The BVARS Annual General Meeting is this Sunday, January 25th, at 13:00 in basement of Ranger Park Building, Smithers. Business meeting followed by tech session.

We received the following communication about the upcoming BC QSO Party....

My name is Rebecca VA7BEC and I am contest coordinator for the British Columbia QSO Party, sponsored by Orca DX and Contest Club. I found your email address as the contact for Bulkley Valley ARS, but if the BCQP invitation should go to someone else for distribution to members, please forward it and let me know so that I can update my contact list.

I have attached the official announcement for BCQP. I'd appreciate it if you'd let members know about our event. I'll send out a reminder email in January but knowing about the event with some time to prepare is always better, right?

The most important thing to know is the date and time of the 2015 event: February 7, local time, 8am to 8pm (UTC 1600z Feb 7 to 0400z Feb 8).

February seems so far off but it is less than three months from now. 

BCQP has been around for a while but has gained a much higher profile in the last few years. The event attracts considerable interest now from within BC and beyond, but BC stations are a vital key to success and fun. BC stations can contact anyone anywhere while stations outside BC must search for us, so time spent at the radio passes very quickly. Multipliers in this contest are the federal electoral districts in BC, and a QSO with operators in your area would be very lucrative indeed. 

A notable difference between BCQP and other QSO parties is that the certificates and plaques are photo-based, highlighting something scenic or special about BC, and the photos are different every year, taken especially for the event. Top scores in every class receive one of these beautiful certificates, and if submitted logs are particularly numerous in any given category, additional certificates are awarded. They are definitely shack-worthy. 

In addition, the plaque program has grown and thanks to the continued commitment of sponsors, we are able to offer plaques in eight categories: Top BC Score, Top YL Score, Top Score Canada Outside BC, Top US Score, Most Electoral Districts Contacted, Top Rookie, Top DX, and Top Mixed Mode.

To see how the 2014 certificate and plaque photos turned out, go to http://www.orcadxcc.org/bcqp_awards.html

Rules, tools, helpful hints, in-depth event analysis/reports and scores from past years... all available for viewing from links on the BCQP page of the Orca DXCC website at http://www.orcadxcc.org/bcqp.html

BCQP is an opportunity to hone operating skills, try out a new mode, pass on knowledge to others, enjoy the camaraderie of a team effort, support a home-grown contest, beat last year’s score, capture a unique, photo-based certificate or maybe a plaque, test out equipment and/or software, or simply, meet up with some good people. This is not a high-stakes, gotta-beat-the-world kind of contest. It is casual and friendly and a great way to encourage greater activity in our hobby.  

As contest coordinator for BCQP, I am here to help. If you or your club members have questions, I’m just an email away.

73,
Rebecca VA7BEC
Contest Coordinator for BCQP, Orca DX

To sign up for this Webinar that begins at 12:00 noon Pacific from Vancouver please email [email protected] before July 25th and details will be sent to you.

We will be having our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on July 27th in New Westminster, BC. As previously mentioned, this AGM will be hosted by the Orca DX and Contest Club. It will be held in conjunction with the 59th annual Vancouver 2014 Pacific Northwest DX Convention which is being held at the same location. Notices have already been published in TCA/RACReport. All RAC members are encouraged to attend*. DATE: Sunday July 27th 2014 after the DX Convention TIME: 12 Noon (Pacific) PLACE: Inn on the Quay, 900 Quayside Dr. New Westminster BC. (Just 25 minutes by SkyTrain southeast of downtown Vancouver and 20 minutes north of the "Peace Arch" BC-Washington border crossing) * Once again this year, those unable to attend the AGM in person can sign up for the Webinar broadcast. Please send an email to RAC Head Office (Frank G.) at [email protected] to register and receive details. Requests must be made prior to July 25th 4:00pm EDT. WebLink: http://wp.rac.ca/agm-2014-reminder -- RAC Comms

The annual Tyhee Lake Triathlon is scheduled for July 13th, and we have been asked to help out again. We have assisted with radio communications at this event for many years. It is half a day, from about 09:30 to 13:00 and includes a free lunch! We man check-points along the route to link them to organizers at the camp site. We usually get a donation, and it gives us needed volunteer hour credits.

Gary Lobley, ve7lcp, will be coordinating this year. Make his life easier and PLEASE let him know your availability ([email protected]   250-847-3827) sooner rather then later (yes, no, maybe)!

73's

Doug, ve7ept

You can join this via web tomorrow evening. Qualifies as training hours, so let ve7ept know if you watch it. Ranger Park is in use tomorrow evening, so can't set up group view there. Instructions for web viewing are at bottom of the message below....

This Thursday”s NSARC/NSEMO presentation on “Amateur Radio in the 2013 High River Floods”. By Vince D’Eon will

•             •         provide history leading up to the floods,

•             •         discuss the challenges of getting to the EOC;

•             •         he will give us the numbers and stats about the event,

•             •         the ARES structure provincially for the event,

•             •         talk about leadership roles,

•             •         the experiences in the EOC,

•             •         as well as things they did well and things to do better next time.

You need to reserve your seat now for the event by emailing [email protected].

With this week’s presentation, NSARC is embarking on a new venture to share our presentation with others. Vince D’Eon’s presentation will be streamed via the BCWARN network so that other clubs connected to BCWARN can also enjoy his presentation.

For those not on BCWARN, the presentation will be livestreamed on the Internet. You can find it athttps://new.livestream.com/accounts/7188818/Highriverfloods.

You will need to register, but the service is free.

 

Welcome to the BVARS Blog ! We will be posting happenings etc. here, which will also go to the Facebook page and Twitter.

If you have something to post in the Blog, or a contribution to the web site, pass it along Doug, VE7EPT.