are doing. For this purpose, John VE7TI has created a SARC POTA brochure that can be given to those looking for additional information. The .pdf file is available for download at https://bit.ly/POTAbrochure.
A First CW POTA Activation for Dmitry VA7DVO!
I missed posting this in the last bulletin, but better late than never… Dmitry Sevostiyanov VA7DVO is a graduate of SARC’s CW class and, after honing his skills with regular weekly practice, has put his CW to use on a POTA (Parks on the Air) activation. Here is his report: “Last week I did my first CW POTA activation. I made 15 QSOs before my brain fried. I was at Mud Bay Park (CA-3245, Boundary Bay Wildlife Management Area) running 60W on 20 meters using a tiny telescopic antenna but still managed to get coast-to-coast to Maryland. I had to ask for a lot of repeats, but the people were patient with me. CW is still hard on my brain, and I'm drained right now, but very excited.”
On Jan 22, 2025, two members of the Surrey Amateur Radio Communications Society completed what is believed to be the first 24 GHz terrestrial contact in BC. Scott VA7SC was in grid CN89nb at Crescent Beach transmitting just 1 mW into a 24” dish, and Dino VE7NX was in CN89lc at Boundary Bay 10 km away delivering 80 mW into a 12” dish. SSB signals were loud and clear. Congratulations to Dino and Scott for this amazing achievement!
BC QSO Party
9 SSB operators and 4 CW operators participated on behalf of VE7SAR, making 1583 Qs for a score of 1,494,996. Well done, team VE7SAR.
UPCOMING EVENTS
SARC General Meeting (7 pm Feb. 12)
This meeting will be held on Zoom. Featured presenter is Andrew Walker VA7YAA who will tell us all about WoAD, which brings the functionality of Winlink to your Android device. Developed in Vancouver by VA7YAA, WoAD can interface with everything from a TH-D75 via Bluetooth to a UV-5R via a CM108 sound card to send messages using packet data over the Winlink Global Radio Email system.
ARRL DX Contest for CW (Feb. 15-16)
Head’s Up! We will be calling for CW operators shortly. Contest Objectives are to encourage W/VE stations to expand knowledge of DX propagation on the HF and MF bands, improve operating skills, and improve station capability by creating a competition in which DX stations may only contact W/VE stations.
Winlink Coaching (Saturday mornings with Horace by prior arrangement)
In follow-up to the Winlink workshop held in December, Horace VA7XHB will be available on Saturday mornings to assist members in setting up Winlink. If interested, contact Horace at horace@zyserver.com with your name, callsign, make and model of radio and interface.
Related Item … SARC now has two Winlink Gateways
One is at Surrey Firehall 1 using callsign VE7HME-10 on 145.710 MHz and a second is on Concord tower at 100th Ave and King George Blvd using callsign VE7ADQ-10 on 145.770 MHz. Packet 1200 Baud and VARA FM Wide capable.
Every Saturday Morning (except when other scheduled events conflict)
Members, spouses and prospective members are invited to join the SARC Breakfast social every Saturday morning from 7 to 9:30 am at Denny's Restaurant 6850 King George Blvd, followed by Operations & Training Centre ("OTC") activation from 9:30 am to noon at 5756 142 St. Surrey. At the OTC you may get help with your radio issues, operate the station radios including satellite station, participate in contests, write the exam, or join in workshops and training. Or just engage in friendly discussion with your fellow hams. The OTC is located at 5756 142 St. Surrey.
SARC Official Calendar
Your official reference for dates and times of events is the SARC Google Calendar, which is updated as details change, so please check the homepage on the SARC website: www.ve7sar.net.
NETS & REPEATERS
Tuesday Nets
Join the SEPAR net every Tuesday at 7:30 pm and the SARC net at 8 pm on either of the repeaters: North repeater is on 147.360 MHz tone 110.9 Hz and South repeater is on 147.360 MHz tone 103.5 Hz. IRLP (node 1736) and Echolink (node 496228) are only available on the North repeater.
