This bulletin, issued during the first and third week of each month, is a handy reference for SARC member activities, resources and links. If you have relevant information for the next bulletin, please respond to membership@ve7sar.net.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Annual General Meeting (June 11)
To vote at the AGM, members must be in good standing, which means that membership dues must be paid at the latest, by June 11th. Payment can be made (preferably) by etransfer at payments@ve7sar.net or, alternatively, at the AGM.
Proxies: A quorum is 25% of paid members. Therefore, if you are unable to attend the AGM and your membership is in good standing, we ask that you provide a proxy for your vote. Please print out a proxy form, which can be found at https://bit.ly/SARC-Proxy, sign and email it to your representative, to a Director, or to membership@ve7sar.net.
Also, before June 11 please review the minutes of the 2024 AGM, which can be found at: https://bit.ly/SARC-AGM2025, as a vote will be taken to formally adopt these minutes.
SARC Name-Callsign Badge
Name badges are now available in either pin or magnet style. Please contact Doug VA7JDJ at VA7JDJ@gmail.com to order a badge similar to that shown. Cost is $15. You can pay for it at payments@ve7sar.net.
Contest Results
SARC 1st Place BC Section, 1st Place Canada
SARC 1st Place BC Section 2nd Place Canada
VB7MAN is QRT! Operation MANNA@80 Special Event Concludes
John VE7TI anticipates that there will be a wrap-up article forthcoming from the European organizers. A post-event video is at: https://youtu.be/nGgMLRMqPmw
And the following from Andy M0IYE, Rose 2E0RXO and Daron 2E0GFY (International Bomber Command Centre Radio Team)…
Together we achieved over eight thousand contacts, over sixty thousand QRZ lookups, and the production of a fantastic film. We were in national, local and radio news, and got loads of children on the air. We all had some fantastic conversations with some wonderful people. We would like to remember the sacrifice of those in Bomber Command and the Bomber Squadrons of the USAAF, the deadliest branch of service in WW2 with another International series of SES events the same as we did for operation Manna.
But we also commemorate those all around the world who keep the memory alive, such as the Bomber Command Museum of Canada, a small thing like a Memorial at a crash site and the work still going on today to recover and bury aircrew.
Thank you for the huge effort you all made for operation manna@80 an incredible result! We made a big splash in the amateur radio world and hopefully educated or reminded people of the mistakes of the past. Thanks to ALL for YOUR HARD WORK!. Special thanks to you, John Schouten VE7TI for your promotion and help with MANNA. You made a huge difference!!!! It is really appreciated !!
UPCOMING EVENTS
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 activation of the Operations & Training Centre ("OTC") from 9:30 am to noon at 5756 142 St. Surrey. At the OTC you may get help with your radio issues, operate the radios including satellite station, participate in contests, write the exam, and join in workshops and training. Or just engage in friendly discussion with your fellow hams.
Fathers’ Day Walk/Run for Prostate Cancer (June 15)
About 12 radio operators are needed to assist event volunteers. To volunteer please email Hiroshi VA7LET@gmail.com and/or Harry VE7HVB@gmail.com. More information at https://www.thefathersdayrun.ca/,
ARRL Field Day (June 28-29)
Field Day officially starts at 11 am Saturday June 28 and continues until 11 am Sunday, preceded by setup of radios and antennas on Friday June 27. If you can assist with planning, setup, events or takedown, please contact Andrew Elgin: va7lgn@gmail.com. Operation will be from the OTC again this year with one radio on SSB, the second on CW and possibly a third on FT8. Depending on demand, a GOTA station for beginners is also planned for the SEPAR trailer.This important contest follows close on the heels of Field Day. Bigfoot tower will be deployed at the OTC, remaining
in place after Field Day. Both SSB and
CW operators are needed.
RAC Canada Day Contest (July 1) – starts Monday evening
In lieu of a summer general meeting, we will meet at the OTC at 7 pm for a social on the second Wednesday of July and August. You are invited to bring a lawn chair and a snack item to share. Soft drinks, coffee and water will be provided.
