RAC Bulletin 121124

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for November 24, 2012

NATIONAL NEWS

1. IRLP/EchoLink Weather Net

The Weather Radio Listeners Newsletter Net meets every Saturday night
starting at 7 pm Eastern Time on IRLP Reflector 9034, and if you have
a computer, Echolink node 223557. It is hosted by Gordon Maybee,
VA3WXA, and has information about Weather Radio and also CANWARN.

We hope to make this a Cross Canada Net to include all provinces and
Territories. We are looking for Québec stations as we do not yet
have anyone checking in from there. For more information go to
www.maritimeamateur.ca and click on CANWARN, then click on CANWARN
News.

-- Jim Langille VE1JBL

ONTARIO SECTIONS NEWS

2. Lanark "Sandy" Report

The Lanark North Leeds (LNL) ARES group members on October 29th were
advised by EC VE3BSB and VE3UIX about which repeaters had standby
power when looming tropical storm Sandy was about. Though they were
not called upon, this info serves for future needs. Norm VE3VY had
Winmor available and was in contact with Kingston ARC hams that were
on standby.

-- via Norm VE3VY

ITEMS OF INTEREST

3. Radio Welcomers Needed

Have a little spare time? I am looking for someone to help create
and send "welcome to the hobby" radiograms to new amateurs. You'll
need to place several small programs and one database in a folder on
your computer. Then, every few weeks, you download the callsign
database from Industry Canada, "unzip" it, and run a program that
tells you the new callsigns. Then get the name, address, and phone
number online, and create a radiogram using whatever program works
best for you.

If you are interested in helping out, and gaining valuable practice
in formatting message traffic, email ve3gna (at) rac (dot) ca.

-- Glenn Killam, VE3GNA

4. WWVB Broadcast Format Change

As of October 29, Radio Station WWVB has been broadcasting a phase
modulation (PM) time code. The new signal provides improved
performance in new products that are designed to receive it.
Existing radio-controlled clocks and watches will not be affected by
the new broadcast protocol, and will continue to work as before.

A few clocks that used information from the carrier -- specifically
the Spectracom NetClock and receivers manufactured by True Time
during the 1970s and 1980s -- will no longer be able to read the time
code and will be obsolete. For more information, visit
tinyurl.com/new-wwvb

-- Amateur Radio Newsline and WWVB

5. Good Amateur Radio Operating Practices

The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) has made available a
leaflet on good amateur radio operating practices. You can download
the PDF file at tinyurl.com/5ragel4 (Five Romeo Alpha Golf Echo Lima
Four)

-- Southgate ARC News