May 1999
FEEDBACK
The OFFICIAL Newsletter
of the
Georgian Bay Amateur Radio Club Inc.
P.O. Box 113, Owen Sound, Ontario N4K 5P1
http://greynet.net/~gbarc
GBARC meetings are held on the 4th Tuesday of every month except July and August at the Georgian Yatch Club, 2475 3rd Ave West, Owen Sound.
Breakfast meetings are held at the Rockford Esso at 9:00 a.m. on the 2nd Saturday of the month and every 2nd Saturday after.
Nets 80 metre net on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. on 3.783 Mhz. Two metre net on Thursday at 9 p.m. on VE3OSR 146.94-Mhz.
MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
Chris VA3MUM, Jim VA3CJM
Georgian Bay Amateur Radio Club Minutes of April 27, 1999
Meeting was called to order by Vice President Gary VE3IOD at 1930. There were 18 members and 2 guests in attendance.
The minutes of March 23rd were distributed and accepted as printed. Motion by Joe JNA and seconded by Bob LKD.
The Treasurer, Jim CJM reported on a bank balance of $2,830.45.
OLD BUSINESS
Scanning software has been purchased and put to good use. Tom TSA reported the program is working very well for the newsletters and web page.
Items held over for May meeting:
Field day arrangements will be discussed and finalized at the April meeting. (In discussion on holding Field Day again this year, the yacht club upper level was another idea for a possible site. Jim CJM will check into permission from the club to use this area. Jim CJM and Carl BY obtained a cost of $150.00 to rent a construction trailer for the weekend if the club decided to use this rather than the tent. A discussion followed with some members wanting to research further to find another price for trailers. If anyone knows of alternate places to rent would you please notify either Carl BY or Jim CJM with the information.)
The QSL cards have been handed in and a vote will take place at the April meeting.
Aubrey TUQ is arranging a seminar on Lightening Protection and will try to hold the event in a central location for the area clubs to have worthwhile attendance. A possible may date late April.
Kim DXE will contact Nick MWU to find out if he wishes to remain the area examiner. Aubrey will be meeting with the sales rep. April 28th.
Bernie BQM gave a report on the CANWARN re-certification seminar.
Recommendations from the nominating committee:
President Kim DXE
Vice President Bernie BQM
Treasurer Jim CJM
Secretary Chris MUM
Auditor Dave DXO
Newsletter Tom TSA
Program Director Jack TWK
Technical Director Joe JNA
Motion by Marvin ACI to accept these nominations. Seconded by Jim CJM. Carried.
NEW BUSINESS
Reminder **Packet fees are now dues to Jean IJD.
Brad brought in the new Amateur Radio Booklets for Basic and Advanced. He has the information for ordering if anyone is interested.
Show & Tell
Steve XKM displayed a Helicrafter that he picked up at a garage sale. Brad RHJ brought in a code practice player from approximately 1974. It still worked well. Grant GCQ shared information from a program he heard on cold fusion. Very interesting from all.
The Digital Amateur: Building a Web Page (part 1)
by Brad Rodriguez, VE3RHJ
"The Digital Amateur" is a deliberate ambiguity. Does it mean using computers with amateur radio?
Or experimenting with digital electronics? Both! This month's article will tell how to use the Internet to publicize and share your amateur radio activities.
Do you want to present a "web page" on the Internet? Have you a project you'd like to share, an activity you'd like to publicize, or just some shack photos you'd like to show off? Well, you're in luck: it's never been easier or less expensive. If you have even a basic Internet account, with just a little work -- and no money at all -- you can be a "webmaster."
In case you're new to this… when you use an Internet browser, like Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer, you are usually looking at the part of the Internet known as the World Wide Web (WWW). The Web is an immense collection of "pages," each of which can include text, drawings, or photos. What makes the Web unique is that the pages are stored on thousands of computers around the world, and that any web page may "link" to any number of other web pages. When you click on a web page link, you may be telling your computer to go halfway around the world to fetch another web page -- and it's all automatic, so you don't have to know how it works.
