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** COVID-19 - Coronavirus and it's effect on CARA **

We have had some nice weather but it looks like we are being thrown back into winter with some colder temperatures and snowfall this month. I still choose to believe we will have an early spring as Balzac Billy predicted on Groundhog Day.

Since my last note to members, the club had our General Meeting in February with a wonderful presentation from Peter Barry VA6PJB on APRS messaging. This spiked interest of more than a few club members with continued interest in APRS. Peter showed off the power of APRS messaging, and we were all able to take away something new from his presentation. The popularity of APRS appears to always be growing in the region and is well supported by the many Digipeaters and Igates in the area.

Club members also participated in a couple public service events that leverage the amateur radio service to provide radio communication for the safety of their event. The Foothills Nordic Ski Club put on their annual Cookie Race in Kananaskis country at the end of February. From what I understand it was a good day for all involved, and the radio operators did a fantastic job as always.

There was also the Cochrane Winter Rally, which I had the pleasure of participating in as net control once again this year. We had a large crew of radio operators supporting the Calgary Sports Car Club once again. This year everything went quite well, and the rally was on-track throughout the day, that is until the last car on the last stage that exited the stage earlier than expected! After a recovery effort, the rally was able to complete a wonderful day north of Cochrane in the Ghost valley. It was an absolute ‘blue bird’ day with rising temperatures throughout the day. Although we did not get above freezing, it turned out to be a wonderful day in the foothills!

Looking ahead, we are continuing the planning for the CARA Spring Flea market which is currently scheduled to take place on April 18th. We are pleased to welcome Ric Henderson, VA6RIC, the local ARES Emergency Coordinator at our next General Meeting where Ric will give us insight on ARES in our community. Our General Meeting is open to the public and all amateurs, and is scheduled on the 4th Tuesday of the month. The meeting in March will take place on March 24th; 7PM… see you there!

73 de VE6NR

Stephane Raimbault

CARA President

Greetings all! January has quickly come and gone with a flurry of club activities to report on. The CARA Advanced Class has started with approximately 8 participants, but we have an eager bunch of volunteers teaching the course this year. By all accounts it should be fun for all, and even some are garnering teaching experience.

Peter LaGrandeur organized an “Order of Good Cheer Festive Dinner” for club members to give us a chance to get together in a more social setting with fellow club members, their spouses and even a child. The 4 year old kept me busy, and I apologize if I didn’t get a chance to say hello during this fun event. It was much appreciated by all, and a show of hands recommends we do this again with increased frequency!

A group of Club Members activated the communications trailer and made a presence for Winter Field Day. It was a successful event with a few visitors, and even some newly minted radio operators who had a chance to get on the air during the event. Congratulations to all on your efforts, and I look forward to Winter Field Day continuing to be an annual event.

We wrapped up January with our general meeting, which was focused on welcoming new hams. Some equipment was brought in for a “show and tell” to highlight multiple aspects of the hobby. Experienced members also shared stories ranging from quick tips to life stories on how they got into ham radio with the hope to impart some knowledge to our guests and new hams. I hope the evening was enjoyed by all.

Looking forward to February we have a very interesting topic for our upcoming general meeting. Peter Barry VA6PJB will be presenting on the topic of APRS Messaging. APRS is a popular topic amongst club members, however very few realize that APRS not only provides you position location services, but it also has a very robust text messaging application. Come and learn about APRS messaging. It promises to be a great presentation.

With the CARA Spring Flea Market on the books for April 18th (mark your calendars), we will be going through our storage lockers to identify any equipment that needs a new home. Throughout the month of February we will be preparing equipment for review at the general meeting and in Key Klix before issuing the equipment for a flea market table. As equipment seems to pile up quickly, this will be no small task. Volunteers will surely be needed, and a call for help may be coming soon.

73 de VE6NR

Stephane Raimbault

CARA President

I trust everyone has had an enjoyable holiday season and a good start to the new year.

