FARSC newsletter October/05 FARSC business -------------- Next FARSC AGM will be held November 16, 2005. All welcome. There will be the usual careful examination of socks, leading to the selection of officers and directors. AND, there will be exciting directors' reports of activities and inactivities, and the ever popular discussion of what's next. See prezzie report following for tantalizing hints. President's Report Hello Everyone. Another year seems to have slid by - where did it go? Congratulations to our small but admired group of stalwart fox hunters who have continued to carry on. I do not have much to report as the club is in a state of limbo as we are not certain just where we will go. I do know we should hold our AGM soon, and I suggest that November 16th, at my place, might be a good time.We can do sock inspection then, and discuss the club future. As Joe will tell you in this newsletter, we just found out there may be some rumblings from the people south of the 49th that could prove interesting and that may affect us. Robin VE7DFI, Pres. EVENTS ------ The Region 2 ARDF contest in Albuqueque NM happened in August. The results are posted on their web site. There was no Canadian representative present and TCA has accepted an article from Kenneth E. Harker WM5R reporting on the results and chastising Canadian amateurs. There has been some (VERY PRELIMINARY) indication in emails from folks in Portland that FARS USA is thinking about hosting the next Friendship Radio Games, and it may possibly be next year. OTHER NEWS ---------- ARDF practise sessions, with alternating 80m and 2m hunts continue. The twice a month sessions are held on the first and third Saturdays, muster in the lower parking lot at Beaver Lake park about 9:30 to be ready for a 10:00 start. All welcome. No ham licence required. FARSC usually has three or four receivers available which can be shared with the equipment challenged. Earlier this year, some ARDF gear was sent from here to Ken Olke, VE6AFO, in Calgary. We hope to hear about a bloom of ARDF activity there soon. ARDF equipment reports - VE7BFK 1. Simple 80m ARDF receiver from WB6BYU - update I mentioned in the previous newsletters that this receiver would be featured in a QST article 'real soon now'. The article has been printed in the Sept/05 issue, and even features Dale himself in operating posture on the front cover of QST. Excellent publicity for ARDF and a good construction article. I have an early version of the circuit board for this receiver, and will be getting it built up real soon now. 2. Our current equipment complement and status FARSC has accumulated a fairly comprehensive set of gear, a bit at a time. Here is an inventory at the present time. 2 meters: 5 transmitters, not all the same. 3 Altai receivers 1 Chinese receiver 80 meters: 6 Chinese transmitters of same type (IARU style timing) 1 Chinese 'practice' transmitter 3 Chinese RF80M receivers 2 Chinese, short-range receiver kits (not yet built) All of the equipment above is in good working order. The rechargeable batteries in the 2m transmitters are now several years old and might be expected to require replacement within the next year or so. The recent disregard by local emergency services hams of the prior use of the (crystal-controlled) 2m fox frequency, and the improbability of securing even national frequency coordination for ARDF use, illustrates that it would be desireable to have frequency-agile transmitters. About FARSC ----------- We encourage amateurs and non-amateurs interested in Amateur Radio Direction Finding, or/and participating in Friendship Radio Games to join the Friendship Amateur Radio Society Canada. Annual fee is $15.00 which goes toward supporting and promoting the Friendship Radio Games, and if desired, to pay for a mailed, printed copy of this newsletter. For further info, please check our web site: www.islandnet.com/~jyoung/FARSC There are still info and pictures about FRG01 at www.islandnet.com/~jyoung/FRG01. The annual membership term runs roughly from fall to fall, but anytime is a good time to renew your membership. To sign up or renew, please send $15, Name, callsign, email address, and phone number. If you want to have the printed copy of the newsletter mailed to you, we also need your mailing address. Send to FARSC, 2005 Queenston St., Victoria BC, V8R 4P3