RAC Bulletin 2009-09-26

RAC Ontario Section Bulletin for September 26, 2009

NATIONAL NEWS

1. Derek Hay, VE4HAY, elected Midwest Region Director

Following the September 16th close of nominations for the vacant
Midwest Region Director position, an Election Committee was
convened, chaired by RAC Corporate Secretary Linda Friars, VE9GLF.
The committee met to open and review the sole nomination received for
the position, as required by the By-laws. There being no other
nominees, and the nomination documents found to be in order, the
committee declared Mr. Derek Hay, VE4HAY, elected to complete the
two-year term which ends December 31, 2010.

The RAC President, Board and Executive congratulate Director Hay
and thank him for volunteering his services.

-- RAC Bulletin Service

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

ITEMS OF INTEREST

2. South African Ham Satellite Orbited

On September 16th, South Africa's SumbandilaSat satellite was orbited
by a Soyuz rocket. Among other equipment, the satellite carries an
Amateur Radio repeater. After SumbandilaSat is fully commissioned,
the repeater will be activated with an uplink at 145.880 MHz and a
downlink at 435.350 MHz; there will also be a voice beacon at 435.300
MHz. The transponder mode will be controlled by a CTCSS tones yet to
be announced.

-- ARRL Bulletin Service

3. More CubeSats Orbited

On September 23rd, an Indian PSLV-C14 rocket carried the Oceansat-2
satellite to orbit, along with four CubeSats. CubeSats are very small
and inexpensive research satellites, and all four of these use
amateur radio to downlink telemetry. Early reports indicate that all
of the CubeSats are active. Here are their frequencies and modes:

BEESAT, from Germany, CW beacon 436.000 MHz, data downlink 436.000,
4800/9600 bps GMSK

UWE-2, from Germany, no beacon, data downlink 437.385, 1200/9600 bps
AFSK/FSK

ITUpSAT1, from Turkey, CW beacon 437.385, data downlink 437.325,
19200 bps GFSK

SwissCube, from Switzerland, CW beacon 437.505, data downlink
437.505, 1200 bps FSK

-- ARRL Web

4. 75th Anniversary Worked All Zones Award

CQ Magazine's Worked All Zones award was introduced in 1934. In
celebration of its 75th anniversary, a special "Diamond Jubilee"
certificate will be issued to amateurs who make contacts in all 40
CQ Zones of the World between November 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010.
Certificates will be numbered but there will be no endorsements.
Confirmations will not be required. For details see the October 2009
issue of CQ, or click on the October issue on the website
www.cq-amateur-radio.com

-- CQ News Service

5. No Evidence of Risk from Mobile Radios

Responding to a query from the ARRL, the President of the U.S.
National Safety Council (NSC) has replied that they "have no evidence
that using two-way radios while driving poses significant crash
risks. Until such time as compelling, peer-reviewed scientific
research is presented that denotes significant risks associated with
the use of Amateur Radios, two-way radios or other communication
devices, the NSC does not support legislative bans or prohibition on
their use." This is in contrast to cell phones, for which there is
evidence of increased crash risk. For the full story, see
tinyurl.com/qokajc (Quebec Oscar Kilo Alpha Juliet Charlie)

-- ARRL Web