RamblerNewsletter of the

Ottawa Valley MobileRadio Club

Incorporated

Aug 2014 Edition 59 Page: 1

President’s Rambling....................12014-2015 Tentative Program......1Ham Radio Interference................3HAMing It Up..............................4Field Day Photos.......................5-6Meeting Dates...............................7What’s Happening Elsewhere......7Rambler Deadlines.......................7Coming Events.............................7OVMRC Repeaters.......................7Technical Information:.................7Ottawa Hamfest/Flea Market........8Field Day Report.....................9-10Membership Form......................11

INSIDE

Club Meeting:

Sep 18thThursday

NORM RASHLEIGH,VE3LC

Inexpensive SDR radiocapability; Special door prize is

DVB dongle;

Meeting Date

2014-2015 Tentative ProgramSeptember 18, 2014: Norm Rashleigh, VE3LC:

Topic: Inexpensive SDR radio capability; Special door prize is DVB dongle;

October 16, 2014: José Campione, VA3PCJ/VE3DTI:

Topic: Five years/QRP/P with small antennas;

November 20, 2014: Technical clinic:

Topic: Is your radio within specs: more details later

December 18, 2014: Christmas dinner:

Topic: Good cheer and friendship, location TBD

President’sRamblingWell we are gearingup from a newOVMRC year

hopefully we can make it aninteresting one for all. The successwill be measured in qualityspeakers, interesting topics, and thesupport from OVMRC’smembership. With this momentumit is anticipated that ourmembership will increase in thecoming year as with the volunteersupport of our VE3JW station.

I am looking forward to yourindividual support to the executiveand the associated OVMRCChairpersons. We can’t do itwithout you.

OVMRC has multipleenvironments that have assetmanagement responsibilities thatrequire special attention. The most

obvious are VE3JW and ourcommunication trailer, RAM alongwith our repeaters VE3TWO.Darin Cowan, VE3OIJ, isresponsible for VE3JW and PaulLabbé, VE3NJS, manages RAMand the repeaters.

However the OVMRC has over theyears accumulated miscellaneouspieces of ‘equipment’ that may ormay not have value to the club.We need to establish the usefulnessof this equipment. To do thisrequires some dedicated time tosort through the OVMRC storagelocker at the museum, so we aregoing to call for volunteers soon.The goal is to have some of thisequipment ready for the OARC’sCarp Hamfest on Saturday Sept6th. You can call ahead tovolunteer to sort the pile bycontacting any of the executive.

73 Sandy VE3HAZ

Page: 2 Aug 2014

OVMRC Executive2013-2014

President:Sandy Haggart, VE3HAZve3haz@rac.ca

Vice-President:Michel Barbeau, VE3EMBmichel.barbeau@sympatico.caTreasurer:Beth Webster, VA3CEWcemwebster@rogers.comSecretary:OPEN

Standing CommitteeChairpersons

Amateur Radio Exhibit:Darin Cowan, VE3OIJve3oij@amsat.org

Amateur Radio Training &Accredited Examiner:Norm Rashleigh, VE3LCve3lc@rac.caMembership:Joe Lemieux, VE3EUSve3eus@rac.caTechnical:Paul Labbé, VA3NJSpaul.labbe@usa.net,Radio Operations:VACANTNewsletter Editor:Robert Cherry, VE2AGEcw527@ncf.ca

Webmaster:Chris Wiesner, VA3SMva3sm@yahoo.ca

For information about the duties and re-sponsibilities about all Executive andChair positions, please visit the OVMRCforums, Member section or contact anymember of the Executive.

SponsorsThe OVMRC acknowledges the fol-lowing organizations for their supportof our activities:

• ACCEPTABLE STORAGE,Ottawa, ON

•KENWOOD ELECTRONICSCANADA INC.,Mississauga, ON

• TRAVEL-MOR TRAILER SALES,Ottawa, ON

• PEPPERS RADIO SALES,Rockland, ONEmail: peppersradio@videotron.caWEB site: www.peppersradio.net

The club’s web site is hosted by:

PRIMUS TELECOMMUNICATIONSCANADA INC..

