Welcome to the
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The next
General meeting of the Rideau
Lakes ARC will be held on Thursday,
May 23rd,
2012 in the Kilmarnock Room, of
the Smiths Falls Community Health Centre
in Smiths Falls.
Please Note, this
is not the 3rd Thursday of the
month. The change was made
to allow a special presentation
by Al VO1NO. |
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The
29th Annual Smiths Falls Flea market |
Based in Smiths Falls, Ontario, the Rideau Lakes Amateur Radio Club Inc. has members throughout the Region, and is active in amateur radio and public-service activities in the area. The Club Station Callsign is VE3SFR.
The first organized amateur activity in the area arose in 1977 with the founding of the Rideau Lakes Repeater Association, which was established to build and install the repeater VE3RLR in Smiths Falls. The objective of the repeater was to cover the area between Ottawa and Kingston that repeaters in those centers could not reach, and also to serve boaters and cottagers in the central Rideau Canal System area.
In 1982, co-incident with the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Rideau Canal, the idea arose to have a special events station set up to advertise the occasion and promote amateur radio activity. To this end, in January of that year several amateurs from around Eastern Ontario gathered to form the Smiths Falls Amateur Radio Club. Permission was subsequently obtained for the station to be installed at the Detached Locks in Smiths Falls under the callsign VE3SFR. Permission was also granted for the use of the special callsign CZ3SFR, for a two week period. Later, due to dwindling resources, the Rideau Lakes Repeater Association amalgamated with the Smiths Falls Amateur Radio Club. In 1995, the club name was changed to the Rideau Lakes Amateur Radio Club and in July 1996 the Club was incorporated under the laws of Ontario as a non-profit charitable organization.
Photo of members at the February 2007 meeting, celebrating the 30th anniversary of our repeater, VE3RLR, and the 25th anniversary of the Club.
Voice Repeater
VE3RLR
In
2009 the club had to relocate the repeater
due to the closure of its previous home for
over 25 years, the Rideau Regional
Centre. Fortunately with the help of
the Town of Smiths Falls, a new home was
found in the Works Department Garage.
To see some photographs of the work done, go
here.
In
July 2010, a rigger was hired to climb the
tower and add two more antennas as well as
check some exisiting connectors. Check
out the pictures here.
In
March 2011, a new repeater was placed on
line replacing the old repeater that had
been in service for more than 30
years. The new equipment is a
Motorola MSR2000 system. Hopefully
this will provide more reliable service.
As of (February 2012) a NHRC 3+ Controller was installed and is now providing regular control capability such as ID and courtesy tone.
ECHOLINK NODE
VE3RLR
is also linked to an Echolink NODE . Access
to the NODE is open.
All
Echolink DTMF control commands must all
begin with #. Pressing #* on your
keypad (while holding the PTT) will cause
the NODE to announce itself and provide it's
status. To connect to an Echolink NODE
press # followed by the NODE number.
(NODE numbers can be found on the Echolink
website.)
Echolink
uses the Internet to connect stations
together. As a result some delay may
occur so please allow a few seconds before
talking at the start of each transmission.
After
having a conversation with a station on
Echolink, don't forget to terminate the
connection by sending ##.
The NODE number for
the VE3RLR-R NODE is 525543.
APRS DIGI and Packet BBS
The club operates an APRS
digipeater, VA3RLR, on 144.390 MHz.
[ More Information on Packet Facilities]
Club Meetings:
July and August. If you would like to attend, please join us at the Smiths Falls Community Health Centre, Kilmarnock Room at 7:30 PM.
Club
Membership Dues
Club Executive:
The club
operating year is from July 1 to June 30.
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-The Executive of the Rideau Lakes Amateur Radio Club - |
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2011-2012 |
2012-2013 |
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| President: | Richard Burroughs | VE3CDO | Richard Burroughs | VE3CDO |
| Vice-President: | Mike Ligeza | VE3UIL | Mike Ligeza |
VE3UIL |
| Secretary: | Art Childerhose | VE3CGD | Richard Buckley |
VE3YSH |
| Treasurer: | Bud Kern | VE3CAE | Bud Kern | VE3CAE |
Members of the RLARC
Links
to Amateur Radio and other Sites
Space for this
site is provided through the courtesy of
VE3UIL,
Smiths Falls, Ontario.
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