As you may be aware, NCAARC has its D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) repeater on the air and now we want to show and tell you more!

Jeff BISHOP, VE6EFR, will be providing a presentation at the monthly club meeting.

Date:  23-MAY-2015

Time:  09:30hrs

Location:  Fire Station #3, 100 Giroux Road, St. Albert

Title:  D-STAR Presentation – D-STAR Without all of the Technical Mumbo Jumbo

Jeff’s presentation will cover the following:

• What is D-STAR?
• What are some of the features that D-STAR brings to the shack?
• Simplex
• Repeaters
• Call Sign Routing
• Reflectors
• Digital voice on HF
• Simultaneous voice and data
• Every transmission sends your call sign & GPS location (if GPS equipped)

• What D-STAR repeaters do we have in the area?

• St. Albert – VE6JKB 444.25 MHz
• South Edmonton – VE6BHX 440.75 MHz
• Strathcona County – VE6KM 444.90 MHz, 145.47 MHz and 1287.50 MHz

• There aren’t any D-STAR repeaters in my area. Can I still get involved?
• How do I get on D-STAR?

•     NW Digital Radio ThumbDV
•     DV Dongle
•     DVAP Dongle
•     D-STAR ready mobile or handheld radio

• Can I use the radio I already have? If not, how much does it cost to get into D-STAR??
• Why should I spend the money on D-STAR if my $50 Baofeng does what I need it to do?
• The proof is in the pudding. Time to get on the air.

If you have a D-STAR radio, bring it to the meeting!

If you arrive and find the door locked please give a call out on VE6JKB if you have radio programmed or VE6LAW and we can send someone to open the door. Please do not use the yellow phone by the door as this will disrupt the staff working at the firehall.

This presentation is open to all that are interested in D-STAR whether a member of NCAARC or not.

Hope to see you there!

The City of St. Albert has requested NCAARC to participate in the 3rd annual Public Safety Open House, which will be held on Sunday, June 7th (1130-1500hrs) at St. Albert Place – 5 St. Anne Street (outside of City Hall).

This is an opportunity for all emergency preparedness organizations to showcase what they have to offer and an excellent time for the club to show off our emergency communication trailer.

I have accepted the invitation and now need to recruit some volunteers. I hope to be able to demonstrate VHF, UHF, DStar, and HF radio.

Please let me know if you are interested in coming out to participate with this event.

Steve Pedersen, VE6STE / VA6XX
President, NCAARC

This is a reminder of the NCAARC Annual General Meeting.

Date: 21-MAR-2015
Time: 09:30hrs
Location: Fire Station #3, 100 Giroux Road, St. Albert
Map: https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.6400257,-113.6705466,266m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

If you would like to come out to meet the members before the meeting, we meet for breakfast at the Golden Dynasty Restaurant located at 440 St. Albert Trail, at 08:00hrs.
Map: https://www.google.ca/maps/@53.6458337,-113.627311,144m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Hoping to see you there.

Steve – VE6STE

The North Central Alberta Amateur Radio Club now has a DStar repeater online in St. Albert. VE6JKB is online, however it is on a temporary antenna until we can get a new antenna on the mast.

Details:
VE6JKB Module B
444.250+ MHz

Coverage from what I’ve been able to determine ranges from Spruce Grove to Sherwood Park. With a base antenna it’s possible to get into it from Millwoods, but it does require high power to get in. I have not determined the coverage to the north.

Also did you know that IRLP is coming to VE6LAW? Mark (VE6BHO) and Myself (VA6AWS) have been working on installing an SCOM 7330 controller and a combo IRLP/Echolink node on VE6LAW. Stay tuned for updates on when it will be fully installed.