From a group and Facebook page that I follow.  This is a message from Bob Heil K9EID and why he has not been on the air as of late.

Have missed each and everyone of you but need to let everyone know what has happened since June 30.  Mid June I began feeling weakness in my legs, each days bit more. So much Sarah got me a rolator walker.  I had to quit driving and sold my car.  I could still walk a bit  but used the walker when going to restaurants, etc.  June 30 woke up and when I started to getup of bed, my legs folded under me. Could not support me . Sarah called 911and journey began. Off to Siteman in Shiloh, 15 min from our house.

4 days in  hospital, 2 weeks in  great rehab facility. Since June8, no computer and of course no radios. Don’t have enough strength or power to turn the T90 or anything else on!  Yesterday I was transported to a beautiful assistant living facility in Shiloh where I will be a month and more. Today my step son Ash, brought my computer. I now can communicate a bit with my friends although it’s difficult. I have nyropothy in my toes and fingers. Have no power to hold or pick up anything. Can’t even make a fist  Difficult to eat but i get it done. Type with 1 finger . Have to have someone pick me up to the bathroom, shower,etc.  Of course I can’t stand or walk.

I have stenosis where my spinal cord is pinching the nerve core in neck and in the lumbar.  Put it all together and I have three serious things that came up at same time. Muscular degeneration, stenosis and serious nyropothy. (Spelling)….been seeing neosurgesons, etc.  JULY 27 see the neologist and he holds the key after all the tests,etc.

Just wanted to fill each of you in before rumors and miss information hits the internet .  I feel good as long as I am sitting.Really good.  I eat well. Food is great and now as I have my computer, I will now have things to keep me busy.  I have missed some of the morning AM MOKAM net that I have been a part of since around 2005 and sadly miss each of you.  No more hamfests. And trips with ED or trips to Ashland to teach me how to build on pinboard but I know not of what future of my life lies ahead.  I love and miss each of you.

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

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1.  RAC Annual General Meeting - 3 p.m. (ET) - Aug 19, 2023

The Radio Amateurs of Canada is pleased to hold its Annual General
Meeting (AGM) in Halifax,
Nova Scotia. The AGM will be hosted by the Halifax Amateur Radio Club
(HARC) in conjunction
with its 90th Anniversary Gala Dinner and Conference, which is being
held at the same location.
All RAC members are encouraged to attend the Annual General Meeting
which will be held as a
hybrid event (both in-person and online).
Agenda items will include:
1) Report of the President
2) Review of the 2022 finances
3) Appointment of auditors for 2023
A Question and Answer period will follow the AGM proceedings. This is
your opportunity to hear
what your representatives have been doing over the past year, to raise
questions, and to make
suggestions about how RAC is managed and where it is going in the future.
The meeting will be attended by members of the RAC Board of Directors
and Executive and is open
to all RAC members.
Stay tuned to the RAC website for more information. https://www.rac.ca/agm
-- RAC website

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

2.  London Amateur Radio Club Annual Hamfest

Date:        Sunday, August 20, 2023
Location:    4939 Hamilton Rd. Dorchester, Ontario
Times:    9am to 12 noon
Cost:        Admission - $8
Talk-in:    VE3OME 145.450 PL 114.8
Description:    Shop and find many things you might want or need. Book
a table and sell some
        of the things you found and buy something you have been looking
for.
        Have a coffee and see friends.
Email contact: LARChamfest@gmail.com
Webpage: http://www.larc.ca

ITEMS OF INTEREST

3.  Hurricane Watch Net Seeks Bilingual Net Control Operators

HWN is especially interested in recruiting bilingual operators who are
fluent in Spanish and English or
French/Creole and English. Net Control responsibilities can entail hours
of duty to ensure all received
ground-truth weather reports are forwarded directly to the National
Hurricane Center in Miami.
HWN Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, says training will be provided and
each candidate will go
through a probationary period with a mentor. Graves says an applicant's
station must be reliable.
"While having a tower, beam, and/or amplifier is not a requirement, your
station must allow you to
hear and be heard. Therefore, directional antennas and amplifiers are
preferred," he said.
The net coverage area includes the hurricane-prone areas of eastern
Canada, the US East Coast, the
Gulf of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. The net specifically
seeks applicants in the
middle-to-western sections of the US, Canada, Central America, and the
Caribbean. "As always, the
HWN is hoping for a quiet season, yet [we are] prepared for the worst,"
said Graves.
Those interested in learning more can visit the HWN Net Control
Information web page at
https://hwn.org/about-us/ncs_info.html
-- ARRL News

