London
Amateur Radio Club
Serving London, Ontario, Canada and Area since 1920
Home News Beginner?
Become a HAMClub Info
Join UpClub Events Operating Information Public Service Buy and Sell SIGS,
Online GroupLinks Search this site Site Map Headlines
The next LARC meeting will be on Thursday September 9, at 7:30 PM. We'll start the year with a return engagement by Bob Rice VE3HKY who will share some intriguing stories from his work as a Forensic Fire Investigator: "An overview of electrical anomalies, design errors and the shocking results". Don't forget to bring along your dues for the new year - still just $25.
VA3LON is back on the air again! Hopefully this is the end of of our string of bad luck with this repeater. The latest outage was due to a blown fuse, and once we got Doug Tompkins onsite to do a survey, he deduced the cause and our repeater co-ordinator Brad Seward jumped into action. Brad retested the system after the fuse was replaced, and installed some extra lightning protection "just in case". Our thanks also to Brian Springer at American Water who was cooperative in getting us access to the site which is a high security installation. Monday night nets are now back on VA3LON!
We're getting close to Flea Market time! Sunday September 26 is the big day when there'll be tons of ham radio stuff to check out, all at the Western Fair Special Events Building. We'll have the Bring and Buy table as we have in past years, and lots of door prizes. There will be a special draw this year for one of Bob Rice VE3HKY's 7 band semi-vertical antennas that everyone is raving about. If needed, Bob has offered to assist the winner with installation to make sure it's wporking perfectly. Here are links for FleaMarket details, and info on Bob Rice's antenna.
The issues related to emailing Doug Elliott VA3DAE, LARC president and webmaster have been resolved, and you can use the webmaster@larc.ca links on this website, or va3dae@rac.ca, or canoe.eh@gmail.com . Sorry for any confusion caused by this change, or by the email messages that may have been lost when I changed jobs.
Rona MS Bike Tour - Mission Accomplished! - The tour organizers were very pleased with our contribution to a highly successful 2010 tour, and we can be proud of the great job the Hams did to assist. Eleven hams participated at 6 locations, making use of the SORT repeater system to help take care of the 1,725 registered cyclists. In the process we worked with the Checkpoint volunteers, MS logistics people, first aid providers, Voyageur van operations, the motorcycle outriders, and the bicycle repair crews. A formal report is being prepared for the organizers with observations and suggestions, which will be published on this website as well.
Another unexpected measure of our success came in the form of a request from one of the cyclists. He's organizing a new fund raising tour in the Listowel area next year, and after seeing our operations, wants to talk to us about making amateur radio an integral part of his tour from the beginning.
For more informaiton, including our report to the tour organizers, see our Rona MS Bike Tour status page.
Basic Ham Course - Spread the word: LARC, in conjunction with the Salvation Army, will be presenting a Ham Radio course from September 11 to November 27, 2010. It will consist of 4 hour sessions on Saturday mornings, from 9:00 to 1:00 with a mid morning break. We'll be skipping Oct 9 (Thanksgiving) and Oct 30 (Classroom conflict). The schedule is shown below.
The fee for the course is $40, which includes the official RAC study guide. To register for the course, Please mail the following:
To:
- Your name
- Your Email Address
- Your Home Phone number
- A cheque made out to "The London Amateur Radio Club" for $40.00
London Amateur Radio Club Inc.
P.O. Box 82, Station ‘B’,
London, Ontario,
Canada, N6A 4V3
NOTE: This schedule is subject to change due to availability of classrooms
Saturdays Week Guide Chapter Topics 4-Sep (Labour Day) (9-Sep) (First LARC Meeting) 11-Sep 1 1,2 Intro/Basics 18-Sep 2 3 Ohms Law/Power 25-Sep 3 4 Inductors/Capacitors 2-Oct 4 5,6 Waves, propagation 9-Oct (Thanksgiving) 16-Oct 5 7,8 Feedines, antennas 23-Oct 6 9,10 devices/Power supplies 30-Oct Goblin Patrol ride along 6-Nov 7 11,12 Station 13-Nov 8 13,14 Modulation /Rcvrs/Xmtrs 20-Nov 9 15,16,17 RFI 27-Nov 10 Testing Basic License Exam
Calling all Elmers: We have some Hams-to-be who would appreciate having someone they can call or email for assistance as they study for their license test. If you'd like to help out, please contact Doug Elliott (webmaster@larc.ca), and we can discuss what's involved.
