NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1.   Emergency Preparedness Week 2024  May 5-11th

Theme this year: Be Prepared, Know Your Risks

Tips on using technology during a disaster:
-If possible, use text messaging, email or social media.  These use less bandwidth than voice communications and may work even when phone service doesn’t.
-If you must use a phone, keep your conversation brief and convey only vital information. This will also conserve your phone’s battery.
-Unable to complete a call? Wait 10 seconds before redialing to help reduce network congestion.
-Cordless phones rely on electricity and will not work during a power outage.
-If you have a landline, keep at least one corded phone in your home.
-Keep a charger for your mobile device in your emergency kit.
-Consider getting a solar-powered, crank, or vehicle phone charger.
-If you don’t have a cell phone, keep a prepaid phone card in your emergency kit.
-Keep your contacts up to date on your phone. This will make it easier to reach important contacts, such as friends, family, neighbours, child’s school, or insurance agent.
-If you have a smartphone, save your safe meeting location(s) on its mapping application.
Conserve your smartphone’s battery by reducing the screen’s brightness, placing your phone in airplane mode, and closing apps you are not using.
You never know how long a power outage will last!
-Remember, in an emergency or to save a life, call 9-1-1 for help.
-You cannot text 9-1-1 in many locations.
-If your area offers 3-1-1 service or another information system, call that number for non-emergencies.
-- emergency planning canada website

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

2.    Central Ontario Hamfest

Sponsor:    Guelph and Kitchener-Waterloo Amateur Radio Clubs
Date:        Sunday, June 2, 2024
Location:    Waterloo Regional Police Association Recreation Park
GPS:         1128 Rife Rd., North Dumfries, ON
         43.345, -80.419 (Decimal) or 43°20'46"N, 80°25'6W
Times:    Indoor vendors 7 am, Tailgate 8 am, Public 9 am to 12 noon
Cost:        $8.00 (Youths 12 & under are free)
Talk-in    Not Listed
Description:Approaching 50 years, and still going strong! Bringing together ham radio operators, hobbyists and enthusiasts just before Field Day and the summer heat. Indoor tables and tailgating, major vendors, loads of collectibles, free prize draws, tasty bar food and refreshments. Easy parking. Hand sanitizer available. Masks welcome.
Information: https://hamfest.on.ca/
E-mail: info @ hamfest.on.ca
-- RAC events

ITEMS OF INTEREST

3.  US Congress pushes law requiring new cars to have AM radio

The law will apply to all "motor vehicles manufactured in the United States, imported into the United States, or shipped in interstate commerce after the rule's effective date." If cars are on sale after that date and their  entertainment system can't pick up AM radio, the manufacturer "must inform purchasers of this fact through clear and conspicuous labeling."

Facing congressional questions on the matter, Ars Technica says, BMW, Ford, Mazda, Polestar, Rivian, Tesla, Volkswagen, and Volvo all said they were dropping AM radio support, partly because electrical interference from EV motors can muddle AM radio.  Interference is one of AM radio's weaknesses.

The fact that FEMA's emergency alert system partly relies on AM radio to get its message out during times of national distress led to this law. When the FCC carried out a test of the system in late 2023, just 1 percent of people received the alerts specifically by AM radio--nearly everyone else got the warning via their cell phones.

FEMA could update its systems to suit the 21st century, where we have space-based internet and even satellite-to-cellphone communication. The Radio for Every Vehicle Act document ends with a note saying the GAO must "study and report on whether a reliable alternative communication system exists."
-- inc.com newsite

4.    Club Pico Balloon Celebrates a Year in Orbit

A pico balloon launched by the Hualapai Amateur Radio Club will mark 1 year in orbit on May 19th. The balloon contains a 20 meter WSPR beacon from QRP Labs. Overcoming a damaged dipole antenna, telemetry from the balloon was recently received by stations in Australia.

The balloon is now starting another trip across the Pacific Ocean heading due east toward South America, so we probably will not hear from it for a while. The balloon is a hydrogen filled 32" Yokohama brand clear sphere purchased from Japan.
-- Source: Hualapai Amateur Radio Club

This concludes this week's bulletin. Does anyone require repeats or
clarifications?
Hearing none, This is V_3___ returning the frequency to net control.

