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2006 VE3EMO was activated for the RAC
Winter Contest from 00.00 to 04.00 and 13:00 to 23:59 UTC. A total of 124
contacts were made on the 80, 40 and 20 metre bands. Three operators manned
the station in rotating shifts for the event making contact with stations
from Newfoundland to Vancouver. Contact was established with the following
RAC official stations, VO1RAC, VY2RAC, VA2RAC, VE4RAC and VE6RAC. The furthest
contact was 9A1UN from Croatia on the 40 metre band. The contest provided
excellent opportunity for EMO ARES to practice their procedures, many ARES
stations were heard on the air.
Bob Sharp VA3QV in the park (Dec. 3 2006) Bob is a regular voice on the ARES
province-wide nets from the ottawa area, he has sent in some recent photos
of his portable HF station. As you can see he is ready to roll for any
emergency call....click
here.
VE3AJB re-elected SM for Ontario (Nov. 23 2006) Ontario Section Manager Allan Boyd,
VE3AJB, has been elected to a second term beginning March 1, 2007.
He ran unopposed, thereby eliminating the need for a balloted election.
RAC VPFS Bob Cooke, VE3BDB, congratulates Allan and thanks him for allowing
his name to stand in nomination.
EMO ARES HF Net (Nov.18 2006) With band conditions improving on the 40 metre band the Trans Provincial Net that operates on 7.055 MHz. is back in full operation. Every Sunday at 15:00 hrs (3:00 pm ) Eastern Time the EMO ARES Group hosts the Trans Provincial Net for an hour. The purpose of this net is to interact with all radio operators , test alternative power systems and network with portable, QRP stations, mobile and home stations throughout the province. Please join us every Sunday at 3:00 pm on the TPN and test out your emergency backup equipment, exchange idea's, signal reports and fire up that QRP rig....join in the fun! All stations are welcomed and encouraged
to participate in this emergency preparedness exercise.
VA3WIK solar powered repeater online (Nov. 12 2006) As of November 10th the VA3WIK solar powered repeater 444.900 (156.7 hz) located in Singhampton Ontario has been brought online and is connected to the ERA network. The repeater is a GE Exec II, fed into a Sinclair Q 3220C duplexer up to the antenna via 7/8' corrugated transmission line to a Decibel 8 UHF array. The array is 100 feet AGL, 1750 feet RC-AMSL and should provide coverage for the Collingwood, Owen Sound, Wasaga Beach and Barrie areas. The ERA Network is connected to the Vancouver Reflector 9005 for the weekly ARES Ontario IRLP Nets, Sundays and Wednesdays at 8:00 pm ET as well as the Provincial Communications Net, Thursdays at 8:00 pm on the Crossroads Reflector 9206. Please remember to participate in
the weekly Province-wide nets to keep informed about ARES activities in
Ontario.
Emergency Preparedness, Public Service Articles (Nov. 12 2006) Thanks to Bob HEJL, W2IK for sending along these links of articles he has written on emergency preparedness and public service.
VE3YYZ on the ERA network for ARES Nets (Nov. 6 2006) We are pleased to announce the addition of VE3YYZ 443.050 (103.5 Hz) to the ARES Ontario Network. The inclusion of this repeater will provide excellent coverage for the greater Toronto area and provide an additional IRLP node. The repeater will normally operate stand alone and linked in for the ARES Ontario Nets or when required for emergency operations. Thanks to Eric VE3EI and Jon VA3RQ
for arranging this service for ARES Ontario.
EMO Station Schedule (Nov. 2 2006) As an on-going maintenance and ARES
support program the EMO Station (VE3EMO) will be activated the first Sunday
of every month from 18:00 to 21:00 hrs. The station will be participating
in the Ontario Phone Net, ARES Ontario HF Net and the ARES Ontario IRLP
Net.
Bruce Nuclear Exercise (Oct. 26 2006) A full scaled nuclear emergency response exercise took place on October 26th 2006, based on a simulated incident at the Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, located on the eastern shore of lake Huron, in the Municipality of Kincardine, County of Bruce. The exercise scenario was significant enough to present a potential off-site effect, requiring coordination between local, provincial and federal governments. Amateur radio communications were established between the Kincardine Emergency Operations Centre and the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre. Communications between the two ops centres was established on 7.153 MHz. at 10:00 hrs during the regularly scheduled Communications Ontario Net, the use of relay stations were required as band conditions between the two centres were poor. During morning operations a message was received from the Mayor of Kincardine saying he was unable to connect via phone with the command centre located in the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC), a message was dispatched back to the Kincardine EOC via amateur radio with instructions for the mayor. Communications links were maintained
between the PEOC and Kincardine EOC for the duration of the exercise on
HF and IRLP.
