Columnists VA3EGY

2026-01-10 The Prez Sez – January 2026

2026-01-10
Roger VA3EGY

In this issue: Canadian Ski Marathon (CSM) 2026, Jan Monthly Meeting special presentation, Spring 2026 Basic course cancelled, OARC membership-renewal reminder emails, introducing new OARC Coordinators and Columnists, and exploring Meshtastic and MeshCore. 

Canadian Ski Marathon (CSM) 2026 on Feb. 7-8 urgently needs Amateur Radio operators! 

As of right now there are only 10 radio operators signed up for the CSM (and some for only one day) and, in order to have two operators working together at every CSM checkpoint, we need 18 radio volunteers for Saturday, February 7th and 16 radio volunteers for Sunday, February 8th.  

Neil, VE3PUE, our CSM radio-volunteer coordinator is a veteran of the CSM with multiple decades of giving his time and radio skills to this important partner. Neil has been sending out emails and has spoken live during meetings to be sure he gets the message out. He has also made personal calls to some folks but there are nowhere near enough volunteers in place yet and the event is just four weeks away. 

If we don’t deliver the volunteers that this event needs, then this increases the risk of not being able to communicate when a checkpoint is running low on food or water. It may also mean that we can’t get a message from a skier to their family or the other way around. And however unlikely, it can also mean that an injured skier or a skier who needs to be evacuated may have to wait longer if we can’t get the message out. 

This sort of public service radio communications is what we do in Amateur Radio. I am asking every one of you to please consider joining us this year to help out with radio communications. We use commercial radios but it is our radio skills that they need. Net Control will be run by radio amateurs too.  Please visit https://hambone.ca/csm2026 for more information and if you can, please sign up today. 

January Monthly Meeting – special presentation: “Amateur Radio in Creative, Performing and Media Arts in Canada” 

Craig Delmage, VE3OP, will deliver a distinctive presentation titled “Amateur Radio in Creative, Performing and Media Arts in Canada”. His talk explores how radio fosters artistic expression, collaboration, and education. His presentation highlights two national productions from 2025 in which Craig and several other local amateurs played quiet, supporting yet essential roles. It traces the historical context behind these projects. It follows each team’s journey as they worked to showcase shortwave listening and Amateur Radio for the enjoyment and learning of audiences nationwide. One was meant to spark the imagination of Canadians to become our future new amateurs. Craig will also discuss the operational and technical challenges the teams encountered along the way—and how they persevered to overcome them. There will be some surprises, and we will be serving popcorn. We hope to see you there and enjoy the show! 

Spring 2026 Basic course is cancelled 

Unfortunately, the Spring 2026 OARC Basic course has been cancelled because one of the instructors is not available. Watch the OARC website and monthly newsletter for information on the next Basic course. 

In the meantime, you do have some other options, as follows: 

  • Finally, RAC also offers Ham Study, two online self-study courses for the Canadian Basic and Advanced Amateur Radio exams. 

Hopefully, one of these options will be helpful. When you are ready to try the exam, you can Contact Us for help in reaching our examiner. You can also write the exam on-site at Carp Hamfest on Sept 12, 2026. 

OARC membership-renewal reminder emails 

You will see an automatically generated reminder email 30 days before your OARC membership expires. 

  • Over 70% of you have set up automatic renewal and so there’s nothing you need to do, unless you need to make a change, such as updating your payment method. 
  • For approximately 30% of you who made a one-time payment or whose automatic renewal was stopped (there were a few, due to a technical issue at our end), you will receive a second email with instructions and a link to renew. 

Introducing two new OARC coordinators 

OARC Education Coordinator: I am pleased to announce that Bert, VA3PXE, has volunteered to be the OARC Education Coordinator. This is a key role that supports Goal 1: Education of the OARC’s 2025-28 Strategic Plan and it is part of the Club’s management team. In this role, Bert will: 

  • Work closely with the leads of OARC Educational offerings (i.e., courses, workshops, exams) 
  • Contribute content to operational plan, website, newsletter, and social media 
  • Ensure logistical and volunteer support for educational offerings
  • Respond to inquiries about educational offerings
  • Contribute to evaluation of educational offerings 

Please join me in welcoming Bert to this volunteer role! He will have a few words to say at the Monthly Meeting on January 14th about some upcoming workshops. 

