Welcome amateur radio enthusiasts to the 2023/24 season of the Ottawa Valley Mobile Radio Club. I want to begin this message with a mighty thanks to Barry Allison, VE3NA for his several years of leadership of the Club as president. Barry will be continuing his role as purveyor on behalf of the OVMRC to provide club members coaxial cable, connectors and other high demand items at cost.
I also want to welcome Rob Haddow, VE3RXH to the Club’s executive team as Vice President. Rob is one busy ham that I’m sure will bring a lot of new energy to Club; his current interests focus on hidden transmitter hunts and radio orienteering. Thanks also to Nicole Boivin VE3GIQ and Alan Fricker VE3KAE; both are continuing as Club Treasurer and Secretary respectively charged with responsibilities to maintain the administration of financial and general records of the OVMRC as a corporate entity. Nicole also serves as our membership chairperson. Big thanks, of course, to Alan Hotte VA3IAH who prepares and publishes the Rambler newsletter that is, in my opinion, the best newsletter of any of the clubs in the area. Alan also works closely with Adam Bird VA3IRD, our master of the OVMRC.ca domain and IT specialist. Thanks Adam for all the good work you do on behalf of the Club by giving us an outstanding presence on the Web. Thanks as well to Roger Egan, VA3EGY for organizing special events for the Club. Roger is a wonderful promoter of youth in amateur radio; he was the lead on bringing the YOTA Camp Event to Ottawa this year. Look forward to Roger’s presentation on how the “Camp” turned out at our first in-person meeting of the season scheduled for the evening of Wednesday Sept 20th at the IBEW local 586 meeting hall. This meeting will also be available using Zoom. And last, but not least, thanks to Hugo Kneve VE3KTN, our Club’s net manager and NCS conducting the club’s Thursday evening net on repeater VE3OCE. For those that can, the OVMRC also conducts an 80 M SSB “Pot Hole” net Sunday mornings at 10 am on 3760 kHz with Ernie Jury VE3EJJ or Glenn MacDonell VE3XRA presiding. For those that want to practice their Morse code, please tuning in on the “Pot Lid” slow speed CW net conducted on Sunday evenings, 7:30 pm on the 6 m band at 50.090 MHz.
Hopefully the lingering Covid virus will not keep us from continuing with our plans this season of the Club to conduct in-person meetings. As we concluded with our in-person AGM last season, meetings will be held at the premises of IBEW local 586, 1178 Rainbow St. We give a big thank you to Colin Guillas, VA3CSG for making this venue available. Coffee and donuts will be served. It is planned that all in-person meetings will also be available on-line by Zoom as a hybrid production.
With the resumption of in-person meetings, we plan to have door prizes of some of my vast assortment of radio and electronic stuff I’ve collected over the years. A door prize of significance will be one of the Nano VNAs won by several of the members at the June meeting. This one remaining NanoVNA is complements of Joe VA3JHT of Cornwall who returned his prize to the Club for a re-draw. Your executive committee has decided to restrict the draw to “new hams” that are members of the Club, the draw will be at the October meeting. A new ham for this draw is any current member who received their amateur radio certificate and call-sign anytime last year (2022) or this year so far and not one of the those fortunate souls that, by chance, won one of the NanoVNA’s prize at the June meeting.
Norm VE2LC