Mutual AID: Would you be willing to answer some questions if a fellow ham needed some advice? Got a problem you can't figure out? Want to try something new but need someone to show you the ropes? Check out our new Mutual AID page, a new way to get people who are looking for assistance together with the folks who can help supply the answers. Let us know what you think of this new facility.
If you use Ham Radio Deluxe, you can download the latest HRD shortwave broadcast text database, provided by Jim Hartford, VE3NRX, from the Mutual AID page.
Ontario's New Rules For Hand-Held Wireless And Entertainment Devices come into effect on October 26. A late addition to the law seems to exempt amateur radio mobile equipment using a PTT button from any restrictions for 3 years. It would be a good idea to carry a copy of the actual law (see sections 13 and 14) and a copy of your Ham license in case you need to convince a police officer that your mobile radio usage is permitted.
Advanced Ham license study group. A couple of us are working towards writing the exam for our advanced license. If you'd like to join us, send an email to the webmaster and we'll welcome you with open books.
Pictures and details from Field Day are available here, although it's a work in progress.
Wanted to follow up on a LARC presentation? If we received a copy of the presentation, or any addition websites for references, etc, you'll find them attached to the meeting notice in the Club Events page.
New HF Band Plan Chart: RAC has announced revised band plans effective immediately. There's a new DX window on 40M, and a bigger one on 80M. Some HF nets may be changing because the frequency they use is now inappropriate in the new plan, so keep your "ears" open for changes. The full details can be found on the RAC website's HF Band Plan page , and here's a summary chart.
Has your Email address changed? We need to know your new one to make sure you get the monthly newsletter. Please update us if this is the case by emailing the webmaster@larc.ca.
Membership: At the summer break, our membership list stood at 102. Membership dues are a significant portion of the income that keeps the club running, and we'd like to thank our members who pay their dues promptly: list of LARC members .
Flaunt your face - show your shack. In our hobby it's not always easy to put a face to all the fellow hams you talk to on the air. To help us all figure who's who, LARC invites its members to submit digital photos of yourself and/or your shack to be published on the membership page of our website. Purely voluntary of course, and if you prefer you can submit just one (depending on whether you think your face or your shack is more presentable).
How will it work? On the membership page, we'll attach your own picture where your first name appears, and the picture of your shack to your callsign. See the entry for Doug Elliott, VA3DAE for an example.
How do you submit your pictures? Just email them to the LARC site webmaster address, which is
webmaster@larc.ca
All LARC meetings are located at St. Judes Anglican Church, 1537 Adelaide Street North at Fanshawe Park Road East in London, Ontario at 7:30 PM the second Thursday of the Month (unless otherwise noted, no meeting July and August). For upcoming meetings and other events (including upcoming local Hamfests and Fleas) check out the current event schedule. Everyone is welcome to drop in, you do not have to be a member to come to a meeting as a guest.
Your comments, suggestions, and questions are always welcome - just contact the executive .For all the latest news see the Club Newsletter page for the current and older newsletters. If you are not on the newsletter mailing list (or have changed email address) to get your electronic copy each month, send an email to webmaster@larc.ca
Some other sources of HAM radio news (expect lots of duplication):
You do NOT have to be a LARC member to get our newsletter!
RAC Latest News RAC's Canadian News RAC's International News
The American Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL)
eHam.net's News Page
The Amateur Radio Newsline
WorldRadio
QRZ.com's Ham News Page
This Week in Amateur Radio
Google search for Amateur Radio News
Note: some documents on this site (such as the newsletter) are use "PDF" (portable document format). See this page for more information on installing FREE PDF readers on your computer if those files do not open automatically.
Web Hosting compliments of SERVERS.CA
Click here for more information on this siteCopyright 2000-6 London Amateur Radio Club
Feedback to webmaster@larc.ca