To put your own web page on the Internet, you need to create a computer file in the proper format, called HTML. Then you need a place to store the web page on the Internet -- on a computer called a "web server." To illustrate the process, here's how I made a web page for my amateur radio activities.
The Tools
Web pages are written in a computer language called HTML (HyperText Markup Language). You can write this with an ordinary text editor, but it's a real pain. It's easier to use an HTML editor. My preferred editing tool (and my preferred web browser) is Netscape Navigator 3 Gold. It's free, and it has everything you need, including the FTP program to copy your pages to the web server (more on this in a moment). Download Netscape 3 Gold from http://www.netscape.com/download/archive/client_index2.html and install it on your computer. Make sure you get Navigator Gold -- it includes the web page editor -- and not just plain Navigator.
You can also use Microsoft Word 97 and WordPerfect 7 (and later versions) to create HTML documents, or you can buy software specifically designed to create web pages. In either case, you'll probably need a separate FTP program, like WS_FTP. You might also have a later version of Netscape. If so, you're on your own. I don't know those programs, and to keep this simple, I'm giving instructions only for Netscape 3 Gold.
The Storage Space
Now you need to find a host computer for your web pages. There are three options:
Your Internet Service Provider may provide a modest amount of web space with your Internet account. Greynet gives 5 megabytes of storage space free, for personal web pages, to all customers. Other ISPs may charge for this. There are companies, "Web Hosting Services," who rent web space. The fee can range from $10 a month on up. They cater mainly to commercial users who need a lot of space. Other companies will provide web space for free, as long as they can display advertising on your pages. A few such companies are listed at the bottom of this article; there's a much bigger list at http://www.dreamscape.com/frankvad/free.homepages.html. Or look for "Free Web Pages" with an Internet search engine like Infoseek or Lycos.
For my ham radio page, I chose a free web host called FreeServers. They give12 megabytes of space and handle all the advertising automatically. I went to http://www.freeservers.com/ and signed up. For their "domain name", I chose "ve3rhj"; this means my web pages will be at http://ve3rhj.freeservers.com/. (Other free web hosts work differently.) After filling out some basic information, I received an email telling me how to activate the web space. (Most web hosts do this, to make sure they can contact you.) After activation, the space is ready to receive web pages.
There's some important stuff to write down. You'll be using an Internet function called FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to copy your web pages from your computer to the web server. To use FTP, you'll need to know the host name (also known as the FTP server name), and what directory to use on that computer, and you'll need a user name and a password. You choose (or are assigned) the last two when you sign up -- these may be different from your dial-up and email user names and passwords. The web host provides the first two: look for a "read me" or "instructions" or "information" or "FAQ" (Frequently Asked Questions) page when you sign up. Here are two examples:
Web Host:
Greynet
FreeServers
Host name:
greynet.net
yoursite.freeservers.com
Directory:
/public_html
(none)
User name:
your Greynet username
yourname
Password:
your Greynet password
yourpassword
On FreeServers, you get to specify "yoursite", "yourname", and "yourpassword" when you sign up for web space. On Greynet, your FTP user name and password are the same as you use for your regular Internet service. On Greynet you also have to specify the directory /public_html when you transfer files; on FreeServers you don't.
The Content: Your first web page
Most visitors to your web site will start with your main web page (your "home page"). Here's how to create a simple text-only page.
Start the Netscape program. Click File/New Document/Blank; this starts the Netscape editor. Now you can type whatever text you want, like "VE3RHJ's Ham Radio Page."
At the top of the window, under the pulldown menu "File Edit View Insert Properties Options Window Help", you should see three toolbars (rows of buttons). At the start of the second row will be a window saying "Normal" and having a down button. Click on that button, and you'll see all of the text styles you can use in an HTML document. Most of your text will be "Normal," but you can use the different "Heading" styles to create titles and subheadings. Select your first line of text by clicking and dragging the mouse over it. Then click the style box button, and click on "Heading 1". Presto! This makes your first line the topmost heading -- as though it was the title. You can then use Heading 2 for subdivisions, Heading 3 for smaller subdivisions, and so on. (Incidentally, it's considered bad form to skip heading levels, say from 1 to 3 to 5.)