Bulletin sent from Official Bulletin Manager VA3PC

Kp = 9!
Proton flux = 65600!
Electron flux = 189000!
Solar wind = 710.7
Radio propagation = sucks!
Aurora Borealis = beautiful!

Dear GBARC, well another summer field day challenge is fast approaching. At the club meeting April 23 we resolved three things: 1) Doug VE3DGY volunteered to be the FD coordinator this year, 2) we agreed that the field day team has the authority to make decisions on behalf of the club, 3) we agreed to hold the event at a local conservation area rather than a more public place or somewhere deep in the woods. Two spots were suggested, a)Marvin is looking at the Rotary Campground in Paisley, here is his report:

The Rotary club owns and operators the "Seasonal
Rotary Campground", Which is currently open. I spoke to the manager and
she said she would have no problem if we wanted to setup Field Day and
operate in the camp ground on the Weekend of June 22-23.  She said she
thought our Field Day activities would be of great interest to others in
the camp ground. However, she likely thinks we'd be paying the day rate
for our sites.

Normally there are lots of empty spaces in the campground toward the
back, so it would be easy for those with trailers to setup and operate.
Assuming we could get permission to operate on those sites without
paying the day rate.

I will be speaking to another member of the Paisley Rotary, who I know
personally, and discuss needs of our group more specifically. My pitch
will be that we're practicing emergency communications along with
thousands of other HAM's across North America and see if he'll let us
use some part of the site for free.

I will double check to see if all sites have hydro. There are trees
along the river which are tall enough for stringing up wires and the
site is pretty level so would also accommodate the tower mounted beam.

The Rotary also operates a building known as "The Palace". This is close
to the ball diamonds on the south side. This building is available for
rent and has indoor washrooms. It is a large open space where operators
could setup. However there are only one of two trees in that area, and
none very near the palace which would make slinging up a wire antenna
more challenging. One reason to operate in or near the palace would be
to have washrooms near at hand.

There are some reference photos in on the following webpage.

https://paisleyrotary.wixsite.com/paisle...ound-c23g2

b) Doug was to look into the Grey Sauble conservation area just north of Inglis Falls outside Owen Sound, I did stop by there end of April and made application. The lady said we could use the space but they would have to confer about overnight stay of the trailers. I haven't heard back from them.

As official pooh bah for this event I am opening up the forum for comments on the location. Currently I'm favouring Paisley, it's a drive for those of us in Owen Sound, but it gives the guys in Port Elgin a break. Please post your opinions.

Lastly Tom VA3TS needed someone to pick up the antenna tower, not sure if Dave(IWI) or someone agreed to help with that. Let us know.

PPS: There's been some changes to the regs, I'll go over them and post the key points.

from ARRL website:
------------------------
Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” G. Rutan, KB6LQS, has become a Silent Key. He passed away at the age of 85 on May 3, 2024, surrounded by family. Rutan was an ARRL member.

In 1986, Rutan made international headlines for his flight in Voyager with copilot Jeana Yeager. The pair flew around the world (nonstop and unrefueled) in 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds.

Rutan was a United States Air Force combat pilot in Vietnam, where he flew 325 combat missions and was awarded the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, the Air Medal with three silver oak leaf clusters on it. He was also awarded with the Distinguished Flying Cross twice. Rutan was part of an elite group of airmen who served as fast-forward air controllers, loitering over enemy aircraft for hours at a time.

His civilian test pilot career had him flying everything from military jets to rocket-powered airplanes, in which he set speed records. He was a recipent of the Collier Trophy. In his final years, Rutan was still serving as a test pilot. He flew four flights in the test program for his brother, Burt Rutan’s, latest design: the SkiGull. In 2022, Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, California, was renamed Mojave Air & Space Port at Rutan Field in honor of the brothers’ contributions.
------------------------

I had the good fortune to see Voyager up close, when Dick and Jeana flew her to Oshkosh in 1984 as one of their test flights.  If you want to see Voyager now, go to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, right on the Mall in Washington, DC.

73
Dave, VE3WI

Net Control: VA3DNY Dan in Owen Sound

Topic: MFJ Stopping Production...How do you think it will impact Amateur Radio and what is your favorite and/or most used MFJ (or Subsidiary) Product?
Interestingly it seemed that almost everyone had an MFJ manual tuner somewhere in their shack.

