Comments from a guest

Recently while surfing the net I found a very interesting editorial on the EMCOMM On Line Magazine.  I was that impressed with that article that I contaced  the author Paul K7IN and asked for permission to copy it to our blog.

His  Reply is here:

Hello Bob -

I would be honored for you to post my article.  One reader asked why I did not mention Winlink in the article.  And I explained that Winlink does not depend on the internet to be viable.  It easily interface with other programs that are internet based.

Thank you for asking.  You may also include my e-mail address if you would like.

73, Paul Cavnar – K7IN

So with the authors permission the article follows:

The EQ PHILOSOPHY

A GUEST EDITORIAL by Paul Cavnar, K7IN, WRRL 20

VoIP, IRLP, Echolink and other internet-dependent modes of communication
While most of us are well aware of these modes, there are serious problems and deficiencies looming just over the horizon that need to be considered.  Recently a bill proposed in congress would grant the President the ability to “shut down” our internet in order to protect government and military systems as well as vital infrastructure from cyber attack and denial-of-service attacks.  While this may seem a good idea on the surface, it will instantly bring nationwide communications and commerce to a standstill if implemented.  It will also render VoIP, IRLP, Echolink and other internet-dependent modes completely useless.  While I am all for embracing new technologies, let’s not toss out what has been proven over and over for many years because, very simply, it works.

Should our President decide he needed to isolate our American internet from the rest of the world, our ability to communicate, do business, or function via the internet could be crippled.   Except for hard-line telephone connections or radio, communications would be rendered useless at that time.  All primary internet hub locations would be isolated from each other and from all outside connections.

Regardless of who has the authority to sever these links, it is still subject to abuse since that decision to shut down will come from those in government who are just advisors to the President and whose honesty and integrity I personally do not trust.   Our nation can easily be brought to a standstill if our internet is “shut down” because virtually every facet of our lives is dependent upon the internet in one form or another.

So, while these internet-dependent modes are a great idea and can certainly move information efficiently under normal conditions, a good emcomm plan should not be depend on them for handling emergency traffic.  There is nothing that is more reliable than a direct radio link between stations operating on independent or emergency power.  That, my friends, is the absolute “bottom line” so, as the saying goes, ”when all else fails…”

Let’s not abandon our emcomm fundamentals just because it’s easier to turn on a computer.  We still need to know how to get the message through efficiently and accurately.   And practice makes perfect.  I am not saying to toss your computer out the window.  But also keep the dust off of your J-38.  Don’t get caught up in the fragile new technologies and lose your basic ability to communicate when needed. -

Paul Cavnar, K7IN 

k7in@att.net

Thanks again to Paul for this fantastic article and also to the good people at EMCOMM and  the World Radio Relay League for posting it where I could read it in the first place.

73 Bob Sharp VA3QV Net Manager Ontario Phone Net

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for November 28, 2009

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for November 28, 2009

This is The Ontaro Phone Net Blog,  Official Bulletin Station for Radio Amateurs of
Canada, with this week’s bulletin

NATIONAL NEWS

1. New Maritimes Section Manager

Congratulations to Jim Langille VE1JBL who was recently re-elected
Maritimes Section Manager for a two year term of  office that will
begin on March 1, 2010. He ran unopposed  eliminating the need for a
balloted election. Thanks Jim for  your continued support and effort
in the Maritimes Section.

– Doug Mercer, RAC VP Field Services

2. New RAC Director

It is with pleasure to report that in keeping with the Constitution
of the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) Section 7, Article 6, and
because Earle W. Smith, VE6NM withdrew from the race after the
deadline, Mr. J. T. (Mitch) Mitchell, VE6OH  is declared elected as
the RAC Director representing Alberta/Northwest Territories/ Nunavut
for the term January 2010-December 2011.

– G. Linda Friars, VE9GLF, RAC Corporate Secretary

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

3. New EC for Barrie

A new EMCOMM Co-ordinator joins the Ontario ARES for the City of
Barrie in the Lakes District. Patricia Barrett, VE3RNH has been
appointed as the new EC taking over the dedicated services of Dave
Wainwright VE3ILA for the City of Barrie.

Pat brings impressive credentials to the position as an active AEC
and she also holds certification  as a RAC CEC and completion of the
Municipal BEM  and IMS 100 programs. As the newly appointed EC for
the Barrie area Pat is well qualified to represent and co-ordinate
EmComm planning in the central Ontario region.

