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RAC/ARRL Field Day 2025 is rapidly approaching. Last year, the Society did not participate although some local amateur radio operators may have. Our last station was in 2023, pictured above, two months before the wildfire evacuations. Field Day is an opportunity for local amateur radio operators to become "radioactive" and test and experiment with old and new equipment and try out experiments. It is also a chance to exercise emergency preparedness skills. We are there independent of government and of the regular infrastructure of a modern society. The technology we use is modern but build upon technology that is considered by many to be obsolete. But it is resilient to natural and man-made disasters. We are not dependent on StarLink... Details follow (from ARRL https://www.arrl.org/field-day#rules )
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For immediate release | Pour diffusion immédiate
April 8, 2025 | avril 8, 2025
At its meeting on March 27, 2025, the Board of Directors of Radio Amateurs of Canada voted unanimously to cancel RAC’s plans to operate a booth at Hamvention (Dayton) in Xenia, Ohio in May. This decision was not taken lightly and was made with deep regret as our members and volunteers always look forward to attending this significant international event.
Lors de sa réunion du 27 mars 2025, le Conseil d’administration de Radio Amateurs du Canada a voté à l’unanimité l’annulation du projet de RAC de tenir un kiosque à la “Hamvention” (Dayton) organisée en mai à Xenia, en Ohio. Cette décision n’a pas été prise à la légère et a été rendue avec un profond regret, car nos membres et bénévoles ont toujours hâte d’assister à cet important événement international.
The relationship between Canada and the United States has become increasingly strained due to recent trade disputes and tariffs imposed by the US government. Adding to these challenges, controversial remarks from US leaders, including suggestions of Canada becoming the 51st state, have heightened concerns about Canadian sovereignty.
Les relations entre le Canada et les États-Unis sont de plus en plus tendues en raison des récents différends commerciaux et des tarifs douaniers imposés par le gouvernement américain. En plus de ces défis, les remarques controversées faites par divers dirigeants américains, au nombre desquelles les suggestions selon lesquelles le Canada deviendrait le 51e État, ont accru les inquiétudes concernant la souveraineté canadienne.
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[Update 2025-06-20] Reuters reports that the US Agency for Global Media, parent agency of VOA, has issued termination notices to 639 staff members. This completes an 85% decrease in VOA's staffing. Staffing has been cut to the statutory minimum of around 81. Reuters is of the view that this effectively terminates VOA as a broadcaster. VOA was established in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda. One may recall that VOA has been in the cross-hairs of Trump since the first Trump presidency in 2017 (see Wiki entry). This follows a decision on May 3, 2025 by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that blocked the previous ruling. On May 6, 2025 One America News (OAN), a far right voice-piece for the Trump administration (even more so than Fox) would provide news coverage for VOA. In June 2025, Wiki reports that several dozen Farsi-speaking staffers were called back to work.
The Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society is concerned about this development and also concerned about the terminated staff. More significantly, the Society is concerned by far right propaganda and VOA being used for the propagation of such propaganda. This is a betrayal of the reason VOA was set up in 1942. All links to VOA will be discontinued on the Society's website.
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The Commonwealth of Nations is often referred to as the British Commonwealth or just the Commonwealth. There are 56 member states, most of which are former members of what was known as "the British Empire".
They are connected by language, history and culture. Members include the United Kingdom, the former Dominions of Canada, South Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand. They also include British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It is headed by Charles III. The Commonwealth was formalized by the Statute of Westminster in 1931. There are 15 Commonwealth realms, including Canada. There are 36 republics. There are 5 other members that have different monarchs (Brunei, Eswatini, Lesotho and Tonga. {Yes, we have heard of Lesotho}.
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There have been developments about the use of encryption and the carrying-out of cryptographic experimentation in the amateur radio service. Two articles follow - 1) a press release from RAC on this subject; and 2) a portion of an article/FAQ by Dave Goodwin VE3KG – RAC Regulatory Affairs Officer.
Read more: Developments in Encryption and the Amateur Radio Service
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The Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society (YARS) is a not-for-profit Society incorporated under the Northwest Territories Societies Act. It is a term and condition that any user making use of this website does so subject to the laws in force in Canada and the Northwest Territories - including the Copyright Act, RSC, 1985 c.C-42 and in particular section 29 (Exceptions) of that Act. While the Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society is dedicated to the amateur radio service, this website performs a largely educational function and no commercial function. The fact that the domain name has a ".com" extension does not signify that YARS is a commercial entity - just that it has an old domain name extension.
Generally the images and articles on this website are the intellectual property of the Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society, unless otherwise attributed. Any materials used on the site are used in good faith and in the belief that they are either in the public domain or licensed (for example with items that may purport to be part of the Creative Commons). YARS endeavours not to violate any copyright in any materials. If such a violation is suspected, please notify the Administrator of the website or any of the members of the Executive (i.e. directors). You may also send the Society a letter by mail bringing this matter to our attention. The Society does check its mail but infrequently. We reserve the right to respond or not to such a complaint, without any adverse inferences being made.