Echolink:
KO4DXQ Bob
VE3BDU Ray

Paisley:
VA3MFO Jim
VE3WI Dave
VE3OZW Richard
VA3EAC Janet
VE3VCG Marvin
VA3HYM Paul

Owen Sound:
VE3RQY Greg
VE3BQM Bernie
VA3TS Tom

80M HF
VE3BQM Bernie
VA3MFO Jim
VE3VCG Marvin
VE3BDU Ray
VE3RQY Greg
VE3OZW Richard
VE3WI Dave

This is V_3___, Official Bulletin Station for Radio Amateurs of Canada with
this week's bulletin.

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1.   RAC Winter Contest results now available

Online on the RAC website at: https://www.rac.ca/contesting-results
Thanks to our sponsors and all the participants.
-- Sam Ferris VE5SF, RAC Winter contest Manager

2.    May / June eTCA is now available

The paper version is now at the printer.
To download the digital copy, please visit https://www.rac.ca/digitaltca/
-- Alan Griffin, RAC MarCom Director

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

3.   NPARC Big Event 44 - Saturday May 25, 2024

Sponsor:    Niagara Peninsula Amatuer Radio Club
Date:        Saturday, May 25, 2024
Location:    Black Creek Community Centre, Stevensville, ON
Times:        Vendors, 7:30, General Public, 9:00. Wind up at noon.
Cost:        General admission $10.   Children 12 and under free
Talk-in:    VE3WCD 147.300+ 107.2 Hz tone
Email:        nparcbigevent @ gmail.com
Webpage:    https://nparc.ca/bigevent/
-- RAC events

ITEMS OF INTEREST

4.  2024 Dayton Hamvention — Program and App Available

The 2024 ARRL National Convention, hosted by Dayton Hamvention®,
is just two weeks away, and the convention program guide is now available.
The ARRL Events app is also ready to use, encouraging everyone planning
to attend to preview all of the Hamvention exhibits, forums, and
related activities.

The app is available on Google Play and Apple App Store

-- This week in Amateur Radio

This concludes this week's bulletin. Does anyone require repeats or
clarifications?
Hearing none, This is V_3___ returning the frequency to net control.

Bulletin sent from Official Bulletin Manager VA3PC

This website outlines the use of winlink and radio hardware to provide a portable, self contained emergency communication solution for radio clubs and ACS organizations. It seems that we do not need to re-invent the wheel every time an event or emergency test comes up as this has been envisioned and thought about by others. I encourage the club to consider this. We already have most of the hardware to build a VHF Gateway and HF forwarding station. Imagine how easy it would be to explain this to municipalities and other organizations. Food for thought.

Using Winlink ... Configurations for Basic, Field and Emergency Communications use
https://www.qsl.net/n/n5tim/DOCS/Winlink...021_V2.pdf

   

Topic 7pm tomorrow on the 3640 Net: MFJ Enterprises

On April 25th, Martin F. Jue, K5FLU, owner of MFJ Enterprises, announced they are ceasing manufacturing at their facility in Starkville, Mississippi.
The announcement came as a surprise. While COVID was hard on many companies, MFJ has continued to release new products as recently as the last few weeks, giving the outward appearance of a thriving company.
I think this is a tragedy for amateur Radio, that could lead to less availability of products and higher prices for equipment across the hobby.
What do you think? Is this a big deal?
What will the impact be on our hobby?
What MFJ products do you own?
Any MFJ stories to tell?

More information:

MFJ has been in business for 52 years, and today includes a number of companies they acquired over the years, including Ameritron, Hygain, Cushcraft, Mirage and Vectronics.
MFJ has 150 employees at their Starkville plant.
Collectively, MFJ companies manufacture and sell what I would guess to be more than half of all Amateur Radio accessories on the market.
Not everyone is a fan. MFJ has had its detractors over the years. They have had notable challenges with quality control. It is possible to consider MFJ's purchase of so many other companies as anticompetitive. It is also possible that without MFJ, these companies would have failed.
The positives:
MFJ is one of the only companies to provide PDF copies of user manuals before purchase, complete with schematics in many cases.
MFJ is one of the only companies to provide full parts lists for many of their products with replacement parts available for purchase from the factory.
MFJ has offered an unconditional "No Matter What" one year guarantee on many of their products.
MFJ has an unrivaled scope of products available! They don't just sell one model of amplifier, antenna switch, antenna analyzer, antenna, etc, they have dozens of products in each product catagory. Sure, you could go to their web site, but for a real feel for the size of their offerings thumb through their 90 page 2023 catalog, link below.

