I am Ken Read, call sign VE6CBZ, President of the Calgary Amateur Radio Association.

Our next General Meeting will be on October 18th and it will be the AGM. There are several items on the agenda for the meeting. We will be presenting a financial report to the membership, we will be electing a new Secretary, and we’ll be presenting some proposed Bylaw changes for consideration by the membership. We will need quorum for the election and for acceptance of the financial report so please make an effort to attend.

If you are interested in serving on the Executive as Secretary, please let the Executive know at Executive@caraham.org so that we can put your name forward to the membership. Three years in good standing is a prerequisite for serving on the Executive.

The Kananaskis Rally will take place on November 9th, 2025 and registration is open. For anyone who wants to volunteer for that event, you will need either a year pass or a day pass for that event as it will be, not surprisingly, in Kananaskis. Rally event support is a part of how we pay the rent for the club station so if anyone can participate, it is much appreciated.

The SARA Flea Market will take place on October 25th 2025 at the Eastside City Church. Doors open to vendors at 8AM and to shoppers at 9AM. If you’re interested in reserving a selling table, please contact SARA at tables@saralink.ca . General admission is $5 and tables are $10 each.

The club station is still undergoing renovations. The latest pictures that Art showed me at the last Sunridge Coffee Klatch assured me that when it’s all said and done, our world class station will be a much more inviting place to visit.

Speaking of coffee klatches, there are two every Saturday morning at roughly 10AM (although many show up earlier). One takes place in the food court at Chinook Mall and the other takes place in the food court at Sunridge Mall. I regularly attend the Sunridge Mall Coffee Klatch if you need to bend my ear about something. The discussions can vary widely and are not just about amateur radio. Anyone and everyone is welcome to attend and membership in CARA is not required

The CARATELS Net runs every Tuesday afternoon at 1PM on VE6RYC 2M. The Thursday Evening Rag Chew Net runs every Thursday evening at 7PM on VE6RYC 2M. Anyone who wishes to check in on either of these two nets is most welcome.

Have fun with which ever amateur radio activity you choose. That’s what it’s all about. 73,

Ken Read, VE6CBZ, President, Calgary Amateur Radio Association

I am Ken Read, call sign VE6CBZ, President of the Calgary Amateur Radio Association.

Our next General Meeting will be on September 20th. We’ll be doing a presentation with lots of pictures from the activities everyone participated in this summer. If you want your pictures included, please make sure I get them. Get out there and play radio folks. Enjoy what’s left of the summer!

The Rocky Mountain Rally has been cancelled this year due to labour issues in British Columbia. Those issues meant the Calgary Sports Car Club still didn’t have the permits for the event so given the short time remaining before the event, they reluctantly chose to cancel it. I’m sure we’ll be able to assist the CSCC with the RMR again next year. Many thanks to those who volunteered, you know who you are, before we got the word.

The next rally we’ll be providing support for will be the Kananaskis Rally later on this fall, dates to come. For anyone who wants to volunteer for that event, you will need either a year pass or a day pass for that event as it will be, not surprisingly, in Kananaskis. Rally event support is a part of how we pay the rent for the club station so if anyone can participate, it is much appreciated.

The AGM will be held in October. We’ll be presenting a financial report as well as holding the CARA annual elections for the CARA Executive for year 2025-2026. Elections were to be held in May 2025, which did not take place.

If you are interested in serving on the CARA Executive, please let the CARA Executive know at executive@caraham.org so that we can put your name forward to the membership. Three years in good standing is a prerequisite for serving on the Executive. We will also require a quorum to elect all executive members, so please make an effort to attend the October Annual General Meeting.

The club station was shut down for the first two weeks of September so that the renovations could be completed. I‘m hoping the new look will be much more inviting for folks to come in and use the station.

The CARATELS Net runs every Tuesday afternoon at 1PM on VE6RYC 2M. The Thursday Evening Rag Chew Net runs every Thursday evening at 7PM on VE6RYC 2M. Anyone who wishes to check in on either of these two nets is most welcome.

Have fun with which ever amateur radio activity you choose. That’s what it’s all about.

73,

Ken Read, VE6CBZ, President, Calgary Amateur Radio Association 

I am Ken Read, call sign VE6CBZ, President of the Calgary Amateur Radio Association.

Our next General Meeting will be on April 19th, 2025 at 1PM. 