4.  Halifax Amateur Radio Club Newsletter "Reflector"

While browsing the web I came across the newsletter page of the Halifax
Amateur Radio Club.
Their newsletter is published monthly except July and August. The June
newsletter gives some
information on their 90th anniversary and gala dinner to be held in
conjunction with the
RAC AGM. You can check the newsletter out at the following page:
http://www.halifax-arc.org/newsletter/

-- Paul, VA3PC

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

** I'll be on holiday next week and travelling, but I hope to get a
bulletin issued.**

Bulletin sent from Official Bulletin Manager VA3PC

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

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1.  New update to the RAC HF Band Plan (June 1, 2023)

The HF band plan has been updated to include the new 630m band and the
60m band allocation,
and the notes giving power and bandwidth limits on these bands.The plan
is a living document
that will be updated periodically. Comments and suggestions may be
directed to the Chair of the
RAC Band Planning Committee, Al VO1NO, at dir.atlantic@rac.ca.
Download it here:  https://www.rac.ca/rac-0-30-mhz-band-plan/
--- RAC website

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

2. Hanover Ham Haul

Date:        Saturday, August 12, 2023
Location:    Hanover Drive-in Theatre
Times:    Vendors at 0830 and buyers/public at 0930 hours running until
1300 hours.
Cost:        Cost:$5.00 per person and $5.00 per vendor space. Children
under 12 free.
Talk-in:    Talk in on 146.520 simplex, no tone
Description:    This is the fifth annual Hanover Ham Haul.
Info:        BYOT (bring your own table) hamfest. All proceeds after
expenses go to the support of
        local charities..The Drive-In concession will be open at 9:30
for drinks, hot dogs, fries,
        popcorn and the WASHROOMS. The washrooms will be cleaned and
sanitized as they
        always have in the past. The Drive-In owner has supported the
Hanover Ham Haul each
        year and we need to remember their support when we are onsite.
        The Hanover Ham Haul is an open air tailgate type event and
will run regardless of the
        weather so be sure to prepare for rain (then you won't need to
use it, hi, hi).
        For those that use GPS the coordinates are 44.1508° N, 81.0033° W.
-- RAC Events

ITEMS OF INTEREST

3. VB2M DXpedition: July 22 to 30, 2023

Team VB2M will be active from Petite-ile-au-Marteau (NA-176) on July
22-30, 2023,
IOTA Contest included. A 10-member team of “Fédération des clubs
radioamateurs
du Québec” (RAQI) will be active from:“La Petite-Île-au-Marteau” in the
“Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve”
Plans are to operate 24/7 on 80-6 metres CW, SSB and FT8.
QSL via LoTW, Club Log, or direct to Federation des clubs radioamateurs
du Quebec (RAQI),
7665 Bd Lacordaire / Montreal, QC H1S 2A7, Canada.
The DXpedition will offer contacts including Parks on the Air, Islands
on the Air and Lighthouses
on the Air – all of this in CQ Zone 2.
Last minute details will appear on the QRZ, and VB2M web page.
Information and QSL requests: https://raqi.ca/contact/vb2m
-- RAC website

4. Summits on the Air 2023: North America

Summits on the Air (SOTA) in North America has three events scheduled
between August 4 - 7,
2023. The Colorado 14er annual event will run from August 4 - 7, the
SoCal SOTAFest in
Southern California will run from August 4 - 6, and the Pacific
Northwest Not-Quite-Fourteener
event will run from August 5 - 6, and includes climbers in Washington
and Oregon.
SOTA is an award scheme for radio amateurs that encourages portable
operation in mountainous
areas. It provides opportunities for summit climbers (known as
activators) to scale some of the highest
peaks in North America and contact amateur radio stations locally and
around the world.
Many different frequencies and modes will be used during the August
events, but the recommended
2-meter FM frequencies have been changed to 146.58, 146.55, and 146.49
MHz to align with the
use of the North America Adventure Frequency for SOTA (146.58 MHz).
Operation is also permitted
on select HF frequencies. The National Simplex Frequency (146.52 MHz)
may also be used. Each
event website provides a list of operating frequencies. All amateur
radio operators and shortwave
listeners are invited to participate.
Read more about SOTA at their website. https://www.sota.org.uk/
info at:
https://ham14er.groups.io/g/ham14er/wiki/
https://groups.io/g/socalsota/wiki/21580
https://qrpdx.org/
-- ARRL newsletter

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

NCS VA3TS Tom - Shallow Lake

Net Topics

VHF/Echolink
KO4DXQ Bob - Soddy Daisy, TN
VE3FP Adam - West Grey
VA3MFO Jim - Mount Forest
VE3OZW Richard - Otter Creek
VE3IXA Brad Bass Lake
VE3MIO Maureen Wiarton
VE3BQM Bernie - Red Bay
VE3RQY Greg - Brooke