In December, we had another group of students graduate from the CARA Fall basic course, please join me in welcoming these new hams on the air and at any upcoming meetings or get togethers. Also, as always, a big thank you goes to Peter Risdahl (VE6KK) and the ever growing group of club and community members helping out with these courses. These courses are important to help students enter the world of amateur radio.

The CARA Club station was active during the RAC Winter contest and activated the special call sign VE6RAC. Thank you for the great effort during the contest and representing the Alberta section as being the designated RAC Station in Alberta.

In January, we look forward to the social get together that Peter LeGrandeur (VA6RPL) has volunteered to organize. I am certainly looking at re-connecting with many of you outside of our regular general meetings for a chance to catch up and enjoy each others company. More information on the event can be found on our website and will take place on Saturday, January 18th.

For those unable to join us on January 18th, I look forward to seeing you at the upcoming general meeting which takes place on the 4th Tuesday of the month (January 28th) at the Calgary Sports Car Club.

Before I close out this months letter, I also wanted to bring attention to the effort club members are doing to participate and operate in Winter Field Day this year. If you are interested in cold weather operation, please check out the Winter Field day event... you can find more information on our website and this takes place on January 25th and 26th. Have fun and stay warm!

Thank you and 73 de VE6NR

Stephane Raimbault

CARA President

What a busy October! With the CARA Casino, CARA AGM, and Kananaskis Car Rally, it was a very busy month for many of us in the club.

A big thank you to all the volunteers that make these events successful. We received many updates from many groups and individuals during the AGM. It really shows how big and wide of a group we are and all the different activities that keep the club what it is.

I look forward to our regular November general meeting. Wilson VA6JWL has organized for a demonstration and discussion on home built VHF antennas. Feel free to bring any homebrew VHF antennas that you have built as there will be an analyzer available to test out antennas.

The Kananaskis rally was another successful events where we amateur radio operators provide a vital service of radio communication for the car rally. We employed our communications trailer that have been improved over the last couple of years. I had the pleasure to operate net control out of the communications trailer and I must say, the many upgrades over the years are certainly coming together. Everything from flooring, heating, power options, radios and mounting locations, antennas have allowed for a quick, efficient, and comfortable deployment. Congratulations and thank you to the communications trailer group who have worked tirelessly on this project.

73 de VE6NR

Stephane

As we roll into October, the executive and members are preparing for the club’s annual general meeting which will be held on October 22nd.  This is the meeting where we get an update on the club’s financial situation as well as updates from different sections of the club.  If you haven’t been able to follow all the activity in the organization this past year, this is a great opportunity to get caught up on the club’s happenings.

The club casino event is on track and will have occurred by the time this is published.  I would like to extend a thank you to Martin VE6VH for organizing this year’s casino.

We also have the Kananaskis Car rally which we volunteer to provide the critical radio communication during the event for the Calgary Sports Car Club.  The rally takes place on October 27^th and we are always looking for more volunteers to ensure a safe and successful event.  You can get more info on the rally and how-to signup as a volunteer on our website.

At our last general meeting we continued the discussion on our asset disposal processes.  We have received a few donations over the summer and our storage space is full.  With the upcoming SARA flea market on October 19^th we should hopefully be able to unload some equipment that the club has little use for at this time.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the above-mentioned events in October.

73 de VE6NR

Stephane Raimbault, CARA President

Welcome back to a new season for the club. Membership renewals for the year are due this month. Be sure to renew your membership to retain the benefits of being a member.

It has been a busy summer for all, and as we start the new season there has been lots of activity to get ready for September. We have a Basic Class starting up again in September. There was lots of work trying to locate a suitable location to hold the course. The venue we have used in the past was not available this year, and we have “scouted” a new location in NW Calgary.

There has been a lot of activity to get ready for the club casino event. We have a new Casino Coordinator in place, and he is gathering volunteers to cover the shifts that are needed. The club casino is very important as it is a major source of funding for a lot of the big projects the club works on, such as remote repeaters to provide a vital communication service, especially in areas where we do not have cell phone coverage.