The topic will be a trailer orientation. Peter VA6RPL will have the trailer at the Calgary Sports Car Club and the indoor part of the meeting will also be available over Zoom. Any new amateur operators are most welcome to attend whether or not you are a member of CARA.

The Cochrane Winter Rally was a surprising success. All stages were completed and the event finished on time. Some of the changes we had implemented were very successful and others will require more tweaking. The green light protocol and the emergency procedures protocol were very well received. Keeping the radio coordinator (me) doing only radio coordinator things rather than stepping in to other roles is something we’re going to work on more as discussed at the debrief meeting.  The next CSCC rally will be the RMR now in September in Invermere BC.

• Both the Outdoor Show and the Supertrain show have completed. Both were a smashing success in getting the word about Amateur Radio out there as there were lots of visitors at each one.
• The Manna 80 Event will be coming up soon at the Bomber Command Museum in Nanton on April 26th and is based on an eighty year ago event from World War II. 
• Operation Roadlink will be on May 10th and will be a hands-on exercise with many goals, one of which will be supporting the gravel cycling ride happening that day. 
• The Kids Cancer Care: Ride of Courage will take place on July 11-12.  Our summer Field Day will be on June 28-29.

The spring AGM is coming up and that means some positions in the Executive will be coming open.  If you are interested in serving, please let the Executive know at Executive@caraham.org so that we can put your name forward to the membership. Three years in good standing is a prerequisite for serving on the Executive.

The CARATELS Net runs every Tuesday afternoon at 1PM on VE6RYC 2M. The Thursday Evening Rag Chew Net runs every Thursday evening at 7PM on VE6RYC 2M. Anyone who wishes to check in on either of these two nets is most welcome.

Have fun with which ever amateur radio activity you choose.  That’s what it’s all about. 

73,

Ken Read, VE6CBZ
President, Calgary Amateur Radio Association

Greeting from Ken Read, call sign VE6CBZ, President of the Calgary Amateur Radio Association.

Our January meeting has been cancelled by the Executive as we will be holding our Winter Social that evening.

Our next General Meeting will be on February 15th, 2025 at 1 PM. It will, as usual, be held at the Calgary Sports Car Club and it will also be available over Zoom. Any new amateur operators are most welcome to attend whether or not you are a member of CARA. If anyone has any ideas for topics for future meetings, please give us your ideas at executive@caraham.org. I am also often at the Saturday morning Coffee Klatch at the Sunridge Mall Food Court if you want to bend my ear.

Some people have suggested moving our General Meeting to the fourth Saturday of the month. I would really like to hear your thoughts on whether or not that would work for you.

The Cookie Race and the Cochrane Winter Rally are coming up. The Cookie Race will be held on February 22nd, 2025 and the Cochrane Winter Rally will be held on March 9th, 2025. We’ll begin to see some changes in how we do things for the CWR based upon the feedback session we had with the CSCC. We’ll be looking for volunteers soon and I’m already looking forward to both the Cookie Race and the CWR. Just so that everyone is aware, our participation in the CSCC rallies is a big part of the rent we pay for our club station.

Our Winter Social will take place at 5:30 PM on January 18th, 2025 at the Garden Court of the Glenmore Inn at 1000 Glenmore Court SE. There will be a gift exchange (max $20 value) and a special guest will also be in attendance. Please RSVP to VA6RPL Peter Lagrandeur at VA6RPL@techworld.ca by January 17th to ensure your seating. If you have any questions, please contact VE6NRO Neeroo at VE6NRO@gmail.com.

The CARATELS Net runs every Tuesday afternoon at 1 PM on VE6RYC 2M. The Thursday Evening Rag Chew Net runs every Thursday evening at 7 PM on VE6RYC 2M. Anyone who wishes to check in on either of these two nets is most welcome.

As I mentioned earlier, there is a Coffee Klatch that takes place in the food court at Sunridge Mall every Saturday morning. Although my own calendar has it starting at 10 AM, many operators arrive much earlier. We usually sit near the A&W in the food court. There is also a much smaller Coffee Klatch that also meets near the A&W in the Chinook Mall food court, which meets at the same time, so you have options on which one you would like to attend. The conversation at these klatches is always interesting and it’s a good way to share knowledge on how we do things.

Have fun with which ever amateur radio activity you choose. That’s what it’s all about.

73,

Ken Read, VE6CBZ, President, Calgary Amateur Radio Association

Greetings from Ken Read, call sign VE6CBZ, President of the Calgary Amateur Radio Association.