HF – 3.783 MHz
VE3IJD Gene Honey Harbour
VE3FJn Colin Hamilton
VE3BQM Bernie - Red Bay
VA3MFO Jim - Mount Forest
VE3OZW Richard - Otter Creek
VE3RQY Greg - Brooke

Net controller next week Bernie VE3BQM Topic- radio filters



Net topics Suggested
-antennae
-space weather
-portable ops ..POTA
-test equipment
-digital modes
-aprs
-projects
-most memorable contact
-favourite radio

interested in becoming a net control station?    netmanager@gbarc.ca

https://gbarc.ca/meet.php

KPH Cipher Event


On 22 July 2023, KPH will transmit a message in 5-letter Morse code groups. The message will be encrypted using the famous ENIGMA code machine and is an authentic message sent by a U-boat in the North Atlantic in 1942.

You are invited to try your hand at receiving and decrypting the message. Certificates will be awarded for proof of successful decode, first to decode and use of original or replica hardware.
Crypto broadcast date, time and formats:

The crypto broadcast will commence at 2000Z (1300 Pacific) on 22 July 2023 on all KPH CW and RTTY frequencies. The CW frequencies are (in kc):

6477.5
8642.0
12808.5
17016.8
22477.5

Upon completion of the CW transmissions, the broadcast will be repeated on the KPH RTTY frequencies. The RTTY transmission will be 170cps shift Baudot, 45 baud. The RTTY frequencies are (in kc): 6324.5, 8427.0 and 12585.5

If propagation from California to your QTH is problematic, try using one of the many web-based SDRs in the continental US to copy the broadcast. (see www.rx.linkfanel.net)

Further Information:

For full information, decoding procedures and a link to an Enigma simulator see the MRHS Events page: https://www.radiomarine.org/mrhs-events

RandomGram is unlike the typical amateur ("ham") radio contest. Scores are determined entirely by the accurate exchange of random character groups in Morse code. Scoring in most other contests primarily involves logging of call signs: the actual information exchange is often predictable, redundant and automated.

The content of each RandomGram contact is unique. As such, duplicate contacts are not an issue. There is no "dup" restriction in RandomGram. Multiple contacts between the same stations on the same band are permitted, and encouraged, because fresh content is exchanged in each.

Absence of a dup restriction has the effect of equalizing stations of widely different capability. Low-power stations with wire antennas that can only reach a few other regional stations on one or two bands can be as active as the "big dogs" running high power output and multiple arrays. There is no Power category or SPC multiplier in RandomGram.

Even an SWL with no transmitter may participate by monitoring RG stations and logging the code groups they exchange. All participants are encouraged to earn additional points by intercepting traffic passed between other stations.
Automated and computer-assisted means of transmitting and receiving Morse code are permitted, but only for those who would not otherwise be able to participate-- never for convenience or competitive advantage. Many participants use traditional style telegraph keys: straight key, semi-automatic "bug" and sideswiper "cootie".

How to participate...

1. Obtain a registered transmit list of random code groups by emailing your call sign to RandomGram+owner@groups.io
   
2. During the event call "CQ RG", or answer such calls, on non-WARC HF bands;
   
3. Transmit real RST and one code group from your TX List to the other operator;
   
4. Log the group received from the other operator. You can also monitor other stations and log the groups they exchange;
   
5. You can contact any participating station multiple times on the same band;
   
6. Submit your call sign and all of your logged groups by email to the above address;
   
7. Results will be posted in the RandomGram Group on Groups.io. (Subscription not required.)
   

I have added a page to record our fox hunt activities at

https://gbarc.ca/foxhunt.php

73

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

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL NEWS

1.  Youth On The Air (YOTA) Camp: July 16-21

Youth On The Air (YOTA) campers will be operating special event station
VE3YOTA from the camp
at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, and the Diefenbunker Cold War
Museum in Carp, Ontario.
Activation of the VE3YOTA call sign will begin on Sunday, July 16 and
conclude at 2 pm on Friday,
July 21. Youth will operate the station as they finish projects, between
sessions, and during free time.
In addition, dedicated HF station operating times will be: Monday, July
17 through Wednesday, July 19
from 2300Z to 0230Z (7 pm to 10:30 pm EDT).
Dedicated satellite station operating time will be: Wednesday, July 19
from 1400Z to 1700Z.
Fifteen QRP stations will activate a two-for-one Parks on the Air (POTA)
location, Central Experimental
Farm National Historic Site (VE-5095) and Rideau Canal National Historic
Site (VE-4882) on 40m, 20m,
15m and 10m.Weather permitting, the activation will be on the air on
Tuesday, July 18 from 1900Z to
2100Z and Thursday, July 20 from 1300Z to 1600Z.
The opening and closing ceremonies and the International Space Station
contact will be streamed live on
the YOTA YouTube Channel. The opening ceremony is Sunday, July 16 from
2100Z to 2315Z, and will
feature keynote speaker Phil McBride, VA3QR, the President of Radio
Amateurs of Canada.
The ARISS contact is currently scheduled to take place on Tuesday, July
18 at 1842Z. The closing
ceremony is Friday, July 21 from 1500Z to 1600Z. The YouTube channel
will also feature a daily highlight
video spotlighting the activities of the previous day.
For details about the camp, visit:
    RAC website: Youth On The Air Camp 2023
    YOTA website: YouthOnTheAir.org
    YOTA YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yotaregion2
For additional information, please contact:
    Roger Egan, VA3EGY and Harrie Jones, VE3HYS: yota2023@rac.ca
    Camp Director Neil Rapp, WB9VPG: director@youthontheair.org
https://www.rac.ca/youth-on-the-air/

