VHF VE3OSR 146.94/97.4 (link with VE3GBT is down)

VA3KOT John Owen Sound NCS
KO4DXQ Bob Tennessee
VE3BQM Bernie Owen Sound
VE3VCG Marvin Paisley
VE3RQY Greg Owen Sound
VE3RWY Rob Owen Sound
VE3DGY Doug Owen Sound
VE3FP Adam Elmwood

HF 3.783MHz

VA3KOT John Owen Sound NCS
VE3BQM Bernie Owen Sound
VE3RQY Greg Owen Sound
VE3RWY Rob Owen Sound
VE3DGY Doug Owen Sound

Jim, K5ND, has published a nice little ebook on 6 meter operation.  It's only 49 pages but full of info on propagation, equipment, etc.  And it's free!

Download the pdf at this URL:  https://www.k5nd.net/capture-the-magic-o...ers-ebook/

73
Dave, VE3WI

To all GBARC members and guests,

This year winter field day will be like the June field day, an individual operator event with club submissions possible.  For those interested in participating in 2021 Winter Field Day, answer the polling question YES or NO to if you will be participating.

Later on, there will be instructions as to how to set up N1MM call logger for a GBARC submission afterwards with the club identified as GEORGIAN BAY ARC. and following Field Day instructions on how to extract the logs for club submission.  This forum will be used as a place to go for questions and answers.

Cheers

I have written a simple spreadsheet to assist net controllers in logging check-ins to the club nets. All you have to do is enter a callsign suffix (e.g. KOT) and the spreadsheet will automatically add the prefix (VE3, VA3 etc), name and QTH. Then simply copy the log entries and paste them into your net report here on the forum.

I wrote this spreadsheet  using LibreOffice and saved it as a Microsoft Excel file. I am not a Microsoft product user so I have not tested it in that environment. If anybody would prefer the .ods original file I can upload that too. I hope this will be useful and encourage more net controllers to come forward. Some may find it a useful tool for those "senior moments" when you can't remember whether somebody is a VE3 or VA3 and you didn't hear their callsign clearly on the radio, or you get temporarily confused about the person's name. It happens!

N.B. The spreadsheet is available as an attachment to this post.

UPDATE TO ATTACHMENT: Rob VE3RWY advised me that the attached file was not compatible with older versions of Microsoft Excel. The file has now been edited and uploaded again. If you downloaded the earlier version you may wish to erase it and download the revised file now attached to this post. Either version of the file will function correctly if opened with LibreOffice.

UPDATE #2
LibreOffice ODS spreadsheet attached as a ZIP file.

Attached Files

  GBARCnetLog.xlsx (Size: 9.7 KB / Downloads: 1)

To:  My Amateur Radio Friends Around the Globe
From:  Deep Dixie Contest Club (DDCC)

REMINDER — and PLEASE forward this to all your contesting friends, especially contest and/or DX clubs:

Date:  Thursday, December 17, 2020 (even though the meeting begins on Dec 18 according to Zulu time)
Time:  7:00 PM Central STANDARD Time.   That will be 0100z.
Speaker:  Carl Luetzelschwab  K9LA
Topic:  Propagation Planning for Contests
Description:  Propagation planning for contests can involve many issues depending on your goals and entry category for the contest. Carl K9LA will discuss these issues, which include solar activity, propagation predictions, disturbances to propagation (and their impact to making Qs and possible mitigation) and several other issues. He will also address tools to use to help (before the contest and during the contest) your contest efforts.


We are extremely excited to continue the sterling quality presentations for our Deep Dixie CC Zoom™ Learning Series programs!   We welcome another expert operator as our speaker this time!
Our speaker for this next session on Thursday evening, December 17, is Carl Luetzelschwab  K9LA, from Fort Wayne, IN.  So, please pass the word far and wide.  All contesters are welcome!

About our speaker:  Carl Luetzelschwab  K9LA 
Carl has been a radio amateur since 1961. ... He served as National Contest Journal (NCJ) editor from 2002 until 2007 and, until 2015 contributed the “Propagation” column to the bi-monthly publication and articles to other Amateur Radio publications.
Carl retired in October 2013 after 41 years as an RF design engineer with Motorola and then with Raytheon (formerly Magnavox). He designed solid-state RF power amplifiers.
As a prolific author, Carl has contributed to scores of professional journals, newsletters, book chapters, and he writes regularly for NCJ and other ham radio periodicals.  In addition, he is a vastly popular presenter for radio clubs and other organizations who call upon him to share his notable expertise on numerous topics, but especially propagation and contesting.

