After several months of long hours in the second half of 2023, I am proud to announce that NORAC now has new Basic Qualification course material.  The content is a fork of the Ylab material that was used in the 2023 course that has been largely re-written, redesigned, and improved.

 

Improvements include:

  • visual accessibility - all content follows the same standards for font sizes and font face that is easier to read for those with visual impairment
  • all busy pages have been broken up in to multiple pages, each with a logical subtopic
  • numerous changes to wording and explanations and additional explanations
  • additional images/graphics
  • complete re-organization of the content such that course material follows ISED exam categories - makes studying and writing practice exams much easier!
  • a "cheat sheet" for a quick review of key parts of what needs to be known for the exam

 

I would like thank the following people for their support, suggestions, and reviews:

  • my XYL, Tanya, and son, Alex VE7AHX (14)
  • Ritchie Leslie VA7RLX
  • Doug Stewart VA7CPS
  • Cary Benson VA7MXY
  • John Semenec VE7JWS
  • Jeromy Hildebrand VE7JAR
  • Howard Sisson VA7PWF
  • Richard Reeves VE7NT
  • Yael Cohen VE7YDC
  • ... among many others - thank you all!

 

The material is hosted on NORAC's Google Drive account and is publicly available here.  In the spirit of open source licensing, the material is re-released under the Creative Commons License.

Please feel free to peruse, and if you have any constructive feedback, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

Cheers!

 

Michal VE7MHX/VE7TMZ

NORAC Education Coordinator

 

I've had a few requests to publish the poem I recited at the Christmas Dinner announcing the new 2023 Hams Of The Year, Lorne VE7LWK and Wilf VE7OHM. Congratulations to both!

Enjoy!  Michal VE7MHX / VE7TMZ

2023 HOTY Poem

In the North Okanagan, where radio signals go far and wide,
NORAC's "Ham of the Year" nominations brought us here tonight,
With many deserving hams, all held in high regard,
Their contributions to us all,
So many, like radio waves bouncing off the sky.

Upon giants' shoulders, they find their stand,
Nicholas, Grace, Michael, Terry, and Brad
Robert, Aaren, Muriel and Robert, and Dorothy
With Blake and others, they'll leave a lasting legacy.

Gary Garbutt, VE7EIY, our chief repeater warmer,
In the world of ham radio, he's the true charmer.
With his signals strong and his frequencies clear,
He's the one we trust to keep our messages near.

In the world of ham radio, Wilf's a star,
VE7OHM, near and far,
A super nice guy, with a heart so warm,
A true friend, in the ham radio swarm.
With persuasion and grace, he took the lead,
Convinced JVCKENWOOD Canada Inc. to fulfill the need,
For NORAC, a gift, a repeater so fine,
A state-of-the-art gem, in the radio line.
With Alex by his side, countless hours they spent, with dedication,
Programming and testing, pure fascination.

Terry, VE7TRZ, with mastery refined,
Programmed the repeater controller, with a tech-savvy mind.
In the realm of signals, his code takes control,
Guiding radio waves with precision, an electronic patrol.

Lorne, VE7LWK, the electronics wizard, so wise,
Helping all with a smile, fighting home QRM all the while
SilverStar Mountain's VE7RSS, his constant care,
A repeater connecting us, a legacy so rare.

David, VA7SZ, a pioneer with knowledge so deep,
The technical committee's secrets, he'd always keep.
His workshops on antennas, their transmit and receive bandwidth so wide,
Connecting Hams across the world, with a great sense of pride.

Cary, VA7MXY, a runner-up so true,
With dedication and bad jokes, he stands out in the crew.
A beacon of support, in the technical role he's cast,
NORAC's future is brighter with him, unsurpassed.

Ritchie, VA7RLX, our president, a guide,
With leadership and wisdom, he'd always provide.
For the club, he steered us, year after year,
In his footsteps, NORAC held no fear.

But, a choice had to be made,
A most challenging decision at stake,
As Ham of the Year, in this final act, I stand with pride,
To reveal the next Hams of the Year by my side.
I bestow this honour on Wilf and Lorne as the next in line,
Please carry the torch, and let your talents shine.

With hearts of pure gold and dedication that inspires,
They've stoked the ham radio community's fires.
Our two new Elmers, on one side of a transceiver, they'll always be,
In NORAC's story, a shared legacy below the maximum usable frequency!

Please give a hand to Wilf and Lorne,
In the world of ham radio, they've truly lived.
For "Ham of the Year," there is no peer.
Together, let's share this honour with this heartfelt cheer!

* co-written with ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence

December 9, 2023, Big White ski resort surrounding area

NORAC members Mike VE7KPZ and Jane VE7WWJ along with their nephew Tristan volunteered at this year's Big White Winter Rally.

The crew awoke at 3 AM to drive to down the Okanagan valley and up to the Big White ski resort surrounding area where the rally was being held.

They then provided tactical radio support for the event, in the position of "blocker". This position effectively blocks a side road on the rally course and offers tactical radio support for course clearing, emergency coordination, etc.

The morning and afternoon stages were in different locations so a move was made around 2 PM to the afternoon blocking position. This more remote position required the use of cross-band repeat (on Mike's Kenwood TM-D710GA) as just a handheld transceiver did not have enough oompf to get into the main event repeater.

The rally stages finished around 9 PM and the crew got home and into bed around 11 PM - that was quite the day!

Kudos to the other Okanagan HAMs that volunteered as well. It was nice to hear so many familiar calls. And kudos to Chris VE7EQN and OCARC for allowing the event to use the VE7RBG repeater.

We always look forward to seeing the recap of the event on TSN and YouTube (a couple of months after the event) but nothing beats the front-row seat experience of actually being there as a volunteer. Check out the full recap below.

73,
Mike VE7KPZ

 

We are sad to announce that a long time NORAC member Doug (Robert) Reid VE7TVT passed away in the morning hours of December 5, 2023.  He would have been 84 on December 13th.

Doug is best known as the Voice of RSS: "This is VE7RSS.  A NORAC Repeater".

Also as NORAC's Sunday Morning Net Controller (which he operated single handed for countless years), past NORAC President, past Editor of the RagChew, and NORAC Life Member.

Doug was a retired high school teacher specializing in all things video.  He had many stories of his father who worked at CBC in the infancy of TV Broadcasting.

Doug's joy was joining HAM radio nets (both HF and VHF), collecting all kinds of audio/video recording equipment, and listening to his huge collection of vinyl records.