Welcome to NORAC The North Okanagan Radio Amateur Club

Classically, I've read coax data sheets and transcribed the information into an Excel spreadsheet to do cable loss calculations based upon frequency, cable length and cable type.

Recently, I discovered this online tool for Messi & Paoloni coax: https://messi.it/dati/layout/attivo/calc.asp?l=EN

I've had pretty good results with their coax over the last couple of years (and I really like the design of their cable end connectors), so when the time came to purchase some new coax for a special project (multiple frequency use ranging from 3.5 MHz all the way up to 2.4 GHz) I used the above mentioned tool to pick the right coax for me.

This sounds a bit like and ad, but really it isn't. It was just nice to see something other than the usual spec sheet.

Maybe this tool is of some use to you,
73,
Mike VE7KPZ

November 14, 2020

NORAC technical team member and all around smart fellow David Skelhon, VA7SZ has recently written an article outlining the setup and construction of an effective and very space efficient 80M magnetic loop.

Check out David's article here: https://norac.bc.ca/index.php/instruction-guides

As a 4WDABC member, I received the following email blast on November 11, 2020.

I was happy to hear the news about the new 4WDABC frequency. Read below for full details.

I was also very happy to see NORAC's very own Wilf Mulder VE7OHM noted as a supporter of the 4WDABC.

73,
Mike VE7KPZ
NORAC Vice-President, Technical Lead, Education Team Member and avid offroad enthusiast

“What kind of radio should I get for the trails?” It’s one of the most common questions we get… and the short answer is, “it depends”.  

There are so many different types available, each with its own purpose, strengths, and drawbacks. Each purpose requires its own specific type of hardware, and in many cases, specific licensing. Ultimately your decision should start with what you want to use it for: communication in a group? Long range? Staying in touch with other industrial traffic on the backroads? 

To date, this has brought about a dilemma: for industrial communications, you need a radio that carries the Resource Road channels. If you only want to receive, ham radio will suffice, as most models can receive well outside the ham band. But if you want to talk to the big rigs - call your KMs, for example - you need a land mobile radio (also called a “commercial” radio) and the proper license to go with it.

Okay, so that’s easy enough… then how do you talk to your buddies on the trail?  Well, you can go with license-exempt options like limited-range GMRS walkie-talkies or good ol’ CB for trail chatter.  If you’re a licensed radio amateur, you can get your regular ham channels pre-programmed into your commercial radio, but otherwise, you’re running separate radios for road traffic and group chatter.

Some wheelers have long argued for one radio that could do both… and now we can offer that!

With a LOT of help from our Corporate Sustaining Member, Vernon Communications Ltd, we have applied for, and received, our own 4WDABC licensed frequency that is now a part of Appendix RR of the ISED spectrum: in short, if you license your land mobile radio for RR channels, you now get the 4WDABC channel for convenient backroads communications in your groups as well.

This greatly simplifies all-in-one backcountry communications for off-roaders province wide! One radio, one license, no course or test required.

In compliance with ISED regulations, we’re not giving the frequency details out publicly; for the time being, it will be provided via Letter of Authorization to 4WDABC members, which you can then include with your license application to ISED for Appendix RR. 

To request your Letter of Authorization, please complete the form at https://bit.ly/4wdabcradiochannels

And now for the really cool part!

Thanks to Vernon Communications, and the generous support of Kenwood Canada and Impact Radio Accessories, we have two radio kits to get you started! Each kit includes:

• Kenwood NX1200 handheld Radio - NXDN ready, DMR capable
• Kenwood KMC-45D Hand Mic
• Impact PRSMA in-ear monitor with Hearing Defender inserts (S/M/L sizes)

To commemorate this occasion, we’ll draw one winner from among all current paid members to receive one of these kits, WITH the winner’s choice of Impact K1-PRSM-HD3-WP or K1-PRSM-HD6-WP waterproof hand mic (the HD6 is a larger model better suited to be operated with a gloved hand). As an added bonus, we’ll also include the Impact K1-PTM-1 throat mic.

And to round it out, the 4WDABC will pay your first year’s license fee for the radio and have it programmed with RR, LADD, and 4WDABC channels (if you're a licensed ham, we'll load it up with ham frequencies of your choice as well). 

The total retail value of this package is approximately $1,080.

The second kit will be included in a future 19 Days of COVID giveaway - stay tuned and make sure your membership is up to date!

We'd also like to share this video from Kenwood National Sales rep Wilf Mulder: - thank you for the support, Wilf!