PLEASE invite all radio enthusiasts to join us for this presentation!  Pass the word around.  Post it to all your club members.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
IMPORTANT:

Here is the official invitation that you may use to connect to our Zoom™ meeting room:

Larry Anderson is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Deep Dixie CC Zoom™ Presentation: Propagation Planning for Contests
Time: Dec 17, 2020   07:00 PM Central STANDARD Time (US and Canada) — 0100z

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9087926776?pwd=dE9sNnRvZWpyQ3RuYmNuUDZpbHIxQT09

Meeting ID: 908 792 6776
Passcode: ddcc2020
One tap mobile
+19292056099,,9087926776#,,,,,,0#,,54166495# US (New York)
+13017158592,,9087926776#,,,,,,0#,,54166495# US (Germantown)

Dial by your location
        +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
        +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown)
        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)
        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)
Meeting ID: 908 792 6776
Passcode: 54166495
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcALgHNEAi
~~~~~~~~~~~~
As you await Carl’s presentation, feel free to send any questions, comments, suggestions related to this topic.

PLEASE pass this information along!
~~~~~~~~~~~~

I recently came across a radio activity being practiced by hams in lockdown in the GTA. They call it the Covid-52 superspreader event. Inspired by the rules and restrictions of the Covid-19 situation, the event involves making contacts on simplex frequencies on 2 metres and 6 metres. The only rule is that participants must be at least 2 metres apart or 6 metres apart depending on which band they are using. Operating on 70cm during the event is forbidden because that would contravene the social distancing rules of Covid-19! 

The objective is to increase the spread of the activity by making the furthest contact possible using whatever power is available. The activity name derives from the frequencies used: 146.52 MHz and 51.52 MHz. 

It seems like a constructive way of dealing with the never-ending lockdown restrictions while encouraging participation in ham radio. Anyone want to give it a try here?

Solar update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle reports that Sunspot Cycle 25 is one year old and increasing solar activity continues to surprise and amaze.

Average daily sunspot numbers more than doubled every week over the past few weeks. Two weeks ago, he reported average daily sunspot numbers of 12.

Last week, the average was 27.9. This week the average daily sunspot number at sits at 57.6. In the past week the highest daily sunspot number was 84 on Sunday, November 29, and solar flux also peaked that day, at 116.3, pushing the week’s average solar flux to 108.1, up from 90.1 over the previous 7 days, and from 79.8 the week prior to that.

A screen capture of the critical frequency (foF2) from the ionosonde at Alpena, Michigan taken today shows encouraging signs for renewed NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skywave) activity on 40m. Typically, reliable communications using NVIS are made at a frequency about 20% below the critical frequency. Although today's plot shows frequent peaks in the 40m range it is too early in the solar cycle for regular NVIS operation on that band.
   
Note that even 80m is only useful from 13:00 - 23:00 UTC (8:00 am - 6:00 pm local) for NVIS. The fact that we can still hold the GBARC HF net on 80m outside this window suggests that ground wave propagation is being used for stations in the GBARC region. Ground wave propagation is enhanced by using a vertically polarized antenna. Those of us with horizontally polarized antennas (like mine) are at a disadvantage.

Remember that the propagation pattern for a NVIS antenna shows most of the energy going straight up at 90 degrees to the horizon in a classic "cloud burner" manner. At the same time, a useful amount of energy is still available at lower angles for mid-range or ground wave communication. Thus a AS2259-style 40m/80m inverted-V dipole is still useful even though it will only work on 80m during the daytime for true NVIS propagation.
   

NCS Tom VA3TS

VHF Checkins
VE3FGG Jamie, KO4DXQ Bob , VE3OZW Richard, VA3KOT John, VE3FP Adam, VE3RWY Rob, VE3DGY Doug, VE3NX Jim, VE3RQY Greg, VE3FAS Phil

HF Checkins
VE3KOT, John, VE3RWY Rob, VE3RQY Greg, VE3NX Jim, VE3DGY Doug