www.ovmrc.on.ca

OVMRC Life Members

Ernie Jury, VE3EJJ

Maurice-André Vigneault, VE3VIG

Ralph Cameron, VE3BBM

Doug Carswell, VE3ATY

Doreen Morgan, VE3CGO

OVMRC RepeatersVE3TWO

147.300 MHz(+)/100444.200 MHZ(+)

Amateur Radio ExhibitVE3JWWeb site:

ovmrc.on.ca/ve3jw.htmCanada Science & Technology

Museum

The Rambler is the official newsletter of theOttawa Valley Mobile Radio Club Incorpo-rated and is published 11 times a year(monthly, except for July). Opinions ex-pressed in the Rambler are those of theauthors and not necessarily those of theOVMRC, its officers or its members. Per-mission is granted to republish the contentsin whole or in part, providing the source isacknowledged. Commercial use of the con-tents is expressly prohibited.Submit articles to the editor or by e-mailto:Robert Cherry, VE2AGEcw527@ncf.ca

Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club, Incorporated

PO Box 41145

Ottawa, ON K1G 5K9

www.ovmrc.on.ca

Visit the OVMRC Storeat

http://www.cafepress.ca/ovmrc

mailto:ve3haz@rac.camailto:michel.barbeau@sympatico.camailto:cemwebster@rogers.commailto:ve3lc@rac.camailto:ve3eus@rac.camailto:cw527@ncf.camailto:va3sm@yahoo.camailto:peppersradio@videotron.cahttp:// www.peppersradio.netmailto:cw527@ncf.ca

Aug 2014 Page: 3

Ham RadioInterferenceI was recently asked by a localham radio club to speak aboutrenewable energy, since I havedesigned and built several REsystems, both for myself andfor others. This group isespecially curious about howmuch radio frequencyinterference (RFI) there is withcomponents of a solar-electricsystem, especially inverters.

John Faughn • KD0CAC

I’m a ham (KC2FSW) andhost a two-meter repeater(147.045, with the same callletters) that is powered by a150-watt off-grid PV system.Early on, the first issue I hadwas interference from a pulse-width-modulation (PWM)type charge controller. Wewere not able to run thatcontroller in PWM mode, dueto a high level of RFI. Ichanged repeater radiosaround that time and thecontroller did not affect the

new radio. Unfortunately, thenew radio had a tendency toburn out controllers—four ofthem, all different types fromvarious manufacturers. Fromwhat we could gather, it wasstray radio frequency (RF)coming in from the repeaterantenna via the solar-electricmodules that was burning outthe charge controller frontends. Bob Gudgel, a fellowham (and electronics designer)from MidNite Solar, sent me aClassic controller to see if wecould blow that up, but it’sstill running after threeyears—and there have been noRFI issues with this controller.As for inverter RFI, some areworse than others. TheOutBack inverters tend tointerfere at the lower HFfrequencies, but rarely on thetwo-meter or higher bands.The interference frominverters on the AM broadcastband is legendary in the REbusiness. Feedback from otherhams suggests that torite cores

on the inverter and radio DCcables work well. They needto be large enough to fitaround both the negative andpositive conductors. These canbe found at electronics supplyhouses. Capacitors are alsoused to filter out RFI. The bestdefence against RFI isdistance—the farther yourradio is from the inverter, thebetter! Our county’semergency management officeand the National WeatherService both love my repeaterbecause it never goes down inan outage. This repeater hasseen frequent use over the past10 years by these agencies topass weather, health, andwelfare traffic.

73!

Roy Butler • Four WindsRenewable Energy, Arkport,New York

This article was published inHome Power Magazine Issue153, Feb/Mar 2013

mailto:ve3haz@rac.camailto:michel.barbeau@sympatico.camailto:cemwebster@rogers.commailto:ve3lc@rac.camailto:ve3eus@rac.camailto:cw527@ncf.camailto:va3sm@yahoo.camailto:peppersradio@videotron.cahttp:// www.peppersradio.netmailto:cw527@ncf.ca

Page: 4 Aug 2014

HAMing It UpWith the Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club

The OVMRC is offering instructional training classes forpeople who would like to obtain their Amateur Radio Op-

erators license i.e. a "HAM" license

- No high level knowledge required

- No age limitation

- Learn the basics electrical and radio theory, radio regu-lations, and practical sessions operating a live station here

at the museum at VE3JW

Registration: September 23, 2014, at 19:00 hrs.

