Tiny “Sprite” Satellites Deployed

Transmitting on 70 Centimeters

According to Scientific American, six tiny “Sprite” satellites, each consisting of a 4-gram circuit board but packed with electronics, were deployed in late June. The Sprites are the brainchild of Zac Manchester, KD2BHC, whom Scientific American interviewed for the article.
The Sprites went into low-Earth orbit as secondary payloads on the Latvian Venta and Italian Max Valier satellites, launched from India. Signals on 437.325 MHz from at least one of the exterior-mounted Sprites have been received in California and New York.
Manchester launched 104 Sprites into orbit in 2014 aboard KickSat-1, but they failed to deploy.

Field Day 2015 Revisited

A Look Back

Field Day 2017 is in the log and we have some time to catch up with email, Twitter and FaceBook requests and comments. One of these referred to the absence of a Field Day video for the 2015 event. At SARC we generally celebrate Field Days past with photos and video. Field Day 2015 was no exception but the video never made it to our YouTube channel. 

Wait no more... Here it is:

SARC Field Day 2017

Our Field Day Drone

Amateur Radio Field Day is an annual emergency communications exercise. We use an air cannon firing tennis balls on a string to launch our wire antennas. This year we had a drone to give us a bird's eye view.

https://youtu.be/h0RlLvE6q4o

The On-line Communicator: July 2017

The Month in Review: JUNE 2017

We do not publish the regular monthly edition of the Communicator in July and August, but it was such an eventful month that a news brief is timely; so here are some news items from the past month to keep you up to date.

The SARC Annual General Meeting

The AGM was held at the EMBC SW PREOC on June 14th. The bylaw amendments related to membership classifications was amended and now everyone who is a member of SARC, licensed or not, may hold office.
Four of eight Director positions were up for renewal as per our 2-year terms. We had 6 candidates for these positions so an election was required. Once the considerable dust settled, the following were elected:

• John Brodie  VA7XB
• Robert Fishwick VA7FMR
• Scott Hawrelak VE7HA
• John Schouten VE7TI

In keeping with our Constitution and Bylaws, at the Directors meeting on June 28th the following Officers were appointed for the 2017-2018 term.

• Stan Williams VA7NF - President
• John Brodie VA7XB - Vice President
• Scott Hawrelak VE7HA - Treasurer
• Jeremy Morse VE7TMY - Secretary

The following Directors will also assume portfolios

• Stan Williams VA7NF - SEPAR Liaison
• John Brodie VA7XB - OTC Committee Chair
• John Schouten VE7TI - Communicator Editor
• Sheldon Ward VA7XNL -  Repeater Manager
• Robert Fishwick VA7FMR - Net Manager
• Jeremy Morse  VE7TMY - Interim Webmaster

Your 2017 -  2018 SARC Directors

(absent Bill Gipps VE7XS)

The Operational Training Centre

The OTC was not used for this year's Field Day. Some of the new equipment, purchased as a result of our community grant, and presented by MLA Marvin Hunt, has started to arrive. Included are a sparkling new heavy duty rotator and control box. The Flex radio that was selected is on back-order and may not arrive until fall. Having seen a developmental version at the Seaside, Oregon SEA-PAC HamFest recently, I was impressed. It will be worth waiting for. Watch your email for a request for assistance for an upcoming work party to install the new gear.

Field Day 2017

The sun was shining and, although it was hot, Field Day was a success. On Friday a group of SARC members arrived and raised Big Bertha, complete with the TH-7,  a 40/80 meter long wire antenna, several tents and signage. Sheldon tested the gear on Friday night and the 3  Field Day stations came to life at 11am Saturday morning. We stayed on the air for the full 24-hours despite less than ideal propagation conditions. MLA Marvin Hunt visited the FD site and remained to observe, converse and ask questions. Marvin has been a supporter of Amateur Radio and a solid friend to SARC. 

Many thanks to Nell and Ralph Wrotniak who provided food for the event.

On Sunday we had the fastest take-down ever for SARC. We were done about 90 minutes after going off-air. Although this was staged as a social and emergency preparedness event as opposed to a contest, we nevertheless made over 800 contacts (we're still counting) and several members who do not usually operate at Field Day had an opportunity to do so.

