AO-85 also known as Fox-1A has gone silent. AM SAT has declared its mission is over. More information at

http://www.arrl.org/news/view/amsat-declares-end-of-mission-for-pioneer-ao-85-cubesat

When a tornado struck in Mississippi ARES folks from one county responded. The effectiveness and efficiency of the responded was credited to ongoing training by the unit.

More information at

http://www.arrl.org/news/mississippi-ares-emergency-coordinator-credits-training-for-effective-tornado-response

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation has “made permanent the exemption under Ontario Regulation 366/09 (Display Screens and Hand-Held Devices) of the Highway Traffic Act for hand-held two-way radios for commercial drivers and Amateur Radio operators

Thank you for participating in the contest!https://www.rac.ca/rac-canada-winter-contest-2019-logs-now-available-on-rac-website/

For immediate release:
RAC Contest Managers Bart Ritchie, VE5CPU and Sam Ferris, VE5SF, provided the following report:
A summary of logs received for the 2019 RAC Canada Winter Contest is now available on the RAC Contesting Rules and Results webpage and has been provided below. The log categorization found within the summary is based on the contents of log files submitted in accordance with the contest rules.
A total of 898 electronic logs were received, a new all-time record for entries in the RAC Canada Winter Contest.
Please direct any inquiries to ve5sf@sasktel.net or Canadawinter@rac.ca.
Alan Griffin
RAC MarCom Director

On February 15 20 20 online registration opens for SEA-PAC 2020, the largest Ham Radio convention in the Pacific Northwest and the ARRL Northwest Division convention. As in year’s past, it will be held at the newly remodeled Seaside Convention Center, on the Pacific Ocean coast at Seaside, Oregon.

To register, go to the SEA-PAC website and click on the Registration tab on the left. https://www.seapac.org

Registering early has its advantages. You’ll be in the front of the line to buy tickets to the Gala SEA-PAC Banquet, the Friday Workshops and the DX and YL Luncheons, all of which sell out before the convention. If you register before April 15^th, you’ll be automatically entered into an early bird prize drawing.

The SEA-PAC Collector Pin design contest closes on March 1^st , so get your entries in now. The winner will receive 2 free tickets to the Gala SEA-PAC Banquet. Rules are available on the SEA-PAC website – click on the “SEA-PAC Pins” tab.

SEA-PAC is successful because of the labors of countless volunteers. We are always looking for folks to lend a hand. If you’d like to help make SEA-PAC a success, check out the “Volunteering” tab on the SEA-PAC website.

For more information on these and other SEA-PAC topics, visit the website at: https://www.seapac.org.

See you in Seaside at SEA-PAC 2020

Even with all the fancy gizmos the military has some US Marines are learning all about ham radio.

https://www.dvidshub.net/news/362206/fitting-19th-century-technology-into-21st-century-warfighting

RAC Amateur of the Year Award 2019: Cary Rubenfeld, VE4EA

The RAC Board of Directors takes great pleasure in selecting Cary Rubenfeld, VE4EA, as the recipient of the RAC Amateur of the Year Award for 2019 in recognition of his tireless efforts to promote Amateur Radio in his home province of Manitoba, throughout Canada and internationally.

Through the RAC Amateur of the Year Award, Radio Amateurs of Canada recognizes the outstanding contributions made by Canadian Amateurs. The RAC Board considers nominations for the RAC Amateur of the Year Award and presents it if and when the nomination demonstrates the exceptional contribution made. If there are several nominations the best for that year is approved.

Cary is a founding member of Radiosport Manitoba (RSM) which combines his passion for contesting and DX. Since its inception in 2013, he has served as its Vice-President and Education Coordinator and has recruited renowned guest speakers to present world class presentations remotely to the group.

He was the driving force behind the organization and presentation of “The HF Experience” in 2016, which was an event targeted towards new and old Amateurs that provided a wide array of topics meant to encourage and entice participants to explore the HF bands.

Cary is a long-time member of the Winnipeg Amateur Radio Club (WARC) and has organized and led their annual Field Day events for the past several years. He realized that Field Day has often been many Amateurs first opportunity to get on the air and especially on HF. He has seized these opportunities to create a Field Day that encourages HF operation for those with little or no experience. To assist in this, he has successfully recruited top contesters from Alberta, Ontario and the United States to join the local contesters to act as mentors.

Cary has become the face of VE4 on the international scene. A regular attendee at Dayton and a guest at the last World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC) event in Germany, he mingles and establishes a personal relationship with Amateurs from around the world. He was also a participant in the VE100VIMY special event in 2017.

In addition to his other volunteer efforts with the Winnipeg ARC, Cary has been instrumental in bringing new life and ideas to the club by seeking out new Amateurs and mentoring them along the path to become proficient operators. In 2019, Cary successfully spearheaded the effort to activate VE4WARC to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Winnipeg Amateur Radio Club.

Stay tuned to the RAC website for additional information about the presentation of the award once the plans have been finalized. For more information about the RAC Amateur of the Year Award visit: https://wp.rac.ca/rac-amateur-of-the-year/

Glenn MacDonell, VE3XRA
RAC President and Chair

****************

Alan Griffin
RAC MarCom Director

Did you participate in the BC QSO Party ? Please remember your logs must be submitted no later than Feb 17 2020.

Attached are the rules. scroll down to the area marked as REPORTING for any clarifications you may need.

http://www.orcadxcc.org/bcqp_rules.html

Communications Academy will be held April 24 2019 in Seattle. The following information has been received

 Communications Academy 2020: April 24-26 at South Seattle College.  Save the Dates!

CR2022 – If Cascadia Rises, Will We Fall?

CommAcademy is a three-day training workshop for volunteer and other emergency communicators at South Seattle College – Seattle, WA.  Master classes will take place on Friday; topics to be announced. There are plenary sessions Saturday and Sunday mornings followed by a series of multi-track breakout sessions on

·         radio communications

·         emergency management

·         the science of earthquakes

·         technical communications on mesh and hamwan networks

·         new radio operator training and lessons

Registration for one, two or all three days includes lunch.

Web page for further details: www.CommAcademy.org.  Registration opens in late February 2019.

My best, 
Alan Jones, KD7KUS
Redmond, WA

Amateur radio operators had a limited role in the response to the Turkish earthquake due to the nature of the event. The scope of the role matters not rather the fact they were there and assisted matters.

http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-volunteers-in-turkey-support-earthquake-response