Speaking of remote repeaters, there has been a flurry of activity this month and a big step forward with our repeater in the Kananaskis area. A huge thanks to the many volunteers, not only from our club, but the general amateur radio community in all the help to get this repeater back to a working state. There is still more work to be done, but we are quite a bit closer in getting this voice repeater up and running, with a digital link back to the CARANet network.

As we get back to our regular general meetings, I look forward to seeing many of you there. We will be reviewing the disposal of assets process and see how the new procedures worked over the past few months, and what modifications may be required to the bidding process.

I hope you all had a great summer, and I hope to see many of you at our next General Meeting on September 24th.

73 de VE6NR

Stephane Raimbault

CARA President

It has been a very busy year, and as we close another season of meetings with our June meeting, I would like to take the time to comment on the very busy year.

It was this time last year that we gathered for our June election (which occurs every 2 years) and it was with great encouragement that the membership elected 5 club colleagues to the club’s executive including myself. As I look back on the year it is with great thanks to the many club members which volunteer and participate in our meetings, public service events, and all our other club activities that makes this club what it is.

Without the engaged membership, there wouldn’t be much of a club to participate in…. so I thank all of you for partaking!

If you have not had a chance to participate in club activities or volunteer for some of the many roles that helps the club continue to move forward, I encourage you to come out to our general meetings, meet your fellow club members and participate in the fun by volunteering your time where you can.

In appreciation for the membership and those volunteers, our Vice President, Dave Cason proposes that our June meeting includes a bit of a BBQ feast prior to the meeting, so be sure to monitor the website and your e-mails for the meeting details and come early to socialize with your fellow club members.

As I will not be in town at the end of June, I look forward to hearing how things wrapped up at the June meeting from the rest of the executive as we meet over the summer to plan our activities for our next season beginning in September.

I close by wishing you all a fun and warm summer. Please be safe while working on our hobbies and I look forward to seeing you all again at the September meeting!

73 de VE6NR, Stephane Raimbault

CARA President

The April general meeting featured a demo put on by Doug Howard, VE6CID and Dave Wick, VA6DBA of a voice linked repeater across the CARANet digital IP link between the repeater sites. The demo included a live QSO between a station in Calgary and a station in Banff between the VE6RYC and VE6RMT repeaters.

I want to extend my thanks and great work to the team behind this voice linking project as this is by far one of the most sought out requests from club members to have a linked repeater system into the mountain parks. We look forward to additional repeaters coming on-line in the system.

On May 4th we had a wonderful showing of the amateur radio community at Disaster Alley, which show cased amateur radio and the capabilities that are possible in a disaster. Many volunteers represented amateur radio to the community overall. Job well done!

The Rocky Mountain Rally is a road rally that requires amateur radio volunteers to help facilitate communications for the event organizers and to ensure safety for both participants and spectators. I for one am looking forward to volunteering at this fantastic event and I hope you will join me as well on Saturday May 25th and Sunday May 26th. You can find more information on the Rocky Mountain Rally and the volunteer opportunities on our website.

On the same weekend as the Rocky Mountain Rally, Dave Swanson, VE6SWN is coordinating amateur radio volunteers for the popular Golden Triangle.

Looking forward to June and July, we have many public service events listed on the calendar. The Banff/Jasper Relay, MS Walk, MS Bike Tour, CARA Field Day and Tour For Kids. These are all activities the members can become involved in to hone your communication skills. And communication skills are very important when we are pressed into providing amateur radio emergency communications for our community.

I look forward to seeing you all at the May General meeting which will take place on May 28th at 7:00 pm at the Calgary Sports Car Club.

73 de VE6NR, Stephane Raimbault

CARA President

Winter's grip has loosened and spring welcomed us in the past few weeks. I had the opportunity to find the sun with a trip south, but Calgary was also blessed with warmer weather, and I'm sure everyone is starting to think about their antenna projects and making plans for their summer. Winter's grip has loosened and spring welcomed us in the past few weeks. I had the opportunity to find the sun with a trip south, but Calgary was also blessed with warmer weather, and I'm sure everyone is starting to think about their antenna projects and making plans for their summer.

