Thursday, 3 August 2017

Jose - VA3PCJ

Jose contacted us today to let us know that contingent to weather and other unforeseeable circumstances, this Saturday, August 5th, he is considering qualifying Clarence Island (FN25JN09) for the Canadian Island Activation Program.

He will try to be on the air from 18:00z (14:00 EDT), operating QRP/P only in CW in the 40m and 20m bands. CW will be manual at 20 wpm or less

If possible, his position will be in APRS.fi (VA3PCJ-7) QSX info will be sent to Twitter via SMS (follow: @VA3PCJ). 

QSL will be only via LoTW and eQSL(AG) (i.e., no QSL cards).

This another first activation.  We have issued Jose the number ON-301 for this island.


This is a shot Jose sent us of Clarance Island last week....under water
due to flooding with the constant heavy rain we have had here in Ontario 
over this summer.
It's a good job he will using his boat for this activation !!


Update on the activation from Jose......

The island was not as flooded as the one on the picture from last May… and though I did get to it by crossing the river by boat in was not in one of mine (it was in the “Ecolos” ferry). However, the island is directly accessible by road…  I parked the Jeep in a small parking area at the west tip of the island and got the PAR tribander set as a vertical up the 43 ft. telescopic mast resting against a tree behind the Jeep. I operated mainly from a bolder near-by, but transferred inside the Jeep when the wind got too strong and the rain started.

Most of the QSO’s were in the NAQP CW, but 4 were not: one was a long QSO I had with Bob in Staten Island, NY, another was an SSB QSO with the group activating the Barnegat Bay Lighthouse in Long Beach Island (IOTA NA-111). The third was with a POTA /P station in NY and the fourth was with a SOTA station activating a SOTA peak in Indiana. Interestingly, the first 25 QSOs were all with US stations (i.e., a single DXCC),  but number 26 was was with Brian VE3MGY from Sparta, ON. Then I also contacted VE5RAC in SK. 

It required some effort but it was fun.

Island QSO Party Activations...so far

After a slow start to the season due to flooding and - what seems like - endless rain, we have some activation news for the W/VE Island QSO Party...

We received today four notifications for the W/VE Island QSO Party, and they are as follows:

VA3TIC and VE3SCN will be on Howe Island, ON-023, they will be operating SSB and digital modes on all bands.

VE3FI and VE3ULC will be on Simcoe Island, ON-022, and will be operating SSB and digital modes on all bands.

VE3RRH and team will be operating from Byng Island, ON-037.




We also have a first time activation taking place for the QSO Party...

Michel, VE2TH, will be activating Ile Aux Basques, near Trois-Pistoles, Quebec in Grid FN58jd.  He will be operating QRP CW on 40m and 20m.

Friday, 28 July 2017

W / VE Island QSO Party

This year, I suspect due to the major flooding and lousy weather we have had across the country, has been very quiet for Island Activations.   However, coming up soon is this years W / VE Island QSO Party, sponsored by the US Islands Award.

The event runs 15 hours from 1200 UTC, 26 August to 0300 UTC, 27 August, and the Rules for the event can be found HERE on the US Islands page.

Participation by Canadian amateurs has been pretty dismal over the past few years and the disappearance of the Canadian Island Award (CIsA) website did not help.  

However, in case you don't know, out of the ashes has grown another group of guys who have formed Canadian Island Activators with the intent to carry on from where CIsA left off.

The one item the organizers do ask is that you submit your event log.  Last year only three Canadian stations did so.  

Let's try and get as many Canadian stations on the air as we possibly can for this event!!

Jump on a Ferry and activate an island!!!

Friday, 21 July 2017

Wolfe Island ON-009

Wolfe Island Ferry going past the
Royal Military College
This coming Sunday the Frontenac Amateur Radio Club will be activating Wolfe Island, ON-009. Wolfe hasn't been activated since very early 2016.
The last time they activated Wolfe they made a remarkable two HF contacts – due to band conditions….hopefully we can do better this time.
They will be on from 1500 UTC till 1900 UTC, unless propagation is in the toilet again and then they will see how it's going.
Callsign will be VE3FRG, and the SSB frequencies will be:

7.250
14.250 - 14.260
144.200

Digital Frequencies will be:
7.080
14.070


Tuesday, 4 July 2017

Denman Island on the air

Nice to see Carson, VA3OSO operating from Denman Island, BC-022, for the Canada Day Contest.  Hopefully he will be on the air occasionally during the remainder of his two week trip out there.

Always nice to have the Gulf Islands on the air!!

Sunday, 2 July 2017

Upcoming Activation

The Frontenac Amateur Radio Club will be activating Wolfe Island, ON-009, on Sunday July 23.

This activation will take place from 1400 to 2000 UTC, and the operators will be at the winter ferry dock which is deserted during the summer and completely RF quiet.

SSB Frequencies will be:

14.250 - 14.260
7.250
144.200

PSK-31 Frequencies will be:

14.070
7.070
144.144

Saturday, 25 March 2017

2017 News......

It's been awhile since we had news for the Blog!!!  

News of forthcoming island activations are slowly coming into our email in-basket these days.

Here's the list of islands that are on the activators "to do" list as of todays date.  I'm sure more will follow as the weather starts to warm up.

On the list submitted by Mark, VE3FPS, these islands are all in the Thousand Islands, and none of them have been activated to date:

Whiskey Island - FN14sf55ua
Milton Island - FN14tf28es
Hickory Island - FN14vg90ia
Arabella Island - FN14vf98tq
Black Ant Island - FN14vg72wb
Horseshoe Island - FN14rd76mh
Goose Island - FN14se67ge

On the list submitted by Don, VE3MNE, these islands are all in Hay Bay, and none of these have been activated yet:

Glen Island - FN14lb33do
Ram Island - FN14ld80
White island - FN14nd07

We will announce the activation dates for these islands as soon as we receive them.  They're a nice project for Canada's 150th Birthday....