OARC Youth Equipment Program Coordinator: I am equally pleased to announce that Craig, VE3OP, has volunteered to be the OARC Youth Equipment Program Coordinator. This is a key role that supports Goal 2: Equipment of the OARC’s 2025-28 Strategic Plan and it is part of the Club’s management team. In this role, Craig will: 

  • Work with folks offering to donate Amateur Radio equipment to determine if the gear is new enough and functional enough to be useful, and 
  • Receive the gear, test it, clean it up and affect repairs (if needed), catalogue it, and put it to work. 
    • Some equipment will be sold to raise funds for our youth equipment program, while 
    • Some will be set aside to be loaned to new OARC course graduates.

Until now, we have not always had the capacity to assess, accept and store donated gear and this has meant declining approximately one donation per month!  Anyone wanting to donate equipment to the Club can click here to Contact Us. 

Please join me in welcoming Craig to this volunteer role! 
And, as always, please visit the OARC Volunteer page to see roles you might like to take on. 

Introducing two new OARC columnists

We have two new OARC columnists starting in January 2026: Craig, VE3OP and Ralph VE7DQS. We don’t put any pressure on our columnists to produce something every month, so you may see these new columns monthly, quarterly, or randomly! We know people are busy and we’re happy with whatever contributions they can make. 

  • Craig, VE3OP, will be authoring “Craig’s QRM”. He has nearly five decades of experience with the hobby. Craig earned his first amateur certificate and original call sign VE3KKU at age 16, later acquiring his advanced certificate and call sign VE3OP. Now retired, he held senior cybersecurity roles in both the private sector and the federal government. A former RAC Director, Craig currently serves as the OARC’s youth equipment coordinator and takes great satisfaction in helping young new amateurs get a solid start.  Read “Craig’s QRM” for January 2026 by clicking here: Neutrinos to Morse Code: A Conversation with Dr. David Sinclair, VA3WDS. 
  • Ralph, VE7DQS, will be authoring “Ralph’s Technical Trawl”. He has been a ham since 2016 and an electronics tinkerer since his Heathkit-building and television-repair days in the 1970s. He is a retired switch-mode power supply development engineer, with significant experience in innovative power management, renewable energy, and inverter technologies. Ralph is known for practical problem-solving and delivering reliable solutions in complex technical environments. Today, Ralph lives in Burnaby, B.C., but he was born and raised in Ottawa and so he enjoys maintaining his connection to the OARC.  Read “Ralph’s Technical Trawl” for January 2026 by clicking here: Can AI be your “virtual Elmer”?  

And, full disclosure: Ralph is my first cousin! He says his interest in electronics started in adolescence when my father gave him a “junk box” filled with bits and pieces and wire and other do-dads and a Heathkit. 

Late Breaking – Meshtastic/MeshCore anyone? 

OARC secretary Ryan, VA3WSO, and I have had some conversations over the holidays about exploring Meshtastic and MeshCore technologies, which use small electronic radios to send signals using a frequency that does not require a license. All of these small radios connect to each other, forming a ‘mesh’ of interconnected devices.  

We think this technology could be useful for emergency communications in areas where there is no cellular, internet or Amateur Radio.  It can be particularly useful in large geographic areas like West Carleton.   

We are meeting with folks from The Greater Ottawa Mesh Enthusiasts (GOME), who have been actively working on growing the LoRa MeshCore mesh here in Ottawa. 

We will have more to say about this next time on the Prez Sez but in the meantime, you can check it out. Here are a few links that highlight some of the projects and deployment work they’ve been doing: 

73,
Roger Egan, VA3EGY 
The Prez 

Last Updated on 2026-01-12 by Joannadanna