Although I missed the General Meeting at the end of March, I understand there was healthy discussion among club members on how to approach the inventory that CARA has amassed over the years that currently are not ear marked for projects. I look forward to the results of the discussion and further improvements to the equipment disposal process. Although I missed the General Meeting at the end of March, I understand there was healthy discussion among club members on how to approach the inventory that CARA has amassed over the years that currently are not ear marked for projects. I look forward to the results of the discussion and further improvements to the equipment disposal process.

April marked the month we had the annual CARA Spring Flea Market. It was another successful event with many out of town attending. Our technical sessions (Ham University) were well received and continue to be of interest to attending Amateurs. I have always enjoyed the planning for the flea market, and I am very thankful for all the volunteers who helped prepare for the flea market, and all those who were involved on the day of the event. Prior to the flea market the weather was looking more like winter, but by Saturday the sun came out and temperatures improved. April marked the month we had the annual CARA Spring Flea Market. It was another successful event with many out of town attending. Our technical sessions (Ham University) were well received and continue to be of interest to attending Amateurs. I have always enjoyed the planning for the flea market, and I am very thankful for all the volunteers who helped prepare for the flea market, and all those who were involved on the day of the event. Prior to the flea market the weather was looking more like winter, but by Saturday the sun came out and temperatures improved. On May 24 to 26 the Calgary Sports Car Club organizes the Rocky Mountain Rally to again be held in Inveremere, BC. This is a premier national rally event, which always requires quite a few radio volunteers. Please consider volunteering for this event, as it is always nice to support clubs and organization which also supports us. You can find further information on our Website as registration is now open.

On May 24 to 26 the Calgary Sports Car Club organizes the Rocky Mountain Rally to again be held in Inveremere, BC. This is a premier national rally event, which always requires quite a few radio volunteers. Please consider volunteering for this event, as it is always nice to support clubs and organization which also supports us. You can find further information on our Website as registration is now open.

As always I look forward to seeing you all at our upcoming General Meeting on the 4th Tuesday of the month (April, 23rd).

73 de VE6NR, Stephane Raimbault CARA President

The cold spell appears to be broken and the forecasts are now showing mainly positive temperatures. I think we are all looking forward to what we hope is spring! With much of February being well below normal temperatures I was amazed by what club members had accomplished.

Let's start with the public service events that were recently completed. The Cookie Race and the Cochrane Winter Rally both had their set of challenges, temperature being one of them. I had the pleasure to help setup the communication trailer at -36 for the Cochrane Rally. It was one blistering Sunday morning. A couple feed lines did not survive the cold, but in the end, we prevailed as a team and were operational for the event.

Speaking of the trailer, thanks should be passed on to those that took it upon themselves to complete several communication trailer upgrades in January and February. A few upgrades that have taken place in the trailer, which were used at the car rally, were certainly appreciated. I anticipate a demo night in the warmer weather and late ‘sun months’ at one of the general meetings later this year for all to check out.

Looking ahead there are many things to look forward to this year, such as the CARA Spring Flea Market (April 13) and the annual ARRL Field Day event (June 22-23). The club is always looking for volunteers to help host these events, so please reach out to the executive (executive@caraham.org) if you want to lend a hand, or you are not sure who the point person is for each event.

There will also be the usual onslaught of public service events in April/May/June/July, which will require many volunteers from the greater Amateur Radio Community. I encourage everyone to get involved in public service events as they are both self fulfilling and provide a critical communication service to the public to enable events that would otherwise not happen. I encourage you to reach out to your circle of amateur friends and encourage participation in these important events that help keep the hobby relevant and fun.

As I end my message for this month, it was with regret to learn of the recent passing of Hellmut Frauscher, VE6BV/VE6US (01/11/1945-03/04/2019). I had the opportunity to spend some time with Hellmut years ago, and considered him an Elmer in the time I spent with him.

73 de VE6NR, Stephane Raimbault

CARA President