Winter Field Day (2012/01/29) – F.C.A.R.E.S. – from ve3clq.blogspot.com

It was a dark and windy morning… So goes the tale!  Well, at 0600L at Lamoine Point on Sunday morning (2012/01/29) it was very dark and very windy. Thankfully, the snow never really arrived in force.

We set up five HF stations with only headlamps and flashlights, bobbing around in the dark. The surprising thing was that it didn't take us much longer to set up than it does during the summer; and nobody got hurt. Granted the weather wasn't that bad … and it could have been a lot worse. But still, I believe that the many island and lighthouse activations we do over the summer really are helping us to get our act together.

We had VE3MNE, VE3HRW, VA3TBZ, VA3ORP, VE3UCL, VA3 VDP, and VE3CLQ in attendance. Thanks must go to Dave, VE3DZE, who arrived around 0800L to do a coffee and bathroom run for those  that needed it, and a very welcome sight he was too. Thanks also must go to Les, VE3 KFS and Tim, VA3TIC. These guys couldn't be on site, but they were on the air making sure we made a few contacts.

Special mention must go to Bob, VA3QV in Ottawa,, who also came looking for us on 40 m. It's always good to chat with Bob, on or off, the air. Unfortunately, I was on the 20 m. radio when he call in but his message was passed to me via 2 m. simplex.

We made contact with 11 countries: Canada, USA, France, Poland, Ukraine, Netherlands, Yugoslavia, Russia, Belgium, Bulgaria, and Iceland. We had 43 HF contacts, 2 VHF contacts, and 2 PSK31 contacts. All contacts were done on battery power.

Overall, it was a good time. Everyone was cheery and seemed to have a good time at the park. Winter Field Day next year? You bet. The plan is to find a cabin or cottage like we did in 2011 and make it a weekend event.

Until next year … .Stay warm (from Bill Nangle, VE3CLQ – link: http://ve3clq.blogspot.com/

Winter Deployment Training - F.C.A.R.E.S. (2012/01/08)

You don't need to be a genius to figure out that emergencies can happen at any time of the year, and that holding practice deployments only during the warmer months isn't going to help you when you get called out at midnight on a subzero and very snowy mid-February night.  One only has to remember back fourteen years ago, January 8, 1998, when the people of Frontenac County awoke to the biggest ice storm in a century, to know that, as a member of an ARES group, one never knows when the call will come.  One hopes a call out will never come, but you must be prepared ... just in case. There is a lot of truth to the phrase, “Practice makes perfect”.

So, it felt very strange this morning with the temperature at -5C, no wind, no snow on the ground and a brilliant blue sky, to be heading off to Rotary Park with nine other members for a winter deployment training session with the Frontenac County Ares group.

Dave, VA3ORP, training officer, took us through several subjects including how to dress in layers, and the best type of boots. Dave also went over the use of the buddy system, and checking each other over periodically for frostbite. We were reminded that it doesn't take long for hyperthermia, or frostbite, to set in, and those items need to be looked after immediately.  Other topics included the effect of cold on our equipment, the danger that abrupt changes in temperature (from outside to inside) could have on the equipment with condensation. The effect freezing temperatures have on coax, and ways of keeping things dry. We also talked about how easy it is in the snow to lose bits of kit… normally the important bits go first!

We ended the session by putting up and guying a portable mast system designed to hold a VHF antenna and an HF dipole.  It was interesting to see it go up and who had to take their gloves off to make it happen. All in all, it was a great training session. For those members who are ex-military it was a good refresher, and it probably brings back a few nightmares of sleeping naked in a sleeping bag, in the snow hole, at -45C ...  I get cold just remembering it!

This morning was a good lead up for Winter Field Day, an event every ARES and EmComm group should support.   ...  Bill Nangle, VE3CLQ, from   http://ve3clq.blogspot.com/

Winter Field Day - The Saturday Report – by Bill Nangle, VE3CLQ

Winter Field Day - The Saturday Report – by Bill Nangle, VE3CLQ

2012/01/28

A slow day on the bands and I could hear a lot more than I could work.  I did hear quite a number of stations calling “CQ winter field day” and I managed to work three of them. 

 First up was KB3BHL in Georgetown, Delaware on 40 m. Then it was Joe, WA4VAG in Walton, Kentucky on 20 m.  Joe was using an ex-military PRC-70 putting out 45 W., and then it was back on 49 m. to work K8UO in Mount Clemens, Minnesota.  

