A big thank you to all who turned out to volunteer at the Falkland Stampede Parade on May 22nd. Perfect weather brought record breaking crowds out to the first stampede at Falkland since COVID arrived.
The parade went smoothly thanks to the efforts of our organizer Mike Dennison VA7XDM and his partner Marilyn, and all who were there to assist:
Roy Warner VA7PGW and partner Gaylene Warner
Bud Kuzenko VE7KBK
Ritchie Leslie VA7RLX and partner Rose Harryman
Bob Byrne VE7EZI
Grace Byrne VE7IGB
Paul Elmont VE7PDE
Doug Stewart VA7CPS
Michael Van Kuyk VE7KPZ
Jane Weitzel VE7WWJ
Nicholas Rudersdorfer VA7AZZ
It was a great day and I certainly had a lot of fun. 73 & thanks to all who helped out Ritchie, VA7RLX
Ps: VE7KPZ would also like to note that this works out to be: 14 x 2.5 hours service on parade day + 8 hours preparation and coordination = 43 hours of community service time.
For those of you who are RAC members, check out the great article by NORAC's VE7OHM and several Calgary area amateurs on the rapid set up of a UHF repeater in Lakeview Estates to help with fire prevention efforts during the White Rock Lake fire last year. The article is on page 32 of the May-June The Canadian Amateur magazine.
And for those members who aren't RAC members, I encourage you to give a subscription a try. Content in the magazine is improving noticeably and the RAC works hard to promote the hobby nationally and to protect our interests with ISED and international frequency allocation organizations.
Great work on the article Wilf!
73 de VA7RLX
Field Day 2022 “The Big List” - June 24, 25 & 36
This working document last updated: May 20, 2022
If you see something requiring correction or needing an update, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. immediately. Thanks!
Get Your Field Day Stoke On!
Check out the article summarizing last year's unofficial event:
https://norac.bc.ca/index.php/news/1004-event-report-field-day-2021
and the photo gallery:
https://norac.bc.ca/index.php/photos/gallery-2021-field-day
This year will be similar to last year, but will be an official NORAC event.
For details on the event and official rules, please visit: http://www.arrl.org/field-day
"What Is Field Day" (Printable PDF Flier)
http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Day/2022/2022%20Field%20Day%20Packet%20v2.pdf
Get Your Schwag
Visit the ARRL shop to purchase Field Day apparel, hats, patches, stickers, mugs, etc. Yes, shipping to Canada is an expensive endeavour - group your order with a friend and split the shipping cost and order early.
Dates & Schedule
NORAC Club Meeting & Field Day Planning Thursday May 19th. on Skype as usual, starting at 7:30pm.
Setup Friday June 24th. Starting around 5pm local time, but we will be holding the camp sites from Thursday June 23rd afternoon so come earlier if you like
Field Day Event - Saturday June 25th - Sunday June 26th (24 hour radio contest)
Group Supper - 5pm on Saturday June 25th - bring your own meat for the deep frier
Teardown Sunday June 25th after 11 AM when the event ends
Location
At the April 2022 NORAC club meeting it was decided that we would again do Field Day at the Island Lake Recreation Site up on the Aberdeen plateau where the air is clear and the QRM non-existent.
There are various access methods to get to the site, all over dirt roads. The route in from Lavington is a bit rough. The route in from Lake Country is quite smooth (as a large grant was awarded in 2021 to improve that road immensely).
Any vehicle can make it in to this site ranging from 2wd compact cars to diesel-pusher motorhomes and large trailers. If you do come in from Lavington, it would be recommended to air your tires down a bit, else it will be slow going over the bumpy road. Coming in from Lake Country is like driving on a primary road. We highly recommend coming in from Lake Country.
Here's the Google Maps link to the location. Route yourself in from your QTH.
This site is very family friendly with lots of other activities to do besides radio (fishing, boating, swimming, hiking, etc.). Rules of the campsite approach that of a Provincial Park... so that means no bang-bangs on site and there are quiet-ish hours. Generator hours are stated at the site... and chainsaws are banned. It is pretty peaceful... but it also means we will be running primarily on solar power for all stations.
The plan for the organizers is to get there early on Thursday afternoon and hold a large number of sites in the upper (away from the lake) area. This will then become an ad-hoc "group" site for us and rules can be bent a bit.
There is a site operator and fees will need to be paid for each party camping. Bring a bit of cash is staying over.
There are many clean outhouses on site, but no running water. All campers need to take care of their own garbage.
Note that this campsite is at 1360 meters in elevation, up on the Aberdeen plateau. That means insects (bugs) may still exist, it may be colder than the valley, etc.
Contact Information
Email me, the official event coordinator, with all of your updates and questions:
Mike VE7KPZ at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Bands and Modes
Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 Meter HF bands, as well as all bands 50 MHz and above.
All modes.
Band plans (click on thumbnail for a high-resolution printable PDF):
The plan is to run a bunch of independent stations again this year. Ensure that you log all QSOs and when submitting your log to the ARRL, ensure that our club name (North Okanagan RAC) is indicated with your submission.
Tasks
| Task | Who |
| Cranky - Insurance | Grace VE7IGB - done |
| Cranky - Transport | need a volunteer - Ritchie? |
| Cranky - Setup and/or Teardown | VE7KPZ, VE7WWJ, VA7AEJ |
| Generator Fuel | Mike VE7KPZ |
| Tools | Best practice is for everyone to bring what you can, come prepared and keep track of your tools. |
| Radios | This will be BYOR (bring your own radio)... but we are sure that if you can't bring a radio, you'll be able to have a go on someone else's. And this is kind of the point - to see and try out other radios. |
| Primary HF antenna | 20/15/10M beam on rotator atop Cranky Plug your radio into Cranky's coax and have a go with the beam. |
| Secondary wire antenna for 40m and 80m |
We think there's a dipole in Cranky's storage box that might work.
|
| Tuner for 40m and 80m | Do we need one? |
| Primary VHF/UHF antenna | colinear vertical atop Cranky - FT8 on 2m anyone? |
| 6M beam antenna for FT8 |
Note: FT8 via Sporadic E is not uncommon at the end of June. This may get us anywhere from a couple of contacts up to a hundred if we catch the right band opening.