Simulated Emergency Test (Oct. 7 2006) As announced by Radio Amateurs of Canada, this years Simulated Emergency Test was held October 7-8 2006. The Province-wide portion of the SET was conducted on Oct. 7th from 11:00 to 14:00 and 18:00 to 21:00 hrs ET, under the direction of Emergency Management Ontario Amateur Radio Emergency Services. ARES Groups and Amateur Radio Clubs throughout the province participated in SET activities passing simulated emergency traffic to the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre as well as other ARES Groups, RAC Officials and Government/Support Agencies. Modes of transmission utilized for this exercise included; HF, VHF/UHF linked repeaters, simplex, IRLP, PSK31 and Packet. The SET operated a total of seven hours, four hours in the morning/afternoon and three hours in the evening, by splitting the exercise into two sessions we were able to test band conditions as they may occur during an actual emergency. Full report here... Hazards Alert Warning System (Oct. 6 2006) EMO (Emergency Management Ontario) and the Weather Network have launched an All Hazards Public Alert warning system announced by the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. This joint, pilot project is designed to warn residents of imminent threats to life and property from man made and natural events such as floods, forest fires, chemical spills etc. These public safety warnings and emergency information messages will be broadcast across the Weather Network channels under this new program. This notification system will post emergency messages from EMO to the communities directly affected, these All Hazard Alerts will begin by mid October, as part of EMO`S mandate and commitment to insure the safety and security of Ontario residents. Government
of Ontario Newsroom Release
Simulated Emergency Test (SET) (October 7 2006) Province-wide Schedule As announced by Radio Amateurs of Canada, this years SET will be held October 7-8 2006. EMO ARES will be activated October 7th 11:00 to 14:00 and 18:00 to 21:00 hrs. All ARES Groups are encouraged to participate in Province-wide SET activities and pass traffic to the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre as well as other ARES Groups, RAC Officials and Government/Support Agencies through-out the Province. Every attempt will be made to connect individual ARES groups together to pass traffic. PSK for Beginners (Aug. 11 2006) You may have heard about PSK31, a fairly new mode of communication that's getting quite popular with hams. With PSK, you use your home computer with your radio to send and receive digital signals with other hams. The signals come through the radio, are fed into the computer and are decoded by software as the words being sent appear on the screen. The computer then turns the words you type into a signal that is sent through your radio to the ham you're talking to. It all works amazingly well, and pretty simply at that. With that in mind, here's a basic explanation of how to get involved in PSK31: www.arrl.org/news/features/2006/08/06/1 Courtesy of ARRL
ARES Ontario Drill (July 20th 2006) On Thursday July 20th 2006, under the direction of Emergency Management Ontario a test of the ARES Ontario Emergency Network was conducted on the regularly scheduled Provincial Emergency Communications Network. Net control functions were conducted by Jim Taylor (VA3KU) EMO EC and Ted Cowie (VE3AAP) EMO AEC from the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (VE3EMO) station. Net activities commenced at 20:00 hrs on the Escarpment Repeater Association linked repeater system that is also linked to the Southern Ontario Repeater Team and Central Ontario Amateur Radio Club repeater networks. Crossroads reflector IRLP node 9206 was incorporated to provide Province-wide communications beyond the coverage area of the repeater network. The net was called by Districts in the following order; Grand South/North: 11 stations
Total Stations: 48 ARES Members: 31 ARES Groups: 14 Time: 134 min Formal Traffic: 2 IRLP Nodes: 13 Notes and Observations
During net operations a storm front move through the Sudbury area, EMO officials requested information as to conditions in the area. Larry Berta (VE3LXV) of Sudbury provided on the spot weather reports during the course of the net, thank you Larry. IRLP issues arose early on in the net, with 13 nodes connected one of those nodes had not turned off the repeater identifier which resulted in prolonged delays after every transmission, the net was unable to determine which node was causing the problem. This is a technical issue that should be addressed at the repeater level, if the person that brought up the node is aware it was the node they were using please contact the repeater owner to advise them of this condition. An interference issue arose while Denny (VE3EUI) was passing formal test traffic to EMO (thank you for your patience and repeating your traffic several times), it was discovered that the interference was being generated from an individual on the Niagara repeater, thanks to Jim Webb (VE3WA) for quickly remedying the situation by dropping the repeater out of the network. Tedd Doda (VE3TJD) seasoned packet operator was kind enough to pass along some advise to the net, instead of trying to have the message repeated in its entirety during interference ask the massage be sent two or three words at a time until the complete message is received, great advise Tedd many thanks. Al Boyd (VE3AJB) was kind enough to give a detailed report of conditions on Manitoulin Island, a storm front moved through the island earlier this week taking out hydro and phone systems, thanks Al. Bob Droine (VE3LKD) Grey County Emergency Coordinator reported into the network operating the Owen Sound Emergency Operations Centre Radio Station (VA3OSE), thanks Bob for activating the Owen Sound EOC station for the drill. Lessons learned