– Bob Gammon, VA3RX, Ontario SEC

4. Laurentian Net Seeks Net Controllers

The Laurentian Net is looking for amateur radio operators to fill in
as Net Control Stations.  Controllers are needed occasionally during
the week, and every second Sunday. The Laurentian Net meets every
evening on 3.755 MHz at 6:45 pm Eastern Time.  If you can assist,
please contact Shawn VE3PSV Saturdays on the Laurentian Net,  or via
NTS messsage to the Ontario Phone Net.

– Shawn Gartley, VE3PSV, Net Manager

ITEMS OF INTEREST

5. 2008 VO2A Expedition Report

In August 2008, VE3LYC and G3OCA activated Finger Hill Island and
Paul Island in northern Labrador for Islands on the Air (IOTA).
Cezar, VE3LYC has now written up his account of the event.  You can
read it online at tinyurl.com/y94y2xr (Yankee Nine Four Yankee Two
Xray Romeo).

– ARRL Web

=======================================
Bulletin sent from Official Bulletin Manager Brad Rodriguez, VE3RHJ

NTS- Making a comeback?

As I take a tour through the blog sphere I notice that there are a few more Blogs that are mentioning the NTS.  Every now and again I will bring one to your attention…

Here is the Pick of the Day so to speak…

Thanks to K9ZW for the mention in his blog…

73 Bob Sharp VA3QV Manager Ontario Phone Net

RAC Blog has NTS Article

Thanks go out to the RAC Blog for todays post on the NTS…

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO GET TO THE BLOGPOST

It makes for good reading

73 Bob Sharp VA3QV Ontario Phone Net Manager

From the ARRL Website

I found this on the ARRL Website and as it deal with NTS Traffic I thought I would share it with you here:

THE ARTICLE IS HERE

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to the ARRL for such an informative article.

73  Bob Sharp VA3QV OPN Net Manager

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for November 21, 2009

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for November 21, 2009

This is The Ontario Phone Net Blog, Official Bulletin Station for Radio Amateurs of Canada, with this week’s bulletin

NATIONAL NEWS

1. Beware Phony RAC E-mails

Several users of the rac.ca e-mail alias system have received e-mails purporting to be from RAC, claiming that maintenance was to be performed on the e-mail system, and that certain information was to be sent by reply to the e-mail message. This message was NOT originated by anyone at RAC. RAC does not ask for such information as usernames and passwords in an e-mail. It can safely be ignored. E-mails relating to the rac.ca e-mail alias system would come from alias-help (at) aliases.rac.ca, vptas (at) rac.ca, or other identifiable RAC e-mail address. — RAC Bulletin Service

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

2. Laurentian Net Sunday Time Change

Effective November 1st, the Sunday evening Laurentian Net begins at 6:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The Ontario Swap Shop follows at 7:00 p.m. This earlier time will continue until band conditions improve. This change does not affect the rest of the week. For Monday through Saturday the Laurentian net will start at its usual time of 6:45 p.m. — Shawn Gartley, VE3PSV, Net Manager

ITEMS OF INTEREST

3. WRTC Teams Announced

44 teams, representing six continents, have been selected for the 2010 World Radiosport Team Championships. The contest will take place about 35 kilometres south of Moscow, during the IARU HF World Championships, July 10-11, 2010. It will be held outdoors, “Field Day-style,” with competitors located in clusters in a total area encompassing about 40×30 kilometers. Eastern Canada will be represented by Yuri Onipko, VE3DZ, and Yury Romanov, VE3XB, and Western Canada by Lee Sawkins, VE7CC, and Dale Green, VE7SV. — ARRL Web

4. Happy Birthday AO-7

Amateur satellite AMSAT-OSCAR 7 was launched on November 15, 1974, and is still operational after 35 years. If you have a receiver with CW/SSB capability on 2 metres, during a pass you can hear AO-7 activity between 145.940 and 145.960 MHz. For information visit www.planetemily.com/ao7 — AMSAT News Service

5. Xlog for the Visually Impaired

Damian, SP9QLO, reports that Xlog is a ham-radio logging program which is accessible to visually-impaired hams. It is free, controls many modern transceivers, and can be configured to work with Logbook of the World. Xlog runs on Linux, and particularly Vinux, which has been customized for visually-impaired users. For Xlog information visit www.nongnu.org/xlog, and for Vinux information visit www.vinux.org.uk. — Handi-Ham

News Bulletin sent from Official Bulletin Manager Brad Rodriguez, VE3RHJ.

