More additions to RAC executive

This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post. In my haste I left out congratulating Paul Burggraaf, VO1PRB, who will be the new RAC secretary as of the new year as of the new year and Margaret Tidman, VA3VXN, will take over as treasure.

Margaret has worked in the field of accounting for nearly 10 years and currently is working as a financial analyst. In March of this year she studied the RAC Hamstudy Basic Guide and passed her basix exam on May 23, 2009.

Paul has been licensed since March 2003 and holds a basic qualification. His interest in radio was peaked from his military background in Army Cadets and as an officer in the Canadian Forces Reserves during the 1970s. Since joining the Society of Newfoundland Radio Amateurs and obtaining his license Paul has held several executive positions in the organization and is currently its vice president. Paul currently works for the Office of the Auditor General, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador as a network administrator.

Election results & new president’s bio

Following elections for executive positions at Radio Amateurs of Canada,Geoff Bawden, VE4BAW will become the President of RAC on January 1, 2010. Following the announcement of the election results Bob Cooke, VE3BDB submitted his resignation as President of RAC effective October 31, 2009.  Bob had stepped in at a difficult time for Radio Amateurs of Canada and allowed his name to stand as president. The board of directors appreciated his efforts over the last while to guide Radio Amateurs of Canada through a difficult period. Also following the announcement of the election results directors Noel Marcel, VE2BR, director from Quebec and Geoff Smith, VA3GS, director from south Ontario tendered their resignations effective October 31, 2009.

So as we await Geoff, VE4BAW’s induction to the office of president, First VP Ian MacFarquhar, VE9IM has assumed the Presidents chair.

For those of you who don’t know Geoff, I (VE3HG) had a great conversation with him over the weekend and he seems like a pretty good guy to have leading RAC. His bio goes on…and on but here in brief are some of the highlights:

• Head of Manitoba’s Workplace Safety and Health Division
• Chair of the Canadian Association of Labour Legislators Occupational Safety and Health sub-committee
• Chair of the Hazardous Materials Information Management Commission
• Assistant Deputy Minister of Property Management with Government Services
• Assistant Deputy Minister of Accommodation Services
• and most recently General Manager of the Manitoba Housing Authority

As for ham radio (When did you have time Geoff?)

• Received his amateur radio certification in 2004
• Director of the Winnipeg Amateur Radio Club
• President of the Winnipeg Amateur Radio Club (three-year term)
• His current station (which he operates mainly from his cottage near Kenora, Ont.) consists of an FT857D where he operate mainly on SSB and PSK 31 on 20 and 40 meters

Geoff will be taking office during an interesting time for amateur radio and Radio Amateurs of Canada. We wish him well.

 

On the air at 500kHz

This from RAC Bulletin 2009-034E – Canadian Experiments at 500 kHz
authorized – 2009-10-30

After months of negotiations between RAC and Industry
Canada over the details of the licence applications and
reporting conditions, the first two licences granted
to Canadians for experiments at 504 – 509 kHz in preparation
for WRC-12 have been issued by Industry Canada (see RAC
Bulletin 2008-29).

Jack Leahy, VE1ZZ, has been assigned call sign VX9PSO in
the Developmental Service for his experimental transmissions.
Joe Craig, VO1NA, has been assigned call sign VX9MRC. Both
of these stations have been on the air already, with
VX9PSO having been reported at 504.6 kHz and VX9MRC at
507.77 kHz. Signal reports can be addressed to the operators
at their call book addresses.

Two more authorizations, in Ontario and British Columbia, are expected soon.

Richard Ferch, VE3KI
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs – Radio Amateurs of Canada

We pioneered radio technology. Now we’re pioneers in safety.

I stole this headline from Bruce, VE3QRP (aka: VE9QR) who wrote in a comment published recently on this blog the following:

“… what I want to see are news reports that highlight how hams are inventing new approaches to ensure that two-way mobile  communication is safe. The story we want to tell is, “we pioneered the technology that makes cellphones work, now we’re pioneering technology to make mobile communications safe.”