Now you can type some more text (in "Normal" style) under the first line. Type "Welcome to my home page", or "This page under construction", or whatever you'd like. You can experiment with the first six buttons on the third toolbar, which decrease and increase the text size, specify an arbitrary text size, and select bold face, italic, and fixed width ("typewriter") font.
When you've typed enough for your first page, you need to save the file. Click File/Save. It's a good idea to keep all of your web pages together in a special folder on your home computer, so use the "New Folder" button to create a folder. I'm assuming you know how to use the "Up One Level" button, and how to double-click on folders, to navigate around your hard disk. You can put the new folder on C: or in some other folder. Type a name ("webpages" or something) and press Enter. You have to create this new folder only once. Select your new folder by double-clicking it. Then type a file name. Usually your home page must be named index.html (and this must be typed in all lower case). Then click Save.
Don't worry, we'll add more to your page later. The important thing now is to get a page onto the Internet. Many free web servers will cancel your account if you don't create a page within a few days.
Sending your page to the host
After you save your index.html file, leave Netscape running, and dial up your Internet provider. When you've established a connection, return to the Netscape window, and click File/Publish. Now you need the information you wrote down earlier. Under "Upload files to this location (FTP or HTTP)", you should type
ftp://hostname/directory
where hostname and directory are those provided by your web host. For example, on Greynet you would type ftp://greynet.net/public_html. On FreeServers you would type ftp://yoursite.freeservers.com (remember, you don’t have to specify a directory for FreeServers.) This resembles a normal Internet URL (Uniform Resource Locator), except that it begins with ftp:// instead of http://.
In "User name" type your FTP user name, and in "Password" type your FTP password; and click "Save Password". Netscape will save this information so you don't have to type it all again the next time you send a page to your web host. Finally, click OK. It'll take a minute or so for Netscape to transmit your file to the host computer.
Some free web servers don't let you use FTP to upload your pages. In this case, you'll have to follow whatever instructions the server company provides you.
Next time…
In the next installment I'll describe how to create additional web pages, and link them together.
Appendix: some free web hosts
Here's just a few of the many places you can get free web space. Except for Freeservers, I haven't tried these, so I can't vouch for them. I offer this merely as a starting place for your search.
Regulation Changes from Industry Canada
RADIOCOMMUNICATION ACT
NOTICE NO. DGRB-005-99
PROPOSAL TO GRANT OPERATING PRIVILEGES IN THE 28.0 MHZ TO 29.7 MHZ BAND TO INDIVIDUALS HOLDING AN AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR CERTIFICATE WITH BASIC AND MORSE CODE (5 W.P.M.) QUALIFICATIONS
This Notice announces a proposal to modify the current requirement of Basic and Morse Code (12 w.p.m.) to the amateur radio Operator Qualifications listed in item 9 of Schedule I of the Radiocommunication Information Circular 2 (RIC-2), Standards for the Operation of Radio Stations in the Amateur Radio Service. Under this new proposal, individuals holding an Amateur Radio Operator Certificate with Basic and Morse Code (5 w.p.m.) Qualifications would be allowed to operate in the 28.0 MHZ to 29.7 MHZ (10 metre band) amateur radio frequency band.
Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) submitted the proposal to Industry Canada at the Canadian Amateur Radio Advisory Board meeting held in May 1998, in response to requests from radio amateurs across Canada. The proposal coincides with the upcoming favourable sunspot cycle years which normally increase propagation characteristics in the 28.0 MHZ to 29.7 MHZ High Frequency (HF) band.
Many radio amateurs believe that the extension of operating privileges to those radio amateurs holding Basic and Morse Code (5 w.p.m.) Qualifications to operate in this HF band would be an important step for the growth and stability of the amateur radio service. It would provide amateurs, who now meet basic international requirements, with the opportunity to operate world wide long distance (DX) communications and increase their HF operating skills. It is also believed that this proposal would encourage operators with only Basic Qualification to learn Morse Code (5 w.p.m.) and increase the overall number of amateurs with HF knowledge and skills.