Sunday Monthly 220 MHz Net (next one is Feb. 23)
Join the 220 MHz net taking place at 7:30 pm on the last Sunday of every month on VE7RSC repeater 223.960 MHz -1.6MHz tone 110.9 Hz, with net control, Shawn VE7BD. This is not a "chat" net – just check in, exchange signal reports, and get on with your evening.
Yaesu System Fusion (YSF) repeater 443.775 MHz+ tone 110.9Hz
This repeater is connected full-time to CQ-Canada (VE1AO) room 40678 – home to the Cross Canada C4FM Weekly Net on Wednesday 6 pm PST or 0200 UTC. Located on the Concord high-rise in Surrey, it is one of the few System Fusion repeaters in BC that is WIRES-X capable (i.e. it connects to the Internet). Using your Yaesu C4FM radio, you can use this repeater to talk to the world. It is connected to the highly fault-tolerant BC WARN Internet system, which is designed to remain operational during most internet outages. Familiarity with WIRES-X on our YSF repeater can play a crucial role in emergency preparedness.
Net Reminders
"Net reminders" for those running or participating in various nets are automatically sent out by AdvancedAmateur.ca. If you are forgetful like me, you may want to receive reminders by signing up at Net Reminders.
PROJECTS AND AD-HOC GROUPS
Satellite Station Project
Dino VE7NX is available to coach those who wish to learn how to make satellite contacts using SARC's new satellite station. Contact him at dimtchog@gmail.com or reply to this email if you would like to learn more.
50 MHz and Up
SARC’s 50 MHz beacon project is nearing completion. Watch for future announcements.<![if !vml]><![endif]>
Contesting Group
To participate in scheduled contests, or if you wish to operate the club station radios on your own time, please reply to membership@ve7sar.net. Coaching will be provided as needed. See WA7BNM Contest Calendar: Home for a complete list of available contests.
IC-7300/IC-9700 Special Interest Group
This group is hosted by John Schouten VE7TI, with the most recent update on pp 37-41 of the January-February 2025 Communicator.
POTPOURRI
Do You Want to Learn CW?
Check out the Long Island CW Club, which has a comprehensive and highly-regarded on-line program for learning and mastering CW: https://longislandcwclub.org/#.
Vancouver Area Frequency List
Reg VA7ZEB has created a Vancouver Area Frequency List of useful frequencies across several services including Amateur, EmComm, Broadcast, Weather, LADD, Regional Road, FRS/GMRS, Railway, Airband and Marine. It can be easily downloaded in Generic CSV, Chirp and RT Systems format, or you can download it in PDF format for printing.
Incoming QSL Bureau
Any member wishing to receive in-coming QSL cards should send Ken VE7BC an email at ve7bc27@gmail.com or call/text him at 604-816-5775 and the cards will be collected for local distribution by Shawn VE7BD. Or, if you are simply wondering if Ken has any cards for you, please contact him.
Download the January-February 2025 Communicator
in LARGE or SMALL format, or read it on-line like a magazine. If you have information of interest to the ham community or would like to contribute an article for publication in the next issue, please contact SARCcommunicator@outlook.com.
Free VE7DXE Advanced Certification Course
Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) Advanced Certification Course
Please contact the course instructor Dave Goodwin, VE3KG, at regulatory@rac.ca to register for RAC’s Advanced course.
Link to SARC’s Basic On-Line Ham Class Overview
Welcome to our courses.pdf - Google Drive. The current course commenced Jan. 6, 2025 with 33 students registered. Next course starts on April 7th.
SARC Webpage
SARC – Surrey Amateur Radio Communications
Do You Want to Join Surrey Amateur Radio Communications?
Reply to membership@ve7sar.net.
Locally Designed and Manufactured RX80M Foxhunt receivers for sale $125 CAD:
see how it’s done here https://youtu.be/YK3gETNc2jU and order from membership@ve7sar.net.
Summer Job Wanted
Successful Kwantlen summer course graduate and SARC member, Grace VA7LZT, graduates Grade 12 this year and is looking for a summer work experience opportunity, hopefully in a technical field. Contact graceliu4132@gmail.com.
73,
John VA7XB membership@ve7sar.net
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