Thanks to Chuck (VE1SOL) two heavy duty deep cycle batteries were installed in the club's repeater building and were connected to the 146,730 repeater on January 13, 2024,  That means that our repeater will be available during power outages and other equipment will be connected in the future.

 At the club's Saturday gathering on November 11, 2023, Bill Crawford VE1ALG was presented with a new Yaesu FTM=3100 2 meter transceiver in appreciation of his hosting of the Captain's Net almost every day for more than 20 years.

 Brass Sign

This is a 1/8" thick brass sign found by one of my daughters at a yard sale.  When radio installations were made on older ships in the 1920s and 30s, sometimes a new cabin was built to house them and it was called the Radio House.

There was one such ship in the 1959 Eastern Arctic Patrol Convoy that I took part in, she was the icebreaker "N.B. Maclean" (Call sign CGSN) and her radio house was at the stern.  I was the 3rd Radio Officer on the Arctic resupply and hospital ship "C.D. Howe" (Call Sign CGSS.)  Our radio room was on the bridge deck.

Ham Radio Documentary

This is a 25 minute documentary from Jim, VE1RB, who suggested that it be posted on the club's site. https://www.montanapbs.org/programs/ham/

This is the type of antenna array that Bernie used to bounce signals off the moon.

 

Canadian Amateur Radio Organizations

 This certificate showed up in a desk drawer and it reminded me of the various Amateur Radio Organizations there have been in Canada.  In 1920 the CRRL or Canadian Radio Relay League was formed as a branch of the ARRL.  In 1967 CARF  the Canadian Amateur Radio Federation was formed and it was independent of CRRL.  In 1993 CRRL and CARF joined forces and became RAC or Radio Amateurs of Canada and RAC is still our national organization.  The provinces and territories have their own organizations and ours is The Nova Scotia Amateur Radio Association, or NSARA.  

 Congratulations to Dennis d'Entremont - VE1XT - who is our new Accredited Examiner for the Amateur Radio Qualifications.  Dennis will replace David Vail - VE1GM - who has held the post for close to 30 years.