[RAC-Bulletin] RAC Attends Canadian CubeSat Meeting in Fredericton



On October 7, 8 and 9, 2019, the University of New Brunswick’s (UNB) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and CubeSat NB hosted the first of three Preliminary Design Review (PDR) meetings for the Canadian CubeSat Project initiated by the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

The Canadian Space Agency is providing support and guidance to 15 teams of university and college students across Canada who are building satellites. These satellites are in the “CubeSat” format, based on a standardized architecture of 10 cm cubes. All 15 proposed satellites will be deployed from the International Space Station (ISS), possibly starting in 2021.

Radio Amateurs of Canada was present because many of the CubeSat projects are proposing to use Amateur Radio frequencies. RAC Atlantic Director Dave Goodwin, VE9CB, attended the PDR to offer RAC’s insight into these projects and to discuss the processes required to secure frequency coordination for these projects through the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU).

At the meeting at UNB, six teams led by students from UNB, the Université de Moncton, New Brunswick Community College, the University of Prince Edward Island, Dalhousie University (NS), Memorial University of Newfoundland with C-CORE, the Université de Sherbrooke (QC) and Concordia University (QC), presented their work to date on designing six satellites. They sought feedback and suggestions from other teams as well as the federal government agencies – the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Global Affairs Canada (GAC), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) – and NanoRacks, the US-based company that provides launch services for the Canadian CubeSat Project.

Following the Fredericton event, similar meetings were also held in London, Ontario and Victoria, British Columbia for Preliminary Design Reviews of the nine other CubeSats in the Canadian CubeSat Project in Ontario, western Canada, and northern Canada.

Designing and constructing CubeSats is a complicated, multi-year process. These projects will develop these students’ skills in many facets of engineering, science, technology, business and project management. Once in orbit, these satellites will assist pure and applied scientific research. Some of these satellites may offer facilities that Radio Amateurs across Canada and around the world can use.– Dave Goodwin, VE9CB and Brent Petersen, VE9EX.

A Remembrance Day Story

The following is not radio related, but it is a bit of history that should not be forgotten.

On November 7th, 1920, in strictest secrecy, four unidentified British bodies were exhumed from temporary battlefield cemeteries at Ypres, Arras, the Asine and the Somme.

None of the soldiers who did the digging were told why.

The bodies were taken by field ambulance to GHQ at St-Pol-Sur-Ter Noise. Once there, the bodies were draped with the union flag.

Sentries were posted and Brigadier-General Wyatt and a Colonel Gell selected one body at random. The other three were reburied.

A French Honour Guard was selected and stood by the coffin overnight of the chosen soldier overnight.

On the morning of the 8th November, a specially designed coffin made of oak from the grounds of Hampton Court arrived and the Unknown Warrior was placed inside.

On top was placed a crusaders sword and a shield on which was inscribed:

“A British Warrior who fell in the GREAT WAR 1914-1918 for King and Country”.

On the 9th of November, the Unknown Warrior was taken by horse-drawn carriage through Guards of Honour and the sound of tolling bells and bugle calls to the quayside.

There, he was saluted by Marechal Foche and loaded onto HMS Vernon bound for Dover. The coffin stood on the deck covered in wreaths, surrounded by the French Honour Guard.

Upon arrival at Dover, the Unknown Warrior was met with a nineteen gun salute – something that was normally only reserved for Field Marshals.

A special train had been arranged and he was then conveyed to Victoria Station, London.

He remained there overnight, and, on the morning of the 11th of November, he was finally taken to Westminster Abbey.

The idea of the unknown warrior was thought of by a Padre called David Railton who had served on the front line during the Great War the union flag he had used as an altar cloth whilst at the front, was the one that had been draped over the coffin.

It was his intention that all of the relatives of the 517,773 combatants whose bodies had not been identified could believe that the Unknown Warrior could very well be their lost husband, father, brother or son…

THIS is the reason we wear poppies.

We do not glorify war.

We remember – with humility – the great and the ultimate sacrifices that were made, not just in this war, but in every war and conflict where our service personnel have fought – to ensure the liberty and freedoms that we now take for granted.

Every year, on the 11th of November, we remember the Unknown Warrior.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.

Story of The Unknown Warrior

[RAC-Bulletin] RAC Welcomes Directors for 2020

Each year, the terms of office of roughly half of our Directors end – four in even-numbered years and three in odd-numbered years. We have now completed the nominations and election process for Directors in the Alberta/NWT/NU, Ontario South and Quebec Regions. Ernest C. Clintberg, VE6EC (Alberta/NT/NU), Phil McBride, VA3QR (Ontario South) and Guy Richard, VE2XTD (Québec) have been re-elected as Directors for their Regions for a further two-year term beginning on January 1, 2020.
In Ontario South, RAC’s most populous region, this election once again brought out one of the highest turnouts showing the strong interest its members take in their national organization.
I’d like to thank the candidates willing to serve and the voting members for their participation in this important process.
Glenn MacDonell, VE3XRARAC President and Chair

W1AW WINTER 2019/2020 WINTER OPERATING SCHEDULE



ZCZC AG22
QST de W1AW  
ARRL Bulletin 22  ARLB022
From ARRL Headquarters  
Newington CT  November 5, 2019
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB022
ARLB022 W1AW 2019/2020 Winter Operating Schedule

Morning Schedule:

Time                  Mode     Days
——————-   —-     ———
1400 UTC (9 AM EST)   CWs      Wed, Fri
1400 UTC (9 AM EST)   CWf      Tue, Thu

Daily Visitor Operating Hours:

1500 UTC to 1700 UTC – (10 AM to 12 PM EST)
1800 UTC to 2045 UTC – (1 PM to 3:45 PM EST)

(Station closed 1700 to 1800 UTC (12 PM to 1 PM EST))

