RAC Bulletin 120225

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for February 25, 2012

NATIONAL NEWS

1. A New Band at 600 metres

The 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference has approved a new
secondary frequency allocation to the Amateur Radio Service at 472 to
479 kHz. As a secondary user, amateur radio shares this band with
the Maritime Mobile Service, who are the primary user in all three
ITU Regions, and with the Aeronautical Radionavigation Service.

It remains for the Canadian government to authorize the use of 472 to
479 kHz by Canadian amateurs. We expect this to occur, but the
process may take some time.

-- RAC Bulletin Service

2. ARES Reflector Address Changes

Effective immediately, the RAC email reflectors have new addresses.

ares_alerts (at) eton.ca REMAINS THE SAME.
ares_sec_dec_ec (at) eton.ca is changed to ares_chat (at) eton.ca
racamberalert (at) eton.ca is changed to raran_on (at) eton.ca
racamberalertbc (at) eton.ca is changed to raran_bc (at) eton.ca

Neil Herber, VE3PUE has created aliases so that the "old" addresses
will work until everyone is changed over. There will be no changes
for persons receiving these bulletins except for those who filter
their incoming mail.

-- Doug Mercer, VO1DTM, RAC VP Field Services

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

3. Communications Ontario Net

Effective immediately the warm-up session for the Communications
Ontario Net, COMSONT, will start at 9:00 AM Eastern time just after
the Treasure Coasters Net concludes. The Comsont Roll Net roll call
will start at 9:30 AM Eastern time rather than 10:00 AM.

We hope the change will help fill the gap left after the Treasure
Coasters clear the frequency. Additionally, it will give everyone
a bit more of the morning to do other things.

COMSONT operates daily on 7.153 MHz. All are welcome to check in.

-- Don Rowed, VE3KII

ITEMS OF INTEREST

4. Titanic Special Event Callsign

From March 9 to April 9, special call sign XL3T has been authorized
to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the voyage of the RMS
Titanic. QSL via VA3RVK.

-- RAC Special Events Database

5. Nunavut ARISS Contact

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact
was successful for Inuksuk High School, Iqaluit, Nunavut, on February
8 at 15:18 UTC via telebridge station AH6NM in Hawaii. The school
has formed a space club through which students are learning about the
ISS via videos, the internet and guest speakers. First Air and the
Makivik Corporation are the sponsors that ensure ARISS contacts are
supported in the remote areas of Northern Canada.

-- AMSAT News Service