The March - April 2024 Communicator, digital periodical of Surrey Amateur Radio Communications is now available for viewing or download.
Read in over 150 countries, we bring you 120 pages of Amateur Radio content from the Southwest corner of Canada and elsewhere. With less fluff and ads than other Amateur Radio publications, you will find Amateur Radio related articles, projects, profiles, news, tips and how-to's for all levels of the hobby.
As always, thank you to our contributors, and your feedback is always welcome.
The deadline for the next edition is April 15th.
If you have news or events from your club or photos, stories, projects or other items of interest from BC or elsewhere, please contact us at communicator@ve7sar.net
The Royal Canadian Air Force celebrates 100 years of service and Amateur Radio marks the occasion with special event stations
Surrey, BC
– The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) is celebrating 100 years of service this
April, marking a significant milestone in Canada’s military history. This
centennial event offers a unique opportunity to honour the RCAF’s rich
heritage, recognize its dedicated personnel, and generate enthusiasm for its
promising future.
Throughout
2024, the RCAF will be showcased in a past, present, and future context,
emphasizing its contributions to national safety and security, international
peace, and global stability. The RCAF 2024 Team is curating a year-long program
that includes international, national, and regional events. These events
include the RCAF Run, RCAF Gala, Legends of the Sky, and participation of
allied air demonstration teams in Air Shows across Canada. The program also
includes initiatives to inspire future generations of Canadians through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) activities.
To
commemorate this occasion, Amateur Radio operators across Canada and beyond are invited to
participate in a month-long event. They will have the opportunity to make
contacts around the world on all amateur radio bands and modes using special
event RCAF callsigns. These callsigns have been granted to provincial amateur
radio groups specifically for this event. In British Columbia, Surrey
Amateur Radio Communications is the proud sponsor for VE7RCAF. This callsign
will be available for use by all British Columbia ISED certified operators by
booking time slots during April 2024.
We're hoping to have all bands and modes worked, including GOTA, POTA, and whatever else you can activate. If you are a VE7 or VA7, you can reserve a time slot. Go to the direct calendar link which is now live at: https://bit.ly/VE7RCAF and look for April 2024. The operating rules are at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_fkPdYJ7DDDSLRVGY6822hJ_gd0nEfy6/view?usp=drive_link. Please use your own callsign as the operator, but VE7RCAF as the station callsign for the log.
The VE7RCAF and several other provincial QRZ pages are also active now. QSL cards and awards will be available to commemorate contacts, and special recognition will be provided to those who contact all the RCAF special event stations across Canada during the month.
The RCAF
Centennial is more than a celebration; it’s an opportunity to showcase Air
Force personnel and their accomplishments, demonstrate air and space power,
enhance the reputation of the RCAF, and proudly honour its distinguished
history and heritage.
For more
information on the RCAF 2024 Centennial, please visit the official website at
RCAF 2024 Centennial: https://rcaf2024arc.ca/
At our January 2024 monthly general meeting (held via Zoom) Kevin McQuiggin VE7ZD/Kn7Q presented on GNURadio,
What is this GNU?
Aside from the wild beasts of Africa, GNURadio is an open-source software toolkit that provides signal processing blocks to implement software-defined radios (SDRs) and other digital signal processing systems. It allows users to design, simulate, and deploy radio systems in software, enabling the development of a wide range of radio communication applications.
Here are some key aspects of GNU Radio:
Software-Defined Radio (SDR): GNU Radio is widely used in the field of SDR, where radio functionality is implemented in software rather than hardware. This provides flexibility, allowing users to modify and experiment with radio protocols, waveforms, and processing algorithms.
Signal Processing Blocks: GNU Radio provides a collection of signal processing blocks that users can connect to create custom signal flow graphs. These blocks perform functions like modulation, demodulation, filtering, frequency shifting, and more. Users can combine these blocks to create complex radio systems.
Wide Range of Applications: GNU Radio can be used to develop a variety of applications, including but not limited to:
Communication Systems: Design and implement various communication protocols, such as AM, FM, SSB, LTE, Wi-Fi, etc.
Radar Systems: Create radar signal processing chains for applications like target detection and tracking.
Radio Astronomy: Process and analyze radio signals from space to study celestial objects.
Wireless Sensor Networks: Implement communication protocols for distributed sensor networks.
Extensibility and Customization: Users can extend GNU Radio by creating their own signal processing blocks, allowing for customization and the integration of specialized functionality.
Graphical User Interface (GNU Radio Companion): GNU Radio comes with a graphical tool called GNU Radio Companion (GRC), which allows users to visually design signal processing flow graphs. GRC simplifies the creation of complex radio systems by providing a drag-and-drop interface for connecting signal processing blocks.
Active Community: GNU Radio has a vibrant and active user community that contributes to its development. This community-driven approach results in continuous improvement, updates, and the sharing of knowledge and resources.
GNU Radio is widely used in academia, research, and industry for prototyping, experimenting, and implementing various radio communication systems. It plays a crucial role in advancing the field of software-defined radio and empowering individuals and organizations to explore and innovate in the domain of wireless communications.
You can watch Kevin's presentation on YouTube;
Kevin has included several links at the end of his presentation
Further Information:
In September 2023 Our Communicator journal included an excellent article by Kevin titled: "The “What’s It?” Of WSPR" that touched on many of the same principles as GNURadio.
Another of Kevin's articles, titled: "Introduction
to Digital Radio" was published in our January 2024 edition. Both of these will provide excellent supporting information for Kevin's GNURadio presentation.
