Lambton County Radio Club

2011 Sarnia Emergency Preparedness Day

Once again, this year's annual Sarnia Emergency Preparedness Day activities were be held on Friday, May 6th, 2011 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM at the Clearwater Arena, 1400 Wellington Street, in Sarnia. And, once again, LCRC provided a booth along with a live HF PSK-31 Radio Station to demonstrate Amateur Radio for the mostly (youthful) attendees.

The Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) Coordinator for Sarnia-Lambton, Bill Hoad (VE3DPG), coordinated the overall event, while LCRC Club President Rick Rule (VE3RYK) led the booth team that consisted of LCRC Vice President Dave Watson (VE3WXO), Craig Wolsey (VA3ICW), Ron Cross (VA3WWE) and Keith Baker (VA3KSF).

This year's Sarnia Emergency Preparedness Day booth team takes a break from demonstrating ham radio
to the session attendees. From left are Keith Baker (VA3KSF), Rick Rule (VE3RYK), Ron Cross (VA3WWE),
Dave Watson (VE3WXO) and Craig Wolsey (VA3ICW). (Photo by Mark, VE3WMZ)

Craig Wolsey (VA3ICW) makes a PSK-31 contact from the LCRC booth at the 2011 Sarnia Emergency
Preparedness Day Demonstration. (Photo by Keith, VA3KSF)

2m Repeater Upgrade And Adjustment

It's no secret that our 2m repeater, located in the penthouse of Bluewater Heath facility in Sarnia has been "ailing".

During a late July, 2010 visit to the repeater to locate the source of the problem, a team of LCRC's experimenters determined that the 10+ year old, Belden 9913 coax from the repeater to the antenna was severely weathered, and was probably full of moisture. However, in an effort to keep the repeater up and running in the interim, the team drained some 250 ml (3 dB) of water out of the repeater coax using an innovative "Coax Draining Tool". The tool...a joint venture between LCRC's Chet Latawiec (VE3CFK) and Bill Hoad (VE3DPG)...is currently undergoing proof (or is that "spoof"?) of concept testing (see photo).

Then, on August 26, 2010 another experimenter team consisting of Bob Thomson (VA3RD), Chet Latawiec (VE3CFK), Bill Hoad (VE3DPG), Don Piggott (VE3WBR) and Keith Baker (VA3KSF) replaced the ailing coax with a 67 foot run of half-inch hardline with solid brass connectors (both of which were graciously donated to the Club by Bob Thompson).

Sure enough, during the coax changeout, the team's suspicions were confirmed as the PL-259 and barrel connecting the old coax to the antenna was found to be rusted and full of moisture. What's more, the inner aluminum coax shielding showed telltale signs of internal corrosion, most likely again caused by moisture.

On two subsequent visits to the repeater, Harold Farrenkopf (VA3HF), helped the team install a refurbished power amplifier for the transmitter and to do a thorough re-tuning of our 4-can duplexer. Using professional-grade test equipment, the duplexer was tuned to our exact input and output frequencies (it was substantially out of adjustment!) and both our primary and backup receivers were found to be equally sensitive.

For those who have never seen our 2m machine "up close and personal" here are a few photos of the beast as well as some the team members who accomplished the coax replacement, amplifier swap-out and adjustments. Our 4-bay antenna is the one located at the very top of the tower.

(Click on the thumbnail 2m repeater photos shown below for a larger sized picture)

Thanks to Bill, VE3DPG and Keith, VA3KSF, for the great photos!

2010 Field Day

Once again this year, LCRC's 2010 Field Day activities (June 26-27, 2010) were hosted by Garry (VA3PGW) and his charming wife Marg, in Gorman City Park immediately adjacent to their spacious home in Oil City, Ontario.

This year, we ran three stations in the 3A Category (emergency power) using the Club's call sign (VE3SAR). These three stations included (thanks to Don, VA3ZV) a VHF station and (thanks to Craig, VA3ICW) a digital station. As in previous years, our operation in the contest was for "fun" and not necessarily for "points" although a log of contacts was kept for eventual submittal.

Club members and their families enjoyed a Saturday evening supper and Sunday morning breakfast "on the house" thanks to the work of our resident "culinary artiste" Tom Reed, VE3UKU.

Once again, our sincere thanks to Gary and Marg for offering us their gracious hospitality and especially to Chet Latawiec, VE3CFK, for serving as the overall coordinator for our Field Day event this year.

Needless to say, because of the good work of all of these fine folks, a fun time was had by the rest of us in attendance.

(Click on the thumbnail Field Day 2010 photos shown below for a larger sized picture)

Thanks to Rick (VE3RYK) and Keith (VA3KSF) for the superb photos!

2009 Field Day

Once again this year, LCRC's 2009 Field Day activities (June 27-28, 2009) were hosted by Gary (VA3PGW) and his charming wife Marg, in Gorman City Park immediately adjacent to their spacious home in Oil City, Ontario.