Industry Canada invites comments, preferably in electronic format, from all interested parties. Submissions should be addressed to the Chief, Authorization, Operational Policies, Procedures & Programs, at the following Internet address:
dospa@ic.gc.ca
To ensure comments will be considered, they are to be received by the Department within 60 days of the date of publication of this Notice. All submissions must cite the Canada Gazette Part I Notice publication date, title and the Notice reference number. Submissions may also be submitted to the Chief by mail at: 300 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0C8.
All submissions received electronically in response to this Notice will be made available for viewing on Industry Canada's website noted below.
World Wide Web (WWW) http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/spectrum
The responses will also be made available for viewing by the public, during normal business hours, at the Industry Canada Library, 235 Queen Street, West Tower, 3rd Floor, Ottawa, Ontario, and at the offices of Industry Canada in Moncton, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver, for a period of one year from the close of comments.
April 20, 1999 Jan Skora Director General
Radiocommunications and Broadcasting Regulatory Branch
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca
From The Mailbox
From: Jane & Al Perreault aljane@bigfoot.com
Enjoyed the webpage. Drop by our webpage for Tons of Ham Radio Cartoons and Humor. We also just started a Free online Swap & Shop. 73 de Al VE7FYM
_________________________
http://www.bigfoot.com/~aljane
From: Tedd VA3SED
New 6 Metre Repeater
Could you let the boys know that I am in the testing stage of a new 6 meter repeater here in Kitchener? It's presently located about 30 feet off the ground at Baden Hill (Ch 13 transmitter site), and after a testing period, will be moved to our Manheim site. Power output is presently about 50 watts and is feeding a commercial quarter wave ground plane antenna. Input is 52.37 (no tone) and output is 53.37.
Thanks, Tedd VA3SED , packet ve3tjd@va3sed , e-mail lazer@sentex.net
From: Martha VA3SBD
Hey there Tom!! I've got one question. What type of things can we put in the newsletter?? I'm just curious and well I might be able to get my creative side of me thinking. Oh by the way when do you want the submissions by??
Talk to you later and 73's de Martha VA3SBD
Anything amateur radio related is cool. Particularly construction atricles and plans. I can handle just about any format the computer can. Submissions are taken at any time , it's only the monthly things like minutes etc I could use by mid-month..73 Tom
THE RADIO H.F. INTERNET NEWSLETTER
VOLUME 1 NUMBER 004 MAY 1999
http://www.anarc.org/cidx/radiohf/index.html
A proud GRANDPA
I'm supposed to be quiet and sit here at work while Jason and Laura and their newest family member are put up into a room. I can not! Hanna Rose is here! Born at 1:07pm and Mom and she are fine, (Jason is mister prowd himself).
More to come latter as she learns to dress herself, skate, goes into school plays etc.
Tom VE3NEM
From: Bob VE3XOX
REWARD OFFERED
A REWARD OF 500 MICROFARADS IS OFFERED FOR THE INFORMATION LEADING TO THE ARREST OF HOP-A-LONG CAPACITY. THIS UNRECTIFIED CRIMINAL ESCAPED FROM A WESTERN PRIMARY CELL WHERE HE HAD BEEN CLAMPED IN IONS AWAITING THE GAUSS CHAMBER.
HE IS CHARGED WITH THE INDUCTION OF AN 18 TURN COIL NAMED MILLI HENRY WHO WAS FOUND CHOKED AND ROBBED OF VALUABLE JOULES. HE IS ARMED WITH A CARBON ROD AND IS A POTENTIAL KILLER. CAPACITY IS ALSO CHARGED WITH DRIVING DC MOTOR OVER A WHEATSTONE BRIDGE AND REFUSING TO LET THE BAND-PASS.
IF ENCOUNTERED, HE MAY OFFER SERIES OF RESISTANCE. THE ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE SPENT THE NIGHT SEARCHING FOR HIM IN A MAGNETIC FIELD, WHERE HE HAD GONE TO EARTH. THEY HAD NO SUCCESS AND BELIEVED HE HAD RETURNED OHM VIA A SHORT CIRCUIT
HE WAS LAST SEEN RIDING A KILOCYCLE WITH HIS FRIEND EDDY CURRENT WHO WAS PLAYING A HARMONIC.