Location: Canada Science and Technology Museum

Cost: $150, which covers the cost of printed materialshanded out and basic project components needed for the

practical session.

Information: - www.ovmrc.on.ca/radio-course.htm -www.rac.ca/en/amateur-radio

To Register: Email Norm Rashleigh, VE3LC atrashleigh@sympatico.ca

Aug 2014 Page: 5

The VA3CUA Get On The Air (GOTA) station. Our president, Sandy VE3HAZ, relaxing andreading amateur radio magazines after longhours of SSB operation.

The VE3RAM mobile station, all powered bysolar energy.

David VE3ZZU operating portable with hisKX3 HF rig.

Maurice-Andre VE3VIG operating his brandnew portable amateur radio go box.

2014Field Day Photos

Courtesy of: Michel Barbeau

Page: 6 Aug 2014

David, VE3ZZU tuning his Buddipole antenna.

Joe, VE3EUSarrives on theField Day site.

First, Joe VE3EUS makes at stops andobserves that nice setup of the GOTA VA3CUAstation.

Joe, VE3EUS couldn’t believe the number ofCW contacts already made by Maurice-Andre,VE3VIG using his portable amateur radio gobox.

Joe, VE3EUSthinks that Ernie,VE3EJJ doespretty well onSBB too.

After thecompletion of hisField Day siteinspection, Joe,VE3EUS (right)is dictating his

food order to our valiant president Sandy,VE3HAZ (left)

http://www.oarc.net/blog/http://ve3rlr.dyndns.org/http://www.wcarc.on.cahttp://www.ve3orf.com/mailto:cw527@ncf.camailto:

Aug 2014 Page: 7

OVMRC RepeatersIf you are interested in learning about orhelping with the OVMRC repeaterscontact our technical chair-person, PaulLabbé, VE3NJS,(paul.e.labbe@gmail.com). Extra pairs ofhands are always welcome.

Technical information:What have you found or read lately thatmight be interesting to others. Write it upand send the information to the RamblerEditor, Robert Cherry (cw527@ncf.ca)even if it is an URL

Ottawa Amateur Radio Club(OARC)www.oarc.net/blog/:

Rideau Lakes AmateurRadio Club (RLARC)ve3rlr.dyndns.org/:

West Carleton AmateurRadio Clubwww.wcarc.on.ca

VE3ORF/3730 Groupwww.ve3orf.com/

Seems quiet in the “Valley” noevents submitted..

What’s HappeningElsewhere!

RamblerDeadlines

Meeting date minus 13 days

Sep 05Oct 03Nov 07Dec 05Jan 02, 2015Feb 06Mar 06Apr 03May 08Jun 05

Please submit articles for theRambler to the editor:

Robert Cherry

No later than the deadline forthe desired edition.

September Ramblersubmission deadline is:

Friday, 5th Sep 2014

2014-2015Meeting DatesSeptember 18 Inexpensive SDR radiocapability

October 16 Five years QRP/P with smallantennas

November 20 Is your radio within specs?

December 18 Christmas Dinner

January 15 TBD

February 19 Flea Market

March 19 TBD

April 16 Home Brew

May 21 Show & Tell

June 19 Annual General MeetingElections.

Note:

Our first meeting will be inclassrooms 4&5 not the auditorium.

Coming Events:The International Lighthouse andLightboats Weekend (ILLW) 16-17August 2014 - Duration 48 hours from0001 UTC 16.8.2014 on the museumgrounds. To help us organize we need toknow who’s willing to participate and inwhat capacity, effort and time. OVMRC’scommunication trailer RAM will be on site.Space is available for those who want toset up their own station. So what is need-ed, amateur radio operators for sure, sincethe main objective is making contacts.However we need helping hands to setup(10:00 hrs. on Saturday 16th August) andtake down (after 14:00 hrs. on Sunday17th August). Some form of lunch andsnacks will be available for the participantsso please let us know if you are available.Email Sandy at dah542@gmail.com toconfirm.

