Special Events
Jan - Kid's Day
Feb - White Cane Week
Mar - 19th,1974, JW official opening ceremony
Apr - Museums Schedule
May - Volunteer Night
Jun - Field Day
Jul - Kid's Day & Canada Day Contest
Aug - Lighthouse
Sep - Museums Schedule
Oct - Jamboree On the Air (JOTA)
Nov - New Amateurs
Dec - RAC Winter Contest
Satellite Communications Training
A short course and a study manual have been developed to provide training in satellite communications with hands on practical sessions at the VE3JW station. To register just send an email to: ve3vig@amsat.org
Girl Guides liven up VE3JW “WELCOME GOTA 2010” said the big screen at the VE3JW Amateur Radio station, permanent exhibit of the Canada Science and Technology Museum, in Ottawa. On Saturday, Feb 20th, Beth, VA3CEW, fired up the group of Brownies and Guides we were hosting, to chant in unison the station’s callsign V - E - 3 - J - W!! They put in so much energy into it that the call resonated over the crowded museum and drowned their public address system. This opening call proved to be a good omen as it reverberated around the world and provided us with far reaching contacts, rarely available in later years. Darin, VE3OIJ, was handling the HF console and propagation was on our side as we connected with stations in Portugal, England, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, and Bernie, VO1ABN, in Newfoundland. I tackled the VHF/UHF console and made contacts coast-to-coast within Canada via the IRLP system. The guides got information on the Olympic Games in BC via contacts in Salt Spring Island, Squamish and Garibaldi Highlands, and also about the heavy snow in NovaScotia through a contact in Halifax; Steve, VE1SBC. The Girl Guides’ outing for GOTA was organized by Guide Leader Julie Sculland who thanked us for the fun event and showed amazement at the far reaching contacts we made for her group. GOTA takes place every year on the third weekend of February and the VE3JW facilities have been available to the Guides through arrangements with the Museum’s Administration providing access on special event days. You can open your station to GOTA by hosting Girl Guides during this special event, which runs for two days, Saturday and Sunday. Coordination is made with your local Guides Leader. A great way to introduce Girl Guides to the awesome world of Amateur Radio and help them to complete a radio contact to far away places. Pre-arranged contacts with other Guides groups during this special event is highly recommended and do provide much fun. We thank Beth and Darin for participating in the event and also, Larry WIlcox(SK), VE3WEH, who provided a contact while mobile in Ottawa. Till next year! Maurice-André Vigneault, VE3VIG Amateur Radio Exhibit Group VE3JW
VE3JW RAC Winter Contest
Photo courtesy of: Joe Lemieux VE3EUS
On December 18th at 0000hrs UTC the words CQ CONTEST, CQ CONTEST VE3JW CONTEST were heard echoing through the Canada Science and Technology Museum. That phrase was heard for the next 24 hours as VE3JW with the kind permission of the Museum was able to compete for its first RAC Canada Winter Contest.
Photo courtesy of: Joe Lemieux VE3EUS
The contest which is sponsored by the Radio Amateurs of Canada runs every December on a Saturday close to Christmas. The OVMRC has participated in this contest in the past with the last time being in December 2006 operating CF3RCS from Bate Island. This time the operating positions were a lot warmer.
Photo courtesy of: Joe Lemieux VE3EUS
With the hard work of Darin VE3OIJ who as Station Manager of VE3JW had to get permission from the Museum for us to operate for the full 24 hours of the contest which included the traditional "Silent Hours" when the museum is closed to the public and Bob VA3QV who looked after the scheduling of perators the job got done. Operators were scheduled in the following shifts:
0000-1200 Three operators
1200-1600 Four operators
1600-2000 Four operators
2000-2359 Four operators
(3 after the museum closed)
The extra operator was for when the museum was open to the public to answer any questions that might occur as not to distract the operators who were busy making contacts and breaking pileups. We had one operator on the new Flex Radio operating on 6- 10-15- 20 CW or SSB depending on
the operator’s preference. We had one operator on the TS 2000 operating 2, 40 and 80 CW or SSB depending on the operator’s preference and one operator on 2m FM using the Kenwood D700.
Angelo, VA3TTY Angelo, VA3TTY- 2
Photo courtesy of: Michel Barbeau, VE3EMB Photo courtesy of: Michel Barbeau, VE3EMB