In a few months we’ll be having elections. Treasurer, Stephane Raimbault, VE6NR will be stepping down so we’ll need a replacement Treasurer. Stephane tells me the time commitment should be no more than ½ hour every few days. He will be available from time to time to help out whoever becomes the new Treasurer to become familiar with the role. To serve on the Executive, membership in good standing for at least three years is required. Anyone interested is asked to please let the Executive know.

Going forward the General Meeting has moved to the third Saturday of the month at 1 PM. However, due to a scheduling issue with the CSCC this month (their AGM), we need to schedule our meeting one week later for the month of March only. This next meeting is now scheduled for March 23rd. Ben,VE6SFX will be doing a presentation on his antennas.

The Cochrane Winter Rally 2024 certainly had some challenges this year. The biggest challenge was snow. There was so much of it that a number of radio volunteer blockers could not get in to their position. I didn’t learn of this until I arrived on site Sunday morning, otherwise I would have spread the word. We started late (again due to snow), but got caught up running all stages, and finished on time. A very big thank you for the efforts of our net controls Bob, VA6BM and Stephane, VE6NR, our blockers and those riding with race officials. I’m betting Peter VA6RPL really had a lot of fun with his tactical call sign for the day. Even though it was a lot of work, I really enjoyed the Radio Coordinator role and am already looking forward to the RMR.

The CARATELS Net runs every Tuesday afternoon at 1 PM on VE6RYC 2M. The Thursday Evening Rag Chew Net runs every Thursday evening at 7PM on VE6RYC 2M. The Monday Evening Rag Chew Net will take place on VE6RYC 6M at 7PM. Anyone who wishes to check in to any of these three nets is most welcome.

I also want to remind everyone of the Coffee Klatches that take place every Saturday morning at 9:00 AM. There is one held at Chinook Mall (near the A&W) and one held at Sunridge Mall (near the A&W). I (and my XYL) usually go to the Sunridge Mall Coffee Klatch, which is often well attended. These klatches are a great opportunity to share experiences, and not just about Ham Radio. The gatherings are open topic.
Have fun with which ever amateur radio activity you choose. That’s what it’s all about.

73,
Ken Read, VE6CBZ
President, Calgary Amateur Radio Association 

Ken Read, call sign VE6CBZ, President of the Calgary Amateur Radio Association.

In a few months we will be having elections. Our Treasurer, Stephane Raimbault VE6NR, will be stepping down so we will need a replacement. Stephane tells me the time commitment should be no more than ½ hour every few days. He tells me he will be available from time to time to help whomever becomes the new Treasurer to become familiar with the role and how to handle it. To serve on the Executive, membership in good standing for at least three years is required. Anyone interested is asked to please let the Executive know.

Based upon the success of our last General Meeting and feedback from the members attending, we will be moving our General Meeting from the 4th Tuesday of the month at 7:00PM to the third Saturday of the month at 1 PM going forward. The next meeting on February 17th will have two topics. I will be doing a presentation on DMR over a hotspot and will bring mine so that those with DMR radios can play too. Also, for anyone interested Neeroo VE6NRO and Mike VE6TC will be doing a presentation on doing a QSO in a contest.

The Casino is coming up on February 28th and 29th. There are still a bunch of positions open that must be filled or the event won’t happen. We use the proceeds to fund our projects, and without the funds our projects can’t happen. Please go to https://caracasino2024.ddns.net to sign up for a shift or a position. Please contact Alan Kearley VE6BUZ or casinos@caraham.org if you have any questions.

We do have a number of other events coming up that you might want to start thinking about as well. The Cookie Race will be on February 24th and the Cochrane Winter Rally will be on March 3rd. Please check the caraham.org calendar for details. I have found these events can be quite fun so they are well worth volunteering for. I’ve already volunteered for the Cookie Race and I will also be involved as a Radio Coordinator with the Cochrane Winter Rally.

The CARATELS Net runs every Tuesday afternoon at 1PM on VE6RYC 2M. The Thursday Evening Rag Chew Net runs every Thursday evening at 7PM on VE6RYC 2M. The Monday Evening Rag Chew Net will take place on VE6RYC 6M at 7PM. Any who wishes to check in to any of these three nets is most welcome.