LCRC ran two stations this year in the 2A Category (emergency power) using the Club's call sign (VE3SAR). As in previous years, our operation in the contest was for "fun" and not necessarily for "points" although a log of contacts was kept for eventual submittal. At last count, well over 1000 contacts were made from our station during the 24 hour event using both phone and CW for a preliminary score in the neighborhood of 1900. Several of our members "burned the midnight oil" by staying up all night, and that effort certainly helped to rack up our score again this year.

Club members and their families enjoyed a Saturday evening supper and Sunday morning breakfast "on the house" with us at the site. As far as we know, nobody went away hungry.

Pictures of our 2009 Field Day activities are shown below. Needless to say, a good time was had by all. And, once again, our sincere thanks to Gary and Marg for their gracious hospitality!

(Click on the thumbnail Field Day 2009 photos shown below for a larger sized picture)

Thanks to Bill (VE3DPG), Frank (VE3FBH) and Keith (VA3KSF) for the GREAT Pictures!

VA3SAR 440 MHz Repeater Relocation

After about a year of assembling and calibrating various purchased and donated repeater parts, antennas, coaxial cables and connectors, UV-stabilized cable tie wraps, lightning arrestors, and back-up batteries (not to mention the able assistance of Sarnia's Fire Department and LOTS of "sweat equity" donated by a number of LCRC members!) on August 26, 2008 the club's VA3SAR 440 MHz repeater was placed back into service.

The repeater, which has been off the air for many months during the move, has now been re-located from its former location at the Enbridge Tank Farm on Indian Road to a new site at the Wellington Street Fire Station.

The repeater operates on 444.55 MHz, with a standard, positive (+) offset and a 123 Hz CTCSS tone required for access. The repeater also sends a 123 Hz CTCSS tone on the output for those who wish to use tone squelch on their radios. The CTCSS tone is not transmitted when the repeater IDs, so those who use this feature will not hear the repeater when it is sending its ID.

The repeater is a Motorola Model MSF 5000 with about 50 Watts of output power feeding a Sinclair Model SLR-310C-4HD 4 bay antenna mounted at the 30 Metre (100 Ft.) level of the Fire Station's communications tower. That's about 713 Ft. above sea level. Feedline is 1/2 inch Andrew Model LDF4-50A Hardline. The repeater is backed up by a battery as well as the Fire Station's standby power. However, when the repeater is operating via the battery, the output power drops to approximately 20 Watts and it sends a short tone at the end of each transmission.

We've already had Q5 signal reports using a 5 Watt HT from the Discovery Oil Field in Oil Springs and from a basement in Corunna...so watch out for DX!

(Click on the VA3SAR 440 MHz Repeater Relocation photos shown below for a larger sized picture)

Thanks to Bill (VE3DPG), and Keith (VA3KSF) for the great photos!

Special Event Station VA3OIL

2008 markes the 150th anniversary of the first commercial oil well in North America. The location, as many of you know, is at the Oil Museum of Canada in Oil Springs, Ontario. Oil Springs is located just south of our 2008 Oil City, Ontario, Field Day site on Oil Heritage Road.

On Saturday, August 9, 2008 there were "Main Street" events in Oil Springs featuring bands, entertainment, historical vehicles, period costumes and dignitaries that was a "must-see" procession that congregated at the Oil Museum for anniversary declarations.

AND WE WERE THERE AS WELL! The Lambton County Radio Club ran a special event station using our new club call sign VA3OIL. We operated on (or near) 7.240 and 14.240 MHz as well as on various local 2m repeaters from 9:00 AM to around 4:00 PM EDT (just before the storms chased us away!).

QST, CQ, TCA and HFRADIO.net were all advised of the event and our participation in it. Over 100 contacts were made with stations as far away as Germany on HF and over 30 contacts were made on VHF. We operated in the Oil and Gas building on the west side of the property using a large simulated (wooden) oil derrick to support our 80-10 Metre G5RV (HF) antenna.

Canadians who contacted our station are invited to QSL with an SASE to VA3KSF. U.S. stations can QSL with an SASE to KB1SF, 3560 Pine Grove #488, Port Huron, MI 48060.

(Click on the VA3OIL Special Event Station photos shown below for a larger sized picture)

Thanks to Bill (VE3DPG), and Keith (VA3KSF) for the great photos!

2m and 440 MHz Repeaters

The Lambton County Radio Club maintains two repeater systems for use by all licensed Radio Amateurs.

The main 2m (145.37 (-) MHz ) repeater site is located on top of the St. Joseph's Health Centre in Sarnia. While no tone is currently being used on the repeater input, a sub-audible tone of 123.0 Hz is sent on the output.

The main 440 MHz (444.55 (+) MHz) repeater is located at the Wellington Street Fire Station in Sarnia. It also requires a 123.0 Hz sub-audible tone on the repeater input.