Some NTS Net Schedules

Some of you might want to listen in or even participate in some of the Traffic Nets listed below.  The 1430 session of the Eastern Area Net and the 1515/1530 session of the Central Area Nets are for liason stations only but all the other nets should welcome you if you check in at the appropiate time (when they are calling for station with or without traffic)

The liason station from the Ontario Phone Net checks into both sessions of 2RN along with the New York State Nets usually on a daily basis.

Time (EASTERN)    Net Name                                        Frequency

1345………. 2RN…………………….. ……………………………………..-3.925

1430………. EAN – ………………………………………………………………….7.243

1515………. CAN …………………………………………………………………… 14.345

1530……….CAN……………………………………………………………………. 7.280+/-

1600……..OPN………………………………………………..- 3.742

1700………NY STATE PON……………………………………………. 3.925

1730………EASTERN PA TRAFFIC NET……………………………3.905

1800………NY STATE PHONE TRAFFIC AND EMERG……….. 3.925

1830……….2RN………………………………………………………………..3.925

If you need more info please feel free to contact me or the Ontario Section Traffic Manager

73

Bob Sharp VA3QV

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for November 14, 2009

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for November 14, 2009

This is The Ontario Phone Net Blog, Official Bulletin Station for Radio Amateurs of Canada, with this week’s bulletin

NATIONAL NEWS

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST

1. Newest Ham Satellite is SO-67

South Africa’s SumbandilaSat, the most recent amateur satellite to be successfully launched and activated, has been designated as SumbandilaSat-OSCAR 67, or SO-67. Former AMSAT-NA President Bill Tynan, W3XO, is the internationally-designated OSCAR Number Coordinator and issues numbers to amateur satellites once they are put into service, upon request by the sponsoring organization. — CQ News Service

2. Female Wireless Operators During WW II

Perhaps a little known fact is that over 2000 Canadian women served during World War 2 on Norwegian ships and that at least 22 of these were wireless operators. The following link takes you to a page within the RAC website, where some of their stories and brief biographies are chronicled. It bears checking out before the records of these gallant women are lost forever. Visit tinyurl.com/ydmbawr (Yankee Delta Mike Bravo Alpha Whiskey Romeo) — Glenn Killam, VE3GNA, Ontario Section Traffic Manager

3. Ireland to Canada on 500 kHz

Finbar O’Connor, EI0CF, in County Donegal, Ireland reports that he has had a QSO with Joe Craig, VX9MRC. Craig was on 507.77 kHz while O’Connor was on 507.056 kHz. Signal reports were 559 for EI0CF, and 529 for VX9MRC. The mode was CW, using straight Morse keys. This is the first Ireland to Canada contact on the 500 kHz band. — Amateur Radio Newsline

4. Simple Sound Card Interface

Skip KH6TY has published a simple design for interfacing sound cards and radios. PTT is derived from the output audio, and therefore does not need a USB port or a serial port for operation. The design is at tinyurl.com/ydoxnvo (Yankee Delta Oscar Xray November Victor Oscar) — ARRL Contest Update

5. Battery Tool Kit

The Battery Tool Kit Web page by John AE5X includes projects such as a Battery Booster, a Battery Voltage Monitor for 6 V & 12 V, Battery Chargers based on the QRPme.com PTO kit, and a Self-Powered 12V Battery Desulfator. Visit it at www.w5usj.com/batterytoolkit.html — ARRL Contest Update

Bulletin sent from Official Bulletin Manager Brad Rodriguez, VE3RHJ.

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for November 7, 2009

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for November 7, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

1. New RAC Executive

During a RAC Board of Directors’ teleconference meeting on October
29th, the following new members of the Executive were elected: Geoff
Bawden, VE4BAW as President; Paul Burggraaf, VO1PRB as Secretary; and
Margaret Tidman, VA3VXN as Treasurer.  They will assume their
responsibilities  on January 1, 2010.

Subsequent to the October 29th meeting, the following Directors  and
Officers submitted their resignations: Bob Cooke, VE3DBD, former
President, effective October 31; and Geoff Smith, VA3GS, former
Ontario South Director, and Noel Marcil, VE2BR, former Quebec
Director, both effective November 1st.

The remaining positions on the executive will be unchanged as the
current officers were acclaimed. First Vice-President Ian
MacFarquhar, VE9IM, will assume the duties of President until
December  31st, 2009.

The Board and Executive extend their thanks to Bob, Geoff, and Noel
for their past service to RAC and wish them all the very best in
their future endeavours.