I also want to remind everyone of the Coffee Klatches that take place every Saturday morning at 10 AM. There is one near the A&W at Chinook Mall and another one near the A&W at Sunridge Mall. I (and my XYL Colleen) usually go to the Sunridge Mall Coffee Klatch. It is often well attended. These klatches are a great opportunity to share experiences, and not just about Ham Radio. The gatherings are open topic. Have fun with which ever amateur radio activity you choose. That’s what it’s all about. 

Ken Read, VE6CBZ
President, Calgary Amateur Radio Association 

Greetings fellow Amateurs!

Ken Read her, call sign VE6CBZ, President of the Calgary Amateur Radio Association.

I am saddened to announce two recent Silent Keys. Ernest Green, VE6GY, passed away on November 9th,2023. It was some time before we were notified and Don Cole, VE6EY/VA7EY passed away on Sunday January 7th, 2024. He was 86 years old, just two weeks short of his 87th birthday. We will have a moment of silence for these two Silent Keys at the next General Meeting.

We have many new amateurs from the latest Basic Class. Some have already been checking in on our Nets. I want to welcome all our new amateurs to the hobby. You’re in for a lifetime of fun! Congratulations!

We are going to try something new. The January CARA General Meeting will be at the Calgary Sports Car Club on the afternoon of Saturday, January 20th at 1PM rather than Tuesday evening, January 23rd, 2024. The topic will be a hands-on presentation of repeaters (the fun stuff) by Doug Howard followed by a short financials

presentation (because we have to). We’ll do our best to keep the dry stuff to a minimum. There will also be an outdoor barbeque with hot dogs and pop, weather permitting. I hope to see you there.

As a club, we’re also now looking at collapsing the special interest group meetings (DX and VHF) in favour of just one general meeting a month. Topics presented going forward will be from both groups. The thinking at the last general meeting is that the cross-interest exposure may help foster more interest and participation in CARA activities. The Saturday afternoon general meeting is a part of that. Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

We do have a number of winter events coming up that you might want to start thinking about. The Cookie Race and the Cochrane Winter Rally will need volunteers. Please check the caraham.org Calendar for details. I have found these events can be quite fun so they’re well worth volunteering. I’ve already volunteered for the Cookie Race and I will also be involved with the Cochrane Winter Rally.

The CARATELS Net runs every Tuesday afternoon at 1PM on VE6RYC 2M. The Thursday Evening Rag Chew Net runs every Thursday evening at 7PM on VE6RYC 2M. The Monday Evening Rag Chew Net will take place on VE6RYC 6M at 7PM. Anyone who wishes to check in to any of these three nets is most welcome.

Have fun with which ever amateur radio activity you choose. That’s what it’s all about.

73,

Ken Read, VE6CBZ

President, Calgary Amateur Radio

Greetings fellow Amateurs!

Ken Read her, call sign VE6CBZ, President of the Calgary Amateur Radio Association.

We are going to try something new.  The January CARA General Meeting will, barring availability, at the Calgary Sports Car Club on the afternoon of Saturday, January 20th rather than the Tuesday evening of January 23, 2024. The topic will be a ‘hands on presentation’ of repeaters (the fun stuff) by Doug Howard, VE6CID followed by a short financial presentation because we have to. We’ll keep the dry stuff to a minimum. There will also be having an outdoor barbeque at the Calgary Sports Car Club.

As a club, we’re also now looking at collapsing the special interest group meetings (DX and VHF) in favour of just one general meeting a month. Topics presented going forward will be from both groups. The thinking at the last general meeting is that the cross-interest exposure may help foster more interest and participation in CARA activities. Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

We still need two volunteers to work with our Treasurer, Stephane VE6NR to go over the books to prepare for the AGM taking place in January. The volunteers need not be accountants. All we need are open eyes and minds. The two volunteers cannot be members of the Executive. Anyone interested is asked to reach out to Stephane at treasurer@caraham.org.

We do have a number of winter events coming up that you might want to start thinking about. The Cookie Race and the Cochrane Winter Rally will need volunteers.

The CARATELS Net runs every Tuesday afternoon at 1PM on VE6RYC 2M. The Thursday Evening Rag Chew Net runs every Thursday evening at 7PM on VE6RYC 2M. The Monday Evening Rag Chew Net will take place on VE6RYC 6M at 7PM. Anyone who wishes to check in to any of these three nets is most welcome.

Peter LaGrandeur has again volunteered to take on the post-Christmas Party this winter. I look forward to seeing what he can put together for us.

Have fun with which ever amateur radio activity you choose. That’s what it’s all about.