Radio Training course: OVMRC ispleased to have Norm Rashliegh, VE3LC,as the lead instructor for the coming yearfor the OVMRC’s Amateur Radio Course.The first introduction session starts at18:30 hrs. Tuesday, September 23 at theCanada Science and Technology Museumin class room #8. Tell your want to beamateur radio operator friends it onlycosts $150.

http://www.oarc.net/blog/http://ve3rlr.dyndns.org/http://www.wcarc.on.cahttp://www.ve3orf.com/mailto:cw527@ncf.camailto:

Page: 8 Aug 2014

Ottawa (Carp) 18th AnnualHamfest/Fleamarket!

Saturday, September 6th, 2014 (one week after the Labour Dayweekend).

Fleamarket: Many Radio Amateurs (Hams) and electronics hobbyistswill be displaying and offering items for sale. Many Commercial

Vendors and Volunteer Organizations are coming to the hamfest, andbringing their Excellent Door Prizes!

On-site Radio Licence Exams! An excellent opportunity to get yourlicence, or upgrade during the hamfest! It helps us prepare (but it'snot absolutely necessary) if you contact us at fleamarket@oarc.net topre-arrange your exam. Just show up and we’ll help you get started.

Breakfast and Coffee will be available at the concession area!

Time: Fleamarket opens at 9 am until 12 Noon. Vendor Setup 7:30am, Tailgaters Open 8 am.

Location: W. Erskine Johnson Arena, at the north end of the CarpAgricultural Fair Grounds, 3832 Carp Rd, Ottawa, (Carp) Ontario,

Canada

>> See our online map at http://oarc.net/fleamarket

Admission: $6 per person. $12/vendor table (plus admission)

$5/tailgate (plus admission)

Vendor Table Reservations: to reserve email us atfleamarket@oarc.net

or phone or text to 613-853-2281.

Our web site info page is at http://oarc.net/fleamarket

Talk in: VE2CRA , 146.940 MHz, 100 Hz.

Presented by the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club (OARC).

7/29/2014 ARRL Field Day Entry Form

http://b4h.net/cabforms/fielddayentry.php 1/2

2014 Field Day Entry Form2014 Rules

Datestamp: 2014-07-29 10:23:31 PDTConfirmation: 2bc3b7c33efed359

Use the following link if you want to update your Field Day entry:http://www.b4h.net/cabforms/fielddayupdate.php?callused=VE3RAM&confirmation=2bc3b7c33efed359

Thanks for using the web to submit your 2014 ARRL Field Day entry. Print this page to use as proofthat you submitted your entry.

Call Used:VE3RAM GOTA Station Call:VA3CUA ARRL/RAC Section:ONE Class:5A

Participants:12 Club/Group Name: Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio

Power Source(s): Generator, Solar

Power Multiplier: 2X

Bonus Points:

Description Points

100% Emergency power 500

Set-up in Public Place 100

Natural power QSOs completed 100

GOTA Bonus 40

Submitted via the Web 50

Total Bonus Points 790

Score Summary:

CW Digital Phone Total

Total QSOs 66 20 89

Total Points 132 40 89 261 Claimed Score = 522

Submitted by:Michel Barbeau, VE2EMB243 Station blvd., Ottawa, Ontario CANADA K1G 6L8E-mail: michel.barbeau@sympatico.ca

Comments:(blank)

Band/Mode QSO Breakdown:

CW Digital Phone

http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Field-Day/2014/2014%20Rules.pdfhttp://www.b4h.net/cabforms/fielddayupdate.php?callused=VE3RAM&confirmation=2bc3b7c33efed359

7/29/2014 ARRL Field Day Entry Form

http://b4h.net/cabforms/fielddayentry.php 2/2

QSOs Pwr(W) QSOs Pwr(W) QSOs Pwr(W)

160m

80m

40m 60 100 31 100

20m 3 100 19 5 3 100

15m

10m 1 5

6m

2m

1.25

Other

Satellite

GOTA 3 100 55 100

Total 66 20 89

GOTA Bonus: No GOTA Coach

Name/Call QSOs Bonus Points

Alan Steele, VA3STL 58 40

Supporting Documentation Required

Based on your selections, the ARRL expects to receive supporting documentation:

via e-mail to: fieldday@arrl.org

Your entry was e-mailed to: fieldday@arrl.org with a copy to michel.barbeau@sympatico.ca

Version: 1.21Revision Date: June 29, 2014

Copyright © 2004-2014 American Radio Relay League, Inc., All Rights ReservedWeb form by WA7BNM

mailto: bhorn[at]hornucopia[dot]com