This is brilliant.

And it doesn’t preclude our continuing effort to educate governments (i.e. Ontario) that don’t exclude the use of two-way radios in moving vehicles in the error of their logic but it does allow us to take the higher ground.

If amateurs in the affected jurisdictions lobby their legislators for relief and gain the active support of national and provincial benefactors of amateur radio there may well come a time when we should go public with our story of community service which is long and admirable. And, in the meantime, we can show how we are contributing to roadway safety through our own technological expertise.

Look: I suspect some of the anger over legislation like Bill 118 comes as it is a slap in the face of those amateurs who have devoted countless hours (and cash to buy equipment) to serve their communities in times of need. And now we have the ban on hand-held devices as our thanks. It suggests to me a government that acted without clearly considering or even understanding either the history of our contribution or the future potential of our support. From a technical point of view, there is no clear evidence (this from the U.S. National Safety Council) that the use of amateur radio in anyway contributes to distracted driving.

For those hams who say well that’s it I’m taking my radio out of my car and I’m never helping anybody again. That’s really sad and we’ll miss you on the air and at our community events. It’s a bit like saying I’m taking my marbles and going home isn’t it? Why not join us in the work that lies ahead?

Consider this:

• Amateur radio has been around a lot longer than the governments that exist today
• We have faced similar legislation before (we were off the air during WWII) and recovered
• We have the ability to operate mobile safely with or without a microphone
• No one is saying we can’t talk and drive a moving vehicle
• And finally, and this is our ace in the hole, when all else fails, there’s amateur radio*

 

* Hundreds of thousands of dollars of grants have been awarded to amateur radio organizations to create radio networks capable of supporting government effort following state- or province-wide disasters where amateur radio was at the forefront of the life-saving efforts. It’s easy to forget the central role amateur radio plays in disasters around the world. And while we would never wish an ice storm or wide-spread tornadoes (which almost happened this summer in southern Ontario) on the people of Ontario or any other disaster when it comes down to it often it’s amateur radio that comes to the rescue.  Unfortunately politicians can have short memories and we’ve got our work cutout to remind them that amateur radio is a viable and vital community resource.

 

VE3QRP blog & Bill 118

Bruce, VE3QRP, — nice call Bruce but you’ll never be able to operate QRO with a straight face — has a very thoughtful post on Bill 118 and amateur radio use at this blog here VE3QRP.

Right now, in Canada, some provinces are totally exempting the use of amateur radio from their distracted driving Bills and others, most notably Ontario, are going to make hands-free in all moving vehicles where the driver operates a two-way radio mandatory. And, as I’ve said before: Hands-free isn’t the end of amateur radio mobile as we know it. It’s relatively easy to do. The question comes down to more of: Is it necessary to make provincial roadways safer?

I hate to be harsh here but let’s not waste time beating our chests claiming “our rights” and “they” can’t do this to us. They can and they have.

In those provinces where amateurs have made convincing arguments (often to sympathetic ears in government), exemptions have been forthcoming. In Ontario, based on results, we didn’t find friends in high places when we needed them. I’m not blaming anyone here (and in fact if there’s any responsibility it may well be mine as I live in Ontario and aside from the fact I volunteered to be on the RAC executive this year I could have done more to connect with my local MPP long before I needed him or her to help me now.).

The fact that the provincial laws are all over the map may help us in the long run. The fight to exempt amateur radio from the distracted driving legislation isn’t over yet in my opinion. I’d like to see the amateurs in especially Ontario get together and work towards a permanent exemption. As Bruce, VE3QRP, points out in his blog that might not be easy and any exemption must be based more on scientific fact (which we may or may not be able to gather) rather than opinion and angry, hurt outbursts from a few.

Let’s work together.

IARU announces GlobalSET 2009

This from the RAC Bulletin service:

On Saturday November 14, 2009, from 1800 to 2200 UTC, the International Amateur Radio Union will activate “GlobalSET 2009”, a Global Simulated Emergency Test that encourages Hams to pass simulated emergency traffic using standard National Traffic System format.