73, Ken Read, VE6CBZ 

Greetings. 

I am Ken Read, call sign VE6CBZ, President of the Calgary Amateur Radio Association.

The picture on the cover of this month's issue of KeyKlix was taken by my son Brent Lucas-Read during the Rocky Mountain Rally for 2023.

My son was a spectator both days and was positioned at “Spectator” on Saturday followed by “Control Point Echo” on Sunday.
He took a lot of pictures, but the cover photo is one of his favourites.
We both had a really good time.
I had to go out on the stage route to replace a blocker who had to leave; a little bit different from my radio coordinator role.
It was some fun driving there, even though I did get a flat tire on the way back. Thankfully the folks in the course opening car were available and stopped by to assist.

I’m looking forward to participating in future rally’s for CARA and amateur radio. There were also more events that will have taken place by the time this issue comes out.
The last DX club meeting was on June 7th and the VHF group meeting took place on June 13th.

Other events this month were:

• the SARA Picnic and AGM,
• the Ghost of The Gravel – Deadgoat Racing (a cycling event),
• the MS Bike Tour (June 34-25), and
• the ARRL Field Day (June 24-25).

I’ve been very pleased to hear about the level of registration for these events from our Amateurs.
Way to go everyone! Elections are coming up this month.

We will have at least two positions opening up to bring us to five Directors on the Executive with up to four more if people are willing to serve, for a maximum of nine Directors.

Please do what you can to attend as we will need to have quorum to carry out the election.
A quorum is 10% of the overall membership in good standing. We will need at least 22 (preferably more) members in attendance.
The next CARA General Meeting will be on Tuesday, June 27th at 7 PM at the Calgary Sports Car Club. As mentioned, it will be the AGM.
Any member in good standing for at least three years is eligible to serve on the Executive.

The CARATELS Net runs every Tuesday afternoon at 1 PM on VE6RYC.
The Thursday Evening Rag Chew Net runs every Thursday evening at 7 PM on VE6RYC.
Anyone who wishes to check in to either net is most welcome.

Our Tube Bank Manager has stepped aside from his role. Anyone who would like to take on managing the Tube Bank is asked to contact the Executive and let us know you’re volunteering.

Have fun with which ever amateur radio activity you choose. That’s what it’s all about.

73,

Ken Read, VE6CBZ President,
Calgary Amateur Radio Association

Greetings fellow Amateurs!

I am Ken Read, call sign VE6CBZ, President of the Calgary Amateur Radio Association.

I volunteered at both the Kananaskis Ski Marathon (or “The Cookie Race”) and the Cochrane Winter Rally. Everyone who volunteered at both events had a lot of fun. These events are great opportunities for volunteers to use their radios and help keep people safe.

Our Tube Bank Manager has stepped aside from his role. Anyone who would like to take on managing the Tube Bank is asked to contact the Executive and let us know you’re volunteering.

The CARA Spring Flea Market will take place on April 15^th at 10AM at the Eastside City Church, 1320 Abbeydale Drive SE. There will also be a Technical Conference on several topics taking place at the same time. The admission price is $5. Check it out if you’re looking for a few fleas. The QCARC Spring Flea Market Edmonton will take place the following weekend on April 22^nd if you can’t make it to our Flea Market. Please check the CARA Website calendar for a link to their website as well as for more information about our Flea Market.

By the time this issue of Key Klix comes out, we will have had our VHF Group PI Day meeting on Balloons With Ham Radio. Considering the interest that was shown at the February General Meeting about some amateur radio ballooning done out west in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, I’m expecting the VHF Group to be very well attended. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that great interest is demonstrated.

The next CARA General Meeting will be on Tuesday, March 28^th at 7PM at the Calgary Sports Car Club.

The Thursday Evening Rag Chew Net to run every Thursday evening at 7PM on VE6RYC. The CaraTels Net runs every Tuesday afternoon at 1PM on VE6RYC. Anyone who wishes to check in to either net is most welcome.

The Saturday morning coffee klatches are taking place in the food courts at Chinook Mall and Sunridge Mall at 10AM. The discussion topics vary widely, not restricted to amateur radio, each Saturday morning and are often a lot of fun. For anyone interested in getting to know your fellow amateurs, I recommend attending the coffee klatches, especially for the new amateurs amongst us.

Have fun with which ever amateur radio activity you choose. That’s what it’s all about.

73,

Ken Read, VE6CBZ, President, Calgary Amateur Radio Association