Richmond ARC Swap Meet (July 19)
The swap meet is from 9:30 to noon on July 19, to be held at South Arm United Church, 11051 No. 3 Road, Richmond. Admission is $5. Come out to help with SARC sales or bring your own items to sell. See: http://www.richmondarc.ca/swapmeet2025.html
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 Calendar tab on the homepage of SARC’s website: www.ve7sar.net.
NETS & REPEATERS
New Monthly UHF Net (next one is July 6)
Darryl VA7CQD has agreed to host a new monthly UHF net to be held at 7:30 pm on the first Sunday of each month. It will run on SARC’s UHF repeater 443.775 MHz+5 tone 110.9 Hz. This is a non-chat net; just check in and carry on with your evening.
Winlink Net (every 1st and 3rd Monday)
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.
Tuesday Evening SARC and SEPAR 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 on 147.360 MHz tone 110.9 Hz and South repeater on 147.360 MHz tone 103.5 Hz. You can also join via IRLP (node 1736) and Echolink (node 496228), which are available only on the North repeater.
Monthly 220 MHz Net (next one is June 29)
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 and exchange signal reports.
Net Control
Net Coordinator Reg VA7ZEB has provided the full NCO Schedule here. If you are a Net Control Operator (NCO), we encourage you to review the schedule regularly to ensure you're satisfied with your shift. If you'd like to be an NCO send a note to Reg: reg@natarajan.ca.
"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.
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, thus playing a crucial role in emergency preparedness.
PROJECTS
AND GROUPS
Satellite Station Project
Dino VE7NX is available to coach members who wish to learn how to make contacts via satellite using SARC's new satellite station. Contact Dino at dimtchog@gmail.com or reply to membership@ve7sar.net if you would like to learn more.
Contesting Group
To participate in scheduled contests, or if you wish to operate the station radios on your own time, please reply to Contesting@ve7sar.net . Coaching is available as needed. See WA7BNM Contest Calendar: Home for a complete list of available contests.USEFUL LINKS
Comprehensive Index to Communicator Articles
Thanks to the impressive efforts of Blake VA7BWG and Reg VA7ZEB, a database index of Communicator articles back to 2007 is now available at Surrey Radio - Search the Archive . Try it out by entering a topic, author or anything in the search box.You will also find PDF Indexes available for download. If you click on Author Index, Topic Index or Chronological Index, it will bring up a PDF where you can find the page number of interest for your selection. Scroll down to the relevant page number and you will find the article, which you can open. The May-June Communicator includes more comprehensive how-to-use instructions: https://ve7sar.blogspot.com/search/label/SARC Communicator.
Parks-on-the-Air (POTA) Brochure Available
Members who do POTA are frequently approached by passers-by inquiring what we are doing. For this purpose, John VE7TI has created a SARC POTA brochure that can be handed out. The .pdf file is available for download at https://bit.ly/POTAbrochure.
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 Morse Code: https://longislandcwclub.org/#.
Advanced Amateur Group
Hosted by Reg VA7ZEB, this group is for those who want to take amateur radio beyond the basics: advancedamateur.ca. Among other things, here you can find 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.
Alternatively… Ken Clarke VE7BC and John Schouten VE7TI have created a new site which can tell you if you have QSL cards waiting at the bureau (although it is not yet complete for all callsigns) at BC Incoming QSL Bureau. Also included is a detailed procedure for creating your own QSL cards using MS Word software.
Free VE7DXE Advanced Certification Course
Link to SARC’s Basic On-Line Basic Ham Class Overview
If the proposed new question bank can be accommodated in course material in time, the next on-line course will take place in the Fall. Welcome to our courses.pdf - Google Drive.
May-June 2025 SARC Communicator – 120+ pp of technical and SARC Information
Do You Want to Join Surrey Amateur Radio Communications Society?
Reply to membership@ve7sar.net.73,