Afternoon/Evening Schedule:

2100 UTC (4 PM EST)    CWf      Mon, Wed, Fri
2100  ”      ”         CWs      Tue, Thu
2200  ”  (5 PM EST)    CWb      Daily
2300  ”  (6 PM EST)    DIGITAL  Daily
0000  ”  (7 PM EST)    CWs      Mon, Wed, Fri
0000  ”      ”         CWf      Tue, Thu
0100  ”  (8 PM EST)    CWb      Daily
0200  ”  (9 PM EST)    DIGITAL  Daily
0245  ”  (9:45 PM EST) VOICE    Daily
0300  ”  (10 PM EST)   CWf      Mon, Wed, Fri
0300  ”      ”         CWs      Tue, Thu
0400  ”  (11 PM EST)   CWb      Daily


                         Frequencies (MHz)
                         —————–
CW: 1.8025 3.5815 7.0475 14.0475 18.0975 21.0675 28.0675 50.350 147.555
DIGITAL: – 3.5975 7.095 14.095 18.1025 21.095 28.095 50.350 147.555
VOICE: 1.855 3.990 7.290 14.290 18.160 21.390 28.590 50.350 147.555

Notes:

CWs = Morse Code practice (slow) = 5, 7.5, 10, 13 and 15 WPM
CWf = Morse Code practice (fast) = 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 13 and 10 WPM  
CWb = Morse Code Bulletins = 18 WPM

CW frequencies include code practices, Qualifying Runs and CW
bulletins.

DIGITAL = BAUDOT (45.45 baud), BPSK31 and MFSK16 in a revolving
schedule.

Code practice texts are from QST, and the source of each practice is
given at the beginning of each practice and at the beginning of
alternate speeds.

On Tuesdays and Fridays at 2330 UTC (6:30 PM EST), Keplerian
Elements for active amateur satellites are sent on the regular
digital frequencies.

A DX bulletin replaces or is added to the regular bulletins between
0100 UTC (8 PM EST) Thursdays and 0100 UTC (8 PM EST) Fridays.

Audio from W1AW’s CW code practices, CW/digital bulletins and phone
bulletin is available using EchoLink via the W1AW Conference Server
named “W1AWBDCT.”  The monthly W1AW Qualifying Runs are presented
here as well.  The audio is sent in real-time and runs concurrently
with W1AW’s regular transmission schedule.

All users who connect to the conference server are muted.  Please
note that any questions or comments about this server should not be
sent via the “Text” window in EchoLink. Please direct any questions
or comments to w1aw@arrl.org .

In a communications emergency, monitor W1AW for special bulletins as
follows: Voice on the hour, Digital at 15 minutes past the hour, and
CW on the half hour.

All licensed amateurs may operate the station from 1500 UTC to 1700
UTC (10 AM to 12 PM EST), and then from 1800 UTC to 2045 UTC (1 PM
to 3:45 PM EST) Monday through Friday.  Be sure to bring your
current FCC amateur radio license or a photocopy.

The W1AW Operating Schedule may also be found on page 100 in the
November 2019 issue of QST or on the web at,
http://www.arrl.org/w1aw-operating-schedule .
NNNN
/EX

[RAC-Bulletin] Statue to Commemorate Fern Blodgett Sunde and the Battle of the Atlantic



“A Canadian trailblazer, Fern Blodgett Sunde was the first woman to work as a wireless radio operator at sea, serving aboard an Allied merchant ship during the Battle of the Atlantic.”
A volunteer steering committee, along with its community partner, the Cobourg Museum Foundation, will erect a life-sized bronze statue commemorating Fern Blodgett Sunde (1918-1991), the first Canadian woman to earn a professional radio operator’s licence, and the first female radio operator – a “Sparks” – to work at sea. Breaking naval barriers, Fern served aboard the M/S Mosdale during the Second World War’s Battle of the Atlantic, which was the long, deadly struggle between the Allied and Axis powers to control vital shipping lanes.
Educational materials, as well as an unveiling ceremony in October 2020, will pay tribute to Fern, and to all Canadian naval forces and merchant mariners who served at sea during the Battle. The statue and plaque will be located at the Cobourg, Ontario waterfront. Tyler Fauvelle, a Canadian professional sculptor whose public bronze monuments include three military commemorations, will create the artwork. 
How a young Canadian found herself the only woman on a Norwegian merchant vessel, serving her country as a radio operator during 78 dangerous transatlantic crossings in a theatre of war, breaking educational and maritime barriers to get there, is a fascinating story.The Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) is committed to telling that story. A tribute to Fern Blodgett Sunde was published in the September/October 2019 issue of The Canadian Amateur magazine and is freely available at www.rac.ca.
“We are very happy to promote this exciting event,” says RAC President Glenn MacDonell, VE3XRA. “Many of us use skills developed in the Amateur Radio Service to provide communications support for community events, and in times of emergency. We are keenly interested in the history of communications, and we’re proud to share the story of the first female Sparks at sea.”
Next year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, and of the Battle of the Atlantic. October, when the monument will be unveiled, is Women’s History Month in Canada. “We need to see more notable Canadian women celebrated in our communities, with these types of public commemoration,” says Leona Woods, Committee Chair. “This is also a story of remembrance – Canadians played an important role in the Battle of the Atlantic, and we must not forget.”
For more information about the commemoration, contact Committee Chair Leona Woods at leonaewoods@gmail.com. 
Donations may be made online at the Cobourg Museum Foundation website: www.cobourgmuseum.ca. Tax receipts will be issued for donations of $20 or more.
For more information about Radio Amateurs of Canada, and to read the article, please visit www.rac.ca.
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