RAC Bulletin 2009-05-16

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for May 16, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

1. Appointment of Midwest Region Director

At a Special Meeting of the Radio Amateurs of Canada Board of
Directors, held May 5, 2009, Derek Hay, VE4HAY, was unanimously
appointed Midwest Region Director to fill the position left vacant by
the resignation of former director Devon Racicot, VE5DWR. Derek
brings to the Board a wealth of experience and will hold the post in
accordance with the RAC Constitution until a formal election can be
conducted in the Region. A call for nominations to elect a permanent
Midwest Region Director will appear in the July-August 2009 issue of
The Canadian Amateur magazine, giving full details of the election
process.

-- Bob Cooke, VE3BDB, RAC President

2. New LF/MF/HF Band Planning Committee Chair

The Radio Amateurs of Canada President has recently appointed Jim
Fisher, VE1JF, as Chair of the LF/MF/HF Band Planning Committee. Jim
will take over from Bob Nash, VE3KZ, who resigned after a few years
holding the position.

RAC wants to thank Bob Nash, VE3KZ, for the hard work he did on the
committee. During his tenure, a complete revision of the Canadian HF
Band Plan has been done and the process for an ongoing revision was
implemented.

Jim brings with him an excellent and long experience on the bands
that the committee is working on. We wish him all the best in his new
position.

-- Daniel Lamoureux, VE2KA, RAC VP for International Affairs

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

3. Help Needed for Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour

Volunteer radio operators are needed for the weekend of June 6-7 to
support the 2009 Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour. This annual event involves
over 2000 cyclists, riding from Carleton University to Queens
University and back in one weekend, a one way distance of 177 km!
Amateur radio teams from Ottawa, and the Lanark and Frontenac ARES
groups provide support along the entire route, linking various
checkpoints, support vehicles, and emergency services, and to deal
with accidents and incidents, of which there are, unfortunately,
several every year.

Operators will be deployed from Carleton University west to Blacks
Corners, south of Carleton Place. All operations are done using 2
metres. Experience is not necessary; newcomers are welcome. Anyone
interested, please contact Gordon Mein, VE3FRB via email, ve3frb (at)
rac (dot) ca. For more information visit the Ottawa Valley Mobile
Radio Club web site, www.ovmrc.on.ca

-- RAC Bulletin Service

4. Lanark County CANWARN Training

CANWARN training will be offered in Lanark County on May 30th, at 9
AM, at the Lanark County Council Chambers, 99 Christie Lake Road,
Tay Valley Township (near Perth).

Those planning to attend any of the Eastern Ontario CANWARN sessions
are asked to send an email to peter.kimbell (at) ec.gc.ca.

-- Geoff Coulson, Environment Canada

ITEMS OF INTEREST

5. VE7IYOA Special Event

The first amateur radio special event station for the International
Year of Astronomy has been announced and it is VE7IYOA located in
Victoria, British Columbia. VE7IYOA will be active from June 1st to
the 30th to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of Galileo's first look
at the sky through a telescope. VE7IYOA offers a special QSL card for
the event. For details visit www.hamiya2009.info/ve7iyoa.html

-- Amateur Radio Newsline

6. Lanark Balloon Missions Successful

On May 9th, two balloons, VE3REX-11 and VE3LCA-11 were launched on
schedule from downtown Perth. Both flight packages were recovered
with the aid of APRS and the dedicated tracking crews.

VE3REX-11, funded by the members of the Lanark Space Agency,
was recovered after landing in the St. Lawrence east of Cornwall.

VE3LCA-11 was recovered west of Cornwall just north of Highway 2.
This flight was funded by the parents of St. John's Elementary school
and contained a camera, battery and temperature sensors, and a piece
of artwork prepared by the class of Grade 6 based on a Van Gogh
painting called Starry Nights.

Details will be reported in due time on www.greatballoonchase.ca

-- Barrie Crampton, VE3BSB, via Glenn Killam, VE3GNA