MFJ 2023 Catalog:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rr3_YWxUOF0J6JKyHFXS4e8KIbcfgrc1/view?usp=sharing
History of MFJ from the MFJ web site
https://mfjenterprises.com/pages/the-story-of-mfj-enterprises-inc
MFJ Origins Article from swling.com:
https://swling.com/blog/2020/09/mfjs-origins/

---------
Talk to you tomorrow evening at 7pm on 3640 KHz or as close as we can get. 
Warm up with Jim VA3MFO starts at 6:30. 
We use the client from netlogger.org to log the net. Confirm our frequency on their web page. Download the client and follow along at home. See who's checked in, and chat in the AIM window between checked in hams! 
73,
Kevin - VA3RCA

This is V_3___, Official Bulletin Station for Radio Amateurs of Canada
with this week's bulletin.

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1.   Recycling your eclipse glasses and help YOTA

Youth on the Air (YOTA) will be accepting in-person donations of eclipse glasses. Recycled glasses will be sent home with Argentinian campers attending the 2024 YOTA Summer Camp, so that amateur radio operators and youth can safely watch the Annular Solar Eclipse in October.  Donations are only being accepted in person at the Dayton Hamvention YOTA Booth #4304 from May 17 - 19 and at the YOTA Summer Camp in Halifax, Novia Scotia, Canada, from July 7-12.  
Applications for the 2024 Youth on the Air Camp will be accepted until May 30. The camp will take place from July 7 - 12 at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. 
For more information visit https://youthontheair.org/halifax2024.
-- arrl news

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

2.      Steeltown Tailgate Treasures

Sponsor:    Hamilton Amateur Radio Club
Date:        Saturday, May 18, 2024
Location:    St. Joseph R.C. Church, 135 Livingston Ave. Grimsby, On
Times:    7:30 am vendor setup, Public: 9:00 am
Admission:    Public: $5.00 each children free
Talk-in:    146.760 MHz -600hz 131.8 tone Simplex: 146.52 MHz no tone
Description:    This is a "tailgate only" event.  We are celebrating our 5th year!  Washrooms available., No concessions.
Email     ve3isx @ gmail.com
Webpage: https://hamiltonarc.com/hamfest/grimsby_tailgate/index.html
-- RAC Events

ITEMS OF INTEREST

3     MFJ Enterprises closing down on-site production

As many of you have heard by now, MFJ is ceasing its on-site production in Starkville, Mississippi on May 17, 2024.  This is also the same for our sister companies’ Ameritron, Hygain, Cushcraft, Mirage and Vectronics.  We are going to continue to sell MFJ products past May 17, 2024. We have a lot of stock on hand. We will continue to offer repair service work for out-of-warranty and in-warranty units for the foreseeable future.  Finally, a special thanks to all of our customers and our dealers who have made MFJ a worldwide name and a profitable business for so many years.  You all are so much appreciated.

73, Martin F. Jue, K5FLU
-- MFJ press release

4.  Radio operators connect all 26.2 miles of the Boston Marathon

More than 9,000 volunteers support the Boston Marathon every year “working in all areas including packet stuffing, medical, start line, finish line and everything in between,” according to the Boston Athletic Association, or BAA, website. Of those 9,000, around 300 are amateur radio volunteers.  The volunteers are responsible for maintaining constant radio comms, connecting all points of the course with a main radio hub, Boston Fire, EMS and police.  
All of the amateur radio operator volunteers attended a training session in Framingham in February to learn more about the marathon course and their assignment. There are four segments that radio operator volunteers can serve on: start, finish, course and transportation.  A central component of being an amateur radio operator is being knowledgeable about the safeguards that are in place in case something fails or an emergency occurs.

-- from an article by Zoe MacDiarmid (Huntington News - April 15, 2024)


This concludes this week's bulletin. Does anyone require repeats or
clarifications?
Hearing none, This is V_3___ returning the frequency to net control.

Bulletin sent from Official Bulletin Manager VA3PC