ONTARIO SECTION NEWS

2.  Election for RAC Director Ontario North/East Region 2023

Two nominations have been received for the position of RAC Director for
the Ontario North/East
Region. Following a review of the documentation submitted and taking
into account the
constitutional and election process requirements, the Election Committee
determined that the
nomination papers were complete and in order for the following individuals:
    Frank Maddix, VE3AC/VA3FMM
    Craig Delmage, VE3OP/VE3KKU
The Committee recommended a Ballot by Mail pursuant to Article 6 (Method
of Election) in the
RAC Constitution, for the Director for the Ontario Ontario North/East
Region.
Complete biographies of the candidates can be found on the RAC website.
Ballots have been distributed to the applicable postal codes from RAC
Headquarters.
The closing date for the return of ballots to RAC Headquarters at the
address provided below is
Thursday, August 3 by 4 pm EDT.
-- Alvin (Al) M. Masse, VE3CWP, RAC Corporate Secretary
https://www.rac.ca/election-for-rac-dire...gion-2023/

ITEMS OF INTEREST

3. Commercial Interests Petition FCC for High Power Allocation on
Shortwave Spectrum

The ad hoc group “Shortwave Modernization Coalition” petitioned the FCC
to allow data
communications on multiple bands within the HF 2 – 25 MHz range with up
to 20 KW, including
in bands immediately adjacent to spectrum allocated to the Amateur Radio
Service. This group
appears to represent high-speed stock trading interests. The FCC has
assigned it RM-11953.
Comments are due by July 31, 2023, and reply comments by August 15.
While the petitioners
exclude the amateur bands, high power operations on immediately adjacent
bands are
proposed. ARRL is reviewing the petition.
A copy of the petition is at:
https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/1042840187330/1 (PDF).
-- ARRL news

4. Dual Contests Make for Busy HF Weekend

The weekend of July 8 - 9, 2023, was a big one for HF contests. The
World Radiosport Team Championship
(WRTC) 2022 coincided with the IARU HF World Championship.

WRTC 2022
Judging for WRTC 2022, held July 8 - 9, 2023, is complete.
The WRTC 2022 competition winners are:
1° I44W (UW7LL / VE3DZ)
2° I43C (DJ5MW / DL1IAO)
3° I49D (9A7DX / 9A3LG)
Phone: I43L (YU5EEA / 9A3SMS)
CW: I47M (F8DBF / F1AKK)
Mults: I44W (UW7LL / VE3DZ)
Youth: I43O (YL3JA / UR5YKO)
Accuracy: I43C (DJ5MW / DL1IAO)
The WRTC judges analyzed each log to verify the contacts made during the
competition and cross -
referenced them to the official records to ensure accuracy. Once the log
checking process was complete,
the judges posted the winners. All of the logs, the final score list,
and a YouTube video of the closing ceremony
are available on the WRTC website. https://www.wrtc2022.it
Information on the next WRTC Championship was announced on July 11,
2023. It will be hosted by the
United Kingdom in 2026.

IARU HF World Championship
Early numbers of log submissions show enthusiastic participation for
this year's IARU HF World Championship.
More than 5,000 logs were submitted by the afternoon of July 13.
Volunteer operators from ARRL Headquarters staff participated in the
event as NU1AW, the IARU
Headquarters station. They logged more than 1,000 contacts from the W1AW
Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial
Station during the event.
-- arrl news

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

Posted on Youtube by Bill, K2WH, who says "A very large amount of lightning was approaching my area so I disconnected my 80 meter dipole and inserted a large blue LED in the connector".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ4Gxye8Sn4&t=73s

Think about all those pulses lighting up that LED, lighting up your rig instead.  And the storm was still miles away.

73
Dave, VE3WI

SARC Communicator newsletter