On Saturday December 21, 2025, three brave souls set out to tackle the elements on the first day of winter to support the Nanaimo Amateur Radio Club (NARA)'s semi-annual NVIS propagation exercise. Fortunately, winter hadn't arrived yet and the day was sunny and seasonally warm. No heaters required! 

Howard VA7PWF, Colin VA7EEH and Felix VA7VOL met up at the DND grounds in Vernon to set up a dipole resonant to 60m which was strung up between their trucks at a height of approximately 8ft.  With one little adjustment, they got the SWR down to 1.7:1, good enough.  When the radios (FT-710 and FT-891) were fired up, they immediately heard Jack VE7GDE, the exercise controller from Nanaimo loud and clear, a definite 5-7!  The only problem was, they couldn't transmit on 60m.  With a quick call to Lorne LWK, he suggested they do the unthinkable: read the manual!  It explained how to tune into the channelized frequencies permitted on 60m.  Who knew?  With that, they all checked into the exercise with ease.  Also checking in were Lorne VE7LWK and Paul VE7KWA.  

This was a great learning exercise and a chance to operate on 60m, something that they had not done before.  

Howard VA7PWF

25 brave souls embarked on the great pilgrimage to Kiki Gardens in Vernon, BC for the annual NORAC Christmas dinner — fueled by holiday cheer, questionable navigation apps, and the promise of free non-alcoholic beverages.

As usual, the conversation was lively—but in true HAM radio spirit, politics were strictly off the menu (alongside pineapple on pizza and talk about antenna lengths). The food did not disappoint: beef, pork, chicken, and seafood so good, even the vegetarians were taking notes.

Our freshly minted president, Howard, demonstrated excellent delegation skills by promptly handing off emcee duties to our former president, Ritche—proof that leadership is really about knowing when to pass the mic. Ritche, ever the pro, kept things rolling smoother than a well-tuned transmitter.

The evening’s grand finale was the announcement of the HOTY (Ham Of The Year). This year’s well-deserved honoree was none other than Colin Parkes, VA7EEH/VA7ZFG—congratulations, Colin! May your signals always be strong and your SWR always low.

And now, your official club reminder: start hydrating and stretching early, folks, because next year’s NORAC Christmas Dinner promises to test not only your appetites but your waistband resilience. We expect bigger laughs, taller stories, and possibly a record number of prizes. Stay tuned on 146.880 MHz (FM, -0.6 offset, 123.0 Hz tone) for updates—and maybe a training schedule.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!!

73 de VE7MHX

Michal

JOTA/JOTI 2025

This year, over 200 Scouts and Leaders gathered together in the Joe Rich area for the annual JOTA/JOTI (Jamboree on the Air/Jamboree on the Internet).  This weekend's world wide event, held every year on the third week of October, is the largest digital and radio event for Scouting, promoting friendship and global citizenship.  Once again, Howard PWF, Lorne LWK and Mike KPZ volunteered to help with the Ham radio demonstration. Unfortunately Mike had to leave early for a medical situation so Lorne LWK stepped in to help with HF.   Howard, as in previous years, tuned into C4FM making contacts as far away Great Britain and Alaska.  This years connection to the C4FM node on Okanagan Mountain worked flawlessly thanks to Fred from OCARC.  The highlights for Lorne on HF was contacting the Battleship Missouri on 17m stationed at Pearl Harbour and chatting with a couple on a SOTA mountain top in Northern California.  The weather was so so but the food was great and fun was had all. 

223 Red Lion Squadron Royal Canadian Air Cadets

In October, NORAC was contacted by the Air Cadets asking for a demonstration for those Cadets interested in obtaining their Ham Radio license.  On December 4th 2025, Howard PWF and Colin EEH  set up a number of antennas and radios up at the DND G20 building in Vernon. The building is a large metal structure, so to help with making contacts, Colin set up his cool DX Commander outside.  Fortunately, it wasn't too cold.   There were approximately 50 Cadets in attendance.  Topics covered were various types of radios and antennas. NVIS was also discussed for military applications.  Hopefully this will spark lots of interest in the hobby.  

There are numerous free online magazines covering amateur radio that I enjoy.   Here are a couple:-

SWR Magazine is a general interest ham radio magazine covering a broad range of topics at a high level.   It's published from the Caribbean region and available in both English and Spanish.   Sign up for free at this web address https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeNvfE0Q26iq-ZwzQ6ccsmhFvDJJiZ4ognUNw6FL75W-8K1ig/viewform?usp=header or search for the news entry on QRZ.COM

The Communicator is a well respected ham radio magazine published by BC's Surrey Amateur Radio Communications Society.   It includes both general interest and in-depth technical articles.  You can subscribe at this web address https://www.ve7sar.net/communicator

Are you a member of the RAC as well as NORAC?  If you are, remember you get a discount at the Radio Society of Great Britain bookstore!   It has a wide variety of books on ham radio - both on current topics and the history of radio.   The bookstore link is https://www.rsgbshop.org/ and you can find the discount code in a small ad in any recent copy of the RAC's The Canadian Amateur magazine.

Enjoy ... 73 VA7RLX