The Radio Amateurs of Canada, a member society of IARU Region 2, encourages all Canadian Radio Amateurs having an interest in emergency communications to participate.

Rules and a list of participating stations may be found at http://www.iaru-r1.org.  Search under the heading, “Emergency Communications”, working group.

This is great opportunity for RAC members to observe and practice important traffic passing skills that are so important to the fundamentals of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service.

Those Amateurs planning to participate are requested to register with the RAC Vice President for Field Services as soon as possible by emailing vo1dtm@hotmail.com .

Doug Mercer VO1DTM  (RAC CEC)
Vice President Field Services
Radio Amateurs of Canada Inc.

U.S. and foreign hams not exempt from Bill 118

Seems the three-year exemption from Ontario’s Bill 118 granted amateurs holding a valid radio operator’s certificate only applies to Canadian amateurs. The government exemption applies to operators holding radio certificates issued under the Radiocommunications Act (Canada). This means foreign amateurs including hams from the U.S. are not exempt from immediate prosecution under Ontario’s distracted driving legislation.

Ontario hams reacting to Bill 118

Bill, VE3MEW, among other amateurs in Ontario is looking for help from other hams to convince the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to adopt similar wording as used in Manitoba to exempt the use of two way radios from the distracted driving legislation. Bill’s research has found that Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland/Labrador did not mention any other electronic device other then cell phones and their legislation is designed to control only the use of a cell phone in a vehicle. Bill can be reached at wgcarew@pipcom.com

Here’s a link to the Manitoba information:

http://web2.gov.mb.ca/laws/statutes/2009/c00609e.php

Even IC swept up in Bill 118

Despite the assertions of some hams that amateur radio mobile operation in Ontario is exempt from provincial leglistation since we are federally licensed comes this information from a very recent meeting between Radio Amateurs of Canada officials and officials with Industry Canada. Seems even inspectors working for Industry Canada must comply with the provincial legislation because they too are subject to the Ontario Highway Traffic Act when they drive on public roads in Ontario.

While all amateur radio operators should support safer driving legislation such as Bill 118, we contend that the proper, responsible use of mobile amateur radio two-way radio transceivers does not contribute to distracted driving. And, we believe that given the support of amateur radio operators across Canada we can provide compelling data that supports our contention. And, further this initiative must come from those of us who truly care about amateur radio and safe mobile operation. It is not the responsibility of one ham who writes a blog …. It’s not the responsibility of Radio Amateurs of Canada which is merely (and I use this term not to minimize RAC’s effect but to bring attention to RAC’s limited resources) a small group of volunteers. It’s the responsibility of every single one of us who cares about amateur radio and our ability to provided communications services to our local communities and to freely enjoy our hobby.

Now is the time for those of you who do care about amateur radio to ban together. Amateur radio has long been referred to by some as the secret brotherhood (and increasingly over the years a sisterhood as well). We are everywhere but to the public we remain largely unknown. Our achievements and sometimes moments of heroic service have gone unacknowledged. We have remained modest and quiet for too long.

We have a compelling story to tell. We need to begin to tell it to all who will listen. Who will join us in this campaign for change?

Contest team killed in air crash

Four Amateur Radio operators are dead following the crash of their small aircraft as it left the runway in Jedburg, South Carolina, about 20 miles northwest of Charleston. The plane — piloted and owned by Peter Radding, W2GJ — carried Ed Steeble, K3IXD, Dallas Carter, W3PP, and Randy Hargenrader, K4QO. The four men were on their way to the Bahamas to operate in this weekend’s CQ World Wide Phone Contest as C6APR, competing in the Multi/2 category.

All members of Radio Amateurs of Canada and members of the amateur radio contesting community around the world are sadden by this tragic event and send their thoughts and prayers to the families and friends of members of C6APR.

The ARRL website has a full story at this link.