– RAC Bulletin Service

2. Canadian Experiments at 500 kHz authorized

After months of negotiations between RAC and Industry Canada over the
details of the licence applications and reporting conditions, the
first two licences granted to Canadians for experiments at 504-509
kHz in preparation for WRC-12 have been issued by Industry Canada.

Jack Leahy, VE1ZZ, has been assigned call sign VX9PSO in the
Developmental Service for his experimental transmissions. Joe Craig,
VO1NA, has been assigned call sign VX9MRC. Both of these stations
have been on the air already, with VX9PSO having been reported at
504.6 kHz and VX9MRC at 507.77 kHz. Signal reports can be addressed
to the operators at their call book addresses.

Two more authorizations, in Ontario and British Columbia, are
expected soon.

– Richard Ferch, VE3KI, RAC VP Regulatory Affairs

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

3. 2009 OPN SET Results

On October 3rd and October 7th, Emergency Management Ontario ARES
requested that the Ontario Phone Net (OPN) be activated to provide HF
Communications Support for the Simulated Emergency Test exercise.

Here are the stats from the HF Portion of the SET.
132 Individual Stations checking in, which represented
57 Ontario Municipalities, which in turn represented
30 Local ARES Groups, which included
10 Municipal Emergency Operations Centres.
35 pieces of NTS Traffic were handled.

From our perspective given the normal poor band conditons I am
pleased with the Net’s Performance during this exercise. My thanks to
all who participated.

– Bob Sharp, VA3QV, OPN Net Manager

ITEMS OF INTEREST

4. Hit and Bounce Nets

The Hit and Bounce Net (HBN) and Hit and Bounce Slow Speed (HBSN)
nets have been in  operation since 1938 and 1976 respectively. HBN
meets daily on 7042 kHz (Mon to Fri) and 7114 kHz on weekends at
8:30 am ET.  HBSN is daily at 7:30 am on 3576 kHz. I recently became
the manager of HBSN and  would like to garner additional support of
the net on this side of the border.

Currently we have seven stalwarts in the role of  NCS, but would like
to encourage increased participation. Both nets have a role as
independent wide-area nets outside the traditional NTS format,  as
their timeslots take advantage of early morning propagation to
provide coverage for traffic purposes.

Average speed on HBSN is between 10 and 13 WPM, and HBN is conducted
between 22 and 30 WPM. All traffic handlers will QRS to accomodate
anyone who requires a slower speed.

– Glenn Killam, VE3GNA, Ontario Section Traffic Manager

=======================================
Bulletin sent from Official Bulletin Manager Brad Rodriguez, VE3RHJ.

Can you help out?

HELP WANTED

Due to the changes in the start time of the Ontairo Phone Net we are in need of the following assistance.

Net Liason to 2nd region Net-  Twice a day we meet up with the 2nd region net (2RNas we call it) and drop off any traffic we have and pick up any thats coming our way.  This is a “voice net” so that eliminates one problem some of you would have (me included…)

Here is whats needed….  You check in to 2rn at 1345 eastern on 3.925 and you pick up any traffic from the net destined for the Province of Ontario and then you check in to the Ontario Phone Net at 1600 eastern and pass whatever traffic to the net.

Or if you are not available for the afternoon session you could check into the Ontario Phone Net at 1600 eastern and pick up any net traffic for the 2nd region net and then take it to 2rn at 1830hrs once again on 3.925.  You would then check into 2rn and pass the traffic (if any) into the system.

All thats required is a desire to help out and a station capable of checking into the net (this means hearing the net) on 3.925 either at 1345 or 1830 along with being able to check into the Ontario Phone Net on 3.742 at 1600 eastern.

There are two other times that we meet up with 2rn in a CW traffic net and if you are curious on this aspect please contact the Ontario Section Traffic Manager VE3GNA Glenn who normally checks into the OPN on a nightly basis.

Try listen in on 3.925 and if you think you can hear everyone well enough to participate , and you think you could help out let me know.  Please remember that the people you are hearing have been doing this for years and are very experienced.  This shows in the speed in which they pass traffic so they will slow down for a newcomer and will also warmly welcome any newcomers who join them.

Also with the changes in our start time we are in need of stations across the province to check into the Ontario Phone Net to see if the net has traffic your your area of Ontario.  Please check into the Ontario Phone Net which now runs at 1600hrs daily

If you can help out please let me know

73bob

Bob Sharp VA3QV Net Manager Ontario Phone Net