IOTA 2016

Coming up this weekend, July 30th & 31st, is the RSGB Islands on the Air Contest.  

This contest is for salt water islands only......and we have lots of those in Canada to activate J

Rules for this event are HERE.

Amherst Island ON-021

This coming Sunday the Frontenac Radio Group will be activating Amherst Island, ON-021.  Amherst hasn't been activated in a good number of years so we're hoping it will attract a bit of attention.

The last time we activated Amherst we made a remarkable two HF contacts, hopefully we can do better this time.

We will be on from 1500 UTC till 1900 UTC, unless propagation is in the toilet again and then we'll call it quits early.

Callsign will be VE3FRG, and the SSB frequencies will be:

14.250 - 14.260
21.350
50.125
144.200

CW Frequencies will be:

14.040
21.040
50.070
144.060

Aylmer Island - ON-295

Aylmer Island and Lighthouse.

Jose, VA3PCJ, tells us he has tentative plans to activate Aylmer Island - ON-295.

This is in Grid FN25bj, and the activation will take place on Friday, 17 June and Saturday, 18 June.

At the same time Jose will also activate Aylmer Lighthouse, ARLHS CAN-867.  According to the records on the ARLHS website, Aylmer Lighthouse has never been activated, so this is a great opportunity to get it in your log.

Jose will be using his Elecraft KX3 and a vertical or inverted-V PAR EndFedZ Tribander Antenna.

Frequencies will be:

7.260

14.260

and

7.060

14.060

Jose will also try to be on Friday evening if possible from his boat.

The weekend report.....

VE3FRG SSB station overlooking Kingston across the straight.

The day started off not so well........as we all headed to the clubs Sunday breakfast it was raining quite heavily.  Thankfully that only lasted about 15 minutes and then it started to brighten up a bit.

By the time we left the restaurant it was cloudy but really humid, and it was to stay that way for most of the day.  The ferry ride over to Wolfe Island, ON-009, was uneventful.....smooth sailing all the way for the 30 minute trip, and the boys who went to Howe Island, ON-023, also had no problems getting there.

The propagation numbers for the day left a lot to be desired:  SFI=87, SN=31, A Index=14, and the K Index=2 at 1420 UTC.

Wolfe Island had two stations on the air, both using the clubs VE3FRG callsign.  One was on SSB and the other was a digital station.  We had three other operators besides myself out for this activation, Dave VE3DZE, Brian VA3BAH, and Rick VE3ORY.  A total of 74 contacts were made from Wolfe Island.  The only band that was workable was 20m, the rest were a mess.

Howe Island also had two stations on the air using the clubs VE3UDO callsign.  Both of these stations were operating SSB, and they made in excess of 100 contacts.  The Howe Island operators were Tim VA3TIC and Derek VE3HRW.

Frontenac Radio Group will not be making any activations in June as they are busy with other commitments, including Field Day.

We'll see you in July when we activate another one of the Thousand Islands.

VE3FRG Digital Station using a 33' mast.

Howe Island Activation....

Next Sunday, May 29th, the Frontenac Radio Group will also be activating Howe Island, ON-023.

Grid location is FN14ug.

Callsign in use will be VE3UDO

All frequencies are +/- QRM:

7.260
14.250 - 14.260
21.350
28.450
50.125
144.200

Tim and Dereck plan on being on the air by 1430 UTC and will shut down around 1730 UTC.

Howe Island has not been activated in a number of years, and has never had a lot of contacts so it is pretty rare island in logbooks.

Wolfe Island Activation.....

Next Sunday, May 29th, the Frontenac Radio Group will be activating Wolfe Island, ON-009.  The Club will be operating from the winter ferry dock, which is not used in the summer, and provides a great clear operating location.

Grid location is FN14sf81.

Callsign in use will be VE3FRG.

All frequencies are +/- QRM:

7.260
14.250 - 14.260
50.125
144.200

They will have a digital station, using PSK31, on 14.070.

They plan on being on the air by 1430 UTC and will shut down around 1800 UTC.

Wolfe Island has not been activated in a couple of years so this will be a good opportunity to get it in your log.

Byng Island Activation....

This is a very short notice activation.....

Sunday, May 22nd.  John, VE3ISE will be activating Byng Island - ON-037 starting at 1600 UTC.

Grid: FN02ev.

John will start on 40m - 7.260 +/- QRM, and then will move to 20m - 14.260 +/- QRM.

It looks like island activation season is upon us.  We look forward to beating our activation record for last year.