In the interests of promoting the amateur radio service, users are permitted to make use of materials on this website with proper attribution. A donation to the Society would be welcome but is not mandatory. Commercial use of this website and its materials is not permitted without permission from the Society.
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This page appears to be the most popular of pages on this website. This page is under review.
Individual amateur radio operators can be identified from the ISED Callsign Database: https://apc-cap.ic.gc.ca/pls/apc_anon/query_amat_cs$callsign.querylist .
- Behchokǫ̀
- Fort Smith
- Hay River
- Inuvik
- Norman Wells
- Yellowknife
- VE8ECC (VE8PR)
- VE8EMG (Unknown Club/VE8PR)
- VE8EMO (GNWT MACA Emergency Management Office/VE8WD)
- VE8PAT (Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society/St. Patrick's High School/VE8WD)
- VE8SKI (Yellowknife Ski Club/VE8WD) Weather Telemetry Station
- VE8YK (Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society/VE8WD)
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Electromagnetism (Light)
Amateur radio is a hobby that allows enthusiasts to make use of radio communications in and experiment with electromagnetic (EM) waves in the radio frequency part of the electromagnetic spectrum (about 3 Hz to 300 GHz). Some hobbyists experiment outside of the regulated radio spectrum - for instance they experiment with visible or infrared light. EM physics applies universally across the EM sprectrum. Fundamentally, amateur radio is the use of radio waves to communicate with other amateur radio operators - in non-commercial activities. One masters the way in which radio waves propagate in order to achieve communications links. These techniques have application in the commercial sector - but the amateur radio service itself is non-commercial.
There are legal conditions attached to an amateur radio licence as there is a great deal of responsibility attached to being allowed to operate on these bands. The amateur radio service is by law not for profit and not commercial. Radiowaves can be made to bounce off the upper atmosphere or celestial objects - resulting in interesting modes of propagation and communications being established all over the world without any infrastructure (such as the Internet). The possible applications are only limited by the constraints of imagination.
Quite often amateur radio plays a role in emergency communciations because much of the equipment is privately owned and functions independently of existing infrastructure. The amateur radio service is resilient. In disaster situations, amateur radio is usually the first means of communicating with affected areas (e.g. Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami or the 2011 Tōhoku Earthquake and Tsunami).
Somewhat Technical
Generally a very basic high school level of understanding of science is all that is needed. There is no age limit (lower or upper). Visually impaired persons can be accommodated and are quite adept at the use of Morse Code.
While a basic level of knowledge is necessary for passing the exams and getting licensed, one should not be put off by this.
Some might see "HAM Radio" as being archaic or old fashioned. It is not and the hobby incorporates computers, internet, satellites, advanced signal processing techniques and state of the art techology. Indeed many an IT professional has realized the allure of the hobby. Physics is physics regardless of its application in the amateur radio service or in its application in other areas...
A Hobby Limited by Imagination
The limits of amateur radio are only constrained by one's imagination. For many this hobby is a stepping stone into becoming a technologist or engineer or scientist. Here is a list of some of the activities that the members of the Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society have engaged in:
- contests (national and international);
- antenna design and construction;
- radio direction finding (Fox Hunting/ARDF) (cross between direction finding and orienteering);
- emergency preparedness planning and exercises;
- amateur radio astronomy and astronomy;
- observing atmospheric phenomena (RF propagation, solar noise, effects of aurora);
- computer programming;
- digital signals and modes of communications;
- very weak signals;
- study of the weather (thunderstorms, refraction of light in ice etc.);
- satellite tracking and communications;
- electronics, building of radios and test equipment, lasers, microwaves etc.;
- website design;
- bookkeeping;
- desktop publishing.
Going Global
To get a better flavour of the hobby, one might try any of the following:
- Radio Amateurs of Canada;
- Radio Society of Great Britain;
- REF-Union (France);
- American Amateur Radio Relay League;
- eham.net;
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
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The Society meets weekly at Javaroma (on 50th Avenue in the Northwestel Building). The Society also has an Annual General Meeting annually and files a Notice of Directors and Financial Statements annually with the Registrar of Societies, Department of Justice, Government of the Northwest Territories.
To be a full member, one must be a licensed amateur radio operator in accordance with Canadian laws. It is possible for others to be associate members (for instance students and significant others (XYLs), but associate members cannot vote. Bodies corporate may become members too.
Membership dues are the primary form of revenue generated for use by the Society. This revenue is used to subsidize projects for the Society, run the Basic Qualification Course, pay for maintenance of three operational repeaters (two in Yellowknife and one in Rae) and pay for equipment obtained by the Society such as repeaters, digital communication devices and the like. Generally Society members maintain our own equipment as there is a repository of technical knowledge in the membership. That said, components still cost money.
Some members pay for their own equipment. The Society has some of its own equipment and members and other amateur radio operators are encouraged to make use of it. Projects and activities provide an excellent opportunity for members to apply their skills and to learn more about radios, computers and more.
The Society is a Not-for-Profit entity and is geared towards community service. The Society is also not political, except in so far as advocating for the amateur radio service.