This bulletin, issued during the first and third week of each month, provides a quick reference for SARC member activities, resources and links. If you have relevant information that you would like to include in the next bulletin, please respond. Unsubscribe option is offered at the end.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
VB7MAN Special Event Station – Operation Manna 80
BC hams will join other amateur organizations in the Netherlands, England, Poland and Australia in honouring the memory of those who participated in Operation Manna, a humanitarian mission carried out near the end of WWII by the RAF and Allies in dropping food supplies to the starving population of the German-occupied Netherlands. BC hams, by pre-arrangement, may book use of the callsign VB7MAN, which will be available only during the months of April and May 2025. The full story of Manna 80 can be found at https://manna80.radio/ . Also check callsign database - QRZ.com for updates on VB7MAN, including a Google Calendar link to reserve your spot.
Parks-on-the-Air (POTA) Brochure Available
Members 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.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Radio Society of Great Britain Commonwealth CW Contest (March 8-9)
This is the last call for CW operators. Once known as the "BERU," the CC involves amateurs in the 56 member countries of the Commonwealth of Nations and their associated territories only. This gives us an exclusive shot at some very interesting DX. Rules at: https://www.rsgbcc.org/hf/rules/2025/rcwc.shtml.
SARC March General Meeting (March 12)
This will be an in-person meeting at the Surrey Fire Service Training Centre with Shawn VE7BD presenting on surge protection and noise reduction. Watch for the notice.
Burnaby ARC Swap Meet (March 22)
To be held at the Salvation Army Cariboo Temple, 7195 Cariboo Rd, Burnaby. Doors open for sellers at 8 am, buyers at 9 am until noon. SARC has reserved 2 tables for sale of surplus items, and members are welcome to bring their own ham items to sell. For more information see: Swap Meet – BARC.
World Amateur Radio Day (April 18)
World Amateur Radio Day is not a contest but rather an opportunity to “talk” about the value of amateur radio to the public and our fellow amateur colleagues. It is also a great opportunity to promote your radio club and amateur radio in local media as a lead-up to ARRL Field Day. See World Amateur Radio Day for further information.
SARC Annual Foxhunt (May 10)
Mark your calendars … SARC’s foxhunt and BBQ held annually at Crescent Park in South Surrey is open to members, family members and others. You do not have to be a ham to participate. Bring your own 80m receiver, or we have loaners available. Further details, including sign-up information, will be provided in a later bulletin. Also … Search & Rescue has a training event on Saturday, May 10th and also because this is the day of our annual foxhunt, the OTC will not be available for our use.
WinLink News
SARC has two Winlink Gateways, one at Surrey Firehall 1 using callsign VE7HME-10 on 145.710 MHz and a second 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.
Horace VA7XHB has started a Winlink net. Every 1st and 3rd Monday, participants will get a Winlink message that includes: 1) a question or request for action; 2) a tip; 3) results of previous week's question/action. You have until the following Sunday to reply using any Winlink mode including Telnet. To participate, send a Winlink message to VE7ADF.
Also There will be a Tsunami Exercise for Winlink on March 29.
Watch for more information in next bulletin.
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.
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 March 30)
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.
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 p31 of the March-April 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 or visit the BC Incoming QSL Bureau for the list.
Download the March-April 2025 Communicator:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j3uFaNl853TqxRvRBrzX_FxMtY0GA-vu/view?usp=sharing
Free VE7DXE Advanced Certification Course: ve7dxe@hamshack.ca
Link to SARC’s Basic On-Line Ham Class Overview:
Welcome to our courses.pdf - Google Drive. We are now taking registrations for the next on-line course, which starts on April 7th.
SARC Webpage, SARC Blog and SEPAR Blog: SARC – Surrey Amateur Radio Communications
Do You Want to Join Surrey Amateur Radio Communications?
Reply to membership@ve7sar.net.
WANTED OR FOR SALE BY MEMBERS
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, desirably in a technical field. Contact graceliu4132@gmail.com.
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73, John VA7XB membership@ve7sar.net
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