VE7XY's 6m Moxon?
Anyone have a 6m multi-element yagi? |
| Logging |
Bring your own logging solution. A good one to recommend if N3FJP. see: http://www.n3fjp.com/fieldday.html Note that there is no cellular service in the area so this will be offline. N3FJP has a local contact DB that needs no internet to use - very attractive when working offline. |
| Internet feed, WiFi bridge + campsite AP |
N/A - there is no internet or cellular service in the area |
| Contest Points Submission | Each operator to submit their own individual log citing club name as "North Okanagan RAC". Spell it exactly like that so all points are aggregated under our club. |
| Shelter | VE7KPZ will bring the same hexa tarp as last year to provide shade and rain protection for approx 6 people and cover his station VA7AEK will have his trailer awning to cover his station VE7JAR will bring his 10'x10' EZ-UP to cover his station |
| Station Chairs |
BYOC - bring your own chair |
| Extra Points Considerations |
Bring your solar panels to keep your radio batteries charged up. All operators please read the rules to find out when bulletins to copy are being transmitted. |
| Official Photographers | Jane VE7WWJ Molly? |
| Official Videographer | TBD |
| Backup Generator | Mike VE7KPZ |
Camping
RVs and tenters are welcome. Please contact Mike VE7KPZ with details on what RV/tent you are bringing so we can organize where everyone will go. Some folks have large vehicles and space is limited considering antennae, guy lines, etc. If you have a special request, like "I have to leave early Sunday morning", let Mike know so we can put you in a perfect spot.
Note that there are no hookups available for campers. You need to be self sufficient in regards to power, water, waste, garbage, etc... the site needs to be left with no trace of our presence. Although the site has plenty of clean outhouses, it would still be advised to use your RV toilet if equipped.
Here are the campers confirmed so far:
Mike VE7KPZ and Jane VE7WWJ - Unimog with home-built camper (ask Jane or Mike for a tour) (arriving Thursday afternoon)
Aaren VA7AEJ - pickup truck with trailer (arriving Thursday afternoon)
Jerome VE7JAR (and family) - SUV with trailer (arriving Friday evening)
Jake VE7WEA - vanlife (arriving Friday evening)
Richard VE7NT (and YL) - truck with 11' vintage trailer (arriving Thursday?) coming in via Lake Country
Brad VE7WBM (and family) - truck with 23' trailer (arriving Friday afternoon) coming in via Lake Country
Events
24 Hour ARRL Field Day Contest - the informal "contest" aspect of Field Day from 11 AM Saturday to 11 AM Sunday
Saturday Club Dinner & Social - Saturday 5 PM for club members and guests. Deep fryer graciously provided and operated by Jerome VE7JAR, with oil and propane provided by the club. Bring your own meat for the deep frier, bring your own food to accompany your fried meat. Bring a selection of your favourite hot sauces if doing chicken.
Camp fire every night unless there is a fire ban.
Educational activities for youth ages 4-94 - come see all of the stations, check out their gear, talk to the operators and potentially jump on a station you are interested in and have a go.
Learn The Software
If you plan to run N3FJP's Field Day logging software, try it out at home before you arrive.
You may want to get to know WSJT-X before the event as the FT8 mode is very popular for FD.
You may want to get to know FLDigi before the event as you might need to to copy the RTTY or PSK31 broadcasts.
NORAC now has a representative on the BC Amateur Radio Coordination Council. We are being represented by Richard Reeves, VE7NT, who will attend the annual meeting and report back to the council. The BCARCC is our "frequency coordination council" whose main role is to coordinate VHF and UHF repeater frequency allocations in the province so that repeaters do not interfere with one another.
Across the country different councils use different repeater channel spacing and FM deviation conventions according to the demands of different levels of usage.
The Coquitlam Amateur Radio Club (C.A.R.E.S.S.) will host a presentation of HFTA by Adrian VE7NZ on Tuesday, May 17th at 19:00 PDT.
This is open to all amateur radio operators.
HF Terrain Analysis of VE7SCC antenna systems and For Your Station
Did you know your station’s performance is dramatically affected by terrain up to 3km around you? Do you wonder if it would be worth investing in a taller tower? Do you think stations by the ocean get better results? Do you think a contest station works better on a mountaintop or on the prairies?
In this presentation, Adrian VE7NZ, will show you how to use ARRL’s HFTA software to answer these questions and more. Examples will be shared including excerpts from a full report on how terrain affects VE7SCC’s antennas. You will also be shown how to use HFTA software to profile your station.
Adrian was first licensed in 1981 at the age of 15 and has been on the air daily ever since. He is an avid DX’er, contester, and CW enthusiast. Moving up the spectrum, he also runs “The Canada Hub” – a nationwide AllStar network that brings together repeaters across the country on 2 metres to 5.9 GHz, making more active use of our spectrum and providing a network with a distinctively Canadian focus.
Where: In person at the VE7SCC Club Station and remote via a Zoom Conference Call: https://zoom.us/j/6049689434
Passcode: [to be provided 1 day before event on the VE7SCC website].
The event will be live streamed on YouTube and will also be recorded and posted to YouTube after the event.
Details for the Zoom passcode and the YouTube live stream link will be posted to the VE7SCC website one day before the event at the following link: https://ve7scc.org/2022/04/presentation-high-frequency-terrain-assessment/.