New HAM!
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The Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society (YARS) welcomes Kevin (VE8KG) to the amateur radio service. Kevin passed his basic exam with honours on 4 December 2021, invigilated by VE8RT.
YARS has all the materials needed for one to study and write the Basic Qualification online at: http://www.ykars.com/index.php/amateur-radio/becoming-an-amateur/basic-qualification-course . Practice exams are available at the regulator's website: https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/025.nsf/eng/h_00040.html . The exam is nationally set by the Government of Canada. If you are interested in becoming licensed and in becoming a HAM radio operator, you can study this material and we recommend you seek out an accredited examiner in your territory or province (they can be searched at https://apc-cap.ic.gc.ca/pls/apc_anon/query_examiner_amat$.startup ). For those in the Northwest Territories, YARS has two accredited examiners, Ron Thompson (VE8RT) and Ian Rennie (VE8IR) . They can administer exams in Nunavut with approval of Industry Canada. Neither charges a fee for this service as it is a public service and in the interests of the amateur radio service to have newly licensed radio amateurs.
RAC Winter Contest 2021
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The Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) Winter Contest 2021 is scheduled from 0000 UTC to 2359 UTC on December 18, 2021. The Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society will be running a station for this contest (either VE8YK or VE8RAC). We will use the VE8RAC callsign if no other VE8 station wants to use it - with permission from RAC of course. Information on this contest and its rules may be obtained from: https://www.rac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/CanadaWinterContestRules2021_English.pdf . For logging we typically use N1MM available at https://n1mmwp.hamdocs.com/ .
Note that in the Rules there is a new "Rookie" Subcategory and a plaque award. Any radio amateur with less than 36 calendar months from being first licensed and 18 December 2021 is a "Rookie". If interested in participating as a Rookie, please contact Chris Cameron (VE8WD).
Decommissioning of VE8YK Facebook Account
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The Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society has a page on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/VE8YK .
This page has not been used very much and was a temporary measure for easy uploading of photographs and news. That need has vanished with the redevelopment of the YARS Website. A photo gallery has been installed and is operational as are a calendar system and the newsletter home page.
Aurora Borealis
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What is the Aurora?
The aurora borealis or Northern Lights is an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs in the northern hemisphere of the planet. It also occurs in the southern hemisphere where it is known as the aurora australis. Aurora are known to exist on comets, brown dwarfs, other planets and on some moons. Aurora are caused by solar wind interacting with magnetic fields and atmospheric particles. Atmospheric particles become energized and form what is known as plasma. Plasma is energized or ionized gas. It is the fourth state of matter and has been so identified since about 1972. Yes, your high school teachers who taught you the three states of matter were...well...not current in their physics. You see plasma every day when you see the sun, an operating fluorescent light or an operating neon light.
Field Day and Canada Day Contests 2021
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Membership Reminder
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The Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society had its Annual General Meeting on 1 August 2021. A new Executive was elected. It is that time of year again when membership dues are payable.