By the way... where were the SARC members who voted for an outdoor Field Day at the SARC general meeting but did not show to lend their support?

Many thanks to all who helped to make this a successful event.

Photos  and video of the event, including some amazing drone clips,
are now on-line through our SARC photo album: 
https://goo.gl/photos/kEyMC8Mi3X1Gocxx8

Meetings, The Net and Saturday Coffee

Although they may be informal, all three of the above will continue through the summer. If held, the July and August general meeting dates would be July 12 and August 9th but these will be social gatherings at the OTC instead. We will send out a reminder a few days ahead of time.
The weekly Net will continue through the summer as well, for those able to participate... and please do.
Saturday coffee, always informal, will also continue at 9am at the Kalmar Family Restaurant, 81st and King George Blvd.

Sad News

To close off, we had a friend of SARC pass away this past week. Many of you may remember Tony EI4DIB from our sister club in Ireland. Tony and his wife Madeline made several visits here including a Field Day and last year at the OTC.

Let me know through the summer of any other club related news I may have missed.

73,

John VE7TI
Communicator Editor

Another Fascinating SARC Monthly Meeting

At the May meeting, Alex VE7ADA (formerly IZ7FMM) offered a presentation on building an easy SDR transceiver system using a standard HF radio as a transmitter along with an Afedri SDR board and an Ameco PT-3 Preamplifier.

Read the full story in our June newsletter available at https://goo.gl/8HVHlN

Its another example of Radio Amateurs experimenting and contributing to the advancement of communications technology worldwide.

The SARC Communicator - June 2017 edition

Lots of news...

The SARC Communicator - June 2017 edition is ready to be delivered. It is also available through this link: https://goo.gl/8HVHlN

SARC FoxHunt 2017

The annual SARC “Fox Hunt” was held on May 20th in Crescent Park in South Surrey. SARC members and Hams from Burnaby and North Shore clubs supported the event; 31 Hams and a few spouses participated. The event is certainly growing in popularity as these attendance numbers will attest. It was a brilliantly sunny dry day and with great enthusiasm as the groups were dispatched in 5 minute intervals . Much fun was had by all.

There were five 2 watt VHF 2m transmitters (foxes) and five 80m foxes hidden throughout the park, and participants were allocated two and a

half hours to find them. Entrants were grouped into either novice or “Expert” groups. This allowed for four groups, a novice and expert 2m, and a novice and expert 80m. There was no one registered for the expert 2m group.

The second half of the event was the informal BBQ, providing an opportunity to engage in adventure stories, exchange lessons learned and enjoy warm camaraderie and recreation over a burger and hot dog.
Recognition and greatest of thanks goes to Les Tocko VA7OM , and Jan Voslenik VA7VJ who handled all the set up and the technical aspects of the “foxes”. Much appreciation to Brenda (XYL of Anton VE7SSD) for putting on the BBQ. Special mention is made of Amel VA7KBA of BC Radio sport, unable to attend through a conflict in schedule. His support throughout the year is acknowledged.

The results:

Advanced 80m group 1st place, Jan Voslenik VA7VJ, 5 foxes in 55 minutes.
2nd place, Henry VE7HRY and Jeanne VA7QD, 5 foxes 80 minutes.

Novice 80m group 1st place, Paula and Peter Suckling VE7PSP, 5 foxes 79 minutes;
2nd place Mary VE7EIE, 5 foxes in 80 minutes; and
3rd place Lawrence VA7EDU, 5 foxes in 87 minutes.

Novice 2m group 1st place Steve VE7FM and Karen Draper VA7KD, 4 foxes in 135 minutes.

An informal “prize” ceremony, bragging rights, and the crystal fox trophy, was awarded to the winner Jan VA7VJ, and the stuffed musical bunny was awarded to Steve and Karen Draper.

Mark your calendars, approximately same time next year on May 19, 2018, and we look forward to another annual SARC FoxHunt.

~ Anton VE7SSD,

SARC Fox-Hunt Coordinator 

More photos at: https://tinyurl.com/FoxHunt17