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This is V_3___, Official Bulletin Station for Radio Amateurs of Canada 
with this week's bulletin.
 
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS
 
1.  Certificate Backlog at Amateur Radio Service Centre
 
Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) has advised Radio Amateurs of Canada that 
the Amateur Radio Service Centre is currently experiencing a backlog in the printing and 
mailing of Amateur Radio certificates.
The backlog affects newly certified Amateurs as well as those who have recently upgraded 
their qualifications. ISED is working toward a resolution and expects to clear the backlog 
as soon as possible.
In the meantime, ISED’s electronic processing of new certifications, qualification upgrades 
and call sign assignments continues to operate with its usual high level of efficiency. 
These services are not affected by the delay in printing and mailing certificates.
--Dave Goodwin, VE3KG - Regulatory Affairs Officer, Radio Amateurs of Canada
 
2. Changes to the RAC Contest Management Team
 
After 22 years of exceptional service to Canadian Radio Amateurs, Bart Ritchie, VE5CPU and 
Sam Ferris, VE5SF, have retired from managing RAC’s two annual contests.
The new manager for the RAC Canada Day Contest is Jim Roberts, VE7ZO.
Originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Jim now lives in Bowser, British Columbia in 
central Vancouver Island.
Jim has been an Amateur since 1967 and is a highly accomplished contester.
The new manager for the RAC Canada Winter Contest is Vlad Milutinovic, VE3JM.
Vlad became an Amateur in 1980 in his native Serbia.
Vlad has built a very large station in eastern Ontario. He is highly skilled at SO2R 
(single-op two radio) operating and an excellent host for multi-ops.
RAC and Canadian Radio Amateurs are very lucky to have two such skilled and experienced 
competitors taking over.
The outgoing managers, Bart Ritchie, VE5CPU and Sam Ferris, VE5SF, have done a magnificent 
job with RAC’s contests for over 22 years. Jim and Vlad will continue that legacy and build upon it.
– Dave Goodwin, VE3KG – RAC Contest and Awards Committee
 
ONTARIO SECTION NEWS
 
3. Ontario QSO Party 2026 Rules Update
 
The OQP is coming up on April 18-19, 2026. Rules changes include:
Addition of VE3RHQ (RAC Headquarters) as a bonus station.
Phone QSO's now count 2 points (same as CW QSO's)
Contest timed adjusted - Move of 2 hours from late Saturday night to Sunday evening.
County line proximity definition (within 250m)
Full information can be found at https://www.va3cco.com/oqp
-- Paul, VA3PC
 
ITEMS OF INTEREST
 
4.  The SARC Communicator for March-April 2026 is now available.
 
Articles include:
Hidden features in the Icom IC-7300 transceiver
Add Digital Television to Your ARES Tool Kit
When an app outlives its creator
Download and read your copy at https://www.ve7sar.net/communicator
-- amateur radio newsline (via John, VE7TI)
 
This concludes this week's bulletin. Does anyone require repeats or clarifications?
Hearing none, This is V_3___ returning the frequency to net control.
Bulletin sent from Official Bulletin Manager VA3PC
_._,_._,_

Greg had a great topic on the net tonite - CW.  I'm trying to get up to speed enough to be comfortable on the air.  Sounds like some other folks might be in much the same boat.

Here are a couple of resources that you might find useful:

1. The ARRL broadcasts CW practice Monday-Friday on all the HF bands from W1AW in Newington CT.  They have two "slow code" sessions per day, where they send at 5, 7 1/2, 10, 13, 15 wpm.  They also have two "fast code" sessions per day, where they send at 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 13, 10 wpm.  
Details are at this website (you don't have to be a member to access it): https://www.arrl.org/w1aw-operating-schedule

2. John VA3KOT informed me of a local CW practice net where people can check in at their own speed and the NCS will respond at that speed.  Details:
"Dave, the CW practice net I told you about is every Wednesday at 5-5:30pm on 3.541 MHz. The net is called DUF and is run by Phil VE3FAS. If you would like to join in wait for Phil to call QNI then simply send your callsign at whatever speed you are comfortable with. Phil will slow down to your speed."

QRV?

Dave, VE3WI

This post is to gauge interest in this years QSO Party, Saturday April 19th from 2pm till midnight. This is also the same day and the World Amateur Radio Day. I will have 2 stations ready and since the snow will likely be gone by then, attendees can use the back yard as well to put what whatever antenna they choose and operate. It may also be a good time to new hams to get together with others.

We can discuss meals and such later but I envision a chilli or beef stew for attendees.

https://www.va3cco.com/oqp/index.htm

Please answer the POLL if you are interested

This is V_3___, Official Bulletin Station for Radio Amateurs of Canada with this week's bulletin.

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1.  The End of an Era: Environment Canada to Silence Weatheradio on March 16th, 2026

Starting March 16, 2026, Weatheradio and Hello Weather services will be permanently disconnected.
You can get radio marine forecasts via the Canadian Coast Guard. For your local weather forecasts
and alerts, visit the interactive weather map or download the WeatherCAN app.

-- Environment Canada Website (and many news outlets)

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

2.  ACS-GH Virtual Presentation: BANDING TOGETHER WITH HAMCLOCK - March 11, 2026

Presented By Rob Schuetze VE3XBI, YRARC Director of Emergency Communications
HamClock is an essential daily tool for every amateur radio operator.  It delivers real-time
propagation reports, solar weather data, world clocks, and satellite tracking—all at a glance.
With critical information instantly available, HamClock helps you make smarter communication
decisions and improve on-air effectiveness every single day.
Register before March 9th at    reupva3rie @ gmail.com

-- Rosemarie Upfield  VA3RIE
Communications, Education/Training Coordinator
Golden Horseshoe (GH) Section

ITEMS OF INTEREST

3.    Community HamClock Backend Server Now Available

The first known community backend server for HamClock is now available for all HamClock users.
The project, hamclock.com, is free for anyone to use and will keep existing HamClock installs
running indefinitely.