ARES Groups Represented
The following ARES Ontario representatives attend the network; Section Staff
District Emergency Coordinators
Emergency Coordinators
EMO ARES Staff
Final Notes
EMO ARES participates in NVIS Test (July 9 2006) AT the request of Bob Sharp (VA3QV) Ottawa ARES, EMO ARES participated in an NVIS Test from the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre on July 9th 2006. Posted below is Bob's report of the test. Jim Taylor, VA3KU
We had approximately 25 stations participate which was a far better level of participation than I had expected. Due to poor band conditions NCS Duties were passed quickly from VA3QV to VE3EMO in Toronto (VA3KU operator) who was assisted by VE3SKP (Steve) in Kemptville Ontario. Your results might of varied due to your own location and antenna set up so my comments are based on a 40m dipole with the apex at 12 feet and the ends at 6 feet. I was using an Yeasu FT 857 with the power setting at 50 watts. My finding were: Noise level dropped with the lowering of the antenna. An s9 noise level with the antenna at approx 30 feet dropped to a tolerable s6 with the antenna at 12 feet. As I was operating in a public park I could not drop the antenna any lower as I wanted to make sure it would not interfere with any people walking around. Lowering the antenna changed the distance of the first bounce. Although the NVIS style antenna is supposed to give us good short range communications I found that was not the case. However lowering the antenna did give me a shorter first bounce which gave me reliable communications in the 175-400 mile range rather than the 100-250 mile range I was hoping for. Testing with the antenna in the raised level earlier in the day had shown my range to be the 300-500 mile area. The best signals I recieved were from stations in the 175-300 mile range who were using NVIS Antennas. I was able to hear some stations close in (VE3SKP in Kemptville and VE3FFK in Ottawa) via groundwave. I heard nothing between Kemptville and Picton, heard Doug in Picton then nothing till some stations east of Toronto. Barrie, and west to Southern Ontario and North west to the Soo were good copy. What we proved... This test we proved that we could communicate between various points in the province using HF even in poor band conditions. We also learned that many more operators participate in a test than in our weekly hf nets. Once again thanks to all who participated,
using whatever setup you used. We were able to communicate, however not
exactly where we
We might try this again on a Sunday Morning using 80m for the test frequency if there is enough interest. Feel free to post your results and/or comments. As stated earlier my comments relate to what I experienced only. Your results or conclusions could vary from mine. There was no right or wrong way to do this test and there was no single expected result. Bob Sharp, VA3QV
VA3WAJ 442.425 (107.2 Hz) Niagara, new antenna installed (June 25 2006) A new antenna was installed on the Niagara repeater on June 24 2006, reports from the Toronto area have been excellent with handheld units. Please try the WAJ machine from your area during the net and let us now how reception is from your location. Gary Notto,
VE3TTO
VE3SNM 442.850 (136.5 Hz) Balentrae back on-line. (June 13 2006) VE3SNM 442.850 (136.5 Hz) Balentrae back on-line, a software glitch caused the repeater to go down on May 28th. The repeater is functioning normally and connected to the ERA system. Gary Notto,
VE3TTO
VE3SNM 442.850 (136.5 Hz) Balentrae temporarily off-line. (May 28 2006) Jon, VA3RQ reports that VE3SNM went down Saturday morning. It may take about 2-3 weeks to get it back online. Operators using VE3SNM for the Procom Net should use VA3BAL 147.330 (No Tone) in Ballantrae which is located on the same repeater site. Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) (May 16 2006) Online Training Program Answer: Awareness training is aimed at the wide range of individuals who may be in a position to recognize a CBRN incident, but would not be in a position to respond. Members of the target audience include, among others, public transit operators, building operators, mail room staff. Members of the general public are encouraged to take the course. Answer: Basic training is aimed at individuals who may be in a position to recognize and respond to a CBRN incident, but would not be the ones to intervene. Members of the target audience include, among others, 911 operators, police, fire-fighters and emergency medical services personnel first arriving on scene. Answer: The courses are self-paced, so the time to complete the training can vary substantially. Plan for 3 to 4 hours to complete the Awareness course and 5 to 7 hours to complete the Basic level course. Answer: Yes. When you complete the final course assessment successfully, you will be presented with the option of printing your certificate. In order to login to the e-learning courses, you will need to complete an online registration form. Be sure to record your username and password as you will need them to login to the courses. ARES Ontario Province-Wide Network changes (May 15 2006) The Provincial Communications (Procom) net has moved its starting time up to 20.00 Hrs on Thursday evenings. The Procom Net meets on a series of linked repeater systems covering most of southern Ontario and incorporate the use of IRLP reflector node 9206 to connect all of Ontario. These nets provide excellent opportunity
to link up with ARES stations throughout the Province. All EMO ARES nets
liaison with the Ontario Phone Net, bring your traffic to any of these
nets and it will be passed the following evening on the OPN.
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