 Only DX for the day was Anderson, CT2IUK in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal, on 17m.

 SFI today was 115.  The A index was 7, the K  index was 1, and the sunspot number was 39. Nothing really to get excited about. Maybe tomorrow will be better?  Weather today was not nice, - 3C in winds gusting up to 70 KPH and driving snow.

 I have an early morning start on Sunday. Frontenac Ares group are meeting at Lamoyne Point Conservation Area at 0600 L and plan on working the HF bands until about 1030 L, when we will break things down and go to breakfast. 

 Hope to work a few early birds ... hey, maybe VA3QV will be waiting for us to come up on 40 m.

 Listen out for VE3FCT.   ...   VE3CLQ,  Bill Nangle, F.C.A.R.E.S.

Winter Field Day - 2012/01/28 - QARC & P.E.R.C.

On Saturday, January 28, members of the Quinte Amateur Radio Club and the Prince Edward Radio Club set up an HF radio station in a parking lot at the waterfront in Belleville . VE3DAD, VE3UO, VE3UR, VE3UGT,VE3OCC,VA3THB,VE3EP and VA3WOW (most members of A.R.E.S.) worked the 10 m., 40 m. and 20 m. phone bands, finally making contact with a station in Maryland on 7158 KHz.

Former WWII spy dies in P.E.I.(2011/05)

A man who served as a British spy in the Second World War died in Charlottetown, P.E.I., this weekend at the age of 91.

Clifton Stewart died at his home Saturday.

In 1940, Stewart, an amateur ham radio operator, was recruited by British Service Co-ordination and was sent to the BSC's headquarters in New York, where his main task was to help develop radio communications equipment to receive and transmit secret information at a much faster pace than the hand-sent Morse code, he told the Charlottetown Guardian in 2009.

Stewart, who was then known only as W5, later spent time at Camp X, the secret Allied training centre near Oshawa, Ont., before being sent on several top-secret missions.

Although he was able to speak more openly about his time at Camp X after the statute of limitations ran out in 1995, there are some war-time secrets Stewart likely took to his grave.

"We have a separate oath that will go on forever, you see. Till death do us part," he told the Guardian. "Anything of significance will never be discussed."

Stewart was predeceased by his wife, Hilda. He leaves behind his four children, eight grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Taken from: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2011/05/16/18153321.html

Amateur Radio Field Day - Loyalist A.R.E.S. Groups

From 2:00 p.m. Saturday (2011/06/25) until 2:00 p.m. Sunday (2011/06/26) members of the Prince Edward Radio Club, and the Quinte Amateur Radio Club were "on the air" from a grassy field near Lake on the Mountain, Prince Edward County.  Not far away, the members of the Frontenac County A.R.E.S. Group were operating their radios from Hay Bay.  They were just two of hundreds of groups of enthusiastic radio operators across North America who were making radio contact during the annual Amateur Radio Field Day. (See the previous article for more details of Amateur Radio Field Day.)

Amateur Radio Field Day - North Fulton, U.S.A.

Amateur Radio Field Day - North Fulton, U.S.A.

Weather disasters such as tornados that leveled homes and businesses in Tuscaloosa, AL and Ringgold make the work done by groups such as the North Fulton Amateur Radio League critical. When cell towers are down and power is out, communication can be nearly impossible.

Groups such as the North Fulton Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) team show how today's amateur (Ham) radio enthusiasts can provide a critical service.

Amateur radio operators will demonstrate their operating skills and emergency communications capabilities. This is not the “Ham” radio you may think about from years past, said Jim Paine, a member of NFARL. The group will display and use the latest technology in radio gear to communicate to other ham stations across the world using the new digital modes, as well as voice and Morse code.

NFARL members won't be alone on Field Day, which is an annual event nationwide for amateur radio enthusiasts to show their skills at communicating by radio. Hundreds of clubs are involved across the country using their personally owned radio equipment and providing their own back-up electrical power. This network of amateur radio operators has been crucial to maintaining reliable communications during hurricanes, blizzards, tornados, floods and other events that may disable normal communications, NFARL said.

For more information & photos:
http://alpharetta.patch.com/articles/north-fulton-amateur-radio-operators-demonstrate-gear-used-in-emergencies#photo-6579269