With the passing of HamClock creator Elwood Downey (WB0OEW), HamClock will stop working
in June unless users point their installations to a new backend service. Updating existing HamClock
installations is a simple task. Users have two options, updating their hosts file, or updating the
command used to start HamClock. Both require only simple text changes.
Hamclock.com is run by Bruce Edrich (W4BAE) and is built upon open-hamclock-backend.
Headlines from Amateur Radio Daily are made available to HamClock via open-hamclock-backend.
-- daily.hamweekly.com website

4.  WQ2XDM - New US experimental callsign for radio propagation tests at 40 MHz & 70 MHz

John, K9JMS recently received permission from the FCC to carry out propagation tests at 40 MHz (8m)
and 70 MHz (4m) and was granted the callsign WQ2XDM for a period of two years.
Note that this is NOT an amateur radio licence and no two way communications are allowed.
Its purpose is strictly for "scientific and engineering-based propagation research".
The 40 MHz and 70 MHz bands are NOT amateur radio bands in the United States and this is a case of
someone getting a permit to make narrow band digital transmissions and seeing if the signals are heard.
The licence has the following conditions attached...
8m band - 40.660 to 40.700 MHz - 10-watts ERP max (FT8 & WSPR)
4m band - 70.000 to 70.200 MHz - 25-watts ERP max (FT8 & WSPR)
-- EI7GL blogspot.com

This concludes this week's bulletin. Does anyone require repeats or clarifications?
Hearing none, This is V_3___ returning the frequency to net control.
Bulletin sent from Official Bulletin Manager VA3PC

There are lots of solutions similar to hamclock and this is the latest.  Easy to set up in a browser.  It's a work in progress and gets better with each update.  Check it out.  https://openhamclock.com/

If however you are like me and prefer the original hamclock, keep it alive beyond June 2026 by using the backend server.  Thank you to VA3VBE for sending this to me.  It is easy to setup, follow this website. https://hamclock.com/

Radio Amateurs of Canada Responds to to the Closure of the Weatherradio Service in Canada

https://www.rac.ca/rac-responds-to-the-closure-of-the-weatherradio-service-in-canada/

For immediate release | February 25, 2026Le texte français suit  –

This is V_3___, Official Bulletin Station for Radio Amateurs of Canada with this week's bulletin.

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1.  RAC Amateur of the Year Award 2025:   Fred Archibald, VE1FA and Helen Archibald, VA1YL

The RAC Board of Directors takes great pleasure in selecting Fred Archibald, VE1FA, and
Helen Archibald, VA1YL, of Port Williams, Nova Scotia as the recipients of the RAC
Amateur of the Year Award for 2025.

Fred and Helen Archibald have been pillars of Amateur Radio in Canada for decades. While
the award traditionally reflects contributions within a given year, their sustained excellence in 2025
– combined with a lifetime of service – made them compelling joint recipients.

Their partnership – spanning more than 50 years of marriage and decades of Amateur Radio dedication
– reflects teamwork, resilience and service at the highest level.

Radio Amateurs of Canada sincerely congratulates Fred Archibald, VE1FA, and Helen Archibald, VA1YL,
on being named the RAC Amateurs of the Year for 2025. An article about the Award will be included in
the March-April 2026 issue of The Canadian Amateur magazine.

-- Allan Boyd, VE3AJB, RAC President  (Full article on the RAC website)

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

ITEMS OF INTEREST

2.  What the heck is FT2?

The fastest digital mode ever created, it uses 3.8 second cycles.
Based on the WSJT-X 72 bit payload it uses shortened tones to achieve the short cycle.
It requires a good signal to decode (-12 vs FT8 at -24), and tight time synchronization.
The first qso was completed on Feb 16, 2026 taking only 11 seconds, 4x faster than FT8.
See the full information and downloads at https://ft2.it
The installation packages now support W64, W32 and linux OS.
-- amateur radio weekly news

3.    Anytone AT-D890UV full duplex satellite HT (plus DMR)

This new HT has full duplex capability to allow users to work satellites.
It requires fixed frequencies as no automatic doppler shift is available, but is now
the only unit available on the "new" market with this capability.
For the full writeup see     https://www.amsat.se/2026/02/16/
-- amsat-SM bulletin (via amateur radio weekly news)

4.  BUNKERS ON THE AIR PROGRAM EXPANDS

The links between amateur radio and history grow stronger every day as hams have discovered from all our
special event stations and awards schemes. In the UK, Bunkers on the Air began with Royal Observer Corps
bunker sites in 2005 with radio and history education in mind.

Worldwide BOTA's Jason Dale, 2EØJIV, told Newsline that, as with other nations, US BOTA is closely modeled
after the one in the UK. With some bunker sites still considered sensitive areas, BOTA established an activation
zone giving plenty of room for permitted activations without having to infringe on the bunker itself. In the UK
and the US and several other countries, that's 1,000 meters from the center of the bunker itself.

The worldwide platform hosts each country's available awards and bunker databases as well as lists of new
countries - and newly added bunkers. Specific rules and local maps are available on each country's individual site.
Best of all, said Jason, some portable loggers, such as Ham2K, have also gotten into the act and have already
added BOTA into their software.
Canada's BOTA site is :    https://wwbota.net/cabota_1/      (now at 1750 entries).
-- amateur radio newsline

This concludes this week's bulletin. Does anyone require repeats or clarifications?
Hearing none, This is V_3___ returning the frequency to net control.
Bulletin sent from Official Bulletin Manager VA3PC