LINUX Hello all......Check out this Linus site..73 John VA3JRF http://www.linux.org/
THE BRUCE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB NEWSLETTER FOR
*** APRIL 1999 ***
IS NOW POSTED AND
INCLUDES THE MINUTES OF THE MARCH CLUB MEETING.
73 DE JIM COVERLEY VE3OVV
http://www.brucearc.on.ca
Central Ontario Amateur Radio Fleamarket
Saturday June 12th at the Fergus Community Center
Just a reminder of the Central Ontario Amateur Radio Fleamarket being held on Saturday June 12th at the Fergus Community Center just North of Guelph on Highway 6. This will be the second year at this new venue sponsored jointly by the Guelph and K-W Amateur Radio Clubs.
DATE: Saturday JUNE 12
PLACE: Fergus and District Community Centre
TIMES: 6AM for Vendors 8AM for the General Public
ADMISSION: $5.00 Children under 12 FREE
TAILGATE SPACE: $5.00 (General admission also required)
INDOOR TABLES: $10.00 per table (General admission also required)
TALK-IN: Listen to VE3ZMG 145.210 and VE3KSR -146.970- for constant main road directions
SIMPLEX -146.520 will be used once you enter the Fergus limits
ON-SITE CAMPGROUND
These fully serviced lots capable of handling the largest RV, are available direct from the Community Centre for $15.00 per night by calling 519 843-2800. Be sure to mention you are with the Hamfest. New shower and washroom facilities have been added since last year.
Thanks to the Hammond Manufacturing Company, the famous Hammond Table will continue to be a real source for the Home Brewer with lots of project boxes and chassis being available at bargain prices.
Visit our web site for complete details http://www.kwarc.org/fleamarket/
or e-mail Bill VE3WHS for more details at fleamarket@kwarc.org
BITNET DUES DUE MAY 1/99 VE3IJD@VE3IJD.#CON.ON.CAN.NOAM
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
VA3ACI * * *
VA3CJM * * *
VA3DGI *
VA3DMB *
VA3JKO * *
VA3MJL *
VA3JRF *
VA3RFL * *
VA3TAB * *
VA3TJT * * * *
VE3KMS * * *
VE3EFX * * * * *
VE3ENS *
VE3FFN * *
VE3GDH * *
VE3HMZ * * * * * * *
VE3HXX *
VE3IOD * * * * *
VE3IXR * * * *
VE3JMD * *
VE3JUA * * * * *
VE3LKD * * * * *
VE3KCE * *
VE3MAI *
VE3MTV *
VE3MWU * * * *
VE3NBJ * *
VE3NEG * * * *
VE3NEM * *
VE3RHJ * * *
VE3RTE *
VE3TDF * * * *
VE3TDV * * * *
VE3TFQ *
VE3TSA * * * *
VE3TTV *
VE3VTO * * * * *
VE3TXB * * * * *
VE3WLR * *
VE3WUD *
VE3WWS *
VE3XKM * *
An asterisk (*) means your paid up until May 1 st of the following year. This is a membership list for Bitnet, the packet users group for the VE3IJD BBS and network node system.Money raised helps fund the BBS equipment and Node radio hardware.It does NOT pay the Sysop or Nodeops,nor does it cover other charges such as electrical or telephone at any location.These costs are covered by VE3IJD and VE3XOX. VE3MTG maintains the node at Allan Park.If you know of someone who uses the system, please try to convince them to help carry the load.For a $25 yearly membership you can access all of the bbs and nodes functions,and communicate with other hams around the world.And don't forget the VE3UIC DX Cluster that's ether net linked to the BBS.Just connect to VE3IJD-7, then C VE3UIC.The DX Cluster feed is used for spotting DX stations. If you have questions about packet and it's opportunities please contact Gene,VE3IJD or Bob,VE3XOX.Please DON'T send the dues to the GBARC Treasurer. BITNET memberships are available by mail to: Gene McDonald VE3IJD R. R. # 4 Tara,Ont. N0H2N0
Here is an interesting site http://www.hamrad.com 73 Tom TSA
